Public bus on 23rd from Shanghai to Yancheng city (7.50am - 12.05pm). Taxi to
Xinyanggang. Birded from 1pm to 5.30pm.
On 24th: Morning on the Reed Farm; afternoon around the reserve,
and the road that passes it (as far as 20km to the east).
25th: 7.40am train from Yancheng city to Nanjing (arriving
around midday). Motorised rickshaw to the foot of Purple Mountain. Birded the mountain from 1pm to 6pm.
26th: Walked to the top of the mountain and
back down again (8am - 2pm). Taxi to the airport for flight back to Beijing (5pm - 6.45pm).
My detour to Nanjing (there are now flights
from Yancheng to Beijing) was to spend time on Purple Mountain - a place I last birded in 1997. I am delighted to report
that the mountain exceeded my high expectations of it.
This is the annotated list of the birds I saw during the four days
(actually a total birding time of two and a half days):
["+" indicates that this is the first time I have seen this
species in 2013; "++" = the first time I have ever seen this species.]
Ring-necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus
雉鸡
2 on 23, 1 on 24.
Tundra Bean Goose Anser serrirostris 短嘴豆雁
+c100 on 23, c800 on 24.
Bewick’s
Swan Cygnus columbianus 小天鹅
+2 on 24.
Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna 翘鼻麻鸭
1 on 24.
Gadwall Anas strepera 赤膀鸭
c20 on 23, c30 on 24.
Falcated Duck Anas falcata 罗纹鸭 +
1 male on 24.
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos 绿头鸭
A few hundred
on 23, several hundred on 24.
Eastern Spot-billed Duck Anas zonorhyncha 斑嘴鸭
c30 on 23, c70 on 24.
Pintail Anas acuta 针尾鸭
c10 on 23.
Common Teal Anas crecca 绿翅鸭
Several hundred
on 24.
Pochard Aythya ferina 红头潜鸭
c50 on 23, c1,200 on 24.
Smew Mergellus albellus 白秋沙鸭
c10 on 23, c30 on 24.
Goosander Mergus merganser 普通秋沙鸭
Several on 23, c30 on 24.
Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis 小䴙䴘
c10 on 23, c20 on 24.
Oriental White Stork Ciconia boyciana 东方白鹳 +
2 on 23, c50 on 24.
Spoonbill sp
Platalea leucorodia/minor 白琵鹭/黑脸琵鹭
20 distantly on 23.
Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia 白琵鹭 +
c250 on 24.
Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax 夜鹭 +
c15 on 24.
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea 苍鹭
Several on 23,
c20 on 24.
Great White Egret Ardea alba 大白鹭 +
c20 on 23, c
15 on 24.
Little Egret Egretta garzetta 白鹭
c10
on 23, c30 on 24.
Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 普通鸬鹚 +
c30 on 23, c50 on 24.
Kestrel Falco
tinnunculus 红隼
3 on 23.
Merlin Falco columbarius 灰背隼 +
1 on 24.
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus 游隼
1 ssp japonensis
on 24.
Black-winged
Kite Elanus caeruleus 黑翅 +
1 on 24.
Moorhen Gallinula
chloropus 黑水鸡 +
c10 on 23, c30 on 24.
Coot Fulica atra 骨顶鸡 +
c20 on 23, c300 on 24.
Common Crane Grus grus 灰鹤 +
c100 on 23, c1,200 on 24.
Red-crowned Crane Grus japonensis 丹顶鹤
+
7 on 23, 5 on
24.
Hooded Crane
Grus monacha 白头鹤 +
c20 on 24.
Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus 黑翅长脚鹬 +
c60 on 24.
Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata 白腰杓鹬 +
c25 on 23, c10
on 24.
Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus 鹤鹬 +
72 on 24.
Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus 白腰草鹬
1 on 23.
Vega/Mongolian Gull Larus vegae/mongolicus 西伯利亚银鸥/蒙古银鸥
c200 on 23, c500 on 24 (a good view of 1 Mongolian
mongolicus 蒙古银鸥 + on 24).
Rufous Turtle Dove Streptopelia orientalis 山斑鸠
c10 on 23, c20 on 24, c10 on 25, c30 on 26.
Hoopoe Upupa epops 戴胜
1 on 23, 4 on 24.
Speckled Piculet Picumnus innominatus 斑姬啄木鸟 +
Several ssp chinensis on 25.
Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker Dendrocopos canicapillus 星头啄木鸟
5 ssp scintilliceps
[same as Hebei and Beijing] on 25, 1 on 26.
Long-tailed Shrike
Lanius schach 棕背伯劳 +
3 ssp schach on 23, 2 on 24.
Azure-winged
Magpie Cyanopica cyanus 灰喜鹊
Several on 25 and also on 26.
Red-billed Blue Magpie Urocissa erythrorhyncha 红嘴蓝鹊
Several on 25, 3 on 26.
Common Magpie Pica pica 喜鹊
More than 200
seen on 23 and also on 24. A few on 25 and also on 26.
Grey Treepie Dendrocitta formosae 灰树鹊 +
3 ssp sinica
on 25 and 2 on 26.
Southern Great
Tit Parus cinereus 苍背山雀 +
1 on 23 was heard calling.
Eastern Great Tit Parus minor 远东山雀
c50 on 25 and
similar numbers on 26.
Silver-throated Tit Aegithalos glaucogularis 银喉长尾山雀 +
c30 on 25, and
same number on 26.
Black-throated
Tit Aegithalos concinnus 红头长尾山雀 +
c20 on 25, c 30 on 26.
Chinese Bulbul
Pycnonotus sinensis 白头鹎
Several on 26.
Masked Laughingthrush Garrulax perspicillatus 黑脸噪鹛 +
3 on 25; and 1 on 26 with the flock of Berthemy’s Laughingthrushes.
Greater Necklaced Laughingthrushes Garrulax pectoralis 黑领噪鹛 +
Wonderfully long
views of an entertaining flock of c30 ssp picticollis on 25.
Berthemy’s
Laughingthrush Dryonastes berthemyi 棕噪鹛
++
Prolonged views
of a flock of about a dozen on 26 searching for food on the ground at 80m above sea-level, unbothered by the unrelenting noise
of hundreds of people passing by on their way up the mountain. The taxon in eastern and south-eastern China was previously called Rusty
Laughingthrush, until its Taiwan cousin nabbed the name following a split. The BBBC, always keen
to seek truth from facts, concluded that its new name is as misleading as it is uninspiring and, therefore, unanimously
voted to consign “Buffy Laughingthrush” to the same etymological dustbin that already contains the ill-conceived
“Plain Laughingthrush”. This beautiful bird shall henceforth be known by the honourary eponym chosen by Emile Oustalet (1844-1905),
when describing the species to science in 1876. Jules Francois Gustave Berthemy was born in Paris on 1 December 1826. He was attached to the French
diplomatic service in China, and became minister in Peking in 1862. He died in 1902.
Hwamei Leucodioptron
canorum 画眉 +
Several nominate ssp in a flock on 25, and also a few on 26.
Webb’s
Parrotbill Sinosuthora webbiana 棕头鸦雀 +
c50 nominate
ssp on 23, c30 on 24, c20 on 25, c40 on 26.
Reed Parrotbill
Paradoxornis heudei 震旦鸦雀 +
Prologed close-up views of a feeding flock of 17 on 23.
Japanese White-Eye
Zosterops japonicus 暗绿绣眼鸟 +
1 ssp simplex on 26.
Crested Myna
Acridotheres cristatellus 八哥 +
2 on 23.
Red-billed Starling podiopsar sericeus 丝光椋鸟 +
1 on 23. White-cheeked Starling Spodiopsar cineraceus 灰椋鸟 +
c20 on 23, c50 on 24.
Chinese Blackbird Turdus mandarinus 中国乌鸫 +
3 on 23, several
on 24.
Pale Thrush Turdus pallidus 白腹鸫 +
1 on 23.
Naumann’s
Thrush Turdus naumanni 红尾鸫
1 on 23, 1 on 24, 1 on 26.
Dusky Thrush Turdus eunomus 斑鸫 +
2 on 23, 1 on
24.
Japanese Robin Erithacus akahige 日本歌鸲 +
Frame-filling
views of 1 on 25 at 260m above sea-level.
Red-flanked Bluetail
Tarsiger cyanurus 红胁蓝尾鸲 +
1 on 25.
Daurian
Redstart Phoenicurus auroreus 北红尾鸲 +
2 on 23, 1 on 24.
Tree Sparrow Passer montanus 麻雀
More than 200 on 23 and same again on 24.
White Wagtail Motacilla alba 白鹡鸰
1 on 23.
Buff-belled Pipit Anthus rubescens 黄腹鹨 +
c4 on 23, 2 on 24.
Brambling Fringilla
montifringilla 燕雀
1 on 26 Rustic Bunting Emberiza rustica 田鹀 +
c dozen on 23, c80 on 24.
Black-faced Bunting
Emberiza spodocephala 灰头鹀 +
3 on 23, and 2 on 24.
Pallas’s Reed Bunting Emberiza pallasi 苇鹀
1 on 23.
