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        Discussion Area 討論區 >> Birding Reports & Tips 觀鳥報告及心得 >>  Scaly-sided Merganser at Shimen, GZ 廣州石門有中華秋沙鴨
        
(Message started by: Richard_Lewthwaite on Feb 13^th, 2006, 11:44am)

Title: Scaly-sided Merganser at Shimen, GZ 廣州石門有中華秋沙鴨
Post by Richard_Lewthwaite on Feb 13^th, 2006, 11:44am

A male Scaly-sided Merganser, only the 3rd record for Guangdong and the first since 1973, was found about two weeks ago at Bai Meng Tan Reservoir, Shimen National Forest Park, Conghua, Guangzhou.

Mo-yung Yuk Lin and I went there last Saturday (13 Feb) and eventually had excellent views in very good light at the same site, a relatively small but apparently fish-rich reservoir surrounded by low hills.

We covered the reservoir from a narrow motorable track which leads to a small dam, and our best views were from about half way along, where we were screened by trees and able to watch the bird on the water fairly close to us. Even in late morning on a warm day, it was very active, swimming & diving, swallowing fish up to twice its bill length, occasionally flying. The only other waterbirds we saw were 10 Little Grebes. In the adjacent woods, we saw or heard a couple of Great Barbets, 10 or more Chestnut Bulbuls, a minivet and a Grey Treepie. Yu Haiyan, who we met there, said she'd also seen a Crested Kingfisher at the reservoir.

The arrangements went like this - Yu Yat Tung put us in contact with Liao Zhaodong in Guangzhou who kindly met us & gave us a map showing exactly where to go. We then hired a taxi to take us to the site, which is about 2 hours drive and 80 km north of Guangzhou. Our driver took us into Shimen Forest Park, found the reservoir & the viewing points and eventually took us back to Guangzhou East Railway Station. Costs were HKD 150 each for return railway tickets Shenzhen-Guangzhou East, RMB 500 for round-trip hire of the taxi & RMB 30 each for entry to Shimen FP.

Mr Li, our (Cantonese-speaking) taxi driver was very helpful & now knows exactly where to go & where to look. Tel: 137 1176 4410.

If anyone wants further details, just  leave a message on BirdLine 2667 4537.

Thanks to Yu Yat Tung, Liao Zhaodong and Yu Haiyan for assistance & information.

Title: Re: Scaly-sided Merganser at Shimen, Guangzhou
Post by Captain on Feb 13^th, 2006, 1:58pm

Thanks for the info.

Apart from the Merganser, are there any interesting birds around that corner of Shimen national reserve?

Thanks,

Captain

Title: Re: Scaly-sided Merganser at Shimen, GZ 廣州石門有
Post by Richard_Lewthwaite on Feb 14^th, 2006, 10:14am

The reservoir is at low altitude (c 250 m asl) surrounded by low hills with mainly Cunninghamia-dominated young growth. I doubt it supports a rich avifauna. In the 2 hours we spent there, we noted just the species mentioned in the original posting. In nearby farmland, we also logged 30+ Red-rumped Swallows, a few Chinese and Red-whiskered Bulbuls and the occasional Long-tailed Shrike.