CHINA'S WETLANDS 5 – 18/22 NOVEMBER 2016 LEADER: HANNU JÄNNES China’s winter wetlands and woodlands always turn up lots of great birds, and, as always, our journey through this fascinating, but rapidly modernizing, country proved to be a highly successful one. The more spectacular species recorded were Oriental Stork (photo above by Simon Colenutt), Black-faced Spoonbill, Swan Geese (plus five other species of geese), the rapidly declining Baer's Pochard, Mandarin Duck (‘real’ ones!), Falcated Duck, Baikal Teal, the beautiful Scaly-sided Merganser, Amur Falcon, Pied Falconet, the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper, good numbers of Nordmann’s Greenshanks, seven species of cranes (including Black-necked, Sandhill, Hooded, White-naped, Red-crowned and Siberian), Saunders’s, Relict, Black-tailed, Mongolian and Siberian Gulls, Siberian Accentor, Mugimaki Flycatcher, Slaty-backed, Spotted and White- crowned Forktails, Collared Finchbill, Chestnut Bulbul, Eye-browed, Grey-backed, Red-throated, Pale, Naumann’s, Dusky, White's, Japanese and Chinese Thrushes, and Chinese Blackbird, 1 BirdQuest Tour Report: China's Wetlands www.birdquest-tours.com Beijing Babbler (a.k.a Chinese Hill Warbler), Marsh Grassbird, Black-streaked and Grey-sided Scimitar Babblers, Ashy-throated, Vinous-throated, Spot-breasted and Reed Parrotbills, Chinese Babax, Plain, Masked, White-browed, Greater Necklaced, Moustached and Elliot’s Laughingthrushes, Chinese Hwamei, Spectacled, Rusty-capped and Grey-hooded Fulvettas, White-collared Yuhina, Yellow-bellied Tit, Chinese Nuthatch, Chinese Penduline Tit, Chinese Grey Shrike, Asian Azure-winged Magpie, Red-billed Starling, Black-headed Greenfinch, Yellow-billed Grosbeak, and no fewer than thirteen species of buntings. Poor weather at Poyang Lake and some typhoon damage at Fuzhou Forest Park, lead us to tweak the itinerary a bit, and we spent two nights at Mt Emeifeng, famous for its pheasants, enjoying great views of Silver, Elliot’s and Koklass Pheasants plus Chinese Bamboo Partridge along with other exciting mountain birds. We also chanced by a Pacific Swallow in Fujian province, which is apparently only the second record for mainland China! The majestic Red-crowned Crane was one of the many avian highlights on this tour (Simon Colenutt). However, one should remember that the tour is not only an opportunity to see such desirable rare species, but also provides the chance to see great concentrations of many of them in evocative settings. Who could ever forget the sight of tens of the rare Siberian Cranes with smaller numbers of Hooded Cranes, Swan Geese and many other species at a wetland in Poyang, the large mixed flock of various ducks at the fish-pond in Yangchen, or the massive number of wildfowl at Caohai in a remote corner of Guizhou province. The infrastructure, compared with many other parts of China, is surprisingly good, with mostly excellent road conditions and good quality accommodation throughout the tour. Also this is really quite an easy tour, with not too much physical effort for anyone interested in impressive numbers of some of the most magnificent, often rare, birds that still survive our crowded planet. When we gathered at our pre-organised meeting point at Beijing airport early in the morning of day one, it turned out that Simon’s plane had been diverted to Shanghai due to the heavy fog that lay over Beijing. As there was no time to waste, we left our local guide to wait for Simon and headed for the Great Wall at Badaling for some of the target birds we needed in the Beijing region. During the sunny, but chilly morning we found Silver-throated Bushtits (a recent split from Long-tailed Tit), Plain Laughingthrushes, Beijing Babblers, a very showy flock of Vinous-throated Parrotbills, Chinese Nuthatch, and, best of all, a handful of Siberian Accentors, (this is the only Birdquest tour 2 BirdQuest Tour Report: China's Wetlands www.birdquest-tours.com Plain Laughingthrush and Beijing Babbler were two of the key species in the Beijing area (Alec Gillespie). Silver-throated Bushtit, a split from Long-tailed Tit (Simon Colenutt) and Vinous-throated Parrotbill (Alec Gillespie). where this species is regularly seen) and two Cinereous Vultures (a write-in). After an indifferent lunch at one of the many tourist restaurants in Badaling, Simon and our local guide caught up with us, and with the group now complete, we headed for the Yeyahu (Wigeon Lake) for some more birding. One of the first birds seen at the lake was a first-winter Black-legged Kittiwake flying around with Black-headed Gulls. Apparently this was only the seventh record for the Beijing area, but we didn’t stop for too long to admire this local rarity as we had a much bigger fish to fry. After a lengthy walk, we reached a massive watch tower, where we located our main target, a small flock of the rare and declining Baer’s Pochards in a small reed fringed pool. Other birds seen during the afternoon included several Ruddy Shelducks, two Common Goldeneyes, Black-necked Grebe, Oriental Turtle Doves, Chinese Grey Shrikes, gorgeous Azure-winged Magpies, a small flock of Silver-throated Bushtits, Pallas’s Reed Buntings, Kamchatka Gull and heard only Bearded Reedlings. We spent much of the next day at the Ming Tombs, where we saw a good selection of thrushes including Naumann's, Dusky and Red-throated, a total of six Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpeckers, 3 BirdQuest Tour Report: China's Wetlands www.birdquest-tours.com Siberian Accentor (Simon Colenutt) and Godlewski's Bunting (Alec Gillespie) at Ming Tombs in Beijing. Yellow-bellied Tits, our first Light-vented Bulbuls, several Chinese Nuthatch, large flocks of Bramblings and a male Chaffinch, a rare winter visitor to the Beijing area, and six species of buntings, including our first and only Godlewski's Bunting of the trip. To Simon’s great relief Siberian Accentor proved fairly common and good views and some decent photographs were obtained. Later we headed for downtown Beijing, and after an early dinner, boarded our fairly comfortable overnight train to Yancheng. After reaching Yangcheng at daybreak we were driven to Xinyanggang township, where we checked into our comfortable hotel and enjoyed a good noodle and baozi breakfast before heading out to bird at Yangcheng Crane Reserve with a local guide. The reserve stretches for well over 100 kilometres along the Yellow Sea coast, but only a small part is protected as a ‘core area’, and much agricultural and industrial activity goes on everywhere else! Our guide warned us that the continuous heavy rains had delayed the rice harvest and the cranes, which favour harvested rice paddies, would not be in the area where I wanted to go, but after negotiations he agreed to take us there. At the traditional crane area we worked the ditches and reed beds, which yielded Chestnut- eared, Pallas’s, Black-faced, Little, Lapland and even a single Yellow-breasted Bunting, splendid Reed Parrotbills, Chinese Grey Shrikes, Stjeneger’s Stonechats, two Merlins and Black-winged Kite. Later a check of the ‘crane fields’ produced a total of 29 Red-crowned Cranes, with some providing great views, and a flock of Common Cranes that included in their midst two Sandhills, a rare bird in eastern China, and one Hooded Crane. After lunch the weather detoriated dramatically and we spent the afternoon driving around the nature reserve in heavy rain and gale force wind without seeing a great deal! Next morning we headed for the fishponds south of the town. After last night’s rain the sky was still cloudy, and there was a very strong northerly wind, which together with the low temperature made the morning feel uncomfortably cold. Our first stop was at ponds where we admired a large mixed flock of Falcated Ducks and Gadwalls, a large roost of Black-crowned Night Herons, Vega (Mongolian) Gulls, one first-winter Black-tailed Gull, and couple of Common Reed Buntings (a rare sight on this itinerary). At another group of ponds, the bulk of a thousand strong flock of ducks was formed by Mallards and Northern Pintails, but after much scanning we also picked-up 50 or so Baikal Teal which were unfortunately quite distant. Other good birds at this site included Tundra 4 BirdQuest Tour Report: China's Wetlands www.birdquest-tours.com Baikal Teal and Reed Parrotbill were important target birds at Yangcheng (Simon Colenutt). Bean Geese, very acceptable views of Oriental Storks, two fine Red-crowned Cranes and tens of Common Cranes. Further along the road we discovered a much closer drake Baikal Teal in a flock with Chinese Spot-billed Ducks, which provided us good views and even photo-ops. On the way back for lunch we were able to photograph fly-by Oriental Storks. After lunch and some hassle at the hotel, it was time for some forest birding, which yielded, several Red-flanked Bluetails (including a gorgeous adult male), rather showy male and female Mugimaki Flycatchers, a flock of Yellow-billed Grosbeaks, a single Hawfinch, a couple of Pallas’s and Yellow-browed Warblers, Pale Thrush, two Chinese Thrushes for some, and several Olive-backed Pipits. On our last morning at Yangcheng we revisited the Red-crowned Cranes and had really great views of a total of around 60 birds during two hours birding. After this it was time to drive couple of hours south to the famous tidal mudflats near Yangkou. The tide was low and the water’s edge was several kilometres away, but we spent couple of hours checking tidal pools and channels seeing 43 Dalmatian Pelicans, a distant Short-eared Owl, many Caspian Terns, a few Lesser Sand Plovers, two Black-faced Spoonbills with Eurasian Spoonbills, Avocets, Dunlin and distant Greater Scaups.