Sunday, 9th May; Hebei, Beidaihe

Did I say that rain could be good?

What I should have wished for was rain in the morning (while I was on the train) and a bright afternoon.

Unfortunately it rained until about 3.30pm. Undeterred, I went to the Magic Wood at Nandaihe straight from the station. I spent a cold hour or so in a disused building there sheltering from the torrential rain. Despite the downpour, there were male Yellow-rumped and 3 Taiga Flycatchers and a Radde's Warbler (302) feeding close to the shelter.

Eventually, I gave up and retreated to Beidaihe for a change of clothes. At 3.15pm the sky started to brighten in the west (where the weather was coming from). And that's where I headed back to.

As soon as the rain stopped, there was a large amount of bird activity (at the Beidaihe side of the Dai river): 2 Richard's Pipit; c40 Little Bunting; 1 Chestnut Bunting (which I got a very bad shot of); several Eastern Yellow Wagtail (303) and a Russet Sparrow {304) (a bird that seems to be expaning its range northwards). This was only the second Russet Sparrow I've see in Beidaihe - my first, several years ago, was Beidaihe's first record, as I understand. Also, a Brown Shrike (305) here (ssp cristatus).

A returned to the the woods at Nandaihe drew a black, although the fligt shot of a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper is perhaps the photo-highlight of the day.

Tuesday, 11th May; Hebei, Beidaihe to Happy Island

The plan - or so I had thought - was to go down to Happy Island as early as possible. But things didn't quite work out that way, and the Magic Birding Bus didn't leave Beidaihe until much later than I had hoped.

I don't see many Ashy Minivets (314), so it was nice to find one singing away in the trees opposite the International Club at Beidaihe - my first bird of the day at 5.50am. Here, also, was a very out of range Pere David's Laughingthrush... the first time I've actually seen one in Beidaihe. Alas, its tail looked like it had been through a shredder, indicating that it had spent quite some time in someone's cage.

c40 Pacific Swifts performed an aerial ballet above the hotel, offering far better photo opportunities than yesterday.

A Fan-tailed Warbler (315) sat out to have its photo taken - quite a rare thing for this camera-shy bird to do (in my experience).

3 Sanderling (316), in various stages of moult, landed on the beach. A Hobby flew in off the sea. Also 2 Avocets here and a Shelduck.

Two birds within a few minutes of each other were new for the year - a Japanese Sparrowhawk and a Rufous-bellied Woodpecker. But my lens could get nowhere near either of them.

The Magic Wood in Nandaihe held a female Siberian Rubythroat, but not a lot else.

The photo of the Richard's Pipit (317) just scapes in to the gallery, even though its a long way away and blurred by the heat haze, because a) I like the impressionist painting feel of it and b) I've spent far too long trying to get a shot of this super-wary species and crawling through tall grass is not my idea of a fun day out.

The Kestrel (318) is included on the basis that it's carrying its lunch in its claws.. a bunting perhaps. Which reminds me of the story of the Kestrel that flew off with Britain's first Blyth's Pipit many years ago (at Languard in Suffolk I seem to recall)... one wag remarked that it had... er... "dropped in for a Chinese takeaway".

On to the paddyfields in Laoting county (btw did you know that there used to be an Irish pub in Beijing called "Paddy Fields"). I cycled there one day for a pint or two of Guinness only to find that they'd run out of the stuff (not a clever thing for an Irish pub to do). In despair, I SMSed a mate to say: "Paddy Fields dried up".

Sorry, the sleep depravation of the past couple of days is causing me to digress. Where was I? Yes, the Laoting paddyfields. A dozen brick red Curlew Sandpipers there. As well as 8 Little Whimbrels cartwheeling in the sky way off in the distance.

The Magic Birding Bus stopped at a restaurant for lunch. I was very kindly invited to join the group who'd given me a lift down. But, with respect to people who stop for things like food, I would much rather have a Snickers bar and a few biscuits on the hoof. And my reward for this hardcore approach... an "Eastern" Common Tern (319) and a jet black Spotted Redshank no less.

Then, at last, we arrived on Happy Island. A place that I first visited 16 years ago (to the very day!). And, goodness me, what a change in that time. I spotted the blue and yellow wooden boat that used to ferry people to the island, rotting away in the far corner of the shiny-new marina. I then looked in astonishment at what has replaced it. A fleet of more than a dozen large, luxury passenger boats. And what boats they are: Leather (sort of) seats, videos, stewardesses, captains with epaulettes, and... get this... life jackets. I was half expecting to be served a welcome on board gin and tonic.

In twenty minutes we were on the island. In the old days, the voyage took the best part of an hour... on a good day. And, more often than not, the boat wouldn't be able to land because of a super-low tide (which seem to occur randomly in this part of the world).

There is something significant about 11th May and Happy Island... As well as 16 years ago to the day I first set foot here it is exactly 8 years ago to the day I saw a Spoon-billed Sandpiper here.

The Spooner was the first for the island in 7 years and, remarkably, I had been on the island in 1995 when a pair was found but I had refused to twitch them because I had decided that, when in China, I would stick to only finding my own stuff. So what about the 2002 bird you may well ask. Well, I was doing a round-island walk when I bumped into people performing cartwheels on the beach, punching the air, twirling their shirts above their heads, and hugging each other. I tried to avoid them of course, and told them not to tell me what they had seen. But, someone I had known for many years, insisted on sharing the joy and, while twisting my arm behind my back, forced me to look through his scope. On the basis that I was walking that way and would have undoubtedly found the bird myself, I begrugingly opened an eye.

So, what did 11th May 2010 have in store?

Well... er... not a lot as it happened:

Grey-streaked Flycatcher (320) and... a Sand Martin (321).