The River

27/11/2014 – Wuyuan

We woke up to a clear sky in the city of Wuyuan. This small city – for Chinese standards – lies in a beautiful area with forest-covered hillsides and clear rivers. A welcome change to the enormous smog-covered cities we visited so far this trip.

After a noodle-soup breakfast – what else? – we drove half an hour to a small village overlooking a large river with rapids and gravel banks. This habitat is the wintering haunt for the endangered Scaly-sided Merganser; a beautiful and highly sought after duck with a long spiny crest and subtle dark scales on its snowy-white flanks. Needless to say we were keen on the prize…

Scaly-sided merganser 2 by Garry Bakker

We started walking a small trail, through thick bamboo-forest, along the river. Now and then we could peak through small gaps in the vegetation that provided a clear view at the turquoise-blue water. During such a stop I scoped a gravel bank and suddenly spotted two Long-billed Plovers, standing well camouflaged between grey-colored pebbles. This vulnerable and difficult to find wader was a welcome grip back for me as I failed to find this species on earlier trips to in India and Nepal.

After we all got good looks at the plovers we continued along the trail still meticulously checking the river whenever there was a possibility. Suddenly we spotted a small group of ducks swimming in the river below us. One glance through our binoculars confirmed our suspicions; Scaly-sided Merganser!

They were even more beautiful than the drawings in the book suspected and especially the males received their fair share of ‘Ooohs en Ahhhs’. The small group of about 7 birds was suddenly joined by a larger one and at one point we counted no less than 24 (!) birds, one of the largest single groups Menxiu had ever seen in this area!

Pied falconet by Garry Bakker

Crested goshawk by Garry Bakker

After this excellent sighting we focused on mixed-species flocks. This provided us with several goodies like Huet’s Fulvetta, Grey-chinned Minivet, Grey-sided Laughingthrush, Fork-tailed sunbird and Chestnut Bulbul.

We had lunch at a famous – for birders that is – restaurant in a very scenic little village. It is famous because it has a rooftop-terrace from where you can see the much-wanted Pied Falconet, a tiny black-and-white bird of prey that is no bigger than a starling. Luckily we immediately spotted a pair of these cracking birds as they were hunting on dragonflies from an exposed perch. To add to the experience sharp-eyed Lucas discovered a Crested Goshawk perched just a couple of meters below them in the same tree! The icing on the cake was a Black Eagle soaring high over the hillsides.

Wuyuan Pied falconet site by Garry Bakker

After lunch we did some birding in the nearby paddies and from there we drove back all the way to Yong Xiu city, from where we will take the morning train to Emeifeng. The next two days we got the most difficult task so far at hand… Will we be victorious? You will know when I post my next blog 😉

Good birding!

Species list day 7 (underlined are LIFERS)

1. Chinese Bamboo Partridge Heard only close by

[Elliot’s Pheasant] A female pheasant flushed from the trail and only seen by me was almost certainly this species. It was small with a short chestnut and barred tail. Just not good enough for the record book I guess… F*ck

2. Common Pheasant
3. Scaly-sided Merganser 5 adult males, 3 imm. Males and 16 females minimum.
4. Manderin Duck 10 not seen by me
5. Little Grebe
6. Little Egret
7. Grey Heron
8. Pied Falconet pair
9. Crested Goshawk 1
10. Indian Black Eagle 1
11. Brown Crake 1
12. Common Moorhen
13. Common Sandpiper
14. Green Sandpiper
15. Long-billed Plover 2
16. Spotted Dove
17. Oriental Turtle Dove
18. Crested Kingfisher
19. Common Kingfisher
20. Grey-chinned Minivet Pair
21. Long-tailed Shrike
22. Red-billed Blue magpie
23. Grey Treepie Heard only
24. Japanese Tit
25. Black-throated Tit
26. Grey-throated Martin 1
27. Yellow-bellied Prinia
28. Plain Prinia
29. Collared Finchbill
30. Chinese Bulbul
31. Mountain Bulbul
32. Chestnut Bulbul 1
33. Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler
34. Yellow-browed Warbler
35. Pallas’s Warbler
36. Rufous-faced Warbler 1
37. Grey-sided Scimitar Babbler
38. Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler
39. Rufous-capped Babbler
40. Red-billed Leiotrix
41. Huet’s Fulvetta
42. Vinous-throated Parrotbill
43. Crested Myna
44. Eastern Blackbird
45. Daurian Redstart
46. Red-flanked Bluetail
47. Plumbeous Water Redstart
48. Stejneger’s Stonechat
49. Fork=tailed Sunbird 2 male 1 female
50. Tree Sparrow
51. White-rumped Munia
52. Grey Wagtail
53. White Wagtail (Leucopsis)
54. Olive-backed Pipit
55. Brambling
56. Eurasian siskin
57. Chinese Grosbeak
58. Yellow-browed Bunting 8
59. Black-faced Bunting

Wuyuan merganser site by Garry Bakker

Scaly-sided merganser by Garry Bakker