From the Archives: Siberian Rubythroat on Shetland 22nd October 2011

It sounds so innocuous does it not but this was no ordinary event.The bird in question this time was only the eighth of its kind to be recorded in Britain and for the vast majority of birders represents the ultimate prize in birding cum twitching, especially as it was a male in all its splendid ruby throated finery. We saw it. In fact we saw it fifteen times over a period of six hours whilst standing at one end of a windswept drive leading to a house sheltered by ornamental bushes and wind stunted trees. It took us three days, 1102 miles and 16 hours of driving plus two 12 hour ferry crossings from Aberdeen to Lerwick and back in heavy seas,but we achieved it.

This is the sequence of extraordinary events leading to our successful twitch.

Badger alerted me by a text, on the 19th October, to the fact that there was a male Siberian Rubythroat at a place called Gulberwick which is on Mainland, Shetland. Shetland! My initial reaction was 'You have to be joking, that's virtually Scandinavia! No wait a minute it is Scandinavia! To get there will cost a fortune and the only way in situations like this is to fly, as birds as rare as a rubythroat never remain for long. I cannot afford the airfare and anyway it will be gone tomorrow'. Tomorrow arrives and the rubythroat is still there. I call Badger who sensibly declines any blandishments on my part about going for it but suggests trying Paul. I call Paul to find he is already asking his wife Vicky to look into flights to Lerwick. Although I cannot afford the airfare I still find myself agreeing to look at flights and logistics for the two of us.Why am I doing this? I am definitely not going. Certainly not after confirming the cost of flights to Aberdeen and onwards to Lerwick from various airports around Britain. I call Paul and tell him it is out of the question. He responds with the fact there is an alternative - a car ferry. 'Pardon?' 'A ferry, it sails from Aberdeen'. 'But'. I respond. 'Aberdeen is a very long way away and we will have to drive for eight hours before we even get on the ferry'. Paul replies 'You're right let's forget it - but it is a male. The phone goes dead. I go to bed that night with no further thoughts other than it would be nice to see a Siberian Rubythroat that was about five hundred miles nearer, preferably in my garden. 

I wake at six the next morning, Monday, with an IDEA! Any idea at this time of day is not good news but I persist and by half past six I have formulated a plan. Normally such plans become forgotten as sleep recedes and common sense prevails but I cannot let go. I will wait until seven, then call Paul and suggest we meet at nine am today at the latest, drive five hundred miles to Aberdeen, catch an overnight ferry which we have not even booked and which takes twelve hours to get to Lerwick, drive off the ferry and go and see the bird which is but a few miles from the ferry terminal.We should be there on Tuesday morning. What could be easier? The only remotely encouraging and sensible part of this unlikely plan is the fact that the bird is very near the ferry terminal. A voice of reason in my head tells me it will undoubtedly have gone by the time we get there tomorrow as birds such as Siberian Rubythoats, especially males only show themselves to elite birders who can afford to charter small planes at a vast cost. Forget it and get on with life. 

Seven am arrives and I call Paul with my master plan and astoundingly he agrees to it, telling me he is already at work but has his bag packed with all his birding gear - 'just in case you understand'. How does he know?  I now, having had my bluff called, find myself hastily packing everything I need, inform my ever supportive wife that I have decided to go to Shetland and head off into the morning traffic to meet and collect Paul at Woodstock. We are on the road north at bang on nine am. It really is happening. Paul tells me the bird has been reported this morning as still there. Is there a chance after all?  It has already remained for far longer than normal for such a gem. En route on the M40 Paul books us and the ever faithful Black Audi onto the ferry for tonight. We are now twitching big time. This is it. A huge gamble. The big adventure has begun. 

A steady drive north ensues with two stops for coffee and petrol and we arrive in the Granite City at 5.30 pm fully in the rush hour. It has become a bit surreal. We find the ferry terminal with 'nae bother' and line up the car on the dockside to await boarding time onto the huge Northlink ferry, the MV Hrossey. We drive onto the ferry, leave the car and settle in the combined bar and cafeteria. Sailing time arrives - seven thirty and it is dark as we slowly creep out of the harbour past huge brightly illuminated oilrig support vessels. 'I told you we were almost in Scandinavia, they all have Norwegian names!' Not a trawler in sight. Oil is now king. The lights of the vessels and Aberdeen recede as we sail into an ink dark North Sea and contemplate the daunting prospect of twelve hours of doing nothing but trying to get some sleep on the not so reclining 'special' chairs. They are not comfortable. In fact they are so unaccommodating we try the floor. Even less comfortable. Horribly hard in fact and cold. We try the seats again. We close our eyes hoping when we open them it will be all over. We open our eyes and it is only nine pm. Another ten hours of this purgatory. Groan. Back to the floor. Then the seats. Then the floor. Finally in sheer desperation we try the seats once again. I throw my fleece over my head to cut out the lights and I must have passed out, exhausted both mentally and physically. I am awakened by an announcement that we are one hour out of Lerwick. I have no idea how long I was asleep but do not feel that bad considering the night of hell that has just passed. The ferry docks in a grey dour looking Lerwick. We go down to the car deck and drive off the ferry at 7.30am just as it is getting truly light. Paul, having been to Shetland before, has local knowledge so we soon find ourselves at Gulberwick Church which is the designated spot for our tilt at eternal happiness or despair. 

Gulberwick Church

Paul is nervous, edgy, convinced the bird will have flown away overnight but I am, for no justifiable reason, optimistic that it will still be here. We are soon going to find out, that's for certain. There is no logical reason for my confidence. I know just as much or little as Paul but throughout the journey north and on the ferry crossing I just felt the rubythroat would not have gone and we would see it.

Leaving the car by the church at just before 8am we walk up a drive to where there is a wooden gate across it and off which hangs a sign which says 'For RUBYTHROAT stay in this area for best views.'

We are the first to arrive, so get the prime position to look up the drive and we set up our scopes so they are focused on the far end of the drive where there are bushes and trees. 

Shortly after, some other birders join us from a taxi. 'Have you seen it?' they enquire. 'No not yet' I optimistically reply.

I keep looking at a particular spot at the end of the drive which looked the most likely place for a rubythroat to appear. Not that I know anything about rubythroats apart from the fact they behave much like a robin and are similarly skulking and highly strung. A Robin duly appears out of the bushes, feeding furtively on the drive. I manage to not make a fool of myself.

I keep my eyes glued to my scope grilling the hallowed spot. Some fifteen minutes later there is a flick of wings and another bird flies low from the bushes on the left, across the drive and perches for a second atop a large stone on the other side. Tail cocked jauntily and wings drooped. Just like a robin but it had a grey brown body, white stripes on a black face and a shining red throat. Oh my lord! There was no time to be excited. I just quietly say 'There it is -on the large stone' but even as I spoke it flicked its wings and was gone further right and out of sight. It was so quick no one else saw it but me. Paul didn't see it as it was just too sudden. However the major worry was dispelled. It had not gone overnight and was most certainly still here. Paul and the other birders could at least partially relax in that knowledge. Another very tense wait ensued. At least forty minutes passed with just the odd Blackbird landing on the drive and then, finally the rubythroat flew back, passing low across the drive from the right and a few seconds later showed itself from under the same bushes on the left that it had flown from when first seen by me.  It hopped along the side of the drive, perching on low growing plants and then flew up onto the large stone before finally disappearing back into the bushes. A variety of exclamations and gasps of sheer relief came from all around me as everyone connected with this beautiful and much desired Siberian waif. 

Again it all happened so quickly that it is difficult to remember what I saw but this is what I noted at the time or maybe amassed over the fourteen subsequent times we saw it. Who really cares.What a picture of loveliness it presented, showing a magnificent, iridescent red chin and throat, huge white stripes over its eyes, broad white stripes running down the sides of its throat from the base of its bill contrasting with a black face. Its upperparts were more grey than brown. The underparts showed grey on the breast and a warm shade of tawny buff on the flanks with pure white undertail coverts. Its behaviour was very like a robin, bobbing on long thin legs and flicking its tail and wings, constantly nervous and rarely still for longer than a few seconds. It appeared slimmer, almost elegant and possibly slightly smaller than a robin.

The relief of tension amongst my fellow birders was all too evident. Paul was now one very happy and relieved man, grinning and punching the air and shaking my hand. We had a bond that would last a lifetime. Up until this point there had been absolute silence as everyone waited to see the bird but now the volume levels increased considerably as the adrenalin took over and birding decorum rapidly went south. Despite all this distraction we decided to remain here for as long as possible and to see as much of the bird as we could because this would probably be a unique occurence for both of us and we really felt we should make the most of it. We had, after all, travelled an awfully long way to see it. The rubythroat seemed to have developed a vague routine and would show itself briefly every forty minutes, usually in the same general area of bushes. Some of the views were excellent, others more brief and tantalising but it was constantly thrilling just anticipating the next glimpse and by the time we left at two thirty we had seen it from all angles no less than fifteen times and really felt our huge effort and long journey had been fully justified. We had not only seen the bird but seen it really well. No Bagnallesque micro second only views for us! I estimated that over a six hour period we had seen it for around seven to eight minutes in total.

I must also mention a huge kindness from Mr Ockendon, the friendly owner of the property, who about four hours into our vigil at his gate drove down his drive, passed through the gate and parked his car immediately behind us. What was going on? Had we done something to upset him? He duly opened the tailgate of his car to reveal thermos flasks of coffee and packets of digestive biscuits and invited us to help ourselves, no charge. What a truly magnificent gesture which Paul told me was typical of Shetland folk. The sustenance and kindly gesture revived my spirits no end and I am sure the same sentiments were felt by everyone else present. 

Birders and the Mr Okendon's car with coffee and biscuits

The wind, meanwhile, had been steadily increasing in strength and was blowing directly into our backs. It was cold but thankfully there was no rain so we stuck it out for a while longer and were rewarded with further views but we had agreed that two thirty was to be our deadline.

So a successful end to our mad cap twitch arrived and it was back to the car. Both of us were ravenous by now, not having eaten anything since the night before, except a few digestive biscuits courtesy of Mr Ockendon.  We went in search of fish and chips of which there appeared to be no shortage in Lerwick. We settled on the Happy Haddock which had the twin attractions of being warm and had tables and chairs so we could sit and eat inside the premises. With hunger satisfied we did a bit of birding around the quaysides, the main highlight being very close views of winter plumaged Black Guillemots in the harbour.

Finally, as the light began to fade we made our way back to the ferry terminal to check in for the return trip to Aberdeen. The weather forecast was dire with gales and strong seas predicted. Our spirits began to waiver at the prospect of another twelve hours lying on the floor of the ferry or trying to sleep in the not so reclining and very uncomfortable chairs. Grown men should not cry but it was coming close. I spoke to the girl on the check in desk about the weather prospects and whether the ferry would in fact sail. She told me that the ferry was definitely sailing and then almost as an after thought I asked if it would be possible to upgrade our tickets to get a cabin and how much extra would it cost? 'Just a wee minute I will have a look' says she and then announced there were plenty of cabins available but it would cost another £84.00. I looked at Paul and he looked at me. There was something in his eyes. Probably the same went for me. Neither of us spoke for a minute.The world turned and then I uttered the fateful words 'We'll take it.' The sense of relief and warm glow that enveloped me and I am sure Paul will stay forever.  One of the best calls I have ever made. The nightmare prospect of another night on the floor was banished. Paul broke into a smile and was obviously as relieved as me. I was relieved Paul was relieved. Let's face it, if the check in girl had said double the price we would have taken it. We boarded the huge vessel with just a few other passengers, found our cabin and looked in awe at what was now available to us - a mattress and a duvet for each of us, a bathroom, shower and tea making facilities. The night was now not to be feared and would be totally bearable. In fact it would be brilliant.We had after all just seen a Siberian Rubythroat, a superb male in fact and no one could take that from us. I confess to lying on my bunk and just kicking my legs in pleasure. We were like a couple of kids released from school and the world was now a much better place. A change of clothes and then it was up to the bar  for a few celebratory single malts - Glen Morangie for Paul, Old Pulteney for me. We watched some football on the TV, a repositioning trawler crew proceeded to drain the bar as the ferry slipped out of Lerwick and began to roll on the raging seas.We looked at the time, it was only eight in the evening. We tried to spin it out to nine but it was hopeless.We were more tired than we cared to admit.

Inwardly content with that indescribable feeling of a successful long haul twitch under our belts we hit the pillows and felt the ship being bounced around on the seas as we slept on soft mattresses.Pity the poor souls who were roughing it on the floor.They would be rolling in the aisles - literally! The ferry was inevitably delayed getting into Aberdeen due to the heavy seas and we docked two hours late at around nine thirty am. It was then a long drive south with a couple of hours stop in Glasgow to see my daughter Polly. We were home in Oxford by eight that night. It seemed we had been away for weeks. We had done it. We had gambled. We had won. We had seen the birder's holy grail. A Siberian Rubythroat.

From the Archives: Oriental Turtle Dove in Chipping Norton 14th February 2011

Belatedly news came out about an Oriental Turtle Dove of the race S.orientalis orientalis being seen in a back garden of a house on Albion Road in the town of Chipping Norton, between 15th-18th December 2010. The homeowner who was not a birder had taken some photos of the bird and sent them to the Banbury Ornithological Society asking what it was and they had not exactly covered themselves in glory by stating it was a feral pigeon!

Not content with this reply the homeowner then sent the pictures to Ian Lewington, the County Bird Recorder for Oxfordshire who promptly identified it as an Oriental Turtle Dove of the race S.o.orientalis.This is the third occurrence of this race in Britain and the ninth record for any race of Oriental Turtle Dove seen in Britain, so it was very rare.

News only came out about all of this at the end of January 2011 and everyone shrugged and imagined what might have been, but even so some extra keen local birders still wandered the streets of Chipping Norton in the forlorn hope of finding it, but to no avail. Then Steve Akers, a birder who lives in The Leys in Chipping Norton which is not far from Albion Road, reported on 13th February that a strange dove had been coming to his feeders for four days. He contacted the RSPB who in turn put him in touch with Ian Lewington who immediately identified the strange bird as the missing Oriental Turtle Dove.

I was at work on 14th February when I received a call from Badger telling me to drop whatever I was doing and get to Chipping Norton as soon as possible, as Steve was allowing local Oxfordshire birders into his kitchen to view the dove, currently feeding in his back garden. I did not need to be asked a second time and making excuses to my staff, left work and drove home to Kingham which is very near Chipping Norton, calling my wife on the way and asking her to get my camera and bins ready. Everything was waiting for me when I got home and ten minutes later I was at Steve's door, shown through the lounge and into the kitchen currently occupied by half a dozen fellow local birders.  

The dove was perched in an apple tree in the garden, preening and although somewhat distant I nonetheless fired off some record shots on the camera. 

After fifteen minutes it flew much closer, landing on a bird table and then flew down onto the grass not ten feet from the kitchen window. This was absolutely brilliant and with point blank views of this mega rarity I clicked away some more with the camera while it fed, wandered about on the grass and occasionally perched on a fence by the window. I watched it for around ninety miniutes and then felt I really should go back to work

Whilst at Steve's house we had discussed with him about putting the news out to the national pagers and explained to Steve that such a rare bird could attract up to a thousand birders on the following day, but it was entirely up to him whether he wished to keep this quiet or publicise the event. Steve had at this time not yet told his wife Sharon about the presence of the dove and how rare it was but she appeared unphased on finding half a dozen birders in her brand new kitchen extension when she came home at lunchtime. Eventually Steve and Sharon decided that it would be acceptable for the news to go out provided we marshalled the crowds the next day and organised it so everything went smoothly. Ian and myself agreed to man the door and allow ten people in at a time to see the bird, giving them ten minutes viewing before they would have to leave and the next ten were allowed in. Other Oxonbirders agreed they would assist in 'crowd control' inside the house to keep the new kitchen safe from harm.  

Steve decided to charge £5.00 per person for entry, the money going to Birdlife International's Stop the Slaughter in Malta campaign. The next day the weather brought wind and rain. I arrived at the house at 7.30am on a grey, miserable morning and was invited in by Steve and not long afterwards the dove arrived in the garden and I watched it feeding on the lawn. There was already a considerable queue of birders forming outside the house and I ushered in the first ten birders asking them to remove all footwear as it was so wet. After ten minutes the first group came out and we let another ten in who also saw the dove well. These first twenty birders having seen the dove left, content. It was all going to plan when the worst of all things happened, the dove unexpectedly flew off. So having ushered out the second group we allowed another ten birders inside to wait for it to return. However it never did and the queue of birders consequently grew and grew until it reached around three hundred. Steve meanwhile was being interviewed live in his kitchen by BBC Radio Oxford while a freelance press reporter had to be ushered out of next door's garden and given some strong words of advice about how to behave and not antagonise the patiently waiting birders. Steve gave him an exclusive interview to make him go away while another press photographer took photos of the ever growing line of birders, by now stretching halfway up the The Leys.

The dove never returned that day and the many birders departed disappointed. I left about lunchtime and was told that a couple of mobile food vans had arrived later and did a roaring trade from waiting birders.The next day, thankfully the dove came back and although now much more erratic as to which garden it favoured, eventually most, if not all birders got acceptable views of it over the ensuing days, either from Steve's garden, other nearby gardens or even outside in the road.

The residents of The Leys were absolutely fabulous in their attitude to this invasion of their privacy and indeed many welcomed birders into their homes to try and see the dove from their back garden. One kind man who lived opposite to Steve came out taking orders for free tea and coffee from the queueing birders.

The whole event captured the attention of both the local and national media at a 'slow time' of the year and articles, sometimes accompanied by a picture, appeared in all the major newspapers on the 16th February. TV stations also featured the event and there was a piece on BBC's Radio Four Today programme. Steve was now much in demand and had to give live interviews from his kitchen to both the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Currently on 21st February it is still present with varying numbers of birders chasing around The Leys and other nearby roads looking for it. With some patience, luck and possibly assistance from the residents, all visiting birders should manage a view of it after a short wait.

The dove was a first winter/second calendar year bird and had at sometime previously lost half of its tail and was now regrowing the feathers. Racially the identification of the bird was decided on the grey not white tips to the tail feathers and the greyish under tail coverts and ventral area. The uniform greyish pink underparts from breast to belly were also an indication of S. o. orientalis.

The dove was last seen on May 9th, appropriately in Steve's garden.

During its long stay over £4000 was raised for Birdlife International and a Meningitis charity. 

From the Archives: White throated Robin at Hartlepool Headland 6th June 2011

MEGA!!! Three red exclamation marks on the Birdguides daily sightings internet site indicated a very rare bird had been found. Indeed it was. A female White throated Robin no less, only the third to be found in Britain and with the previous two virtually untwitchable this was going to be a big one. My mobile announced a text from Badger as I was sitting at my work desk at nine thirty on a dull Monday morning. I called Badger back and learnt that he, Justin and Paul were shortly setting off for Hartlepool and if I wanted there was a seat in the car for me. If only he had called before nine I could have called in before work and found an excuse to not go in.  I could but swallow my disappointment and wish them luck and sit frustrated at my desk, looking out of the window, in a place I detested.

The White throated Robin had been trapped and ringed early that morning and on being taken out of the net before being put in a bag to be processed, originally identified as a Red flanked Bluetail, but then its true identity was discovered as it was removed from the ringing bag. It had been decided to release it, after processing, onto the nearby Bowling Green. Would it show well after that or disappear forever? It could go either way. It turned out, much to my chagrin, to be the former and was being enjoyed by local birders even while my three friends drove north and I remained behind my desk. A text arrived from Badger. They were just passing Leeds. Another text arrived a couple of hours later - they had seen the bird.

An all too familiar sense of gloom and anxiety consumed me but then as usual came reflection and relative peace of mind. There was nothing to be done and that was that. I checked Birdguide's sightings throughout the day and it told me the bird was being seen regularly but had now flown into the garden of the nearby local Doctor, a garden which had a very high brick wall around it and definitely no access. Was that the end of it?

Not quite.

Intrepid as ever birders found means to look over the wall from the road, aided by various co-operative builders who arrived in the obligatory white vans complete with ladders that they propped against the wall. Birders formed queues, money changed hands for the opportunity to take a turn in swarming up the ladders. There was chaos in the road and on the pavement as all the anxiety racked birders milled around, birders became covered in anti vandal paint from climbing the wall, birders straddled the top of the wall, a builder's van roof buckled under the strain of supporting too many birders, others teetered unsteadily on top of the ladders or supported by colleagues but it was all done in great spirit and good humour. The local residents enjoyed this unprecedented crazed invasion immensely and the vast majority of birders contrived to somehow see the bird. No mean achievement given the circumstances. Thankfully this was a weekday, as on a weekend it would have been infinitely worse with many more birders present.

By that evening I was forming a plan to go the next day but reviewing the postings on Bird Forum did I really want to endure the ladders in order to see the bird? There was no other way to see into the garden so it was the ladders or nothing. Not a very enticing prospect, especially with Hartlepool being such a very long drive away.The views would at best be brief and did I  want to go all that way for a perilous view from the top of a ladder, invading the privacy of the Doctor's garden in the process. Anyway it would probably fly off in the night, this was Hartlepool after all, which would solve my dilemna. I resolved to await news the following morning and see what the situation would be then. As a precaution I downloaded a route map to the location. If it was reported tomorrow I would go first thing. Next morning arrived and at just after seven am the first report came through. The robin was still there! No further doubts! No further delay! I grabbed scope and bins plus other birding essentials and set off north at around eight, asking Badger to update me with reports of sightings as I headed for distant Hartlepool.

It was a lovely sunny but windy day. A big jam on the M69/M1 interchange brought immense frustration but at last I was on the M1 and properly heading north. Onwards up the tedious miles of MI, then crossing over to the A1, then the A19 and ever onwards, forever it seemed. Finally I crossed over the Tees Bridge and it was then a short drive into Hartlepool. The usual panic consumed me when I could not find the precise location. I asked a couple of birders who directed me to the Doctor's house which was very close by.

Now luck took a turn for the better as it sometimes can, for unbeknown to me access to the Doctor's garden had been negotiated that very morning while I was driving north. This was much better as now I had the chance of prolonged views of the bird and I could forget all about ladders and white vans. I parked the car in the street and walked a short way to the Doctor's house, a rather imposing grand looking house, passing the adjacent Bowling Green on the way, then I passed through a green door in the now notorious wall that lead through a garage and out on the other side into the garden. A nice man with a collection bucket gestured me in and told me to just go ahead and find a place amongst at least fifty other birders ranged around one side of a lawn, looking over to the far corner of the large garden at a place which the robin apparently favoured. I found a place in the throng and the first person I encountered was Oz,  another Oxonbirder who had arrived literally seconds before me. The robin was currently not on view and due to the throng and my current position I realised that I would not get much of a view of it, if at all, when it appeared. I took a chance and moved down a path to the side of the house.This was much better as I could now see through an arch in a pergola that gave me an uninterrupted clear view of the favoured corner in the garden. Then an anxious wait ensued. Finally came the welcome and always thrilling moment when someone locates the bird. 'It's on the green post.' 'Where? came a chorus of enquiry. 'The green post in the far corner by the shed'. Quick, bins to eyes and there it was dropping down onto the lawn to pick up invertebrates, probably ants. A bird with orange flanks but otherwise fairly featureless, being brownish grey above and dull white below apart from the rusty orange flanks, a narrow white throat and undertail coverts. This really did not matter, it was attractive due to its uncontestable rarity and thus to be enjoyed regardless. However as I watched, it became ever more enticing as more of its subtle plumage features became apparent. It would disappear and return to the same general area of the garden on a regular basis, so sometimes l looked at it through my scope and others just my bins or took its picture with my camera.

The sun shone and I relaxed with my fellow birders in the rather charming large garden full of roses and anthirrinums. Percy Granger's arrangement of 'In an English Country Garden' came to mind Everyone was at peace but then someone, ignoring the notice not to, walked over the rhubarb patch just behind us. He was roundly chastised as we were all guests in the garden and everyone else had managed to exercise consideration on what was after all private property. It got briefly heated and silly as the offender got upset complaining he was disabled and to be criticised twice for walking on the rhubarb was acceptable but three times was annoying. Peace resumed as he grumped away. I have seen him before and he certainly wasn't disabled then but was still contriving to be involved in another altercation.

The robin popped out again and hopped around the lawn, then was not seen for a long period. The sun went in and I decided to head for home. Five pounds in the collection bucket for the local bird ringers who had caught the robin  and arranged access to the garden. Good wishes to one and all. A warm feeling. Out through the green door and back onto the street. I had been in the garden for two hours.

From the Archives: China Trip 28th-30th September 2008 Part Two

September 29th 2008

Binhai and San Gia Gang

Weather again very windy and now overcast with a hint of rain.

Zhang Lin had arranged for a driver to ferry us around today to various birding locations at Binhai, so at 7am we left the hotel, and collected some snacks and water from a local store. Binhai is being developed on a massive scale into a Container Port with the result that the local fishing port has been enveloped and totally overwhelmed by huge construction projects and brand new highways to take the container lorries. I am sure the local fishermen are far from happy but in China there is no appeal against the Government's wishes.

However we drove through what was left of the older part of town, still with fishermen mending their nets in the narrow road and parked at the mouth of a river estuary and scoped the exposed mudbanks. There were only a few waders here but they were pretty good being, a Greater Sand Plover, a Terek Sandpiper, some Red necked Stints and Kentish Plovers. 

Back in the car we followed the road which commenced to run along on top of a huge wide seawall that runs for miles and has been constructed to reclaim a vast area of saltmarsh, reedbeds and small lagoons from the sea. Periodically we would stop the car listening for Reed Parrotbills and on a couple of occasions even walked down some muddy tracks into the sheltered reedbeds by the water but failed to hear or see any. The wind was very strong and hearing birds calling was almost impossible. We did manage to find a single Vinous throated Parrotbill and various stretches of water held many Little Grebes. We flushed a Yellow Bittern and a Common Snipe as we wandered about but the wind in this exposed area was just too strong for serious birding. An Asian Brown Flycatcher was sheltering in the reeds, as was a Zitting Cisticola and a flyover Blue and White Flycatcher was surprising. There was a constant passage of Barn Swallows over the reeds too.This area is so vast that the only way to get around is by car and so our driver duly drove us slowly along the wall while we looked out and when we saw something of interest got him to stop.

Our next stop provided us with some ducks out on a lake. Hardly exciting though, as they were only Gadwall and Eurasian Teal plus a single Coot, a species which according to Zhang Lin has just recently colonised this area. There were also some Sand Martins and Barn Swallows flying around and whilst checking these for something rarer  I picked up a small wader flying below them which then landed on the water and proved to be a juvenile Red necked Phalarope. We also flushed a group of five Black crowned Night Herons from the reeds and an Intermediate Egret was hiding amongst a group of sheltering Little Egrets. We took a look over the seaward side of thc wall and just about managing to stand upright in the ferocious wind were rewarded with two Black tailed Gulls flying past. Driving further on, I found a bird perched on some telephone wires  so we stopped and discovered it was a Wryneck which remained perched there for a long time before dropping down into the reeds.

Some miles further on we came to a large open area of shallow water and mud just behind the seawall and being more sheltered from the wind was covered in a multitude of waders.We spent some time here identifying the following fantastic array of species; Terek Sandpiper, Broad billed Sandpiper, Marsh Sandpiper, Sharp tailed Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Spotted Redshank, Black tailed Godwit, Little Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Red necked Stint, Temminck's Stint, Dunlin, Black winged Stilt, Common Snipe, Oriental Pratincole, Little Tern, Whiskered Tern, Garganey and Spot billed Duck.

There was also one wader that baffled us and kept us occupied for almost ninety minutes. It was very small, smaller than a Dunlin and only slightly larger than a Red necked Stint.We wondered about Long toed Stint but it appeared to have black legs although the bad light, distance and the almost impossible windy conditions made it difficult to be absolutely certain. In the end we settled for Long toed Stint, making the assumption its legs were covered in mud and  therefore appeared  black.

We moved on and came to an area of deeper water and found the best birds of the day, a flock of seven, rare, Black faced Spoonbills and like all spoonbills the world over, they were fast asleep. Eventually they woke up and commenced feeding. At least two appeared to be juveniles.

Black faced Spoonbills

We watched these very rare and now endangered birds for quite some time, also noting an immature Black crowned Night Heron standing, unusually, in the open near some reeds while a few Whiskered Terns, some still in summer plumage flew by.

Day total at Binhai 0900-1500hrs
60 species/4 lifers

Mallard 3, Spot billed Duck 10+, Northern Shoveler 3, Gadwall 5, Garganey 20+, Eurasian Teal 20+, Wryneck 1, Common Kingfisher 3, Moorhen 10+, Eurasian Coot 30+, Red necked Phalarope 1, Oriental Pratincole 4, Common Snipe 2, Black tailed Godwit 50+, Eurasian Curlew 7, Little Curlew 1, Spotted Redshank 3, Marsh Sandpiper 25+, Common Greenshank 15+, Green Sandpiper 1, Wood Sandpiper 20+, Terek Sandpiper 3, Common Sandpiper 2, Sharp tailed Sandpiper 4, Dunlin 50+, Broad billed Sandpiper 4, Red necked Stint 80+, Temminck's Stint 2, Black winged Stilt 4, Little Ringed Plover 30+, Kentish Plover 30+, Greater Sand Plover 2, Lesser Sand Plover 2, Black tailed Gull 2, Vega Gull 1, Black headed Gull 2, Little Tern 4, Whiskered Tern 10, Common Kestrel 3, Great crested Grebe 5, Little Grebe 60+, Great Cormorant 1, Little Egret 80+, Intermediate Egret 1, Grey Heron 20+, Chinese Pond Heron 1, Black crowned Night Heron 8, Yellow Bittern 2, Black faced Spoonbill 7, Bull headed Shrike 1; Long tailed Shrike 8, Asian Brown Flycatcher 1, Blue and White Flycatcher 1, White cheeked Starling 15, Sand Martin 4, Barn Swallow 50+, Zitting Cisticola 2, Vinous throated Parrotbill 1, Yellow Wagtail 50+, White Wagatil 50+, Eurasian Tree Sparrow 100+

We now reluctantly left this area and whilst driving into Binhai for lunch I saw a single medium sized wader flying over the car and which Zhang Lin identified as a Little Curlew. Sadly it did not stop but carried on to settle invisibly into the vast marshes. A lifer but giving only a very brief view and not altogether satisfactory. Still, we accept what is granted and move on!

After our lunch we went to another area of large wet and grassy fields called San Jia Gang near to Pudong Airport which Zhang Lin said was good for Little Curlew and Pacific Golden Plover. Initially it looked fairly devoid of birds apart from a few Richard's Pipits and thirty plus Oriental Pratincoles but as we scoped the area we found some other waders feeding in the wetter areas.Two Sharp tailed Sandpipers, a summer plumaged adult and a fresh juvenile came very close accompanied by some Red necked Stints. Further away were some Wood and Marsh Sandpipers and a single Spotted Redshank. A number of Common Snipe were also feeding and one we flushed certainly behaved like a Pintail Snipe. flying silently and for only a short distance, Jack Snipe fashion. Sadly it landed in a very wet area that prevented us from following.

There was also a large flock of Yellow Wagtails, mainly juveniles or females, but of the variable plumaged adult males present, we found at least one each of the races M. f. macronyx. taivana and simillima. There was no sign of our two target species but just as we were about to leave a Little Curlew flew in, only to land but briefly and then take off again but giving us very close fly by views before it disappeared into the distance. I was much more content with this view than the one I had earlier in the day and with this we turned to leave but as if on cue a calling Pacific Golden Plover, alerted us and we watched it circle around and then land in the wet grass.You could not make it up but that is birding. Sometimes up and sometimes down!

It was time to head for our overnight hotel in Rudong which was three hours drive away, north of Shanghai. Driving in China is not to be recommended and I thanked my stars that we had a local driver experienced in the grand prix style driving always accompanied by generous use of the horn that is standard practice for all Chinese drivers. The hotel was basic but clean as was the optimistically described 'restaurant' that we ate at but I was so tired I was past caring and slept soundly enough once back in my room.

Day total at San Gia Gang 1600-1730hrs
17 species/1 lifer

Oriental Pratincole 31, probable Pintail Snipe 1, Common Snipe 10, Little Curlew 1, Pacific Golden Plover 1, Spotted Redshank 1, Marsh Sandiper 2, Wood Sandpiper 20+, Sharp tailed Sandpiper 2, Red necked Stint 10+, Little Egret 2, Cattle Egret 1, Barn Swallow 3, Plain Prinia 1, Eurasian Tree Sparrow 200+, Yellow Wagtail 80+ (three races identified M.f.taivana, macronyx and simillima), White Wagtail 2, Richard's Pipit 3.

From the Archives: China Trip 28-30th September 2008 Part One

With any current birding severely curtailed due to the Corona virus emergency I  have resurrected some unpublished trip reports from excursions abroad that pre-date this blog. Here is the first concerning a three day birding trip in China away back in 2008. This was my pre camera  days when all I had was some basic digiscoping equipment resulting in photos most of which I am too embarrassed to publish so please forgive the lack of bird images.

September 28th 2008
Xiao Yangshan

Weather very windy due to the proximity of a Typhoon off Taiwan but otherwise sunny and very warm

A short business trip to Shanghai was too good an opportunity to miss so I decided to add three days birding onto the end before returning to home. That saved me the cost of any flights! I made contact with Zhang Lin a local Chinese birder, just setting out as a professional birdguide, who lived in Shanghai and spoke good English. It would be inordinately difficult to do such a birding trip by oneself as the places we needed to go to see the 'good birds' were inevitably where little or no English was spoken, and using buses and taxis, which is what we did, required someone who knew what to do where to go and spoke the language!

I met Zhang Lin at 7am in the lobby of my hotel in Shanghai and we took a taxi to the bus station where we made our way, via two buses, to an island callled Xiao Yangshan. Although an island it is now connected to the mainland via the enormous 33 kilometres long Donghai Bridge which the second bus crossed and then deposited us at the local bus station on the island. Everything built or constructed in China seems to be on an heroic scale and this bridge was no exception.There is also no such thing as planning permission or appeals in China. If the Government says it is to be done then it is and there are no arguments.

We arrived at the bus station at 9am and made our way to a nearby scrubby and rocky hillside right by the sea with a weather station on the top of it. We birded the landward side of the hill where it was sheltered from the very strong onshore wind courtesy of the typhoon off Taiwan and it was obvious the birds had the same idea. We soon started connecting with birds, the first being three species of wagtail, Yellow, White and Grey which left me distinctly underwhelmed although the Yellow Wagtail was of a race M.f. taivana I had not seen before but then a noisy Long tailed Shrike followed by a Brown Shrike certainly improved the mood. Walking up the hillside we found an Asian Brown Flycatcher and eventually estimated there must have been fifty plus sheltering in the general area with at least fourteen perched on one short stretch of fenceline around the weather station. Blue Rock Thrushes played their usual game of hide and seek in and around the rocks. More surprising was the discovery, after some debate about the identification, of two Collared Scops Owls which we flushed separately from some low vegetation, to be followed shortly afterwards by an Oriental Cuckoo which flew off rapidly up the hillside. We followed the track up the hill and came to a small flat area with an isolated tree in which we found two beautiful adult male Blue and White Flycatchers. Whilst watching these an Eastern Crowned Warbler, a new bird species for me, obligingly perched motionless on the edge of some bushes below the tree and then was replaced by an Arctic Warbler. A Black capped Kingfisher, another new species for my list, put in a brief fly by appearance.

We retraced our steps and made our way around the back of the weather station to an overgrown area overlooking a rather beautiful temple or was it a lighthouse or even a coastguard station? Neither of us were quite sure. I did risk a photo of that as it was so impressive and seemed to be unoccupied.

The trees at the back of the building were alive with migrant passerines including at least two more Eastern Crowned Warblers plus one each of Yellow browed and Arctic Warblers, a single Japanese Paradise Flycatcher, a Black naped Oriole, a small flock of Yellow billled Grosbeaks, a Bull headed Shrike, yet another Asian Brown Flycatcher, a Grey streaked Flycatcher  and two roosting Black Crowned Night Herons.

We had an al fresco lunch by the temple/lighthouse whilst watching another two Black naped Orioles and some perched Yellow billed Grosbeaks. Setting off back up the path we located a Dusky Warbler and a male Siberian Stonechat. Crossing to the seaward side of the hill we found it devoid of birds apart from a Common Kestrel hanging in the wind, so we walked a mile or so to another cliffside area. Again we remained on the sheltered side and although there were not so many birds here we found good numbers again of Asian Brown Flycatchers, a couple of Grey streaked Flycatchers and Long tailed and Bull headed Shrikes.We followed an elevated track that led to a smallholding and looking down to the base of the hill we found a few Richard's Pipits scratching and feeding in the gravel and grass plus an Oriental Turtle Dove and some Spotted Doves for company. A Common Kingfisher flew away from a pond, while a couple of Great Tits with no yellow on their underparts, just greyish white and a flock of fifteen Light vented Bulbuls flew up the hillside. We progressed to the small holding and the highlight here was a White's Thrush which flew up from beside the path and very obligingly gave us close views as it perched motionless low down in a tree for about fifteen minutes. 

It then flew down from its perch and we watched it feeding for about forty miutes and I even managed to get some reasonable digiscoped shots of it. A minor miracle in itself. 

Zhang Lin then drew my attention to some Fork tailed Swifts flying above the cliff face. We followed the track onwards and just before a long tunnel which led through the rock and out to the seaward side, a small leaf warbler gave tantalisingly brief views before disappearing but was probably a Two barred Greenish Warbler. Unsurprisingly there was little birdlife on the seaward and much more windswept side of the tunnel apart from a Peregrine and a Common Kestrel disputing the airspace.

We called it a day and made our way to the bus stop catching the 1630 bus back across the interminable bridge to Binhai where we checked in to an enormous and brand new hotel at around 1730. We celebrated the day with a beer and an extremely palatable Chinese meal in the hotel. Our waitress noticing I was from the west was worried that I could not eat with the normal chopsticks provided and presented me, with great ceremony, a knife and fork. I can use chopsticks but thought it diplomatic to use the knife and fork especially as she watched to make sure I did. With the meal over and done we retired to bed early as we were both very tired. The room itself was functional but comfortable, clean, air conditioned and had a shower. That was all I required.

Day total at Xiao Yangshan 0900-1600

36 species/9 lifers

Common Kingfisher1; Black capped Kingfisher 1; Oriental Cuckoo 1; Fork tailed Swift 2+; Collared Scops Owl 2; Common Kestrel 2; Peregrine 1; Black crowned Night Heron 2; Oriental Turtle Dove 2; Spotted Dove 3; Bull headed Shrike 3; Brown Shrike 1; Long tailed Shrike 5; Black naped Oriole 3; Japanese Paradise Flycatcher 1; Blue Rock Thrush 6; White's Thrush 1; Light vented Bulbul 15+; Grey streaked Flycatcher 4+; Asian Brown Flycatcher 50+; Blue and White Fycatcher 6; Siberian Stonechat 2; Great Tit 2; Barn Swallow 1; Plain Prinia 1; Dusky Warbler1; Yellow browed Warbler 2; Arctic Warbler 2; probable Two barred Greenish Warbler 1; Eastern Crowned Warbler 3; Eurasian Tree Sparrow 50+; Yellow Wagtail 10+; Grey Wagtail 3; White Wagtail 2; Richard's Pipit 3; Yellow billed Grosbeak 12+