Just ten minutes away from the hotel is the new Magic Wood,
a small patch of woodland and scrub a little larger than a football field day and we were excited about returning there.
This morning we paid an early visit and turned up a number of excellent birds,
in fact many more birds were present than yesterday evenings visit. A Red-billed Starling posed nicely on top
of the temple as we arrived but we didn’t dally as we were eager to see what
goodies lay in wait for us. Upon arrival it seemed to be raining birds, when Lesser Cuckoo, Asian Koel, a couple of Hair-crested
Drongos, and flocks of phylloscs literally dropped out of the sky. The first of at least 3 Rufous-tailed Robins present demanded our attention, and then Two-barred and Pallas's Warblers appeared amongst roving flocks of Yellow-browed, Claudia's and Eastern Crowned Warblers.
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| Rufous-tailed Robin |
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| Rufous-tailed Robin |
At least two male Siberian
Blue Robins were found and skulked in typical fashion, whilst Siberian and Pale Thrushes, Radde’s
Warbler, and both Tristram’s and
Meadow Buntings were also new out in the small grassy area. Both Mugimaki and Yellow-rumped Flycatchers showed well, flocks of Yellow-billed Grosbeaks flew over, and
the Northern Boobok flew around the
area repeatedly looking for a birder-free zone to roost! Moving on to the other
forest there appeared to be smaller numbers of flycatchers present although Narcissus and some Asian Brown and Grey-streaked Flycatchers were still around. We even had a brief view of an elusive Elisae's Flycatcher which promptly disappeared, but an impressive Blue-and-white Flycatcher was seen by everyone, as was a Forest Wagtail. More Rufous-tailed Robins, Siberian, Eye-browed and Pale Thrushes,
a male Siberian Rubythroat, Dusky Warbler
and Japanese Grosbeak were all seen
as well.
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| Blue-and-white Flycatcher |
There were also loads of Pale-legged Leaf-warblers around and an
estimate of 100+ was made from both sites visited so far today. So with time
running out we drove to the coast and donned our wellington boots again and
marched out onto the tidal flats getting our first Great Knot and Far-eastern
Curlews of the tour amongst hordes of all the usual waders and a flyby Black-capped Kingfisher as well. We even ignored the dozen or so Saunder’s Gulls flying overhead
repeatedly! With the tide racing in towards us we walked briskly back to shore
and then headed over to the hotel to pack and have lunch. A quick two hour
journey was a lot less than expected and we ended up at the airport with
several hours to spare for the flight to Nanchang and the next stage of our
adventure.
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