Birds of Nanchang and Poyang Hu, Jiangxi Province (1 Viewer)

[jonathmartinez]

in Hunan, I saw them only once in lowland at a site I was following very regurarly, but at least it suggests some movement in winter. In Guangxi I get them breeding around 200 meters, so I guess habitat is a more important factors than altitude, on the other hand in this part of Guangxi I have many species that are breeding at lower altitude than usually recorded, upland Pipit, Striated Prinia, Russet Bush Warbler....

 

[Gretchen]

I saw a Brown-breasted Bulbul again today, but my hands were too full to get a picture - if they stick around, I'll try to get one in the next day or so.

I first saw them the day after huge winds, which generally could have blown birds in, but I guess these bulbuls don't usually migrate, so I wouldn't think wind would impact them. In terms of habitat, our campus (where they were) is just like park/garden habitat, lots of fruiting trees now, but nothing very special....

Continuing to see more Daurian Redstarts commonly - must be lots coming through these days, though we've not seen more than a few at a time.

 

[MKinHK]

It's good to read that you're finding a few more birds in Nanchang Gretchen. Keep watching those fruiting tree - anything could drop in !

Cheers
Mike

 

[mjgrunwell]

Bulbuls

Dear Gretchen

It is great that you are getting out and about.

Brown-breasted bulbul is a bird of altitude in Jiangxi province, I had them at over 1500m somewhere. I never saw them in the city. Is it possible that your bulbuls are sooty-headed? Then again the sooty-headed I have seen in Nanchang are the red-vented race, the yellow vented are common in SE asia

Michael

 

[Gretchen]

Thanks Michael for replying. I thought I could not find the BBB on your lists, and saw it as unlikely from other sources. However, I've seen a lot of Sooty-headed Bulbuls, and really did not see a bright red vent, though I admit it that ID seems more likely. The bird I saw best had its head feathers all fluffed up, so I had trouble distinguishing the head features, but did not notice the red feathering which should be on a BBB face. I have a vague recollection of noticing the end of the tail, but have forgotten now if I did or did not see a white fringe - the color of the vent seemed like enough to ID it - note to self: better write down all features. I'll keep trying to get a better view.

 

[Gretchen]

Not great weather here: 1 1/2 days of constant drizzle finally let up this afternoon, but it was still very damp and overcast (temp around 60). The upside was there were fewer people, but birds seemed very quiet and subdued as well.

• Long-tailed Shrike 1 (grooming)
• Japanese Tit 2
• Light-vented Bulbul 1
• White-browed Laughingthrush 2 (just 2 birds were very noisy in a bamboo before moving to other trees)
• Red-flanked Bluetail 1 (female type: red flank and clean white chin and eye-ring)
• Daurian Redstart 3 (all individual males)
• White Wagtail 1
• Oriental Greenfinch 25 (a flock, chattering in a tall tree, and occasionally lifting, wheeling about and returning; poor light, but yellow patch on wings, light bill against dark face evident)

I think I saw a Grey-backed Thrush as well, and a very stripy smaller bird, a pipit I suppose. I'm guessing Olive-backed because the stripes were fairly heavy, but I haven't tried to identify pipits for a while...

I've also been hearing a bird with a very high and fairly thin call. Don't know if you guys could give some candidates? It reminds me of a waxwing (cedar), but not so strong. I never seem to get a glimpse of it.

 

[Owen Krout]

Just a suggested possibility, Gretchen, since they are found as far south as Taiwan, the Coal Tit (Periparus ater) has a very high pitched and very soft see-see-see, indeed somewhat reminiscent of a waxwing. The sound is in fact high pitched enough that it is almost ultrasonic to my old ears. They are small and can hide quite well, so maybe why your not seeing them. They do tend to respond well to pishing sounds though.

 

[Andy Adcock]

he had been watching and taking pictures of the redtails

Redtails?

Andy

 

[Gretchen]

he had been watching and taking pictures of the redtails

Redtails?

Andy

Isn't that what "redstart" means? :-O Yes, the Daurian Redstarts. Who knows how tired I am when typing....

 

[Owen Krout]

Isn't that what "redstart" means? :-O Yes, the Daurian Redstarts. Who knows how tired I am when typing....

That's all right, Gretchen. I had read it as Bluetail when I originally went over it. Exactly what you have to be careful of in birding, one always tends to see what they are used to or expect to see rather than what is really there.

 

[Gretchen]

Well after a morning of birding in Chinese, I'll be all the more likely to call them "redtails" (Bei Hong Wei Qu) :-O This morning I had a birdwalk around campus with the local Blue Sky Environmental Protection Club!

The group I met a few weeks ago is part of this organization of about 20 students (mostly underclassmen), a few of whom are serious birdwatchers. I don't know very much about all they do, but today they were taking people out to look at birds (and some botanical items). We divided into two groups, and they had binoculars which they shared around, a few carried birding brochures, booklets and a Chinese copy of MacKinnon, a few had cameras, and quite a few kept a good list of what we saw. (Those that know Chinese know that bird names are even trickier to write in Chinese than most languages since those characters are very rarely used.)

Mostly it was a good chance for beginners to get the most basic skills and knowledge, but I was impressed that they have been working on identifying birds by calls, and were better at them than I am. For me it was a linguistic challenge, seeing as how I've learned almost no bird names in Chinese up to now. But anyway, it was a great chance to go out with the students, see a few more birds (with more eyes) and enjoy their enthusiasm.

This is what we saw on this overcast and cool early morning:

• Little Grebe 2
• Spotted Dove 3
• Long-tailed Shrike 1
• Yellow-bellied Tit 5 at least 1 male and 1 female
• Light-vented Bulbul 4
• Oriental Magpie-Robin 2 -male and female together
• Red-flanked Bluetail 2
• Daurian Redstart 6
• Gray-backed Thrush 1
• Chinese Blackbird 10
• Black-collared Starling 1 -calling loudly from treetop
• Red-billed Starling 230 -at 6:30 saw a flock of 200 or so (setting out from morning roost?), later smaller flock
• White Wagtail 2 -male and female together
• Olive-backed Pipit 2 -seen separately
• Black-faced Bunting 1
• Yellow-billed Grosbeak 1
• Eurasian Tree Sparrow 3
• Scaly-breasted Munia 3 -flock hidden in bamboo, could have been 5-8 birds

Apparently the cool and windy weather has brought in new birds: the Red-flanked Bluetails, Pipits and Grosbeak. It was great to compare notes on birds seen, and they would agree with Michael that I probably saw Sooty-headed Bulbuls. Well, next time I'll know what to look for more closely.

One interesting tidbit that I picked up was that there was a birding competition last spring, I think for students from the different colleges in town, and there should be one again this next year! Very interesting to see this level of activity in birding (as a part of environmental protection). I feel that I might have heard of this group (which seems to be national?) before - did I read about it here? (LanTian HuanBao... or Blue Sky Environmental Protection...)

Well, a very exciting day of campus birding!

 

[Owen Krout]

Interesting, Gretchen. Last week I encountered two small groups of people that were obviously birding. One group had an obvious total newbe air about them, sounding like a herd of gorillas when off the pavement and scaring away more than they were seeing, but at least showing awareness and the other group had an obvious "official" air about them, three men dressed the same, all in black, with armbands of some sort and even a clipboard where one of them was making notes! Almost like some "Big Day" activity. I also seem to have some vague recollection of a national group and the name does seem to ring a bell.

Even in the US I like to work by myself and slowly take my time to work out the birds most people don't even see, much less notice. Therefore, I never got close enough to really get any details, but when the "officials" group and I were both attracted to an unusual call I saw they noticed me and had some discussion and saw them nodding to each other. Probably something like, "Oh, that is the crazy American who is out here all the time taking pictures."

 

[Gretchen]

Owen, thanks for your comments on birding groups. I guess that the is Blue Sky Environmental thing is aimed at college students, but perhaps is larger than that?

I've been crazy busy traveling to conferences, and catching up on other work when at home. I did take my binoculars to Kunming, and among other things had a lovely chance to compare Sooty-headed and Brown-breasted Bulbuls - think I'll be clear next time I enjoyed a few other birds I hadn't seen a lot of recently (including White-eyes), but had very little time to look around.

I'm still nearly locked up inside with work, but walking back from a shopping expedition (i.e. no bins), I came across a noisy and close-by flock. I thought they were all tiny warblers, until I noticed that some were Black-throated Tits - old friends from last year's trip to Lijiang. I was quite surprised to see them, but they were pretty obvious. I see Michael thought they were breeding in town, but this is the first for me to see them. There were warblers of the same size in the trees with them, but I just couldn't see well enough without bins to identify them - just saw their clear wingbars, stong eye stripes and watched one almost run along a branch, while another did some very brief hover feeding. The whole group was noisy and active!

 

[Owen Krout]

One of the inevitable outcomes it seems. When you have your binoculars it seems that you spend the whole outing without even raising them. When you decide to leave them at home you immediately see that not quite identifiable bird and find yourself reaching for the bins that are not there. 8-P

Similar to the bird you are trying to identify will always be right in line with the sun so all you can do is squint and just make out a black shadow form.

 

[Gretchen]

Owen you're right of course, and that's why the solution is to get out more often - which has worked quite well for you!

I, however, have been swamped with work and other catch up. This afternoon I finally made it out for at least a walk on campus and was pleased to see a fair number of birds despite the unorthodox time - perhaps they were really as excited as all the people about the sun making a reappearance again.

Little Grebe 5 - 4 of them together at one point
Long-tailed Shrike 1
Japanese Tit 2 - seen moving through trees with black-chinned tits
Black-throated Tit 4
Light-vented Bulbul 12 -several were seen fly-catching from a 6 story roof
Masked Laughingthrush 1 - seen hiding in low tree foliage and then swooping down to catch bugs in grass
Oriental Magpie-Robin 1
Red-flanked Bluetail 1
Chinese Blackbird 8 - regularly calling
Black-collared Starling 2
Crested Myna 2

There was also the problem of a little tck tck coming from the bushes (in several places). I'm not really sure what to do in this case. Is it better to sit tight and expect the bird may appear? It seems if one gets closer they just become quieter and less likely to move. I failed to solve that mystery today.

I was interested in the Masked Laughingthrush's behavior. I've noticed a single bird in this location before - a part of the park with fairly manicured lawns and short trees with fairly thick foliage. I would have thought that laughingthrushes would prefer a more bushy type location where they could move about on the ground more freely. I wonder if this one has just adapted to conditions here - acting more like a shrike and pouncing on prey from above.

Also was interested to see 4 Little Grebes together - I don't usually see them in groups.

 

[MKinHK]

Hi Gretchen

Your most likely contender for the ticker in the bush is Dusky Warbler, which winter in SE China in good numbers and hide in a bush and go "Tck", although buntings do this too, only more softly.

Cheers
Mike

 

[jonathmartinez]

I would also consider Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler regarding the "teck teck" bird. They often do a faint teck teck or sometime a more trilling call. They also not easily shows up and, I guess, must be fairly common in this part of Jiangxi

 

[Gretchen]

Mike and Jonathan, thanks for the ideas on the possible skulkers. Dusky Warbler was definitely in my mind, but it's good to think about buntings and bush warblers - I'll listen to more recordings and see if that will help.

 

[Gretchen]

This morning's 1 and 1/2 hours in chilly, very cloudy conditions produced few walkers/runners, and more birds!

• Little Grebe 5
• Oriental Turtle-Dove 1 - only seen briefly in flight, but tail seemed right for this species
• Common Kingfisher 1
• Long-tailed Shrike 1
• Light-vented Bulbul 12
• White-browed Laughingthrush 3
• Red-flanked Bluetail 5 - all female-type
• Daurian Redstart 5 - all males!
• Chinese Blackbird 12
• Black-collared Starling 1
• Crested Myna 10 - loud whistling by many today
• White Wagtail 1 - ocularis: grey back, black eye-line, large black bib
• Red-throated Pipit 1 - smallish (viewed next to bunting), very bright orange feet and legs, and very distinct spots covering most of breast, particularly heavy in front central area, lightish coloring around eyes (not seen very clearly)
• Black-faced Bunting 3 - very prominent and constant flicking of tail which caused white tail feathers to flash, seem like females: grey only on nape
• Yellow-billed Grosbeak 1 - accompanied by 2 other birds (they flew in and out together), probably same but barely seen (chestnut flank seen, as well as largish black hood on male)

I was quite pleased to see the kingfisher as I hadn't seen one in ages, and wasn't sure that they were maintaining territories on campus for the winter.

If correctly identified, the Red-throated Pipit was a first. On returning home to pictures and books I realized how tricky it could be in comparison with the Buff-bellied. I think the overall brownish back and clearer wingbar favored BB, but the very bright orange feet/legs, and the strong spotting favored the RT.

I think I have gotten the Black-faced bunting id correct as well. Could anyone confirm that the flashing of the white tail feathers when wagging the tail is typical for this species? I did hear their small calls, which I felt were not as dry as what I had heard before in the bushes.

I can't figure out why I didn't see any male Bluetails, nor any female Redstarts, though I saw quite a few individuals in both species!

I watched a Light-vented Bulbul eat a huge fruit (like a small olive) - it was one of those "will he be able to swallow it?" moments - and he did! I don't know if anyone will recognize the tree/fruit (fruit was green, sort of like a ordinary small olive size). I've attached poor pics of the tree and fruit, in case someone knows what it is (I suspect its quite common).

Thanks to Mike for inspiring me to look more closely at the White Wagtails more closely again...

 

[DavidJStanton]

Hi Gretchen - is the tree a Melia azedarach?