Northern China
NORTHERN CHINA
Monday 14th May ¨C Thursday 31st May 2007 (18 days)
Leader: Hannu Jännes

China is a unique land: vast, and in some ways forbidding, but a powerful magnet for anyone with an interest in the birds of the eastern Palearctic. With a total list of over 1300 species, including some of the world¡¯s most alluring birds, its pull on Palearctic-orientated birders is almost irresistible. Being such a huge country, a single visit to China is never sufficient to sample more than part of its ornithological riches. On this exciting journey we shall concentrate on a series of areas which are rarely visited by western ornithologists: the Beijing district and the provinces of Hebei and Shaanxi in northern China proper, plus the provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang in the far northeast, the area historically known as Manchuria. The first part of our journey through Northern China will concentrate on the rugged, partly-forested mountain rim that surrounds the city of Beijing, where we will divide our time between Beijing district and Wuling Shan in adjacent Hebei. The mountains around Beijing are most famous for their spectacular Brown Eared Pheasants, but they also hold such endemic or other specialities as Koklass Pheasant, Ibisbill, White-bellied Redstart, the poorly-known Grey-sided Thrush, Chinese Thrush, the strange, babbler-like Chinese Hill Warbler, Chinese Leaf and Yellow-streaked Warblers, P¨¨re David¡¯s Laughingthrush, Vinous-throated Parrotbill, Yellow-bellied Tit, Chinese Nuthatch and the enigmatic Green-backed (or Elisa¡¯s) Flycatcher. After returning to Beijing by way of the famous Great Wall, we will travel southwestwards to Xi¡¯an on the Yellow River in Shaanxi. Here, after the almost obligatory visit to see the famous Terracotta Warriors we will travel across the Qinling Mountains, a range on the very border of the Palearctic region where Oriental influences become obvious. It is here that a relict population of the Crested Ibis was found by Chinese ornithologists long after the species was thought to have become extinct in the wild (in Japan). Other specialities in this area include the beautiful Chinese Goshawk, the breeding-endemic Swinhoe¡¯s Minivet, the near-endemic Collared Finchbill and Chinese Bulbul, Brown-breasted Bulbul, the near-endemic Chinese Blackbird (split from Common), the hulking Manchurian Bush Warbler, Eastern Crowned Warbler, the stunning Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, the near-endemic Red-billed Starling and Meadow Bunting. After returning to Beijing, where we will search the Summer Palace for breeding Acrocephalus warblers and migrant Thick-billed Warblers, we will travel far to the northeast by sleeping car train, to Baicheng in Jilin Province in southern Manchuria. Here the steppe grasslands still harbour the critically endangered and little-known Jankowski¡¯s Bunting, which has been seen by very few birders, as well as the stately Great Bustard, Pallas¡¯s Sandgrouse, Asian Short-toed Lark, the spectacular Mongolian Lark and the impressive Chinese Grey Shrike. Next we will explore the nearby Xianghai National Nature Reserve, a huge sanctuary of 105,000 hectares on the border with Inner Mongolia. Within the reserve a wide range of habitats is found including extensive Phragmites reedbeds, large marshes and lagoons, open elm woodland and dry grassy plains. Migrants will still be passing through the area at the time of our visit, adding to the ornithological interest of this marvellous area, but it is the breeding birds of Xianghai that will hold a special attraction for us. The majestic Red-crowned Crane (undoubtedly the most spectacular member of this impressive family) breeds here, while other specialities include the rare Swan Goose, Amur Falcon, Daurian Partridge, Oriental Pratincole, Grey-headed Lapwing and Chinese Penduline Tit. Finally, we will travel still further north into Heilongjiang province and visit the huge Zhalong National Nature Reserve in search of the critically-endangered Baer¡¯s Pochard, the beautiful White-naped Crane, the poorly-known Manchurian Reed Warbler and the smart Japanese Reed Bunting.

Hannu Jännes has travelled very extensively in China. Since our first visit in 1984, Birdquest has operated a series of tours in Northern China including Manchuria. The tour provides a great opportunity to see the exciting specialities of this interesting region. An easier tour than some China bird trips in terms of walking effort and travelling conditions, with mostly good or at least comfortable accommodations, tasty food and predominantly good roads. The walking effort is easy to moderate.

Crested Ibis (Nik Borrow)

Birdquest

Itinerary

Day 1 Late morning flight from London bound for Beijing.

Day 2 Morning arrival in Beijing from where we will head off into the mountainous country that surrounds the basin in which the city is situated for a five nights stay. We will divide our time between two different locations, spending our first three nights in the Beijing municipal region and the next two nights at Wuling Shan in adjacent Hebei. After a chance to freshen up, we will be able to start our exploration this afternoon.

Days 3-6 The rugged mountains that surround Beijing rise to over 2000m (at the summit of Wuling Shan) and form one of the northernmost outliers of the montane forests that extend across much of China. To the north the connection between the Siberian forest zone and the forests of China proper is broken by the dry, largely treeless Manchurian plain and the Mongolian steppes and deserts, while to the south the broad lowlands of the Yellow River (or Huang He) have served a similarly isolating function, resulting in the evolution of a number of endemic (or at least breeding-endemic) species and subspecies in the wooded uplands of this region. Nowadays the remaining forest cover in the area is decidedly patchy, but we will explore some excellent tracts. The area is most famous as one of the last strongholds of the endangered Brown Eared Pheasant, an endemic species which was once widespread in northern China but which is now reduced to a few fragmented pockets. We will be concentrating on this magnificent bird, which can be hard to see as opposed to hear. By coming here relatively early in the season, before all the birds are nesting and thus more secretive, and by searching persistently we have an excellent chance of getting good views of this superb creature. Soon after dawn their rolling, barking calls ring out through the beautiful mixed forest and, as we walk quietly along the trails, we will try to watch a party of these huge pheasants as they forage across an adjacent hillside, digging up roots and tubers with their powerful bills and claws. Another star attraction here is the rare and localized Grey-sided Thrush, a species now gravely threatened by habitat loss. This poorly-known bird, which only breeds in a small area of Hebei and adjacent Beijing municipal region, is fairly common at Wuling Shan, so we should obtain good views. The third of the major specialities is the attractive and equally localized Green-backed (or Elisa¡¯s) Flycatcher, a form now widely recognized as a distinct species from Narcissus Flycatcher. (Indeed, the first-summer male plumage of this interesting form was even erroneously described as a new species to science by Chinese ornithologists in recent years, under the name Beijing Flycatcher, and given the scientific name ¡®beijingnica¡¯! More widespread Chinese endemics or breeding-endemics include the Chinese Thrush, the babbler-like Chinese Hill Warbler (indeed this bird may even be a babbler), the relatively recently described Chinese Leaf Warbler, P¨¨re David¡¯s Laughingthrush, while other specialities include the shy White-bellied Redstart, the handsome White-throated Rock Thrush, Yellow-streaked Warbler, the near-endemic Vinous-throated Parrotbill, Yellow-bellied Tit and Chinese Nuthatch (two Chinese near-endemics), and Bull-headed Shrike. Another bird of particular interest is the isolated xanthospila form of the Koklass Pheasant (which occurs far to the north of the main range of the species), which we may be lucky enough to track down by listening at dawn for its harsh, far-carrying calls. The extraordinary Ibisbill has recently been found breeding in the area and we will go in search of this unusual bird during our stay. Other species we may well find in the mountains of the Beijing region include Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Golden Eagle, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Hobby, Common (or Ring-necked) Pheasant (here in its natural home), Large Hawk-Cuckoo, Oriental and Lesser Cuckoos, Grey-headed, Great Spotted and White-backed Woodpeckers, Olive-backed Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Long-tailed Minivet, Winter Wren, Daurian Redstart, the lovely Siberian Blue Robin, Blue Whistling Thrush, Blyth¡¯s Leaf, Large-billed Leaf and Hume¡¯s Leaf Warblers, Long-tailed and Songar Tits, Japanese Tit (split from Great), Eurasian Nuthatch, Eurasian Jay, the spectacular Blue Magpie, Spotted Nutcracker, Large-billed Crow and Godlewski¡¯s Bunting.

Day 7 Today we will return to Beijing and then catch a flight to the great city of Xi¡¯an, the capital of Shaanxi province and one-time capital of ancient China, for an overnight stay. We will travel back to the airport by way of the famous Great Wall, stopping to admire this remarkable bulwark against the barbarian hordes. Started more than two thousand years ago, and winding back and forth for some 5,000 kilometres across northern China from the coast to the Gobi Desert in distant Gansu, this amazing structure surely epitomizes China¡¯s three millennia of civilization and its long and turbulent history.