NORTHERN CHINA
21 MAY ¨C 5 JUNE 2009
TOUR REPORT
LEADER: HANNU JÄNNES

This, our second tour to Northern China, followed mainly in the footsteps of the earlier Birdquest tour, but also broke some new ground, and proved a great success. We had a very respectable species total of 216 given that our visit was later than the first tour and consequently many transient migrants had moved on, but by way of compensation important target birds, such as Manchurian Reed Warbler, had arrived on their breeding grounds. Of course, it is the quality of the birds that counts, rather than simply quantity, and in this respect the tour really delivered with just about all of

the hoped for targets seen easily and well. Highlights were the ¡®back-from-the-brink¡¯ Crested Ibis, the rarely seen Jankowski¡¯s Bunting, which just prior to our tour was rumoured to be extinct, and a magnificent pair of Brown-eared Pheasants. Other highlights included Black Baza, Chinese Goshawk, Daurian Partridge, Red-crowned and White-naped Cranes, Great Bustard, Yellow-legged Buttonquail, Long-billed Plover, Grey-headed Lapwing, Mongolian Lark, Menzbier¡¯s Pipit (a potential split from

Pechora Pipit), White-bellied Redstart, the rare and little-known Grey-sided Thrush, the strange Chinese Hill Warbler, Green-backed Flycatcher, P¨¨re David¡¯s Laughingthrush, Chinese Penduline Tit, Tiger and Chinese Grey Shrikes and Manchurian Reed Warbler. A splendid supporting cast included Chinese Spot-billed Duck, Pied Harrier, Amur Falcon, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Asiatic Dowitcher,

White-backed Woodpecker, Collared Finchbill, Brown-breasted and Chinese Bulbuls, Chinese Blackbird, Eastern Crowned, Chinese Leaf and Yellow-streaked Warblers, the beautiful Yellowrumped, Blue-and-white and Mugimaki Flycatchers, Vinous-throated Parrotbill, White-browed Laughingthrush, Yellow-bellied Tit, Chinese Nuthatch, Collared Crow, Daurian Jackdaw, Red-billed and White-cheeked Starlings, Chinese Beautiful Rosefinch and Japanese Grosbeak. In addition we had the privilege of experiencing some of China¡¯s greatest cultural treasures, seeing everyday life of the people of rural China, and enjoying the great hospitality of the Chinese people and their great cuisine.

After a meeting at the immense new Beijing airport, and a pick up of two participants who had arrived earlier, our group, with six different nationalities, was ready to make the journey to the mountains west of Beijing. On the way we stopped for breakfast and some shopping for essential supplies such as water and coffee. We reached our destination, a small village at the base of Ling Shan, at noon, and after check-in, lunch and short rest, we were ready for birding. The first afternoon was spent on a narrow mountain trail that snaked it¡¯s way through dense birch forest. Heavy wind made the birding quite difficult, but we managed to secure the briefest of views of the restricted range Grey-sided Thrush, our main target here, plus several singing Claudia¡¯s and Chinese Leaf Warblers. On the way back to our hotel we had good views of a singing Chinese Hill Warbler.

More information http://www.birdschina.com/upload/word/2009_Birdquest_Northern_China_Tour.doc