Jonathmartinez

4 Days birding in Dong Ting Lake (i've focus more on passerines and spend most of time in marshes and willow tree plantation than open water) and in some rural zone near Yueyang, weather's condition rather unstable, 1 sunny day with a nice south wind that bring a lot of new birds after few days raining, and now turn again to rain.

most interesting bird summaryzed as below :

eastern marsh harrier : max count 5
grey lapwing :1
dusky warbler : 1 - 2 daily bird
pallas's leaf warbler : maximum 10
yellow-browed warbler : everywhere, max over 100 on 23 (attached pic)
eastern crowned warbler : max 3 on 22 and 23
red-flanked blue tail : 2 last migrant
Grey headed canary flycatcher : 3 on 22
striated prinia : 2 breeders
yellow-rumped flycatcher : at least 7 singer (breed there)
asian brown flycatcher : 1 on 22
yellow-browed bunting : all male in breeding plumage 3 on 22 and 3 on 24
amur falcon : 1 on 24 and 7 on 25 (male on attached pic)
brown shrike : 1 lusionensis and 1 confusus on 24 and 25
asian stubtail : 1 on 24 and other 1 on 25
mandchurian bush warbler : 2 singers on 24 (breed there)
Radde's warbler : 3 on 24 and 2 on 25
siberian rubythroat : 1 male on 24 and 25
rufous-tailed robin :1 on 24 and 25 (attached pic)
olive-backed pipit : everywhere in small group of 3-4 bird
brambling : 6 on 24
tristram's bunting : max 10 on 25
chestnut bunting : 3 on 24
black-faced bunting : 15 daily
striated heron : 1 single on 24
purple heron : 34 on V formation flying to north ( seen in north of Yueyang)
black drongo : 1 on 24 and 4 on 25
oriental reed warbler : 1 on 24
daurian starling : 1 on 24
siberian stonechat : group of 5-6 in every suitable habitat, near 40 daily
japanese white eye : 2 group of 25-30 birds
white wagtail : 1 male "ocularis"
richard pipit : 2 on 24
chinese grosbeak : many group of 15-20 birds
chestnut-eared bunting : 1 on 24
little bunting : 1 single on 24
eastern cattle egret : 1 group of 55 on 25
chinese pond heron : 1 group of 45 on 24
asian stubtail : 1 on 24 and 1 on 25
seicercus wrabler probable Bianchi's : 1 on 25
white thrush : 6 on 25
eyebrowed thrush : 3 on 24, 1 on 25
white-throated rock thrush : 1 female on 25 (attached pic)
taiga flycatcher : 2 on 25
chinese bulbul : many group of 50 to 100 birds on 24 and 25

and a few other skulkers or really too shy birds that haven't gave me the chance to put a name on it, this kind of birds that just show you the features to make you understand that you miss something good.... grrrrr!

Next post on next full rainy day:-)

Jonathan

kmike

Interesting!

looking forward to hearing more Jonathan.

I couldn't see your pix of the White-throated Rock Thrush and Rufous-tailed Robin.

Cheers
Mike

Jonathmartinez

Hi Mike,

sorry, the website is working very slowly in Mainland even in Shenzhen, and i'm always frustrated since there is many pics i can not open in some post. I really don't know why. Send one post take often a good hour, and ofently i receive a message error and after repost a new time then i can see the post have been send two time!!!grrr.... No complain, just to show the difficulties of birdwatcher in China :-)

You can see all the pictures in the first post have been send (same tittle) below this one on the "trip report" menu, i've try to upload them again, but i receive a message that i'm limited up to 800000 bytes per day, so it does'nt work.

Cheers

jonathan

Jonathmartinez

fresh news from 26 on Matang Lake (south of Yueyang) and on 27 on the willow tree and ashtree plantation in North of Dong Ting lake just before Junshan for people who know the place:

Japanese quail : 2 om 26
amur falcon: 7 on 26, 4 on 27
grey-headed lapwing :21 on 26
cuckoo sp : 1 hunting on open area perched on a wood stick (just too far away)
brown shrike : 7 lusionensis and confusus
Radde's warbler 1 on 26, 5 on 27
daurian starling : 60, 2 groups + isolated bird (male in attached pic)
white wagtail : 3 male occularis together
Richard's pipit : at least 40, in small group of 3-4 individuals
Red-throated pipit : 2 (and only 2, normally should have hundreeds of bird as i've seen there in same period on 2008)
yellow-breasted bunting : 12 on 26
little bunting : 10 on 26
yellow bellied tit : 1
dusky warbler : 1 singing on 27
possible buff-throated warbler on 27 seen too briefly: call remind repeated "tssipp tssipp" bunting like??? bird skulking in low vegetation
pallas leaf warbler :1 on 27
YB warbler : 20 on 27
easter crowned-warbler :1 on 27
white thrush : 3 on 27 (attached pic)
grey-backed thrush : 1 female on 27
eye-browed thrush : 2 on 27
siberian rubythroat : 3 isngers on 27
rufous tailed-robin : 1 on 27 maybe different bird from 25 (different place)
white-throated thrush : 1 female on 27 exactly at the same place as on 25
blue rock thrush : 1 female on the dam on 27
yellow-rumped flycatcher : 1 male 1 female on 27
mugimaki flycatcher : 1 fantastic male on 27
taiga flycatcher :1 female on 27
tristram buning : 15
chestnut bunting :3


additional pic of singing Brownish-flanked bush warbler and female black-faced bunting.

Cheers,

Jonathan

John Holmes

Jonathan,

Great photos.... interesting bird list:-  looks like you had a good day !

John

Jonathmartinez

Hi John,

good day and good week, difficult to stay so close of Hunan birdspot paradise without birding everyday:-)
6 new species for my Hunan bird list in one week, i guess will become more and more difficult to repeat it in the future!But this place have really big potential, and i still have not spend any time on the hugge reedbeds where probably have tons of good warblers waiting for me, have to wait a few days more i guess before they arrive there.

Cheers,

Jonathan

Jonathmartinez

I've finally managed to visit one of the reedbed, just before Junshan, when i arrived there was a really noisy background looks as hundreeds of bird singing together. The first bird i saw was a blunt-winged warbler (pic in attached file), the second one was a Mandchurian reed warbler!!! Really god beginning, then i decide to go see wich bird was singing so noisy and i discover at least 10 to 15 Marsh grassbird singing and displaying in a really small area, really wonderfull, there was probably over 20 birds including the one not singing and skulking everywhere...(attached pic)
other interesting bird today and yesterday :

Black-capped Kingfisher :2 on 28
dusky warbler :1 on 28, 2 on 29
Radde's warbler : 1 on 28
Pallas's leaf warbler :2 on 28
Eastern crowned warbler : 1 on 28
rufous-capped babbler : 1st singer on 28
Taiga flycatcher :2 on 28 (attached pic)
black-winged cuckoo shrike : 1 male on 29
black-naped oriole : 1 on 29
common magpie :1 late migrant? on 29
chinese penduline tit :1 on 29
Black-browed reed warbler : 10 on 29
oriental reed warbler : 2 on 29
Bluethroat : 4 on 29
Siberian rubythroat :1 on 29
forest wagtail : 1 on 29
common reed bunting : 2 on 29

Jonathan

Jonathmartinez

Everything is on tittle! I've seen my Dong Ting Hu dream bird this morning. I search Swinhoe's rail in Dong Ting Hu since a long time ago without any success until this morning when this bird flew 4-5 meter away from me and land after a short flight. The bird was in a not so wet meadows, magic instant even too short but now i have a better idea in what king of habitat i have to search.I guess the date is also interesting since i'm not sur if have a clear idea of when this bird return to his breeding quarter. I've disturb a other small crake on a reedbed, who make a really short flight whith the leggs dangled but unfortunately with the sun in front of me so not sur about what it was.

other interesting bird of this last 2 days on 30th in the willow trees and ashtrees plantation and today on the reed bed before Junshan :
chinese sparrowhawk : 1 on 30th
eurasian sparrowhawk : 1 this morning
chinese penduline tit : 1 on 30th and heared again this morning
dusky warbler : 4 this morning
radde's warbler :at least 6 this morning
eastern-crowned warbler : 1 on 30th
pale-legged warbler : at least 10 bird singing on 30th, i hear this bird singing since a few day but did'nt realyse it was pale-legged, i just realise yesterday after got a bird with his typicall call and answer to playback, really difficult to see there.
blue wistling thrush : 1 on 30th every bird is possible in Dong Ting Lake, i probably disturb this bird a few days ago but could'nt state about what it was, yesterday got a good view of the bird as well as was singing.
white thrush : 6 on 30th
eyebrowed thrush : 3 on 30th
siberian rubythroat : 1 on 30th
mugimaki flycatcher : 1 male on 30th
japanese quail : 1 this morning
swintail snipe : 2 this morning
eurasian cuckoo : 2 singing this morning
sprangled drongo :1 this morning
pale martin : 4 this morning
marsh grassbird : 15 singer (probably much more) this morning
blunt-winged warbler : 1 this morning
arctic warbler : my first this morning
forest wagtail : 2 this morning
yellow-breated bunting : 1 male this morning

a few pic, Brown shrike, Yellow-breasted bunting and Marsh grassbird

Jonathan

John Holmes

Swinhoe's Rail !    I'm jealous !

John

Jonathmartinez

you can not imagine my happiness this morning when i saw this bird!
Next pretty good challenge will be to manage some pic:-)

kmike

Congratulations on the crake! - Richard Lewthwaite and I saw one here in winter a few years ago, also in dry meadow.

Cheers
Mike K

Jonathmartinez

Thanks Mike, i would like to say his habitat looks more close to Corn Crake than Baillon's or other porzana as i first imaged.
To close this Hunan chapter,today was really windy and hot very early, really so so for birding, the today good bird is a water rail i've seen eating a small fish, seems there is really few record for Hunan ("China bird report 2006"), maybe only the second one.
Other new birds include a Red turtle dove, a female Mugimaki flycatcher,a male Yellow-rumped flycatcher,a female bluethroat and a male Tristram's bunting.

Totally i've seen 131 species in a good week, without spend any time on waders or water birds...

Cheers,

Jonathan