Siberian Cranes at Lake Poyang (Hannu Jännes)

CHINA'S WETLANDS 9–23/27 NOVEMBER 2013 LEADER: HANNU JÄNNES

The wonderful winter wetlands and woodlands of China always turn up lots of great birds, and, as always, our journey through this fascinating and rapidly modernizing country proved to be a highly successful one. The more spectacular species recorded were Oriental Stork, Black-faced Spoonbill, Swan and Lesser Whitefronted Geese (plus six other species of geese), Mandarin Duck (‘real’ ones!), Falcated Duck, Baikal Teal , the beautiful Scaly-sided Merganser, Pied Falconet, Silver Pheasant, the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper, seven species of cranes (including Black-necked, Hooded, White-naped, Red-crowned, Sandhill and Siberian), Saunders’s, Mongolian, Siberian and Vega Gulls, Himalayan Owl, Siberian Accentor, Mugimaki Flycatcher, Spotted Wren-babbler, Slaty-backed and White-crowned Forktails, Collared Finchbill, Chestnut Bulbul, Grey-backed, Eye-browed, Pale, Red-throated, Naumann’s, Dusky and Chinese Thrushes, Grey-winged and Chinese Blackbirds, Chinese Hill Warbler, Japanese Swamp Warbler, Black-streaked and Grey-sided Scimitar Babblers, Ashy-throated, Vinous-throated, Grey-headed and Reed Parrotbills, Chinese Babax, Père David’s, White-browed and Elliot’s Laughingthrushes, Hwamei, Spectacled and Grey-hooded Fulvettas, White-collared Yuhina, Yellow-bellied Tit, Chinese Nuthatch, Chinese Penduline Tit, Fork-tailed Sunbird, Chinese Grey Shrike, Asian Azure-winged Magpie, Red-billed Starling, Black-headed Greenfinch, Yellow-billed Grosbeak, and no fewer than ten species of buntings. 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 several hundred of the rare Siberian Cranes with smaller numbers of Hooded Cranes, Swan Geese and many other species at a wetland in Poyang, the mixed flock of five different species of crane on a single field in Yangchen, or the massive number of wildfowl at Caohai in the remote corner of Guizhou province.

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We had great views of the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper at Shanyutan in Fuzhou (Mark Beaman, Hannu Jännes).

This was my first visit to many of the sites on this tour, and, after years of guiding in other parts of China, I was positively surprised by the good infrastructure, with mostly excellent road conditions and good quality accommodation throughout the tour. This is a really 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 on our crowded planet.

Our tour began in Beijing with a combined birding and sightseeing visit to the Great Wall at Badaling, where we spent the latter part of our first day. As usually the impressive Great Wall was crowded with tourists, and apart a short walk on the wall, we spent the rest of our time birding quiet side trails, where we enjoyed great birds including Naumann's Thrush, Siberian Accentor, Pere David's Laughingthrush, Marsh, Songar, Yellowbellied and Japanese Tits, Chinese Nuthatch, a superb flock of Vinaceous-throated Parrotbills, Blue Magpies, many Bramblings and Grey-capped Greenfinches. Our first dinner together at our hotel in the evening was a great experience with some of the best food of the tour. The next day began with birding the Ming Tombs area, where we obtained great views of our main objective, the endemic Chinese Hill Warbler (now treated as a sylviid babbler, not a warbler), but only after a rather protracted chase! Other good birds seen in the rather cold and windy, but sunny, weather included several Yellow-throated Buntings, great views of Dusky and Red-throated Thrush, Great Spotted and Grey-headed Woodpeckers, Chinese Bulbuls and a confiding Pallas's Leaf Warbler. In the evening, after a meal at an upmarket hotel in down town Beijing, we boarded our overnight train to Yangchen. After some initial hassle, which included finding a place for our oversized luggage, which in the ended up in the wash room of the train, we all settled in to our sleeping compartments and enjoyed decent night’s sleep.

Yellow-throated Bunting and Pere David's Laughingthrush at Badaling (Geoff Tassell, Trond Aspelund).

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The endemic Reed Parrotbill was common at Yangchang (Trond Aspelund).

There was further hassle deporting the train, which stopped for only four minutes at the station, then transporting ourselves to Xinyanggang township and checking into our hotel, where we enjoyed our first Chinese breakfast. Then we were able to get down to birding at the Yangchen Crane Reserve, which stretches for well over 100 kilometres along the Yellow Sea coast, but only a small part of this area is protected as the ‘core area’, and much agricultural and industrial activity goes on everywhere else! Our walk along a road through the vast reed beds with large areas of open water produced several Baikal Teal, Falcated Ducks and Smew among thousands of commoner species of wildfowl, several Great Bitterns, many Spotted Redshanks and Black-tailed Godwits, a few Red-necked Stints, a distant dowitcher, which was most probably Long-billed Dowitcher, a rare bird in China, excellent views of Reed Parrotbill, a Chinese endemic and lifer for the leader, many Pallas’s Reed Buntings and a few Green-headed Wagtails. The sky was filled with hundreds of Tundra Bean Geese and Common Cranes, and amongst them we spotted three Redcrowned Cranes, four Sandhill Cranes and a lone Siberian Crane, which was obviously the most unexpected of all the cranes we had seen during the day as it even excited our seasoned local guide! A short afternoon session in a nearby patch of forest brought us Siberian Rubythroat, two Northern Red-flanked Bluetails, both Eye-browed and Pale Thrushes, Yellow-throated Bunting, an obliging Dusky Warbler and a beautiful Chinese Grey Shrike. The next day at Yangcheng we began near the Reed Factory, where our main objective was to find cranes, especially the majestic Red-crowned Crane, which we would not see later on the tour, on the ground. With the aid of local people we soon located the core area of crane activity, and soon found a lone Siberian Crane and two Hooded Cranes, a fifth crane species of the trip, among the hundreds of Common Cranes. After we had all obtained good scope views of them, Ken located yet another crane species, a group of five Sandhill Cranes (three adults and two juveniles) in exactly the same spot where the Hooded Cranes had been seen a moment earlier! Other birds seen during the morning included Merlin, Black-faced Bunting, really showy Reed Parrotbills, Bluethroat, our first perched Chinese Penduline Tits, Amur Wagtail, several Lapland Buntings, four Greater White-fronted Geese, another group of Hooded Cranes (four adults and two juveniles) and hundreds of Tundra Bean Geese. As we still wanted better views of the Red-crowned Cranes, we drove through some agricultural areas, and soon located a family party of four birds, but as soon as we stopped our vehicle, they took off and flew past us. Great flight views, but we still needed them on the deck! Before lunch we visited a well wooded park where we soon located four roosting Long-eared Owls, a flock of five Chinese Grosbeaks, Chinese Blackbirds, Eye-browed Thrush, Northern Red-flanked Bluetail, and, best of all, two different Mugimaki Flycatchers one of which was a fine male. After lunch we headed to an area of fishponds, where the highlight was a family party of three Red-crowned Cranes, which gave us great views. In addition we saw a lone Oriental Stork, one Greater Black-headed Gull, both Ruddy and Common

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Dusky Warbler and Stjneger's Stonechat, a recent split from Siberian Stonechat (Trond Aspelund).

Shelducks, three Japanese Quails and several Baikal Teal. In the evening we drove to the city of Huang Sha Gang for the night. After an interesting breakfast in a local café we continued our journey to Yangkou, a fishing port with easy access to sea shore, where we were hoping to see some interesting gulls loafing around, and perhaps some late migrating or wintering waders and passerines. We reached the sea shore couple of hours after the high tide, but still managed to find big numbers of mostly distant waders including Lesser Sand Plover and two distant Saunders’s Gulls, both new species for us. Next morning, after another very interesting Chinese breakfast, and despite the rather murky, drizzly weather, we made an early start to watch the fast rising tide push flocks of waders closer to us. During the morning we saw many waders including our first Terek Sandpipers, Great Knots, a few Far Eastern Curlews among many Eurasian Curlews, a first winter Saunders’s Gull, two Meadow Buntings, and Vega and Heuglin’s Gulls. Later we drove to Pudong airport at Shanghai, and took a flight south to Changle airport near Fuzhou, in Fujian province, where we arrived half an hour late at 18.30. At Changle we were met by our birding guide, Mr. Tan and an interpreter, who took us to our nice hotel. Next morning we visited the Mingjiang Estuary of Spoon-billed Sandpiper and Chinese Crested Tern fame. The tern would not be present at this time of the year, but there was an excellent chance of the sandpiper! The weather conditions, with a murky sky, light rain showers and a strong wind was anything but helpful, but we had no option other than to give it a go. We arrived on the island of Shanyutan at the high tide and had to wait for couple of hours before the favorite habitat of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper was revealed by the receding waters. Meanwhile we scanned the beach and nearby bay spotting several nice species including Red-billed Starling, many Black-faced Spoonbills, Bar-tailed Godwits, two dense rafts of Swan Geese, a male Baikal Teal, Bewick’s Swans and a flock of 22 Saunders’s Gulls. When the tide finally started to retreat we scanned hard through flocks of hundreds of fast moving small waders including mainly Dunlins, Kentish Plovers and Sanderlings. The first half an hour proved fruitless, but then suddenly we located three beautiful Spoon-billed Sandpipers right in front of us providing great scope views for everyone. What a thrill! After admiring these very special birds for until they disappeared we had time to check other waders too and had good views of Greater Sand Plover and the distinct, taxonomically interesting, White-faced (or Swinhoe's) Plover. In the afternoon we headed for the Wen Wu Sha area where we began by checking a huge seawall and finding Blue Rock Thrush, a new bird, and later, in another area, scoring Black-collared Starling, a brief Masked Laughingthrush, Black-faced Buntings, the strange looking dark morph of Long-tailed Shrike, our first Richard’s Pipit and a Wood Sandpiper, before it was time to head back to our hotel. The following morning we visited an area of tidal flats surrounded by a seawall and fish ponds. It wasn’t quite as productive as our local guide had expected, but we still found good birds including several Saunders’s Gulls, Richard’s Pipits showing well, Intermediate Egret, Northern Lapwing and Gull-billed Tern. Then it was

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time to head for Fuzhou Forest Park, a pleasant, albeit rather crowded, forest area at the base of the mountains right next to Fuzhou City. Our afternoon birding in various parts of the main valley produced

Boating in Fuzhou (Trond Aspelund).

several splendid Fork-tailed Sunbirds, Fire-breasted Flowerpeckers, a displaying Crested Goshawk, Chestnut Bulbul, Huet’s Fulvetta (a split from Grey-cheeked Fulvetta), Southern Grey Tit, two male Mugimaki Flycatchers, Grey Treepies, Slaty-backed Forktail , a female Plumbeous Redstart, a heard only Lesser Shortwing, Grey-sided Scimitar Babbler and Great Barbet. The next morning we were up at dawn, well before the crowds arrived at the forest park, checking various promising looking areas, and had a marvelous time with some great birds. Highlights of a beautiful morning included an amazingly showy Spotted Wren-babbler that gave us multiple photo-opportunities, a pair of Streak-breasted Scimitar Babblers, a group of Large Woodshrikes, Orange-bellied Leafbirds, Scarlet Minivets, Black-throated Tits, White-bellied Erpornis, Indo-chinese Yuhina (split from Striated Yuhina), Greycapped Pygmy Woodpecker, Greater Coucal, White-crowned and Slaty-backed Forktails and Scaly-bellied Munias. In addition we heard Chinese Bamboo Partridge, several White-necklaced Partridges and a Collared Owlet. After lunch it was time to head for the railway station and board our train to Nanchang. The boarding, potentially a pretty nerve wracking operation with all the big luggage, went very smoothly thanks to the three porters that took care of our heavy packs. Thanks to the very fast and comfortable train connection we reached Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi Province, situated ca. 450 kilometers NW of Fuzhou in three and half hours. At Nanchang we were met by our local guide who helped us to check into our rather upmarket Galactic Peace International Hotel (great name!) and then took us to a local restaurant to enjoy local Nanchang cuisine. Next morning, after a good breakfast with many western elements, it was time to head for Poyang Lake stopping en route to watch confiding roadside Brown Crakes. At the reserve, situated at the edge of the huge Poyang Hu wetland complex, we were greeted by an abundance of birdlife including our first Taiga Bean Geese, flocks of beautiful Bewick’s Swans and Common Cranes. However, our search for one of the key species of Poyang area proved fruitless as we failed to find Baer’s Pochard despite carefully checking the area where the previous Birdquest tour had seen the species in good numbers in 2011. Perhaps it was too early in the season for them, or perhaps this year’s exceptionally low water levels at Poyang Lake complex

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had forced them to move somewhere else? We did however find our sixth species of crane, the elegant White-naped Crane, which flew over us when we visited a nearby village. After a picnic lunch we headed for

White-naped Cranes at Lake Poyang (Hannu Jännes).

another part of the wetland area, the little township of Wu Cheng, which would be our base for the next three nights. En route we stopped at a big lake teeming with birds including thousands of geese, many Oriental Storks and, in the far corner of the lake, a large white mass of birds formed by hundreds of Siberian Cranes and thousands of Bewick’s Swans! All these birds took off when a helicopter flew over the area providing us with an unforgettable sight! We checked into our surprisingly good hotel rather early, giving us the opportunity to potter around before it got dark, admiring the sunset over the Gan River and watching the many flat-bottomed barges ply the river on their way to Nanchang. As it was the peak of the rice harvest all the available bits of tarmac and concrete roads were covered with thick layer of rice seeds to dry in the sun. A true heaven for Tree Sparrows, Spotted Doves, Red-billed and White-cheeked Starlings, Crested Mynas, Yellow-billed Grosbeaks and munias! Today we took a wooden flat-bottomed boat and sailed for an hour upstream along the Xiu River and then walked along the opposite shore of the same lake we had checked yesterday afternoon. This time the number of birds was considerably lower, and the heat haze combined with a light mist made it very difficult to see anything. Rather disappointed we later checked another lake where we were entertained by large numbers of ducks including hundreds of Falcated Ducks. In addition we managed to find, after a search, a Japanese Marsh Warbler, which after many attempts gave reasonable views. We also flushed three Japanese Quails and saw a couple of Water Pipits. During the late afternoon we visited another lake in order to check the flock of diving ducks that we had seen there earlier, but unfortunately couldn't find any of the hoped for Baer's Pochards among the many Common Pochards and Tufted Ducks. However, we did get great views of Siberian Cranes and a single Oriental Stork. New day, new lakes! We sailed upstream of the river Gan, and checked a lake where the main attraction was a flock of 165 Oriental Storks, thousands of Black-tailed Godwits and large numbers of Spotted Redshanks. We also saw a Short-eared Owl, which was a new bird for us. Time was spent photographing the flocks of Siberian and White-naped Cranes that flew past us and we checked another wetland without result, before heading back to the lake we had already visited the previous afternoon. At the southern end of the lake we were met with the spectacle of over 200 Siberian Cranes, with a few Hooded and Common Cranes, plus many Swan Geese and Bewick's Swans, all showing very well in the beautiful afternoon light. More cranes and geese, including many Greater White-fronts, came in during our two hour stay here and we

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Crested Myna (Mike Rodegerdts).

had an enjoyable afternoon admiring all the birds whilst listening to their evocative wild sounds. Later we headed to the other end of the lake to have another look at the flock of diving ducks we had seen flying around and managed to find, among large numbers of Tufted Ducks and Common Pochards, three Ferruginous Ducks. The plan for our last morning at Wu Cheng was to take the boat and visit yet another wetland site, but due to the thick fog on the river we couldn't sail, and decided to leave the area earlier than planned. While waiting for our bus to arrive from Nanchang we pottered around the garden of our hotel scoring some interesting birds including Grey-backed Thrush, a new bird for us. Before we left Poyang behind for good, we decided to give the road side wetland one more go, as we still needed to see the Lesser White-fronted Goose. Our first vantage point produced two very distant Lesser White-fronts, among hundreds of other geese, well spotted by Mike, but they mysteriously vanished before all of us had seen them! Luckily the next stop produced a flock of nine much closer birds, which we all had time to admire, and further out we found a flock of 12 birds bringing the days total of Lesser White-fronts to 23. We also spent quite some time admiring a pair of close Siberian Cranes feeding their full crown off-spring begging food with its loud whining voice. The rest of the day was spent transporting ourselves to the city of Wuyuan, where we arrived at sunset. Wuyuan is situated in a very pretty part of eastern Jiangxi, an area of rolling wooded hills interspersed with cultivated valleys and clean rivers with many stony sections. Our first morning here saw us stop by one of the rivers where we started our day with a picnic breakfast, which included local doughnuts, bought from an old lady that happened to walk by with a basket full of these delicacies, and lovely plum jam. As the river was shrouded in thick fog, making it impossible to look out for our main target, the Scaly-sided Merganser, we decided to spend the first few hours of the morning checking the river side scrub and forest edges for anything interesting. This was a good decision as we pretty soon encountered two male Silver Pheasants gliding over the road and giving us really great flight views before disappearing into the riverside scrub. Other interesting birds during the morning included two flocks of Grey-headed Parrotbills, Collared Finchbills, a flock of six White-browed Laughingthrushes, several Eurasian Jays, heard only Rufous-faced Warbler, Black Eagle, Crested Goshawk and Chestnut Bulbul. When the fog finally cleared, we concentrated our attention to the river and found, after working hard, a male Scaly-sided Merganser, which gave good scope views. Another great bird seen on the river was Mandarin Duck, which was positively common. After a long morning

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We had a nice encounter with male Scaly-sided Merganser at Wuyuan (Hannu Jännes).

with some really great birds we headed to another small village, where we took a well-earned lunch break, and spent some time admiring a pair of Pied Falconet that were hunting insects above the roofs of the village. The latter part of the afternoon was spent checking some areas near the village and finding a group of three really obliging Hwameis, that responded amazingly well to our playback and gave great views for all of us. Other good birds here included several Yellow-browed Buntings and many Mandarin Ducks. Next morning saw us back at the Xin River, this time walking trails on the other side of the river, and finding some new birds like Rufous-faced Warbler and Rufous-capped Babbler. Before leaving Wuyuan behind us, we still had time for a short detour to a riverbed where we located a group of three Long-billed Plovers, a bird that is in steady decline owing to increased gravel extraction and other human activities along East Asia’s rivers. Then it was time to drive back to Nanchang airport, from where Stan and Mike started their homeward journey, and the rest of us continued to Guiyang in Guizhou province for more birding. We started our birding in Guiyang with a visit to a local park, which was supposed to be a good site for the endemic Black-bibbed Tit. The tit was nowhere to be found in the very windy and very crowded park, but we did locate two Red-tailed Minlas, several Black-eared Kites, Grey-headed and Grey-capped Woodpeckers, some East Siberian Wagtails, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Mountain Bulbul, Red-billed Leiothrix, White-collared and Indochinese Yuhinas, White-crowned River-chats and many Rhesus Macaques. After a quick lunch in Guiyang we spent the rest of the day travelling through the spectacular limestone karst 'wonderland' of western Guizhou, surely one of the scenic wonders of the world, to our next destination, the city of Weining where we arrived late in the evening. Our morning on the shores of the lake Caohai, the famous 'Sea of Grass', started in very windy and murky conditions, but nevertheless we managed to secure very good close-up views of several Black-necked Cranes and Bar-headed Geese, our seventh crane end eighth goose species of the trip, during the morning. Later we realized that our local guide had taken us to the wrong side of the lake, and it took us some time before we managed to locate the correct area for our afternoon birding. On the way we stopped at a small roadside restaurant where we enjoyed a very decent, non-spicy hot pot, apparently a favorite dish among local restaurant goers here. Our afternoon walk took us through a small village and patches of small woods to a high bank where we scanned the large Caohai Lake for anything interesting. The weather had changed radically now and it was sunny and very pleasant. The big lake was thronged with various ducks as far as you could see, and among the more interesting ones we spotted quite a few Falcated Ducks, some Red-

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White-browed Laughingthrush and Red-tailed Minla at Guiyang (Trond Aspelund).

crested Pochards and Ferruginous Ducks. The walk through the village produced nice Blue Whistling Thrush, several Perny's Squirrels and Grey-winged Blackbird, Grey-backed Shrike and our first Blackheaded Greenfinches. Also a few Tibetan Wagtails (the black-backed form of the Citrine Wagtail) were seen during the day. Later we visited yet another corner of the lake stopping en route to visit a colourful village market, which was full of local people staring at us with great curiosity! New birds in this part of the lake included a brief Yellow Bittern and female Russet Sparrow. Next morning it was time to visit the hidden valley of Yi, a small, charming "old style" village of Yi people, along the main road, where we enjoyed some really great birding with several new birds including Blackstreaked Scimitar-babblers, a confiding Chinese Thrush, Chestnut-vented Nuthatch, Elliot's Laughingthrush, Chinese Babax, Grey-hooded and a single Spectacled Fulvetta plus Little and Yellow-browed Buntings, Black-headed Greenfinch and many Russet Sparrows. After lunch we headed for the city of Shui Cheng, where we were staying for the night. As we still had some time for birding before sunset, we stopped en route at another small village finding Blue-fronted Redstart and Godlewski's Bunting, both new birds for our list. Then our attention was drawn to a small pine plantation where constant warning chatter by many tits, scimitar babblers and babaxes revealed an owl roosting deep inside a pine tree. Bit by bit we managed to see enough details of the bird to conclude that it was a Himalayan Owl, a very good bonus bird for the tour! We used a good part of our last morning to travel back to Guiyang airport for our afternoon flights, but still managed to squeeze in couple of short roadside birding stops en route, which rewarded us with Ashythroated Parrotbill and Buff-throated Warbler, both new birds for us. Time well spent! At the airport it was time to say thank-you to everyone for being such great company, which together with the magnificent birding and exciting places, combined to make this a most memorable tour. See you in 2014 perhaps?

Yellow-bellied Tit and Japanese Tit (Hannu Jännes).

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All images on this page by Trond Aspelund.

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A family party of Siberian Cranes at Lake Poyang (Mike Rodegerdts).

SYSTEMATIC LIST OF SPECIES RECORDED DURING THE TOUR The species names and taxonomy used in the report mostly follow Beaman, M. (1994) Palearctic Birds: A Checklist of the Birds of Europe, North Africa and Asia north of the foothills of the Himalayas. Some other names in widespread use are given in parentheses. Species which were heard but not seen are indicated by the symbol (H). Species which were only recorded by the leader are indicated by the symbol (LO). Species which were not personally recorded by the leader are indicated by the symbol (NL). Species marked with the diamond symbol (◊) are either endemic to the country or local region or considered ‘special’ birds for some other reason (e.g. it is only seen on one or two Birdquest tours; it is difficult to see across all or most of its range; the local form is endemic or restricted-range and may in future be treated as a full species). Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus Black-necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis (NL) One at Yangcheng. Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo Great Bittern Botaurus stellaris Yellow Bittern Ixobrychus sinensis Brief flight views of one at Caohai. Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax Common at Yangcheng, and two in Fuzhou. Eastern Cattle Egret Bubulcus coromandus Chinese Pond Heron Ardeola bacchus Little Egret Egretta garzetta Intermediate Egret Egretta intermedia One at Fuzhou. Eastern Great Egret Egretta modesta Grey Heron Ardea cinerea Purple Heron Ardea purpurea One at Nanjishan NR. Black Stork Ciconia nigra (NL) Two between Wuyuan and Nanchang by Ken. Oriental Stork ◊ Ciconia boyciana Rather common at Poyang, and one at Yangcheng. Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia

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Bar-headed Goose (Geoff Tassell) and Swan Goose (Hannu Jännes).

Black-faced Spoonbill ◊ Platalea minor 22 at the Ming River estuary. Bewick’s Swan ◊ Cygnus bewickii Up to 10 000 at Poyang. Small numbers elsewhere. Swan Goose ◊ Anser cygnoides Couple of big flocks in Fuzhou and common at Poyang. Taiga Bean Goose ◊ Anser fabalis Common at Poyang. Tundra Bean Goose ◊ Anser rossicus Common at Yangcheng. Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons Common at Poyang, also a few at Yangcheng. Lesser White-fronted Goose ◊ Anser erythropus A total of 23 at Poyang. Greylag Goose Anser anser Bar-headed Goose ◊ Anser indicus Common around Caohai in Guangxi. Brent Goose Branta bernicla One of the ssp nigricans at Poyang. Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna Mandarin Duck ◊ Aix galericulata Rather common at Wuyuan, and one at Caohai. Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope Falcated Duck ◊ Anas falcata Relatively widespread in small numbers, but flock of 200 at Poyang. Gadwall Anas strepera Baikal Teal ◊ Anas formosa A total of 36 at Yangcheng, and one in Fuzhou. Eurasian Teal Anas crecca Mallard Anas platyrhynchos Chinese Spot-billed Duck ◊ Anas zonorhyncha Northern Pintail Anas acuta Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata Red-crested Pochard* Netta rufina Six at Caohai. Common Pochard Aythya ferina Ferruginous Duck (F Pochard) Aythya nyroca Three at Poyang, and 24 at Caohai. Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula Greater Scaup Aythya marila Two at Yangcheng. Smew ◊ Mergellus albellus Handful of birds at Yangcheng. Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator One at Yangkou. Scaly-sided Merganser ◊ Mergus squamatus One male was sighted on two days at Wuyuan. Goosander (Common Merganser) Mergus merganser Black-eared Kite Milvus [migrans] lineatus Noted in small numbers in Guangxi. See note. Eastern Marsh Harrier Circus spilonotus Scattered records of small numbers. Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis One at Yangcheng. Eurasian Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus Crested Goshawk Accipiter trivirgatus Noted in Fuzhou and Wuyuan. Japanese Buzzard Buteo japonicus Black Eagle Ictinaetus malayensis Two in Wuyuan. Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus Two in Fuzhou. See note.

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Black Eagle at Wuyuan (Trond Aspelund).

Pied Falconet ◊ Microhierax melanoleucos Two, a pair, showing very well in the Wuyuan area. Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus Merlin Falco columbarius One at Yangcheng. Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus A few were noted. White-necklaced Partridge ◊ Arborophila gingica (H) Three were heard at Fuzhou Forest Park. Japanese Quail ◊ Coturnix japonica Three at Yangcheng and three at Poyang. Chinese Bamboo Partridge ◊ Bambusicola thoracica (H) Heard in Fuzhou and Wuyuan. Silver Pheasant Lophura nycthemera Nice views of two males at Wuyuan. Common Pheasant (Ring-necked P) Phasianus colchicus Brown-eared (Eastern Water) Rail ◊ Rallus indicus (H) Heard at Yangcheng. Brown Crake ◊ Amaurornis akool Small numbers in the Poyang area, and one at Wuyuan. White-breasted Waterhen Amaurornis phoenicurus One in Fuzhou. Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus Eurasian Coot (Common C) Fulica atra Common Crane Grus grus Common at Yangcheng, Poyang area and Caohai. Black-necked Crane ◊ Grus nigricollis Over 200, with some excellent views, at Caohai. Hooded Crane ◊ Grus monacha 20 at Yangcheng, and small numbers daily at Poyang. Sandhill Crane Grus canadensis A total of ten (6 adults 4 juveniles) at Yangcheng. White-naped Crane ◊ Grus vipio Small numbers daily at Poyang. Red-crowned Crane ◊ (Japanese C) Grus japonensis Ten with some great views at Yangcheng. Siberian Crane ◊ Grus leucogeranus Common at Poyang and one to two at Yangchen, where a rarity. Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus Small numbers at Yangcheng and 40 at Fuzhou. Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus Ten at Yangcheng. Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula (NL) Six at Yangcheng by Ken. Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius One in Fuzhou. Long-billed Plover ◊ Charadrius placidus Three at Wuyuan. Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus Common in the coastal areas. Also one at Poyang. White-faced Plover (Swinhoe's P) Charadrius [alexandrinus] dealbatus Two in Fuzhou. See note. Greater Sand Plover Charadrius leschenaultii Two in Fuzhou. Lesser Sand Plover Charadrius mongolus Four at Yangkou. Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula (NL) Six at Yangcheng by Ken. Grey Plover (Black-bellied P) Pluvialis squatarola Common in all coastal areas. Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris A total of five at Yangkou. Sanderling Calidris alba Small numbers at Yangkou, and 150 in Fuzhou. Red-necked Stint (Rufous-n S) Calidris ruficollis Small numbers in all coastal areas.

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Juvenile Greater Coucal (Trond Aspelund) and Spotted Dove (Mike Rodegerdts).

Dunlin Calidris alpina Numerous at Yangkou and in Fuzhou, and two at Yangcheng. Spoon-billed Sandpiper ◊ Eurynorhynchus pygmeus Great views of four at Shanyutan. See note. Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica Eastern Black-tailed Godwit Limosa melanuroides Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata Common at Yangkou and in Fuzhou. Far Eastern Curlew ◊ (Eastern C) Numenius madagascariensis A total of 21 at Yangkou. Long-billed/Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus/griseus See note. Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus Common in all wetlands except at Caohai. Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis Two at Yangcheng. Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola Two in Fuzhou. Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus Three at Yangkou. Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos Pallas’s Gull ◊ (Great Black-headed G) Larus ichthyaetus One adult at Yangcheng. Saunders’s Gull ◊ Larus saundersi Rather common in Fuzhou, and three at Yangkou. Black-headed Gull (Common B-h G) Larus ridibundus Mongolian Gull ◊ Larus [cachinnans] mongolicus Rather common at Yangcheng, and 10 in Fuzhou. Siberian Gull ◊ Larus [heuglini] taimyrensis Ten or so were noted in the coastal areas. Vega Gull ◊ (East Siberian G) Larus vegae Ten or so were noted in the coastal areas. Gull-billed Tern Sterna nilotica Two in Fuzhou. Caspian Tern Sterna caspia Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybridus Two in Fuzhou. Rock Dove (feral) Columba livia Oriental Turtle Dove (Rufous T D) Streptopelia orientalis Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis Greater Coucal Centropus sinensis One juvenile at Fuzhu Forest Park. Himalayan Owl (Himalayan Wood O) Strix nivicolum One in Guangzi. Collared Owlet Glaucidium brodiei One was heard at Fuzhou Forest Park. Long-eared Owl Asio otus Four at Yangcheng. Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus One at Poyang. White-throated Kingfisher (W-breasted K) Halcyon smyrnensis Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis Scattered records of small numbers. Crested Kingfisher Ceryle lugubris Two at Wuyuan. Eurasian Hoopoe Upupa epops Small numbers in coastal areas. Great Barbet Megalaima virens (H) Grey-headed Woodpecker Picus canus

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Oriental Skylark and Grey-headed Woodpecker (both images by Trond Aspelund).

Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major Grey-capped Woodpecker Dendrocopos canicapillus Bay Woodpecker Blythipicus pyrrhotis (H) One was heard at Fuzhou Forest Park. Oriental Skylark Alauda gulgula Rather common around Lake Poyang. Eurasian Skylark Alauda arvensis Common at Yangcheng. Only few elsewhere. Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica Small numbers in coastal areas, and three at Caohai. Richard’s Pipit Anthus richardi Olive-backed Pipit Anthus hodgsoni Red-throated Pipit Anthus cervinus Buff-bellied Pipit (American Pipit) Anthus rubescens Widespread. Water Pipit Anthus spinoletta Small numbers at Lake Poyang, and one at Wuyuan. Eastern Grey-headed Wagtail Motacilla [flava] macronyx One at Yangcheng. Green-headed Wagtail Motacilla [flava] taivana Small numbers at Yangcheng and in Fuzhou. Tibetan Wagtail Motacilla [citreola] calcarata A total of four at Caohai. Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea Himalayan Wagtail Motacilla [alba] alboides Rather common in the Caohai area. Amur Wagtail Motacilla [alba] leucopsis Widespread in small numbers. East Siberian Wagtail ◊ Motacilla [alba] ocularis Noted in small numbers. Large Woodshrike Tephrodornis virgatus A flock of five at Fuzhou Forest Park. Scarlet Minivet Pericrocotus flammeus 20 at Fuzhou Forest Park. Grey-chinned Minivet Pericrocotus solaris Two at Wuyuan. Orange-bellied Leafbird Chloropsis hardwickii Common Tailorbird Orthotomus sutorius Small numbers at Fuzhou Forest Park. Collared Finchbill ◊ Spizixos semitorques Noted in the Wuyuan area, and in Guizhou. Red-whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus Only a few in Fuzhou. Brown-breasted Bulbul Pycnonotus xanthorrhous Rather common in the Caohai region. Chinese Bulbul ◊ (Light-vented B) Pycnonotus sinensis Widespread. Chestnut Bulbul ◊ Hemixos castanotus Rather common in the forested parts of Fuzhou and at Wuyuan. Mountain Bulbul Hypsipetes mcclellandii One at Fuzhou Forest Park and one at Guiyang. Siberian Accentor ◊ Prunella montanella Great views of two at the Great Wall. Lesser Shortwing Brachypteryx leucophrys (H) Three singing birds at Fuzhou Forest Park. Siberian Rubythroat Luscinia calliope One seen briefly and two more heard at Yangcheng. Bluethroat Luscinia svecica (H) One at Yangcheng. Northern Red-flanked Bluetail Tarsiger cyanurus Three at Yangcheng, and one at Poyang. See note. Blue-fronted Redstart Phoenicurus frontalis Two at Guizhou. Daurian Redstart Phoenicurus auroreus Common and widespread. Plumbeous Redstart (P Water R) Rhyacornis fuliginosus

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Slaty-backed Forktail (Geoff Tassell) and Spotted Wren-babbler (Trond Aspelund) at Fuzhou Forest Park.

White-capped Riverchat Chaimarrornis leucocephala One in the park at Guiyang. Stjneger's Stonechat Saxicola stjnegeri Widespread in small numbers. See note. Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitarius Two in Fuzhou. Oriental Magpie Robin Copsychus saularis Blue Whistling Thrush Myophonus caeruleus Four in Guizhou. Grey-winged Blackbird Turdus boulboul One female at Caohai. Chinese Blackbird ◊ (Mandarin B) Turdus mandarinus Widespread in small numbers. Grey-backed Thrush ◊ Turdus hortulorum Two at Wu Cheng at Poyang. Pale Thrush ◊ Turdus pallidus One at Yangcheng. Eyebrowed Thrush ◊ Turdus obscurus Two at Yangcheng and one at Yangkou. Naumann’s Thrush ◊ Turdus naumanni Five in Beijing. Dusky Thrush ◊ Turdus eunomus Handful of birds in the north. Red-throated Thrush ◊ Turdus ruficollis One in Beijing. Chinese Thrush ◊ (C Song T) Turdus mupinensis A few were noted. White-crowned Forktail Enicurus leschenaulti One in Fuzhou and a total of five at Wuyuan. Slaty-backed Forktail Enicurus schistaceus Several at Fuzhou Forest Park. Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler ◊ Cettia fortipes One at Poyang, and six at Wuyuan. Zitting Cisticola (Fan-tailed Warbler) Cisticola juncidis Small numbers in the Poyang area. Plain Prinia Prinia inornata Yellow-bellied Prinia Prinia flaviventris A few in Fuzhou. Chinese Hill Warbler ◊ (White-browed Chinese W) Rhopophilus pekinensis See note. Japanese Swamp Warbler ◊ (J Marsh W) Locustella pryeri One at Lake Poyang. Pallas’s Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus proregulus Widespread in small numbers. Yellow-browed Warbler Phylloscopus inornatus Dusky Warbler Phylloscopus fuscatus Scattered records of few. Buff-throated Warbler ◊ Phylloscopus subaffinis One en route to Guiyang on our last day. Mugimaki Flycatcher Ficedula mugimaki Two at Yangcheng and two at Fuzhou Forest Park. Black-streaked Scimitar Babbler ◊ Pomatorhinus gravivox Rather common in suitable habitat near Caohai. Grey-sided Scimitar Babbler ◊ Pomatorhinus swinhoei (H) Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler Pomatorhinus ruficollis Spotted Wren Babbler ◊ Spelaeornis formosus Great views of one at Fuzhou Forest Park. Rufous-capped Babbler ◊ Stachyris ruficeps Vinous-throated Parrotbill ◊ Paradoxornis webbianus Noted in Beijing, at Yangcheng and at Poyang. Ashy-throated Parrotbill ◊ Paradoxornis alphonsianus Two small flocks en route to Guiyang on our last day. Reed Parrotbill ◊ (Chinese P) Paradoxornis heudei Some really great views at Yangcheng. Grey-headed Parrotbill Paradoxornis gularis Two flocks at Wuyuan. Chinese Babax ◊ Babax lanceolatus Common in suitable habitat in the Caohai area.

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An obliging Hwamei at Wuyuan (Trond Aspelund).

Red-tailed Minla Minla ignotincta Two confiding birds in Guiyang. Masked Laughingthrush Garrulax perspicillata Only brief views of a pair at Fuzhou. Père David’s Laughingthrush ◊ (Plain L) Garrulax davidi Rather common in the Beijing area. White-browed Laughingthrush ◊ Garrulax sannio Noted at Wuyuan and in Guizhou. Hwamei ◊ Garrulax canorus Great views of three at Wuyuan. Also heard only birds elsewhere. Elliot’s Laughingthrush ◊ Garrulax elliotii Common in suitable habitat in the Caohai area. Red-billed Leiothrix Leiothrix lutea Great views of three in the park at Guiyang. Spectacled Fulvetta ◊ Alcippe ruficapilla One in the "Hidden Valley of Yi" near Caohai. Grey-hooded Fulvetta ◊ Alcippe cinereiceps Ten in the "Hidden Valley of Yi" near Caohai. Huet's Fulvetta Alcippe hueti Three in Fuzhou, and three at Wuyuan. See note. White-collared Yuhina ◊ Yuhina diademata Several encounters in Guizhou. Indochinese Yuhina Yuhina torqueola Five in Fuzhou and a flock of 20 in Guiyang. See note. White-bellied Yuhina (W-b Erpornis) Erpornis zantholeuca One in Fuzhou Forest Park. Black-throated Tit (Red-headed T) Aegithalos concinnus Marsh Tit Parus palustris One at Badaling in Beijing. Songar Tit ◊ Parus songarus Handful of birds in Beijing. Yellow-bellied Tit ◊ Parus venustulus Widespread in small numbers. Japanese Tit Parus [major] minor See note. Green-backed Tit Parus monticolus Small numbers in Guizhou. Chinese Nuthatch ◊ Sitta villosa Couple of birds at the Great Wall in Beijing. Chestnut-vented Nuthatch ◊ Sitta nagaensis One in the "Hidden Valley of Yi" near Caohai. Chinese Penduline Tit ◊ Remiz consobrinus Rather common on the coast, and also noted at Poyang. Fire-breasted Flowerpecker Dicaeum ignipectum Rather common at Fuzhou Forest Park. Fork-tailed Sunbird ◊ Aethopyga christinae Great encounters with this little beauty at Fuzhou. Japanese White-eye Zosterops japonicus Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach Common and widespread. Grey-backed Shrike Lanius tephronotus One at Caohai. Chinese Grey Shrike ◊ Lanius sphenocercus Two at Yangcheng, and one at Poyang. Eurasian Jay Garrulus glandarius Grey Treepie Dendrocitta formosae Blue Magpie (Red-billed Blue M) Urocissa erythrorhyncha Azure-winged Magpie (Asian A-w M) Cyanopica cyanus Eurasian Magpie Pica pica Daurian Jackdaw Corvus dauuricus (LO) One for the leader only on the way to Ming Tombs in Beijing. Oriental Crow Corvus orientalis

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Daurian Redstart (Trond Aspelund) and Mugimaki Flycatcher (Geoff Tassell).

Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos Red-billed Starling ◊ Sturnus sericeus Common Starling (Eurasian S) Sturnus vulgaris One flock of 40 birds on the way to Yangkou. White-cheeked Starling ◊ Sturnus cineraceus Black-collared Starling Sturnus nigricollis Crested Myna ◊ Acridotheres cristatellus Russet Sparrow Passer rutilans Noted in the Caohai area. Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus White-rumped Munia Lonchura striata Noted at Poyang and Wuyuan. Scaly-breasted Munia Lonchura punctulata Noted at Fuzhou and Poyang. Brambling ◊ Fringilla montifringilla Grey-capped Greenfinch ◊ (Oriental G) Carduelis sinica Black-headed Greenfinch ◊ Carduelis ambigua Small numbers in the Caohai area. Eurasian Siskin Carduelis spinus (H) One in Beijing. Yellow-billed Grosbeak ◊ Eophona migratoria Rather common and widespread. Lapland Longspur ◊ (L Bunting) Calcarius lapponicus A total of ten at Yangcheng. Black-faced Bunting Emberiza spodocephala Widespread in small numbers. Godlewski’s Bunting Emberiza godlewskii Three in the mountainous areas of Guizhou. Meadow Bunting ◊ Emberiza cioides Two at Yangkou. Chestnut-eared Bunting ◊ Emberiza fucata One at Yangcheng. Yellow-throated Bunting ◊ Emberiza elegans Yellow-browed Bunting ◊ Emberiza chrysophrys Rustic Bunting ◊ Emberiza rustica Small numbers in coastal areas north of Shanghai. Little Bunting Emberiza pusilla Surprisingly scarce. Only three were noted. Pallas’s Reed Bunting ◊ Emberiza pallasi Common at Yangcheng.

MAMMALS Père David’s Rock Squirrel Scuriotamias davidianus A few at The Great Wall. Perny's Squirrel (P's Long-nosed S) Dremomys pernyi Quite a few around Caohai. Pallas’s Squirrel (Belly-banded S) Callosciurus erythraeus Seen in Fuzhou and Wuyuan. Siberian Weasel Mustela sibirica (NL) One at Yangcheng. Rhesus Macaque Macaca mulatta Finless Porpoise Neophocaena phocaenoides Handful at Poyang.

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Rhesus Macaque at Guiyang (Hannu Jännes).

NOTES TO THE SYSTEMATIC LIST Black-eared Kite Milvus [migrans] lineatus This form is often lumped in Black Kite M. migrans, and we have treated it as an allospecies for recording purposes. Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus Many authors lump Eastern Osprey P. cristatus in this species using the name Osprey for the enlarged species. White-faced Plover (Swinhoe’s Plover) Charadrius [alexandrinus] dealbatus There is a lot of confusion and debate over this form still, and it may end up being treated as a distinctive form of Kentish Plover or as a new species in its own right. We have treated it as an allospecies for recording purposes. Spoon-billed Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus This charismatic species is listed as Critically Endangered by BirdLife International because it has an extremely small population (estimated in 2009, perhaps too optimistically to be 120-200 pairs) that is undergoing an extremely rapid population reduction. This is because of a number of factors, including habitat loss in its breeding, passage and wintering grounds, that are compounded by disturbance, hunting and the effects of climate change. Fledging success and juvenile recruitment are very low, leading to fears that the population is ageing rapidly; action is now urgently required to prevent the extinction of this species.

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Long-billed/Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus/griseus One Long-billed/Short-billed Dowitcher was sighted at Yangcheng, but unfortunately it was far too distant for certain identification. Long-billed Dowitcher would be far more likely observation in this part of the world. Himalayan Owl (Himalayan Wood Owl) Strix nivicolum This form was formerly lumped in Tawny Owl S. aluco. Northern Red-flanked Bluetail Tarsiger cyanurus In addition to birds noted in the north, we encountered a few Northern/Himalayan Red-flanked Bluetails in Guangxi Province. Stejneger's Stonechat Saxicola stejnegeri This genetically distinct East Asian form has recently been treated as a separate species from Siberian Stonechat Saxicola maurus by IOC. Japanese Tit (Eastern Great Tit) Parus minor Note that the Birds of East Asia (Brazil, 2009) splits this form into two species; Eastern Great Tit P. minor, which we encountered in several areas, and Southern Great Tit P. cinereus, which we saw in Fuzhou, but IOC doesn't follow this treatment listing the form in Fuzhou (commixtus) under Japanese Tit. Huet’s Fulvetta Alcippe hueti This form (found only in SE China) and others were formerly lumped in Grey-cheeked Fulvetta A. morrisonia, but the original Grey-cheeked Fulvetta now comprises at least four closely related species. Chinese Hill Warbler Rhopophilus chinensis Nice views of a pair at Ming Tombs. Long flagged as a babbler rather than warbler by discerning observers in China, the IOC World List now treats this unusual species as a sylviid babbler but retains the name Chinese Hill Warbler. Also note that it has been proposed very recently that this species should be split into two species, calling the form we encountered as Beijing Babbler R. pekinensis and the form encountered further west in China as Tarim Babbler R. albosuperciliaris. Indochinese Yuhina (Chestnut-collared Yuhina) Yuhina torqueola Some authors lump this form in Striated Yuhina Y. castaniceps.

Image by Geoff Tassell

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