Watching birds is one thing. Participation in the Bird Survey is another.
I have been planning to take part in Yellow Sea Annual Survey for a few years. Finally time is right this year. Packed up with all my birds watching gears plus a new telescope specially purchased for this trip, here I am at ShuangTai River Estuary for a couple of weeks between 16 April and 30 April 2014.
Yes, you have to be serious about it. It will put all your bird watching skills into test - your bird identification skill, bird counting skill, how good are you? You are also in the northern hemisphere. Birds are in their breeding plumage. It can be a plus but sometimes it can be quite a challenge; The birds will not be that friendly to you and stand close to you or within a reasonable distance. The air pollution, the wind and on wrong side of the Sun will all add difficulties for you to identify them. Your bird counting skill will be tested in the way of counting large quantity of birds either feeding or in flight - Speed counting is a crucial; Although the same species generally stays together, a lot of times they are mixed. You might have to count two or three species at once. How are you going to count them? Of course a counter machine will give you a hand. But a good memory and a notebook are essential.
What have I achieved from the Survey? Experience, confidence, awareness of birds welfare and an increased bird list.
I post photos by a chronological order with some side stories. Hope you will enjoy the journey as I did. For further reading, please refer to Tattler 33 - /newsletters.html
I have been planning to take part in Yellow Sea Annual Survey for a few years. Finally time is right this year. Packed up with all my birds watching gears plus a new telescope specially purchased for this trip, here I am at ShuangTai River Estuary for a couple of weeks between 16 April and 30 April 2014.
Yes, you have to be serious about it. It will put all your bird watching skills into test - your bird identification skill, bird counting skill, how good are you? You are also in the northern hemisphere. Birds are in their breeding plumage. It can be a plus but sometimes it can be quite a challenge; The birds will not be that friendly to you and stand close to you or within a reasonable distance. The air pollution, the wind and on wrong side of the Sun will all add difficulties for you to identify them. Your bird counting skill will be tested in the way of counting large quantity of birds either feeding or in flight - Speed counting is a crucial; Although the same species generally stays together, a lot of times they are mixed. You might have to count two or three species at once. How are you going to count them? Of course a counter machine will give you a hand. But a good memory and a notebook are essential.
What have I achieved from the Survey? Experience, confidence, awareness of birds welfare and an increased bird list.
I post photos by a chronological order with some side stories. Hope you will enjoy the journey as I did. For further reading, please refer to Tattler 33 - /newsletters.html
Day one, 16th April 2014
Panjin is the breeding ground for 6,000 Saunders' Gulls. According to the locals, the numbers have been dropped dramatically over the recent years due to reduced suitable breeding ground and reduced food sources because of reclamation mudflats for fish farming and chemicals used in the farming activities.
It was one of the high tide days of the month. Despite it was our first day in the field, we have witnessed around 50,000 birds, mainly Great Knots and Bar-tailed Godwits, being pushed to the shore. Birds were also Lesser Sand Plovers, Greater Sand Plovers, Grey Plovers, Kentish Plovers, Red-necked Stints, Eurasian Curlews, Far Eastern Curlews and Eurasian Woodcock etc.
Panjin is the breeding ground for 6,000 Saunders' Gulls. According to the locals, the numbers have been dropped dramatically over the recent years due to reduced suitable breeding ground and reduced food sources because of reclamation mudflats for fish farming and chemicals used in the farming activities.
It was one of the high tide days of the month. Despite it was our first day in the field, we have witnessed around 50,000 birds, mainly Great Knots and Bar-tailed Godwits, being pushed to the shore. Birds were also Lesser Sand Plovers, Greater Sand Plovers, Grey Plovers, Kentish Plovers, Red-necked Stints, Eurasian Curlews, Far Eastern Curlews and Eurasian Woodcock etc.
A eminent local bird watcher added Eurasian Woodcock onto his 700th bird photo list. We were lucky to see it closely.
Mongolian Lark is worth a mention here. The same bird watcher claimed that it was the first time Mongolian Lark was seen in the area.
Day Two, 17th April 2014
Two survey trips were made on the day. Bird count was conducted in the morning and we came back late in the afternoon to scan for the banded birds. As it was migrating season, we were lucky enough to see some rare birds passing by and courtship activities.
Two survey trips were made on the day. Bird count was conducted in the morning and we came back late in the afternoon to scan for the banded birds. As it was migrating season, we were lucky enough to see some rare birds passing by and courtship activities.
Day Three, 18th April 2014
Another day on the oil drilling station in the reserve. For the first few days the weather were mild and pleasant. Fog did not help neither for identifying and counting birds nor for reading the coloured band on birds.
Another day on the oil drilling station in the reserve. For the first few days the weather were mild and pleasant. Fog did not help neither for identifying and counting birds nor for reading the coloured band on birds.
Day Four, 19th April 2014
As usual we were ready to have another day for the survey at 6:00am. We did our morning scan for the flags and bands. The population of the waders were small because of the low tide but we managed to find a few birds with the bands.
We were lucky enough to watch two Peregrine Falcons playing the perfect team work to try to catch, first a Pied Avocet, then a Common Black-headed Gull, and then a Eurasian Oystercatcher. When one of the Falcon was chasing the bird, the other one followed above, when the speed chase was in vain by one, the other swapped for the chase after the first one slowed down. The bird being chased was crying, making loud noises, almost exhausted and drop dead at the end. But to our surprise two Falcons ran out of the breath too. They had to retreat onto the electric pole without their prey in order to catch their breath. We had witnessed the most fast flying bird on earth failed to catch their breakfast.
Luckily I was quick enough to take a few nice photos of this episode.
We had a good day to see two couples of Eastern Marsh-Harriers ready for nesting. The male and female have different colours. You would not think they are the same race. It is not like Australian raptors which have the same color and patterns in male and female.
As usual we were ready to have another day for the survey at 6:00am. We did our morning scan for the flags and bands. The population of the waders were small because of the low tide but we managed to find a few birds with the bands.
We were lucky enough to watch two Peregrine Falcons playing the perfect team work to try to catch, first a Pied Avocet, then a Common Black-headed Gull, and then a Eurasian Oystercatcher. When one of the Falcon was chasing the bird, the other one followed above, when the speed chase was in vain by one, the other swapped for the chase after the first one slowed down. The bird being chased was crying, making loud noises, almost exhausted and drop dead at the end. But to our surprise two Falcons ran out of the breath too. They had to retreat onto the electric pole without their prey in order to catch their breath. We had witnessed the most fast flying bird on earth failed to catch their breakfast.
Luckily I was quick enough to take a few nice photos of this episode.
We had a good day to see two couples of Eastern Marsh-Harriers ready for nesting. The male and female have different colours. You would not think they are the same race. It is not like Australian raptors which have the same color and patterns in male and female.
Day Five, 20th April 2014
Today is the synchronised monthly survey day cross country. The high tide of 314cm at 8:04am, we started our journey at 7:00am. There were not the highest numbers of birds present on the day comparing the one on 16th April, which had the total estimated count of near 50,000 birds including majority of Great Knots and Bar-tailed Godwits. We have spotted quite numbers of birds with flags and bands. Again orange flags appeared in both my telescope and camera besides white flags, yellow flags and coloured bands. There is clipped aqua or peacock green coloured flag on a bird which we could not work out which country it came from.
We continued the survey at Reeds Pond at north. In this pond there were mainly Black-tailed Godwits, Marsh Sandpipers, Black-winged stilts, Pied Avocets, Common Black-headed Gulls, Saunders's Gulls and hundreds of eight species of ducks and teals. There are 26 different ducks and teals in China. We also spotted 5 ruffs. The number is down from 12 ruffs on the previous day. Glaucous Gulls, Mew Gulls and Black-tailed Gulls were also found.
New species for the day are Ruddy Shelduck and Common Quails. Two mating Common Redshanks were caught on my camera. They were displaying their affection to the world.
Today is the synchronised monthly survey day cross country. The high tide of 314cm at 8:04am, we started our journey at 7:00am. There were not the highest numbers of birds present on the day comparing the one on 16th April, which had the total estimated count of near 50,000 birds including majority of Great Knots and Bar-tailed Godwits. We have spotted quite numbers of birds with flags and bands. Again orange flags appeared in both my telescope and camera besides white flags, yellow flags and coloured bands. There is clipped aqua or peacock green coloured flag on a bird which we could not work out which country it came from.
We continued the survey at Reeds Pond at north. In this pond there were mainly Black-tailed Godwits, Marsh Sandpipers, Black-winged stilts, Pied Avocets, Common Black-headed Gulls, Saunders's Gulls and hundreds of eight species of ducks and teals. There are 26 different ducks and teals in China. We also spotted 5 ruffs. The number is down from 12 ruffs on the previous day. Glaucous Gulls, Mew Gulls and Black-tailed Gulls were also found.
New species for the day are Ruddy Shelduck and Common Quails. Two mating Common Redshanks were caught on my camera. They were displaying their affection to the world.
Day Six, 21st April 2014
The land looks barren because it is a Nature Reserve and Oil Drilling Sites. People are prohibited in the Reserve. We have to get a special permission to enter the sites.
It is low tide in the morning from Monday to Wednesday but still there were several hundreds of Bar-tailed Godwits and Great Knots busy feeding on the mudflat.
Again a few birds with flags were spotted. Nothing new detected except Terek Sandpipers. Several lovely Terek Sandpipers in their best coloured feather and with beautiful redish orangy legs were busy feeding along the little creek in the mudflat. Eurasian Curlews, Eastern Curlews, Grey Plovers, Dunlins, Common Greenshanks, Kentish Plovers, Saunders's Gulls and Lesser Sand Plovers can be seen. With their breeding plumage it is so easy to tell which is which. 91 Common Shelducks were feeding on the mudflat amongst other waders at far side.
On the way back we alway stopped at the Reeds Pond - the favourite area for Ducks, Saunders's Gulls and Common Black-headed Gulls. Of course Black-tailed Godwits, Marsh Sandpipers, Black-winged Stilts call it home here. 14 Ruffs with their unusual breeding plumage were counted for today. Each ruff has its unique breeding plumage. None is like the others. It is rather strange. Some has very black bodies. The other has a white neck. A small group of Pied Avocets were in a pond on the corner of the road busy mating. They are making a lot of noise.
Shuangtai Estuary National Nature Reserve is also a breeding Ground for Saunders's Gulls. There are about 6-7 thousands Saunders's Gulls breeding here. Besides Saunders's Gulls, Common Black-headed Gulls are here too but quantity is much less.
Two new species were spotted are two White-cheeked Starlings. Those bush birds were passing through. Every day there were different birds here during the spring or autumn seasons. The other new specie was a Eurasian Spoonbill. Its body is white and the bill is black with light brown tip.
I am quite luckily to see both Asian Spoonbills on this trip: Black-faced Spoonbills in HK and a Eurasian Spoonbill in Panjin.
The land looks barren because it is a Nature Reserve and Oil Drilling Sites. People are prohibited in the Reserve. We have to get a special permission to enter the sites.
It is low tide in the morning from Monday to Wednesday but still there were several hundreds of Bar-tailed Godwits and Great Knots busy feeding on the mudflat.
Again a few birds with flags were spotted. Nothing new detected except Terek Sandpipers. Several lovely Terek Sandpipers in their best coloured feather and with beautiful redish orangy legs were busy feeding along the little creek in the mudflat. Eurasian Curlews, Eastern Curlews, Grey Plovers, Dunlins, Common Greenshanks, Kentish Plovers, Saunders's Gulls and Lesser Sand Plovers can be seen. With their breeding plumage it is so easy to tell which is which. 91 Common Shelducks were feeding on the mudflat amongst other waders at far side.
On the way back we alway stopped at the Reeds Pond - the favourite area for Ducks, Saunders's Gulls and Common Black-headed Gulls. Of course Black-tailed Godwits, Marsh Sandpipers, Black-winged Stilts call it home here. 14 Ruffs with their unusual breeding plumage were counted for today. Each ruff has its unique breeding plumage. None is like the others. It is rather strange. Some has very black bodies. The other has a white neck. A small group of Pied Avocets were in a pond on the corner of the road busy mating. They are making a lot of noise.
Shuangtai Estuary National Nature Reserve is also a breeding Ground for Saunders's Gulls. There are about 6-7 thousands Saunders's Gulls breeding here. Besides Saunders's Gulls, Common Black-headed Gulls are here too but quantity is much less.
Two new species were spotted are two White-cheeked Starlings. Those bush birds were passing through. Every day there were different birds here during the spring or autumn seasons. The other new specie was a Eurasian Spoonbill. Its body is white and the bill is black with light brown tip.
I am quite luckily to see both Asian Spoonbills on this trip: Black-faced Spoonbills in HK and a Eurasian Spoonbill in Panjin.
Day Seven, 22nd April 2014
Plenty of actions are going on as photos show.
Plenty of actions are going on as photos show.
Day Eight, 23rd April 2014
Today we did not count birds because of very low tide. Instead we went a place called Dinxiang Herons and Egrets Breeding Ground, which is run by the local prison. All the labors are prisoners. The breeding ground includes rice paddocks, orchards and the Heron Breeding Ground. The Whole project is very environmental friendly. It is great to see there are some initiatives taken by the Authority. Some former prisoners remain in the area working on the farm as a free man. Because they have no where to go or no job available to them, The government provides them the housing and encourage them to work on the farm. So a lot of former prisoners stayed.
We saw Grey Herons, Purple Herons, Black-crowned Night Herons, little Egrets and Great Egrets building their nests on the trees. There should have more species to come latterly on such as Cattle Egrets and Chinese Pond Herons. They come here each year. Now they are fed with fish until they can find fish themselves in the nearby reeds paddock. The reeds paddocks have just been filled with water from water channel. It will take a while to attract any fish. During the summer months after raring the young's, birds will fly to nearby paddocks to look for food.
The irrigation system here is much like in Australia. The water channel along the roadside. In Winter the water are stopped going to the field and in Spring the reeds paddock will be filled with water to grow the reeds. The reeds are the top materials for producing high quality paper.
In the area 80% of population works for the oil company. Here hosts the third biggest oil drilling and refinery company in China after Daqing and Shengli oil company. The oil stations are everywhere. Oil mainly come from under the seabed. It could be 3-4000 metres deep. They drill the hole until they find the oil layer and then steel pipers were put into it. The Pumping Machines then pump the oil out to the oil tanks above the ground. As oil are always accompanied by the water and gas. Gas will go to refineries through the pipelines. Some raw oil go through the pipelines and others are carried out by the oil trucks each day. The refinery manufacturers will separate the water from oil and grade the oil for different use. The worst quality oil will be used as bitumen on the road. So nothing will be wasted. After oil drilling, water will pump back to the underground for avoiding cave in or subside.
The second produce for the area is reeds growing. Now water starts to be pumped into the reeds fields. In May reeds will start to shoot high and you won't see things for miles. It won't look barren as it looks now. Then the farmers will put crabs into the water to keep pest low. Crabs will be harvested when it is ready. It is a very sensible ecosystems. Of course the area is also famous for its rice. Only one crop each year, the rice are organic and tastes very good. It is well sorted after. There are also a lot of water ponds to grow sea cucumbers, crabs, shrimps and prawns for commercial purpose.
The other fascinating thing is the way locals keeping the ice above ground over summer time. Winter is very cold. The farmers collect the ice from frozen river, put it on the ground and covered with several layers of plastic sheets, donnas and straws. When the seafood are harvested, the ice will be used as the cooling material in the boxes when transporting. They don't use dry ice. It is economical and environmental friendly way.
All above local knowledge are thanks to our local driver, who retired from the oil company starting as a oil refinery graduate over twenty years ago.
Today we did not count birds because of very low tide. Instead we went a place called Dinxiang Herons and Egrets Breeding Ground, which is run by the local prison. All the labors are prisoners. The breeding ground includes rice paddocks, orchards and the Heron Breeding Ground. The Whole project is very environmental friendly. It is great to see there are some initiatives taken by the Authority. Some former prisoners remain in the area working on the farm as a free man. Because they have no where to go or no job available to them, The government provides them the housing and encourage them to work on the farm. So a lot of former prisoners stayed.
We saw Grey Herons, Purple Herons, Black-crowned Night Herons, little Egrets and Great Egrets building their nests on the trees. There should have more species to come latterly on such as Cattle Egrets and Chinese Pond Herons. They come here each year. Now they are fed with fish until they can find fish themselves in the nearby reeds paddock. The reeds paddocks have just been filled with water from water channel. It will take a while to attract any fish. During the summer months after raring the young's, birds will fly to nearby paddocks to look for food.
The irrigation system here is much like in Australia. The water channel along the roadside. In Winter the water are stopped going to the field and in Spring the reeds paddock will be filled with water to grow the reeds. The reeds are the top materials for producing high quality paper.
In the area 80% of population works for the oil company. Here hosts the third biggest oil drilling and refinery company in China after Daqing and Shengli oil company. The oil stations are everywhere. Oil mainly come from under the seabed. It could be 3-4000 metres deep. They drill the hole until they find the oil layer and then steel pipers were put into it. The Pumping Machines then pump the oil out to the oil tanks above the ground. As oil are always accompanied by the water and gas. Gas will go to refineries through the pipelines. Some raw oil go through the pipelines and others are carried out by the oil trucks each day. The refinery manufacturers will separate the water from oil and grade the oil for different use. The worst quality oil will be used as bitumen on the road. So nothing will be wasted. After oil drilling, water will pump back to the underground for avoiding cave in or subside.
The second produce for the area is reeds growing. Now water starts to be pumped into the reeds fields. In May reeds will start to shoot high and you won't see things for miles. It won't look barren as it looks now. Then the farmers will put crabs into the water to keep pest low. Crabs will be harvested when it is ready. It is a very sensible ecosystems. Of course the area is also famous for its rice. Only one crop each year, the rice are organic and tastes very good. It is well sorted after. There are also a lot of water ponds to grow sea cucumbers, crabs, shrimps and prawns for commercial purpose.
The other fascinating thing is the way locals keeping the ice above ground over summer time. Winter is very cold. The farmers collect the ice from frozen river, put it on the ground and covered with several layers of plastic sheets, donnas and straws. When the seafood are harvested, the ice will be used as the cooling material in the boxes when transporting. They don't use dry ice. It is economical and environmental friendly way.
All above local knowledge are thanks to our local driver, who retired from the oil company starting as a oil refinery graduate over twenty years ago.
Day Nine, 24th April 2014
There was storm last night. When I got up this morning, it was blue sky. Then gusty Southeast wind started around 10:00am and lasted all day.
The wind was so strong we could not hold our telescope or binoculars or camera still. Despite the strong wind we still managed to spot 14 flagged birds mainly Great Knots and Bar-tailed Godwits. Kentish Plovers and Lesser Sand Plovers with the breeding plumage always look beautiful and cute. Three Terek Sandpipers are just delightful to watch. Their rich yellow legs make them to be elegant birds as Common Redshanks with their beautiful red legs.
People have been seeing Small numbers of Red knots. Today I have seen one with its full breeding plumage mixed among the Great Knots. No doubt about which is Great Knot and which is Red Knot as they look completely different with their breeding plumage. It is not the case when you see them in Australia with their non-breeding feathers. The large flock of Red Knots have not reached here yet. Hopefully we can see them in large quantities in a few days before we leave.
New birds for today include Striated Heron with green eyes and lovely wing feather which is new bird species for me. Five Little Egret and one Chinese Pond-Heron were new for us in the survey area.
There was storm last night. When I got up this morning, it was blue sky. Then gusty Southeast wind started around 10:00am and lasted all day.
The wind was so strong we could not hold our telescope or binoculars or camera still. Despite the strong wind we still managed to spot 14 flagged birds mainly Great Knots and Bar-tailed Godwits. Kentish Plovers and Lesser Sand Plovers with the breeding plumage always look beautiful and cute. Three Terek Sandpipers are just delightful to watch. Their rich yellow legs make them to be elegant birds as Common Redshanks with their beautiful red legs.
People have been seeing Small numbers of Red knots. Today I have seen one with its full breeding plumage mixed among the Great Knots. No doubt about which is Great Knot and which is Red Knot as they look completely different with their breeding plumage. It is not the case when you see them in Australia with their non-breeding feathers. The large flock of Red Knots have not reached here yet. Hopefully we can see them in large quantities in a few days before we leave.
New birds for today include Striated Heron with green eyes and lovely wing feather which is new bird species for me. Five Little Egret and one Chinese Pond-Heron were new for us in the survey area.
This Sanuders' Gull had red ELF “HL” on the left tibia; discoloured metal, or coloured band on left tarsus; yellow band on right tibia and nothing on the right tarsus.
The bird was seen at Shuangtaizi NNR on 2014-4-24 by A. Keates & S. Gunn and was banded at Shuangtaizi NNR at 2012-6-12.
Day Ten, 25th April 2014
When we were watching birds on the mudflat, we drove to the oil stations which were built into the sea in the reserve. Its shape is like two legs extended to the sea. Each leg contains 2 or 3 oil stations. The oil stations were built high and surrounded by the high seawalls to protect from water. At the station there are worksite, sleeping caravans and toilets. All the food are delivered to workers on the shift each day. There is a bus to transport the workers as they live about 30km away in the Compound. Generally the shift is two weeks on and two weeks off.
It was another quiet day today. The birds were even less than yesterday. All the band sightings were the same birds from yesterday but the number was less. Obviously the same birds stayed here over night. No new bird species was sighted.
On the way to the oil station we spotted a dead small dolphin. Obviously it has been pushed onto the shore by the tide last night. The dead mammals are occasionally seen in the area. The suspected death was caused by hitting by the boat or poisoned by eating chemical substance, said by Danny who is Fudan Uni student and doing his postgraduate study on waders. The project he's chosen is the food source for Great Knots. He arrived here on Wednesday from Yalujiang Reserve hoping to find more food source for the Knots.
To his disappointment, he had a hard time in these couple of days trying to find Great Knots in low tide environment. His research is to find the feeding ground for Great Knots two hours before or after the low tide. We told him we saw near 20,000 Knots when it was high tide. He should wait. But his argument is that if Great Knots do not stay at low tide it means that this area is not the food source for Great Knots. They have only been pushed here because of the high tide and few places to choose from. So next day he decided to go elsewhere to search the Knots. In vain no sign of Great Knots. As sea cucumber farmings on the mudflat in the area to the west and east of our survey area, he could not find an access to the seaside.
Danny showed us on Google map how extensive the farming area covers on the mudflat. He walked 5 kilometers each way and did not find any access to the sea. The other problem associates with seafood farming on the mudflat is that the chemical are used in the ponds to control other organism and chemical are seeping out of the ponds, killing the organism outside farming area and broke the Eco-system food chain. It may be part of reasons for reduced birds population.
When we were watching birds on the mudflat, we drove to the oil stations which were built into the sea in the reserve. Its shape is like two legs extended to the sea. Each leg contains 2 or 3 oil stations. The oil stations were built high and surrounded by the high seawalls to protect from water. At the station there are worksite, sleeping caravans and toilets. All the food are delivered to workers on the shift each day. There is a bus to transport the workers as they live about 30km away in the Compound. Generally the shift is two weeks on and two weeks off.
It was another quiet day today. The birds were even less than yesterday. All the band sightings were the same birds from yesterday but the number was less. Obviously the same birds stayed here over night. No new bird species was sighted.
On the way to the oil station we spotted a dead small dolphin. Obviously it has been pushed onto the shore by the tide last night. The dead mammals are occasionally seen in the area. The suspected death was caused by hitting by the boat or poisoned by eating chemical substance, said by Danny who is Fudan Uni student and doing his postgraduate study on waders. The project he's chosen is the food source for Great Knots. He arrived here on Wednesday from Yalujiang Reserve hoping to find more food source for the Knots.
To his disappointment, he had a hard time in these couple of days trying to find Great Knots in low tide environment. His research is to find the feeding ground for Great Knots two hours before or after the low tide. We told him we saw near 20,000 Knots when it was high tide. He should wait. But his argument is that if Great Knots do not stay at low tide it means that this area is not the food source for Great Knots. They have only been pushed here because of the high tide and few places to choose from. So next day he decided to go elsewhere to search the Knots. In vain no sign of Great Knots. As sea cucumber farmings on the mudflat in the area to the west and east of our survey area, he could not find an access to the seaside.
Danny showed us on Google map how extensive the farming area covers on the mudflat. He walked 5 kilometers each way and did not find any access to the sea. The other problem associates with seafood farming on the mudflat is that the chemical are used in the ponds to control other organism and chemical are seeping out of the ponds, killing the organism outside farming area and broke the Eco-system food chain. It may be part of reasons for reduced birds population.
Day Eleven, 26th April 2014
The weather forecast for today was a chance of rain but no wind. We started today at 7:30am. The target destination was to watch Spotted Seals. Joining with other 10 people from nearby city, we hired a fishing boat. As lucky as we can be, we spotted about 22 Spotted Seals on the mudbank as soon as we turned the corner.
After lunch we went for our usual bird count and scanning for flags. The tide is getting bigger each day now. For sure we estimated the number of birds around 2000-3000 today comparing 1,000 visible birds yesterday. They were scattered along the coastline at far distance. Total numbers of birds were up but numbers of the banded birds were down. We thought new arrivals presented today as new banded birds were found. The last three days we have been seeing the same banded birds each day.
The new species of the day are Siberia Rubythroat and Temmincks Stint. The Rubythroats are gorgeous birds with lovely singing tunes.
The weather forecast for today was a chance of rain but no wind. We started today at 7:30am. The target destination was to watch Spotted Seals. Joining with other 10 people from nearby city, we hired a fishing boat. As lucky as we can be, we spotted about 22 Spotted Seals on the mudbank as soon as we turned the corner.
After lunch we went for our usual bird count and scanning for flags. The tide is getting bigger each day now. For sure we estimated the number of birds around 2000-3000 today comparing 1,000 visible birds yesterday. They were scattered along the coastline at far distance. Total numbers of birds were up but numbers of the banded birds were down. We thought new arrivals presented today as new banded birds were found. The last three days we have been seeing the same banded birds each day.
The new species of the day are Siberia Rubythroat and Temmincks Stint. The Rubythroats are gorgeous birds with lovely singing tunes.
Day Twelve, 27th April 2014
Despite today is an ordinary day for the counting and sighting, we still managed to find 2 Ruddy Turnstones, over 340 Grey Plovers and 285 Dunlins. Grey Plovers numbers are up. The Godwits numbers are down from the survey area. But at least 3000 birds in flight at far distance were spotted circling around indecisively and finally disappeared to the distance. We could not scan all the birds because they were in the water.
The highlight of the day were 2 Pacific Golden Plovers with full breeding plumage in the reeds paddock. Pallas Buntings were also found along the dirt road. Pied Harrier as the name suggested is black and white bird. It looked spectacles.
Despite today is an ordinary day for the counting and sighting, we still managed to find 2 Ruddy Turnstones, over 340 Grey Plovers and 285 Dunlins. Grey Plovers numbers are up. The Godwits numbers are down from the survey area. But at least 3000 birds in flight at far distance were spotted circling around indecisively and finally disappeared to the distance. We could not scan all the birds because they were in the water.
The highlight of the day were 2 Pacific Golden Plovers with full breeding plumage in the reeds paddock. Pallas Buntings were also found along the dirt road. Pied Harrier as the name suggested is black and white bird. It looked spectacles.
Day Thirteen , 28th April 2014
The new bird species did not stop coming as the survey drew close to the end. Well, I just counted 127 species of birds I have seen on this trip . It is 10% of the total 1300 species and 30% of local species.
The new bird species did not stop coming as the survey drew close to the end. Well, I just counted 127 species of birds I have seen on this trip . It is 10% of the total 1300 species and 30% of local species.
Day Fourteen , 29th April 2014
The Survey is close to the end and we are ready to go to Yalujiang for a visit.
The Survey is close to the end and we are ready to go to Yalujiang for a visit.
Day Fifteen , 30th April 2014
1-3 May 2014
Yalujiang National Nature Reserve was established in 1997 and is located in far eastern coastal Liaoning Province of China, adjacent to the North Korean border.
After 6 hours bus ride, we finally arrived at a small fishing village. We told the bus driver we wanted to go to the Yalujiang NNR, not this village. He told us it is Yalujiang NNR. We have been told before that people live in the Reserve but did not believe a whole town in the Reserve. In the next a few days, we had experienced observation of birds in the high tide, stormy weather and visiting Korean border. The bad weather might stop us to watch and count birds but did not stop us to hop on the Taxi to Korean Border and cruising on speed boat in the Yalujiang River for a 20 minutes visit.
Yalujiang National Nature Reserve was established in 1997 and is located in far eastern coastal Liaoning Province of China, adjacent to the North Korean border.
After 6 hours bus ride, we finally arrived at a small fishing village. We told the bus driver we wanted to go to the Yalujiang NNR, not this village. He told us it is Yalujiang NNR. We have been told before that people live in the Reserve but did not believe a whole town in the Reserve. In the next a few days, we had experienced observation of birds in the high tide, stormy weather and visiting Korean border. The bad weather might stop us to watch and count birds but did not stop us to hop on the Taxi to Korean Border and cruising on speed boat in the Yalujiang River for a 20 minutes visit.