Craining day II – Dawn Of the Red-crowned Crane

05/12/2014 – Yancheng

The much wanted Baer’s Pochard was in the bag so now we could focus on completing the list of possible Crane species for this trip. Today we were gonna look for the most beautiful of them all: the endangered Red-crowned Crane…

The Red-crowned Crane is a majestic 1.75 meter high black-and-white crane with a contrasting red crown; hence the name. It breeds in increasingly low numbers in the East-Siberian taiga – where its famous dancing display is revered in local cultures – and winters mainly in Japan and nowadays in low numbers – up to a mere 200 birds in 2013 – in the Yancheng region in eastern China.

Cotton farmers by Garry Bakker

At dawn we drove to the fields where the cranes usually feed on leftovers from the harvest and upon arrival we immediately found up to 18 Red-crowned Cranes, standing in small family groups among large numbers of Common Cranes and a few Hooded Cranes. The Common Cranes – already very large birds – were dwarfed by the Red-crowneds that stood like snowy white giants among them.  As the birds gave their characteristic trumpeting calls you could see the vapor coming out of their nostrils; making this truly an unforgettable experience.

Red-crowned Cranes family by Garry Bakker

Red-crowned Crane family by Garry Bakker

Red-crowned Cranes adult & juvenile Garry Bakker

After enjoying this spectacle we started checking the Common Cranes for the much smaller Sandhill Crane; a vagrant from far northeast Siberia – or maybe even North America – that is sometimes reported from this region. To our own amazement we found one within half an hour, thereby completing the list of 6 possible cranes this trip. With 6 species of Crane and 7 species of Pheasant in one trip we can say for sure that this China trip is indeed ‘EPIC’!

Sandhill Crane with Common Cranes by Garry Bakker

The rest of the day was spend sorting through large numbers of Pallas’s Bunting for the localized Ochre-rumped Bunting. It took some time but eventually we found an adult female and a first winter. Other quality birds today were: 2 Eurasian Bitterns, several Reed Parrotbills and Chinese Penduline Tits and 2 Chestnut-eared Buntings. We searched the fishponds one more time but yesterdays Baer’s was nowhere to be found…

Pallas’s Reed Bunting by Garry Bakker

Vega Gull by Garry Bakker

Around 9 PM we board the night-train back to Beijing; the trip comes almost to an end…

Species list day 15 (underlined are LIFERS)

1. Common Pheasant
2. Eurasian Coot
3. Common Moorhen
4. Bean Goose sp.
5. Swan Goose 32
6. Common Shelduck
7. Eurasian Teal
8. Northern Pintail
9. Northern Shoveler
10. Gadwall
11. Mallard
12. Smew
13. Common Merganser
14. Red-breasted Merganser 1
15. Ferruginous Duck 1 male
16. Tufted Duck
17. Common Pochard
18. Eastern Spot-billed Duck
19. Little Grebe
20. Great Crested Grebe
21. Common Kingfisher
22. Pied Kingfisher
23. Eurasian Hoopoe
24. Spotted Dove
25. Oriental Turtle Dove
26. Common Crane 1000
27. Hooded Crane 10
28. Sandhill Crane 1 adult
29. Japanese Crane 29
30. Avocet
31. Eurasian Curlew
32. Spotted Redshank
33. Common Sandpiper
34. Green Sandpiper
35. Dunlin
36. Grey Plover
37. Kentish Plover
38. Common Kestrel
39. Peregrine 1
40. Mongolian Gull
41. Vega Gull
42. Black-headed Gull
43. Whiskered Tern
44. White-winged Black Tern 1
45. Great Cormorant
46. Eurasian Spoonbill
47. Oriental Stork 35
48. Black-crowned Night-heron
49. Great Bittern 2
50. Chinese Pond Heron
51. Grey Heron
52. Little Egret
53. Great Egret
54. Long-tailed Shrike
55. (Oriental) Magpie
56. Azure-winged Magpie
57. Oriental Blackbird
58. Dusky Thrush
59. Daurian Redstart
60. Bluethroat
61. White-cheeked Starling
62. Crested Myna
63. Chinese Bulbul
64. Vinous-throated Parrotbill
65. Reed Parrotbill 10
66. Plain Prinia
67. Tree Sparrow
68. Oriental Skylark
69. White Wagtail (Leucopsis)
70. Eastern Yellow Wagtail 1
71. Buff-bellied Pipit
72. Richard’s Pipit
73. Little Bunting
74. Black-faced Bunting
75. Rustic Bunting 5
76. Chestnut-eared Bunting 2
77. Pallas’s Bunting very common
78. Japanese Reed Bunting 1 1^st winter, 1 spec., 1 ad female (Bas)
79. Reed Bunting

Swan Geese by Garry Bakker

Red-crowned Cranes by Garry Bakker

Common cranes by Garry Bakker

Happy birding!