I took the 7.50am train this morning from Beijing to Beidaihe.  It was cold (much colder than Beijing), snowing and quite foggy when I arrived (at 11am).

I resisted the temptation to go and sit in front of the fire and, instead, took a taxi from the station to the Yang He bridge. The river was frozen except for a small area of open water on the east side (c10 Little Grebe and 2 Goldeneye).

20 minutes drive to the west, I noticed a large raptor sitting at the top of a tree - an Upland Buzzard no less.

I went as far as the Da Pu bridge, but that river was also frozen. It's the first time I've been there and never seen a single bird (I've been there every winter for the past 12 years).

On the way back I stopped at the Dai He bridge and noticed that there was a stretch of open water with 4 ducks on it (1 pair large, one small). I picked up my bins and was surprised to see a male and female Smew (and a pair of spot-bills). Smew is quite an uncommon winter visitor here.  Also, an Eastern Great Tit was calling loudly near here.

The fog was closing in, it was snowing more heavily, and it was getting darker; but just past the south side of the smaller Dai River bridge I heard something that brightened up the day. I had no idea what was singing, but I did know that it was bound to be interesting.

I immediately located the bird and was delighted to discover that it was a Siberian Accentor (I guess if you are from Siberia, today must seem quite spring-like)!

I managed to get some reasonable photos of this stunning bird(there were actually two birds in the same area). And then, just as I the two accentors flew further away, a Great Spotted Woodpecker landed within 10 yards of me, followed closely by an eye-level Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker.

I was delighted, as well as surprised I'd actually found anything at all on such a seemingly miserable day, but things actually got better...

I stopped off at the stone park, which is always worth a look in winter, particularly the berry bushes that are on the side of the stream that runs down to the (completely frozen) sea.

No sooner had I got there, I saw something that stopped me in my tracks: A Brown-eared Bulbul no less (an at-best scarce and probably rare visitor to Beidaihe). So scarce, in fact, it's a "new" bird for my Beidaihe list - not that I take this seriously, but I did know it was my 280th!

The battery in my camera was on the way out, but held on for me to get some okay shots (there were actually a pair of them there). They were in the same berry bush as 4 Chinese Bulbuls (showing just how large Brown-eared really is). And, playing the part of the icing on the cake, a Naumann's Thrush popped into the same frame.

At 3pm I tried to get into the south side of the Lotus Hills, but they've locked the gate for the winter it seems, and I didn't fancy trekking down from the north gate; and so, with the weather worsening, I decided to quit while I was ahead.