Sunday 2nd May; Hebei, Beidaihe

24 species of wader today! Including 2 flocks of Little Whimbrel at the Sandflats (11 and 6).  I arrived on the shoreline of the Sandfalts at about 6.10am - a little later than I had intended. But just in time, because no sooner had I arrived that I heard the distinctive whistling of Little Whimbrel (278) . I looked up, because that's where they are most likely to be, but there was nothing in sight.

I then saw them. They were over the sea, but closing fast. They were also coming straight out of the sun. I adjusted my camera by + 1 step (which gave me a 1/1500th second exposure). 11 Little Whimbrels (278) then flew literally over my head. I fired off several shots and crossed my fingers that I hadn't messed it up.

In a matter of half a minute of so, they were lost from sight

15 minutes later (at 6.30) I saw another flock cof six birds also coming in off the sea. This flock was in no hurry to conninue northward, and circled the area several times before deciding that they's be better off elsewhere.

In about three hours there, as well as the 17 Little Whimbrels, I saw 4 Turnstone; a Bar-tailed Godwit (279); c30 Whimbrel (280) ; 2 dozen Red-necked Stint (281) ; several Kentish Plover; several Lesser Sand Plover, most of which in full summer plumage; three or four Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (282); ; a few dozen Greenshank; and 20 or so Marsh Sandpiper.

10am to 1pm:  After the Sandflats, I checked out the reedbed. I was surprised to find a flock of c30 Yellow-bellied Tits feeding in the canopies of seeding trees near here. I had thought they'd be way north of here by now. But just goes to shows that you can learn something every time you go out of the house.

On to the "reservoir". I wrote about the mess this place was in a few weeks ago, but despite it now being a building site, it's still good for birds. Assuming you can get past the security guards that is. One came running after me to tell me to sod off, but I was having none of it. I'm afraid the frustration, caused by the mess to my patch, more than bubbled to the surface. Anyhow, after my rant, he went away - no doubt convinced of my insanity.

My mood lightened considerably after I found two Amur Falcon (283) nests. What a spectacular bird this is. If one ever turns up in North Norfolk, then expect traffic congestion on the A148.

The devastation at the reservoir has only one plus point. You can now walk across the dry bed to the "private park" that's fenced off to the public (and birders). I have never seen anyone here (other than gardeners). Another one of the many mysteries that China holds.

One thing is for sure, it's a very quiet place with lots of excellent habitat (despite the landscaped pools). It's here that I found an odd phyllosc (aren't they all). First I thought is was an Eastern Crowned (yellow wash to under tail coverts and an excuse for a wing bar). It then started behaving in the manner of Claudia's Warbler... single-wing-flicking and branch-slaloming. I didn't get that close to it (as you can see from the photo), and I actually didn't watch it through my bins for more than a few seconds. But as well as the lack of two-prominent wing bars, it's head pattern isn't quite right for Claudia's (As I understand, the end of the super should be closer to end of the median crown stripe). Then again it doesn't seem right for Eastern Crowned either (the crown stripe is indistinct, and the super isn't doesn't kink upwards). A feature in favour of Eastern Crowned, however, is the width of the bill-base (I have a head-on photo that shows this). Odd. But in the interests of healthly debate I'll show it anyhow. Best not sweep these things under the carpet ;-)

BTW Claudia's Warbler used to be called Blyth's Leaf Warbler until someone with a DNA spectrumometer spotted something. I wouldn't have bothered changing the name, except that Blyth's Leaf is now the name used for its cousin in SW China. Another reason to use Claudia's is that I do like the name. I've removed "Leaf" because it is redundant.

There were also 2 Wrynecks here, a Garganey, a few Dusky Warblers.

I then drove down to Nandaihe, where the Yang River is perpetually high it seems ("thanks" to the downstream ford that seems to be blocking the tidal movement). I hope I have got this wrong because the Yang estuary, historically, has been one of the best wader watch points on Earth. No birds here today though.

In the Magic Wood (Nandaihe!) it's either feast or famine. Today I went hungry. Not even a phyllosc. How strange this wood can be.

On to the Da Pu River (this might even be the Da Po river... the Chinese character can be read both ways.. so I've been told). Either way, there were some good birds here: Several Fan-tailed Warbler zitted persistently; c30 Marsh Sandpipers and c20 Greenshanks, and c15 Wood sandpipers roamed the pools. While watching their antics, three brick-red Curlew Sandpipers (285) made an entrance. What fantastic birds. A summer-plumaged Mongolian Gull could only stand and stare. As I was watching the gull, a flock of 3 ducks circled above. A male and a female Shoveler with a male Falcated Duck... an unusual hanger-on to be sure (as well as a very late record).

1pm to 4pm:  Drove to Qilihai, where it was high tide (the worst time to visit). So, not much there.

Back at Nandaihe, The few remaining ponds held several Greenshank (286) and Wood Sandpipers (287). While I was watching these, a ridiculously-bright "Eastern" Black-tailed Godwit flew in... with a Marsh Sandpiper (288) in tow. I say "Eastern" because the rufous on this bird's underparts did not extend down to its thigh (as I understand should be the case). In fact, the underparts (and upperparts) looked more like "Western" to me. Then again, it did have a black forewing (as you can see in the flight photo). Could this be a "Central" Black-tailed Godwit I wonder ;-)

And to round the day off nicely, a couple of Oriental Pratincoles treated me to a fly-pass. Then again, they may have been out-of-range "occidental" pratincoles. ;-) They were far too high-up to say for certain. Whatever they were, they were the 24th species of wader of the day. [Sounds like a lot, but actually fewer than half the number on the Beidaihe wader list!]

2nd May list of 24 species of wader:

Grey Plover
Little Ringed Plover
Kentish Plover
Mongolian Plover
Snipe
black-tailed godwit
Bar-tailed Godwit
Little Whimbrel
Whimbrel
Eurasian Curlew
Far Eastern Curlew
Common Redshank
Spotted Redhank
Marsh Sandpiper
Greenshank
Green Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
Turnstone
Red-necked Stint
Temminck's Stint
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
Oriental (presumed) Pratincole