China: Yancheng NNR

A great day at Yancheng National Nature Reserve began at a small park on the edge of town where we waited patiently for some Japanese Waxwings to appear. Unfortunately they failed to materialise but we did score with an unexpected party of Silver-throated Bushtits, Northern Red-flanked Bluetail, Eye-browed and Dusky Thrushes, a flock of Chinese Grosbeaks, Yellow-browed and Pallas’s Leaf Warblers, several Japanese Tits, and a Northern Red-flanked Bluetail for some of us. It was just a shame the male Japanese Thrush that flew over us didn’t land. From here we drove back into the reserve and found more Red-crowned Cranes than yesterday in the fields alongside the main track. In fact there was so much activity with hundreds of Common Cranes flying in to land in the surrounding fields, with little groups of Red-crowned Cranes arriving all the time. 

Better views of Red-crowned Cranes today.

It was quite a spectacle watching flocks of Common Cranes flying over

More Red-crowned Cranes flew in...

What a spectacle this was, and add to this groups of Great Cormorants, Tundra Bean Geese and thousands of ducks it was a very impressive spectacle indeed. Tang Jun then found a rare Sandhill Crane amongst a group of Common Cranes, and this bird has migrated the wrong way and should be in the USA so was quite a sighting. 

We did walk a fair way this morning and headed to the first bridge before Derek and I trudged across a stubble field in the hopes of finding Japanese Quail. No such luck but our first spectacular Oriental Stork of the tour flew low, right over our heads. 

Our first Oriental Stork

And there was the first of many Little Buntings to be seen today, as well as Eurasian Bittern, Red-throated Pipit, Merlin and hundreds of Common Reed Buntings along the path. In fact we spent quite some time sifting through the buntings and picked up a Yellow-browed, several Rustics, Black-faced and a rare Yellow-breasted Bunting. We then drove back to the approach road and walked alongside a line of trees where I found another Sandhill Crane, but the walk is best remembered for the crippling Eye-browed and especially a confiding male Pale Thrush we had. And many more Little Buntings, and a surprising female Chestnut Bunting as well.

Eye-browed Thrush

Pale Thrush

After lunch we drove to the fishponds but there weren’t many ducks on the water and rather frustratingly we saw thousands flying off into the distance and dropping down into the closed area of the reserve, Despite this there was a fine drake Falcated Duck, as well as our first Northern Lapwings. So we decided to drive back to the small park and this turned out to be a good move as we had much better views of Red-flanked Bluetail than this morning, along with Olive-backed Pipit and at dusk hundreds (at least 700+) Dusky Thrushes were flying in to roost, which made for a very impressive spectacle.

China: Yancheng NNR

After a very long night’s sleep we returned to the same area of coastline this morning with the intention of searching through the duck flocks. Those people that know me are aware of my dislike for ducks but still I tried and must admit I enjoyed seeing numerous Falcated Ducks in better light, amongst the flocks of other commoner species. But the bund we were viewing from had grass and trees on the landward side and we pulled out a cracking Meadow Bunting and a couple of Pallas’s Leaf Warblers that showed rather well. Out on the mudflats a pair of Black-faced Spoonbills posed nicely and then we got distracted with some visible migration (vis mig) with numerous passerines flying overhead. These included Bramblings (and we’d see some big flocks later this morning), Oriental Skylarks and some unidentified buntings. Some Chinese Penduline Tits flew over but then I managed to call in a small party from the reedbed below us and these little crackers gave mind-boggling close views.

Chinese Penduline Tits

A flock of Vinous-throated Parrotbills also came in to check us out and as I wandered across the marsh a Japanese Reed Bunting hopped up onto the reeds and we spent the next half an hour trying to get decent views, which we did in the end. It was at this point that an immature Amur Falcon flew right over our heads – a very late migrating bird, although I’ve heard of a few sightings at Nanhui near Shanghai this week as well. A few Pale Thrushes were moving through the trees as well, but then a Rustic Bunting showed amazingly well down to about a metre away. 

Rustic Bunting

And I’d almost forgotten about the flock of Tundra Bean Geese here as well. Absolutely stunning! With time slipping away we drove on further along the coastline and stopped to view a group of Pied Avocets that were in company with some gulls. They proved to be Black-headed Gulls, but after further scrutiny we realised there were at least 5 Saunders’s Gulls present as well. When I heard a Brown-cheeked Rail calling we walked further along the road to view a marsh area, but despite playing the call it never showed. However, Derek found a Chestnut-eared Bunting and we enjoyed great views of at least 3 birds, along with our first Pallas’s Reed Buntings and another Japanese Reed Bunting, plus Mongolian and Heuglin’s Gulls and a flock of Eurasian Spoonbills. 

Chestnut-eared Bunting

A distant Pallas's Reed Bunting

Dragging ourselves away from here we jumped on board the bus and started driving to Yancheng, passing through lots of woodland that would be superb in the spring migration period. And there were quite a few Dusky Thrushes on the muddy track before we reached the main highway. After a two hour drive we reached our hotel and dived straight into the restaurant across the street. I wasn’t sure what to expect of this hotel as it was in such a small town but it turned out to be rather good. 

Anyway, after lunch we drove just 20 minutes away to Yancheng Reserve and started driving along a dirt track. We hadn’t got far when our first cranes were spotted and we all jumped out of the coach rather excitedly. Across the field was a family of 2 adult and 2 immature Red-crowned Cranes – but I prefer their other name of Japanese Crane. What an elegant bird they are. I didn’t realise just how big they are until a short while later when a Grey Heron flew past them and was totally dwarfed. We watched the cranes for a while, practically ignoring a couple families of Common Cranes nearby. In the trees behind us it was hard to ignore a flock of Rustic Buntings, a Daurian Redstart and a Little Bunting. 

Reed Parrotbills

Walking on we came across a group of Reed Parrotbills – like Bearded Tits on steroids, this Chinese endemic gave excellent close views. Then a few Black-faced Buntings appeared – our 7^th bunting species of the day. And just around the corner we came across a flock of 35+ Red-crowned Cranes and this time they were much closer. 

Red-crowned Cranes

There were also a few more Pallas’s Reed Buntings along the ditch next to us, a Hen Harrier flew by and a Trumpeter Swan flew over. So we spent quite a while watching and photographing the cranes, but it was a shame the weather was so dull, grey and overcast. But at least it was dry! We walked on further, seeing a flock of 10 Reed Parrotbills, as well as Black-crowned Night-heron and Eurasian Hoopoe before it got dark at just after 5pm and we returned the short distance to our hotel. What a day!

China: Shanghai - Rudong

After the Ghana tour I had a few days at home before heading to China for a brand new Zoothera tour. I've been travelling to China for many years now but have never had the chance to bring a group in the winter. Well that was all going to change now and it turned out to be a fantastic adventure! 

We had a ten hour direct, overnight flight with Virgin Atlantic and landed just over half an hour late in Shanghai at 8.30am and met up with our guide and my good friend Tang Jun. We then drove north towards Rudong and kept on going for another 50kms further up the coast… A quick stop for our first meal in China was made and then we were off again and driving to the coast where we discovered that the tide was already receding. Everyone was out from the bus quickly and we were all scanning the shorebirds feeding below us. After a few minutes we found a Spoon-billed Sandpiper, the main bird we had come to see at this site.

After a few frantic directions our scopes were trained on the bird and not one but two spoonies. This is such a star bird and even though I see them every year, the thrill is always there. And if it’s a lifer for you, well what better way to start a tour than this. We spent quite some time watching them, before getting distracted by a few Black-faced Spoonbills, before going down the slippery path of gull identification. We had both Vega and Heuglin’s Gulls side-by-side but the lure of more shorebirds was rather compelling. There were a few Red-necked Stints and plenty of commoner waders, but the 15 Dalmatian Pelicans were something of a surprise to say the least.

So from here we drove on along the coastal road, stopping frequently to scan through flocks of ducks in the lagoon. The star birds were the Falcated Ducks amongst scores of more familiar waterfowl, but we also saw Black-necked Grebe, Greater Scaup and Eastern Spot-billed Duck as well. The light was poor by now and the grey, leaden skies cast a grey cast over everything but at our last stop our spirits were lifted by firstly a Dusky Thrush, which was joined a short while later by a Pale Thrush. And that was the end of the day as the deteriorating light stopped us scanning through a large flock of Eurasian Curlew for something better. So with it getting too dark to continue birding at 5pm we headed to a nearby hotel for the night. We'd originally been booked at a hotel near Yancheng but that was still another 3 - 4 hours drive away, but thanks to Tang Jun we were able to switch to this great hotel, just 30 minutes away.   

Ghana Day 19: Shai Hills

For our final morning’s birding we visited the Shai Hills, a drive of around an hour from the hotel. Of course, breakfast was at the usual time of 5am – as it has been every morning, apart from one we had at 5.30am!. This is a nice, easy way to end the tour as its along a level, wide trail through the grassland and bushes. The first bird of note was Blackcap Babbler, followed by brief views of Buff-spotted Woodpecker. At some cliffs we saw 4 White-crowned Cliff-Chats, Lead-coloured Flycatcher, Bearded Barbet, Lesser Honeyguide, Siffling Cisticola and Cardinal Woodpecker. Moving on to the grassland there were many Croaking Cisticolas, but our views of a pair of Red-necked Buzzards take some beating as they displayed right over our heads. 

Red-necked Buzzard - at last!

Chris had a brief view of Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat, whilst a Yellow-throated Longclaw flew into a nearby tree and posed very nicely indeed - but not close enough for my little pea-shooter of a camera to get a decent image... 

Yellow-throated Longclaw

There was also a flock of White-crested Helmet-Shrikes moving through and Yellow-mantled Widowbird. At the bat caves Anthony spotted a Barn Owl roosting high up in some tall trees and we spent some time admiring this fine bird. 

Western Barn Owl

As we drove back out a random stop produced Greater Honeyguide and Plain-backed Pipit to wrap up proceedings here. And that was it, our final birding in fabulous Ghana. We'd notch up 442 species during our action-packed ride across most of the currently known birding hot-spots. Our success was mainly down to our cracking local guide, Paul Mensah, whose extremely sharp eyes, keen hearing and local bird knowledge are hard to beat. We'd also had a great group as well, which always helps! I'm really looking forward to returning next year!

Ghana Day 18: Atewa Farmbush - Sakumono Lagoon

We weren’t expecting much from this morning but you can never tell. And so we were proved wrong as we had nice views of several Red-headed Quelea feeding in a small marshy area. There was also Little Greenbul, Whistling Cisticola, Northern Grosbeak Weaver, and both Diederik and African Emerald Cuckoos. 

Little Greenbul

Then we took a different track down to another marshy area where West African Wattle-eye was seen en-route. 

West African (Chestnut) Wattle-Eye

We were looking for Compact Weaver, a bird that had eluded us until this morning when we found a small group feeding, although it took a while for everyone to get on to the male. There was also Marsh Tchagra, Levaillant’s Cuckoo, Western Bluebill, Little Bee-eater and Red-vented Malimbe here as well. Our last stop produced a Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle and for the hardy few that walked up the hill a little were rewarded with fine views of a Black-throated Coucal.

After lunch we drove towards Accra, stopping at Sakumono Lagoon but due to strong winds the birding here was difficult and most of the birds were distant. But we still saw Northern Pintail, Yellow Wagtail, Grey Plover, Wood Sandpiper, Reed Cormorant, Squacco Heron, Western Marsh Harrier and others. We were glad of an early finish today and some extra time at the hotel for a change!