Wader Heaven....

Well a lot of things had moved out of Temple Wood overnight, but the good news was that a superb male Siberian Thrush was new in and what a cracker it was too! We enjoyed repeated great views during our time here and got really side-tracked enjoying this beauty. 

This male Siberian Thrush was the star bird of the morning

Siberian Thrush

The Rufous-tailed Robin was still here, and a Siberian Rubythroat showed to a few of the group. There was also at least 2 Hume’s Warblers, male Yellow-rumped and Narcissus Flycatchers, Eastern Crowned and Pale-legged Leaf Warblers, Chinese Grosbeaks, 2 Eye-browed Thrushes and various other ‘bits and pieces’.

Narcissus Flycatcher

After a picnic breakfast we paid a short visit to Magic Wood and walked along the public road here, which resulted in a brief Two-barred Warbler and an Oriental Scops-Owl. 

Magic Wood

We had to curtail our visit as we needed to head off in plenty of time for high tide at Dongtai, around 40kms north along the coast. But walking back to the bus I heard a Siberian Rubythroat call and with a little effort we enjoyed prolonged views of a superb male singing right out in the open. Wow! I never get tired of seeing this cracker.

Siberian Rubythroat showed very well this morning..

So we drove up to the coastal wader mecca of Dongtai, as yesterday a count had been made of 34 Spoon-billed Sandpipers, a bird very high on most of the group’s wish-list. Well upon arrival the tide was way out and we had around 3 hours to wait for high-tide, so explored the area along the road. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many Saunders’s Gulls here and we had terrific views throughout the day of many, many individuals. 

Saunders's Gull

A Chestnut-eared Bunting took a little digging out along the embankment and eventually eluded us, but a female Black-faced Bunting was seen during the search. A good bit of scope work resulted in distant males of both Pied and Eastern Marsh Harriers quartering the grassland. We drove closer for better views and then had lunch.

The search for Spoonie begins....

By now the tide was coming in quite quickly so we donned the dreaded ‘wellies’ and walked out across the mudflats towards the shoreline and after a bit of phaffing around and a long, tiring walk eventually managed to get close enough to begin the search for Spoonie. With a high wind and bad heat haze it was very tricky and only Gary and Michael, who had separated from the rest of us, managed to find a Spoonie initially. It was all very frustrating really and we were continually back-peddling as the water was rising quickly. There were lots of shorebirds and all in fine breeding-plumage such as Great Knot, Dunlin, Lesser Sandplovers, Red-necked Stints, and a few Oystercatchers of the scarce eastern race…

Eurasian Oystercatcher

Another Saunders's Gull

Spot the Nordman's Greenshanks....

Once we had returned to the seawall and the shorebirds and flown off inland we drove back along the seawall road and found a large gathering of waders with 9 Nordmann’s Greenshanks present. Must admit it was a relief to nail one of the ‘big three’ and the views were pretty good. In this flock were lots of breeding-plumage Bar-tailed Godwits, Terek Sandpipers, Lesser Sandplovers, Red and Great Knots, and Curlew Sandpipers. In fact we spent quite a while watching this group before the tide reached its highest point here. So we then drove back and walked down to the lagoon on the landward side of the seawall in a continuing search for Spoonie. A large flock of waders were present but out of reach and roosting on a sandy area that was cut-off to us by a deep channel, so we had to content ourselves with some closer Terek Sandpipers, in fact there were around 50+ of them here.

Terek Sandpipers were very common here

Once the waders began flying back out onto the mudflats as the tide receded we walked out once more and yomped towards the by now distant shoreline. Loads of birds were avidly feeding and after we had walked maybe just over half a kilometre out we began scanning. After quite a long time and a bit of repositioning a superb summer-plumaged Spoon-billed Sandpiper was found and we scoped the little beauty for a while. Frustratingly the group of Red-necked Stints it was with flew off, along with it, and we had to walk further out to find another one. Well it didn’t take too long and another individual was found, and this time we had prolonged views as it fed on the mudflats. The feeling of relief was palpable and after high-fives and quite some time with the spoony we returned to the bus rather elated.

Spoon-billed Sandpiper - the very left-hand bird..... Honest!

But we weren’t done yet and walked along the road bordered by trees either side and scored with Asian Stubtail and Northern Boobook after good work by Gary and Michael ‘going in’. What a day!

Migration Magic Continues....

We returned to the coast this morning, stopping to look at a Yellow Bittern along the way, and walked along the track through the reeds again, which turned out to be quite productive as we found a couple of Pechora Pipits picking their way along the side of the track in front of us. 

Pechora Pipit - a much wanted crippler...

We also saw a couple of Pallas’s Reed Buntings as well to really add a splash of quality to the walk. Other birds seen along here included Bluethroat, Black-faced Bunting, an obliging Pale Thrush, Reed Parrotbill, Oriental Skylark, and a cooperative Manchurian Bush-Warbler was called in as well.

Manchurian Bush Warbler

We drove back along the coast road to the same pool as yesterday and new birds this time included a drake Mandarin Duck, brief Baillon’s Crake for some, and a few Eastern Black-tailed Godwits as well. I particularly liked the fact that Chinese Egret was ignored this morning!

Any patch of trees or bushes can hold migrants,,,

Then we had a picnic breakfast back at the convention centre and although most of yesterdays birds had moved out overnight there were some new quality birds such as Blue-and-white Flycatcher, male Siberian Blue Robin for a few of the group and a pair of Red-billed Starlings. 

Blue-and-white Flycatcher......

Several Yellow-browed Warblers were singing here, a lone Eastern Crowned Warbler was seen, and overhead Pacific Swifts and Asian House Martins flew by. Just as we were about to leave and head out on our 4 hour drive to Yangkou the Siberian Blue Robin appeared again in front of some Chinese bird photographers so we had better views this time and now everyone in the group got to see this little beauty. 

Siberian Blue Robin

As we returned to the coaster Viv spotted a flock of Japanese White-eyes feeding in a large tree. And that was our time at Nanhui done.

Following a drive of a little over four hours we reached Yangkou around 1.30pm and had lunch in a restaurant before driving to the famous Temple Wood, one of the premier migration hotspots in the region. It’s only the size of a football pitch and despite this being a ‘quiet’ day, was jumping with birds. It was all very exciting really as no sooner had we entered the wood than we were confronted with 2 male and a female Blue-and-white Flycatchers, 3 Mugimaki Flycatchers, a fine male Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Claudia’s Warbler, Pale-legged Leaf-Warbler and numerous Yellow-browed Warblers. 

Yellow-browed Warbler

Further searching revealed lots of Tristram’s Buntings, lots of Red-billed Starlings, a few Pallas’s Warblers, and best of all a Rufous-tailed Robin. A few Eye-browed Thrushes were moving around the area, a Eurasian Hoopoe flew by a couple of times….

Tristram's Bunting

A ten minute drive saw us at what is known as Magic Wood and it was a lot quieter here than I expected but things soon livened up and we witnessed a fall of Grey-streaked Flycatchers (around 50+ were seen), and 100+ Chinese Grosbeaks were estimated here as well this afternoon. At one stage I heard a call and suspected it was a Little Curlew, so we scanned the sandy field next to us but only initially saw a flock of Whimbrel, but when they flew a smaller bird joined them and in the end we saw 3 Little Curlews in flight. 

Little Curlew with Whimbrel.

We walked out to where we thought they had landed but they were very flighty and flew again. It wasn’t until walking back to the coach much later that we finally had decent and tickable views. What a bird. We also saw a pair of Grey-headed Lapwings in the same area as well, plus 2 Dusky Thrushes were feeding out in the open. 

Grey-headed Lapwing.

Also in the wood were a few Oriental Turtle-Doves, several Asian Azure-winged Magpies, Red-billed Blue Magpie and more ‘phylloscs’, Blue-and-white Flycatcher, male Siberian Rubythroat, female Siberian Blue Robin, 10+ Olive-backed Pipits, both Japanese and the endemic Yellow-bellied Tit, White-cheeked Starling and plenty of Tristram’s Buntings. Back at the bus we saw a Little Bunting and also heard 2 Rufous-tailed Robins singing. 

Little Bunting.

It had been a thoroughly enjoyable day with more quality sightings of what we in the UK term ‘Sibe vagrants’. Really loving the birding here…!

SE China - Migrant Hunting Begins.....

Following an 11 hour overnight direct flight with Virgin Atlantic we arrived in Shanghai Pudong Airport around 9.20am and were soon on our way to the area known as Nanhui, just around an hours drive away. After check-in and lunch at a pretty decent hotel we drove to the nearby coast and had our first crack at some migrants. A few Yellow-browed Warblers were joined by a single Pallas’s Warbler skulking in some tall grass beside the road and a rather annoying high NW wind was to remain with us for the rest of the afternoon. We also saw our first Vinous-throated Parrotbills here, and this species would prove to be quite common throughout the tour, but a female Narcissus Flycatcher was a little more of an i.d challenge and a Chestnut Bulbul was a little off course. 

Narcissus Flycatcher (female)

Yet pride of place went to a breeding-plumaged Chinese Egret feeding in a ditch beside the mudflats, and a Black-tailed Gull was also spotted perched on a buoy. Oh yes! We moved down the road a short distance to overlook a vast reedbed where a stonking Reed Parrotbill flew in below our vantage point and we had great views, although much better was to come when we followed a dirt track into the reeds. 

The Chinese endemic Reed Parrotbill - like a Bearded Reedling on steroids!

We could also hear Japanese Swamp Warblers (also known as Marsh Grassbird) singing but they were also keeping their heads down and it looked like they wouldn’t show at all in the strong breeze. But once on the dirt track that runs across this vast area we noticed that this spot was a little more sheltered and after a brief burst of song from the ipod a Japanese Swamp Warbler flew straight in and sang back at us for several minutes, moving between some tall reed stems right out in the open. 

Marsh Grassbird gave crippling views.

This was my best views ever and we could fully appreciate this little beauty for a change! Then a pair of Chinese Grosbeaks appeared and an Eye-browed Thrush flew into dense cover, not to be seen again. It was just a shame that a Manchurian Bush Warbler failed to show at the same spot – but we’d have better chances over the next few days in Rudong.

Birding at Nanhui

Searching for Waders

So with the 2 key target species done and dusted we set about building an impressive shorebird list and began with a flock of 11 Grey-tailed Tattlers roosting in a small pool below the road. 

Grey-tailed Tattlers

Out on the mudflats there weren’t that many birds but a small group of Red-necked Stints was much appreciated. But check this out – just a little further along the road was a moderately-sized pool surrounded by reeds and here we saw 3 Chinese Egrets, Purple Heron, 3 Long-toed Stints, a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, 3 Terek Sandpipers, 20+ Marsh Sandpipers, several immaculate breeding-plumaged Spotted Redshanks and Curlew Sandpipers, a pair of Garganey, 2 Pheasant-tailed Jacanas, Citrine Wagtail, and best of all – a pair of Black-faced Spoonbills. Amazingly, there were another 23 spoonbills out on the mudflats behind us as well. Not a bad haul huh?

Quite a unique photo - Chinese Egret with Black-faced Spoonbills

2 more Chinese Egrets

With the lure of more migrant passerines up ahead we drove a couple of minutes to a nice area of tall dense trees and bushes surrounding some type of convention centre and despite the large number of noisy locals enjoying the holiday still found an impressive array of goodies. Best of all was a Grey-crowned Warbler we watched feeding in a sheltered area for quite some time and I was pleased to hear it call on several occasions, as these seicercus warblers are really tricky. 

Note the slightly broken eye-ring just behind the eye of this Grey-crowned Warbler.

Grey-crowned Warbler

There were also a skulking Pale Thrush, a Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, several Eastern Crowned Warblers, Yellow-browed Warbler and eventually we nailed a couple of Pale-legged Leaf-Warblers as well. There was also Long-tailed Shrike, a couple more female Narcissus Flycatchers and an Asian Brown Flycatcher.

Eastern Crowned Warbler

Record shot of Pale-legged Leaf Warbler.

With the light fading fast we drove along the coast and walked between some large ponds, witnessing a large movement of Eastern Yellow Wagtails that including many of the attractive taivana subspecies. A LIttle Bunting showed briefly, a Whiskered Tern flew past, we found another Black-faced Spoonbill, 3 Terek Sandpipers flew over, watched an Oriental Reed Warbler singing, and finished with a Black-capped Kingfisher to round of an exciting introduction to our south-eastern China adventure.

Sulawesi & Halmahera September 2015

Our Sulawesi & Halmahera tour runs from 4th - 25th September this year and is a guaranteed departure. Our last tour saw 111 endemics visiting all the major birding sites including Lore Lindu, Tangkoko, Tambun, Dumoga Bone and are currently the only tour company taking groups to Lompobattang for the rare Lompobattang Flycatcher and is only found in southern Sulawesi in the surrounding hills.

The endemic-rich island of Halmahera is such an exciting place to visit and we base ourselves at Foli in search of Moluccan Owlet-Nightjar, Ivory-breasted Pitta and so much more.

For the tour itinerary - click here. 

For last year's tour report - click here.

Satanic Nightjar - Lore Lindu

Great-billed Kingfisher - Tangkoko

Ivory-breasted Pitta - Foli

Ivory-breasted Pitta - Foli

Lilac-cheeked Kingfisher - Tangkoko

Lompobattang Flycatcher - Sulawesi

Maleo - Tambun

Moluccan Megapode

Purple-bearded Bee-eater - Lore Lindu

Sulawesi Dwarf-Kingfisher

Sulawesi Scops-Owl

Sulawesi Pitta

Wallace's Standardwing