EASTERN CHINA – In pursuit of specialities from South China northwards to the Manchurian steppe

PRICE INFORMATION

Birdquest Inclusions: Our tour prices include surface transportation, accommodations, meals and entrance fees.

We also include all tipping for local guides, drivers and accommodation/restaurant staff.

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Beijing-Wulanhaote (Ulanhot)

Wulanhaote (Ulanhot)-Beijing

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EASTERN CHINA BIRDING TOUR: DETAILED ITINERARY

Eastern China: Day 1  The tour begins after breakfast this morning at a hotel close to Shanghai Pudong Airport. (This is the Shanghai airport (code PVG) into which almost all long-haul flights arrive. If you elect to arrive at Pudong during the early hours, rather than stay overnight, kindly note that you will need to be at the hotel by 0700.)

This morning we will visit Dishui Lake. Here, the extensive reedbeds are home to good populations of the endemic Reed Parrotbill and the scarce, restricted-range Marsh Grassbird. The extensive reedbeds are also home to a thriving population of Eurasian Bitterns and these can be quite visible at this season. In the right conditions, migrants can be plentiful.

Afterwards, we will cross the Yangtze River and transfer to our hotel on the coast of Jiangsu province’s Rudong County for a two nights stay. In the afternoon, we will begin exploring this wonderful area.

Eastern China: Day 2: A major focus of our time on the coast of Jiangsu will be exploring areas of mudflats, lagoons and fish ponds in Rudong County. This ever-changing landscape, with more reclamation every year, is still providing a crucial feeding area for many East Asian Flyway shorebirds.

Most importantly, it has been found to be a regular migration stopover site for the Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper. We will attempt to find the species at one of the high tide roosts where, after a few false alerts from hopeful-looking Red-necked Stints, a turn of the head should reveal the spatulate appendage that we have been looking for. With luck, we will find several, some of which will probably be sporting their splendid brick-red breeding plumage. We will also have an opportunity to look for them feeding on the mudflats, feeding with their classic sewing-machine-like action as they work their way through the shallow pools.

Thousands of other shorebirds will be present in the area and it is possible to see over thirty species in a day here. At the high tide roosts, large numbers of Red-necked Stints are joined by smaller numbers of Red Knots, Sanderlings, Dunlins and Sharp-tailed and Curlew Sandpipers. These will be joined by numbers of Kentish Plovers, Siberian Sand Plovers and Terek Sandpipers, whilst the congregations are also likely to include Grey (or Black-bellied) and Pacific Golden Plovers, Greater Sand Plover, Common Greenshank, Common Redshank, Grey-tailed Tattler, Bar-tailed Godwit, Eurasian Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew and the impressively long-billed Far Eastern Curlew. We also have a good chance of coming across the rare Nordmann’s Greenshank.

With a little luck, we will also encounter one or two of the scarcer visitors such as Eurasian Oystercatcher (here from the eastern population which may merit specific status), Great Knot, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Chinese Egret and Black-faced Spoonbill.

Just inland, a number of fish ponds hold a slightly different selection of shorebirds if the water levels are good, and these may include Black-winged Stilt, Pied Avocet, Little Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Marsh, Wood and Green Sandpipers and Eastern Black-tailed Godwit, and with a bit of luck, we will find a few Long-toed Stints or even an Asiatic Dowitcher. Pristine Saunders’s Gulls in full summer plumage are a regular feature here, and we are also likely to find a few Black-tailed and Vega Gulls (the latter most likely of the controversial ‘taimyrensis’ form). Nearby, the freshwater pools hold a variety of other species including Chinese (or Eastern) Spot-billed Duck, Yellow Bittern, Grey-headed Lapwing, Oriental Pratincole and even Pheasant-tailed Jacana. If we are fortunate, we will bump into a small group of Little Curlews. Further possibilities include Falcated Duck and Brown-cheeked Rail.

Along the coast, there are a number of shelter belts that sometimes attract a host of migrants. Of course, what is present on any given day is unpredictable, but there are generally plenty of birds to keep us interested. Highlights may include such gems as the delightful Forest Wagtail, Pechora Pipit, the superb Siberian Thrush, Eyebrowed and Japanese Thrushes, the spectacular Siberian Rubythroat, Rufous-tailed and Siberian Blue Robins, Amur (or Stejneger’s) Stonechat, Dark-sided, Asian Brown, Blue-and-white, Yellow-rumped, Narcissus and Mugimaki Flycatchers, Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler, Black-browed Reed Warbler, Yellow-browed, Arctic (and perhaps Japanese), Pale-legged and Eastern Crowned Warblers, Black-naped Oriole, the impressive Chinese (or Yellow-billed) Grosbeak, and Black-faced, Little and Chestnut Buntings and the range-restricted Tristram’s Bunting.

At this time of year, in the right conditions, almost any passerine migrant is possible, and rarities include species such as Citrine Wagtail, Japanese Paradise Flycatcher, White-throated Rock Thrush, Grey-backed and White’s Thrushes, Zappey’s Flycatcher, Bull-headed Shrike, Daurian Starling and Yellow-browed Bunting.

Other species we may well see in this excellent area include such near-endemics as Chinese Blackbird, Light-vented Bulbul and Vinous-throated Parrotbill as well as Common Pheasant, Little Grebe, Grey, Purple, Chinese Pond and Black-crowned Night Herons, Great, Medium, Little and Eastern Cattle Egrets, Osprey, Peregrine Falcon, White-breasted Waterhen, Common Moorhen, Black-headed Gull, Gull-billed, White-winged, Whiskered, Little and Common Terns (the latter of the distinctive form longipennis), Oriental Turtle, Red Turtle and Spotted Doves, Common and Indian Cuckoos, Pacific Swift, the colourful Black-capped Kingfisher, Common Kingfisher, Eurasian Hoopoe, Brown (various subspecies are possible) and Long-tailed Shrikes, Black and Hair-crested Drongos, Oriental and Azure-winged Magpies, Eastern Yellow Wagtail (three forms are possible including the distinctive taivana ‘Green-headed Wagtail’), Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail (the form here is leucopsis ‘Amur Wagtail’ though ocularis ‘East Siberian Wagtail’ also occurs as a migrant), Richard’s and Olive-backed Pipits, Oriental Skylark, Sand Martin (or Bank Swallow), Barn and Red-rumped Swallows, Japanese Tit, the bulky Manchurian Bush Warbler, Oriental Reed Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Plain Prinia, the range-restricted Swinhoe’s White-eye, Crested Myna, the smart, near-endemic Red-billed Starling, Black-collared and White-cheeked Starlings and Eurasian Tree Sparrow.

Eastern China: Day 3  After some final birding at the Rudong coast we will drive to the city of Suzhou on the other side of the Yangtze and catch a high-speed train westwards to Wuyuan in Jiangxi province for a two nights stay.

China’s fantastic modern ‘bullet trains’ travel at a speed that is hard to believe for a terrestrial means of transport! These clean and comfortable trains travel between stations at speeds of between 200-300 kilometres per hour (120-180 miles per hour)! The journey times are typically well under half the time it takes to drive.

Eastern China: Day 4  For many years, Blue-crowned (or Courtois’s) Laughingthrush was known from just a couple of specimens collected in 1919 and it was only in 2000, after seven years of a concerted effort by Chinese ornithologists, that this species was rediscovered close to its type locality. Rather strangely for a laughingthrush, this species is a migrant, appearing at a few rural villages (just five breeding sites are currently known) each summer to breed and then vanishing for the winter! The known world population appears to be stable but very small (estimated at around 320 individuals), but with local help, we will visit a site where we should be able to get some great views of them and we will count ourselves very privileged indeed to see such a rare and beautiful bird.

Some other interesting species occur in this area, including Mandarin Duck, Black Bittern, the superb Black Baza, Chinese Goshawk, Chinese Bamboo Partridge, the large Crested Kingfisher, Swinhoe’s (or Brown-rumped) Minivet, Tiger Shrike (though this declining species is scarce in the area so luck will be needed), Rufous-faced Warbler, the near-endemic Chinese Hwamei (a great songster), the near-endemic Masked Laughingthrush and, with luck, the scarce White-browed Laughingthrush and Northern Boobook.

Other, more widespread, species that we may well encounter here include Crested Serpent Eagle, Lesser Coucal, Asian Barred Owlet, House Swift, Great Spotted, Grey-capped Pygmy and Grey-headed Woodpeckers, Black-winged Cuckooshrike, Black-naped Oriole, Ashy Drongo, Eurasian Jay, Red-billed Blue Magpie, Oriental Magpie-Robin and White-rumped and Scaly-breasted Munias.

Whilst in the area we will also make a detour to an area where we have an excellent chance of finding the feisty Pied Falconet as well as a few other species such as Oriental Dollarbird and the uncommon Brown-breasted Bulbul. We will also visit a nearby river where we will have a chance for the range-restricted Long-billed Plover and Brown Crake, and will also visit an area of degraded forest where we hope to find the delightful but uncommon Short-tailed Parrotbill.

Eastern China: Day 5  After some final birding in the Wuyuan area we will drive southwards to famous Emeifeng in Fujian province for a three nights stay. We may see our first pheasant or two on our way up the mountain!

Eastern China: Days 6-7  Emei Feng has come to the fore and is justifiably regarded as the prime site to visit to find the specialities of the region. Here, rushing rivers cut through the bamboo-dominated forests lower down whilst the steep slopes above are still clad in beautiful forest, making for some fantastic vistas.

Fortunately, the whole area is easily explored along roads, and old logging tracks, allowing us to explore in our vehicles whilst searching for Galliformes! These special birds will be high on the agenda and it is possible to find four species of pheasants in a day! Pride of place will go to the superb polka-dotted Cabot’s Tragopan, which can regularly be found on the road early in the morning. Equally exciting, and pretty reliable here is the rare Elliot’s Pheasant. Silver Pheasant is often relatively numerous, and Koklass Pheasant may also put in an appearance! We will surely regularly hear the plaintive whistles of the little-known and furtive White-necklaced (or Rickett’s Hill) Partridge, and, with persistence, we should be able to get views.

Although overall diversity is not very high, a number of other interesting species occur in the forest, and species we expect to see include the localized Chestnut Bulbul, Kloss’s Leaf Warbler, Sulphur-breasted Warbler, White-spectacled Warbler (interestingly, the form here, intermedius, has yellow spectacles!), the attractive Small Niltava, the monotypic Spotted Elachura (with its striking song), Blyth’s Shrike-babbler, the excellent Buffy Laughingthrush (a superb vocalist), the skulking endemic Moustached Laughingthrush, Indochinese and Black-chinned Yuhinas, and Huet’s Fulvetta.

In the highest areas, we can find such species as Buff-throated Warbler and Brown Bush Warbler with its insect-like song.

More difficult but notable species that we may encounter include the rare Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher and the striking Grey-headed Parrotbill.

More widespread, species that occur in the area include Black Eagle, Barred Cuckoo-Dove, Large Hawk-Cuckoo, Himalayan and Lesser Cuckoos, Collared Owlet, Brown Wood Owl, White-throated Needletail, Blue-throated Bee-eater, Bay Woodpecker, Great Barbet, Grey-chinned Minivet, Asian House Martin, White-bellied Erpornis, Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher, the impressive Yellow-cheeked and Sultan Tits, Black-throated Bushtit, Brown-flanked Bush Warbler, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Mountain and Himalayan Black Bulbuls, Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler, the shy Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush, the comical Pygmy Cupwing, Rufous-capped Babbler, Red-billed Leiothrix, Brown Dipper, Plumbeous Water Redstart, the attractive Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush, Blue Whistling Thrush, Little, Spotted, Slaty-backed and White-crowned Forktails and Orange-bellied Leafbird.

Eastern China: Day 8  After some early morning birding at Emei Feng, we will continue to Mingxi County for an overnight stay.

The rare Blyth’s Kingfisher still survives in this part of Fujian and we will make a special effort to try and see one this afternoon. We have a fairly good chance of an encounter with this sought-after species. Chinese Barbet also occurs in the area but we only have a slim chance of seeing one.

Eastern China: Day 9  Depending on our success with the kingfisher the previous day, we may visit a hide/blind this morning and hope for stunning views of Elliot’s and Silver Pheasants.

Afterwards, we will drive to the coastal city of Fuzhou for a two nights stay. We may have time upon arrival for a first look for Chinese Crested Tern.

Eastern China: Day 10  This morning we will explore the attractive Fuzhou Forest Park on the edge of the city. The park gets busy from mid-morning onwards, but the birds have become used to the human intruders and White-necklaced Partridge is easier to see here than at Emeifeng.

Other species include the near-endemic Grey-sided Scimitar Babbler, Spotted Elachura and Black-throated Laughingthrush.

After our time in the park, we will head for the coast and search for the Critically Endangered Chinese Crested Tern, which we have a fair chance of finding at this time of year. We will surely see some shorebirds and other coastal birds but most likely all will have been observed at the Rudong coast.

Eastern China: Day 11  We may have the opportunity for some early morning birding at the forest park before taking the high-speed train along China’s south coast to the city of Guangzhou (Canton) in Guangdong province. From Guangzhou, we drive a fairly short distance northwards to Liuxihe for an overnight stay.

The migratory Fairy Pitta should have arrived in the area by the time of our visit and we will have a first chance for views of this splendid creature. We should also find the near-endemic and spectacular Fork-tailed Sunbird, whilst other new species may well include Rufous Woodpecker, Large Woodshrike, Scarlet Minivet and Common Tailorbird.

Eastern China: Day 12  Northern Guangdong is one of the last reliable places to see the beautiful but fast-declining and endangered Silver Oriole. We should see a number of these lovely creatures during our visit to a site we pioneered on the Birdquest South China Expedition in the spring of 2019.

After our very special oriole encounter, we will return to Guangzhou for an overnight stay.

Eastern China: Day 13 This morning we will catch another high-speed train northwards to the city of Xinyang in Hebei province. The Guangzhou to Beijing main line is one of the fastest in China with the train reaching speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour or more between stops. We will cover the nearly 1200 kilometres (720 miles) to Xinyang in just over 5 hours!

From Xinyang, we will drive the short distance to Dongzhai National Reserve for a two nights stay. We will commence our exploration of the area this afternoon.

Eastern China: Day 14  One of our main reasons for visiting Dongzhai is to seek out the extraordinary endemic Reeves’s Pheasant – surely one of the world’s most spectacular birds. With subtle, scaled, golden and chestnut hues, a vivid pied head pattern, and a tail that is unfeasibly long, this really is a must-see species. We will visit an area where we have an excellent chance of finding multiple male Reeves’s Pheasants, perhaps beating their wings in display from a log to attract one of the more sombre females that may also be lurking in view. We also plan to visit a photographic hide/blind where we may get lucky and have awesome views, although the pheasants are more regular in winter and early spring.

Another major speciality at Dongzhai is the beautiful Fairy Pitta, a rare and declining species that has become hard to find in most areas. Here at Dongzhai, it is not difficult to locate.

Once we have sated ourselves with these glorious species, we will set about finding some of the other specialities of the area.

Close by, a population of the endangered and spectacular near-endemic Crested Ibis has become established, and we should be able to watch them feeding in the small paddies, or perhaps attending a nest. The Chinese population is currently estimated to be in excess of 3000 individuals and they are recolonizing some of their old haunts. Also here, the rapidly declining near-endemic Collared Crow is still fairly numerous, and we will make sure we get some good views of this charismatic species.

Adjacent to the village we are likely to encounter a number of other interesting species, including Grey-faced Buzzard, Chinese Sparrowhawk (which we may well witness in display flight), the localized Grey-headed Lapwing, the noisy, near-endemic Collared Finchbill, the stunning Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, the smart Daurian Redstart, Russet Sparrow and the much-desired Chinese (or Yellow-billed) Grosbeak.

The forests here are mostly of non-native tree species and indeed more specialities occur around the villages than in the forest proper. Nevertheless, whilst looking for the pheasants in and around the remnant native forests, we may well come across species such as Besra, Chestnut-winged Cuckoo, Japanese Scops Owl (they can sometimes be seen in their nests during the day here), White-backed Woodpecker, the restricted-range Silver-throated Bushtit and, with a bit of luck, the scarce and shy Orange-headed Thrush.

More widespread species that we are likely to encounter during our visit to the area include Common Pheasant (the grey-rumped decollatus subspecies here), Crested Goshawk, Asian Koel, Northern Boobook (easier to hear than see around the villages), Ashy Drongo of the attractive white-faced form leucogenis, Eurasian Jay (the striking form here, pekingensis, is part of the ‘Brandt’s Jay group’), Black Bulbul (smart white-headed birds here), the perky little Black-throated Bushtit, Japanese White-Eye, Grey-capped (or Oriental) Greenfinch and the smart Meadow Bunting.

There are also likely to be a few migrants around, and these may include Dusky Warbler.

Eastern China: Day 15  After some final birding in the Dongzhai area we will return to Xinyang and travel by high-speed train to the city of Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province.  From there we drive to Lingshi county for an overnight stay.

Eastern China: Day 16  This morning we will visit a reliable site for the endangered Brown Eared Pheasant. This endemic species was once widespread in northeastern China but is now reduced to a few fragmented pockets. By scanning the juniper-clad rocky hillsides, we have an excellent chance of getting great views of this superb creature. Soon after dawn their rolling, barking calls ring out across the wooded valleys, and we will look out for these huge pheasants as they forage across the adjacent hillsides, digging up roots and tubers with their powerful bills and claws.

Other birds here may well include Common Pheasant, Common Kestrel, Marsh Tit, Claudia’s Leaf and Yellow-streaked Warblers, the endemic Plain (or Père David’s) Laughingthrush, the endemic Beijing Babbler (formerly known as Chinese Hill Warbler, but now shown to be a sylvine babbler), the vocal Spotted Nutcracker, the lovely Chinese Long-tailed Rosefinch and Godlewski’s Bunting.

Later in the day, we will take a high-speed train to Beijing and drive into the mountains not far from the city for a two nights stay in the Lingshan area.

Eastern China: Day 17  The rugged mountains that surround Beijing on three sides 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 a couple of areas close to our accommodation which should give us a good chance to find most of the sought-after birds of the area.

The first of the major specialities here is the attractive and localized Green-backed 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’!) 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, occurs here and we should obtain good views with a bit of effort. The range-restricted Qilian Bluetail (which is by no means certain as its main habitat is hard to access) may be a Chinese endemic but its wintering area is not yet established. The localized Zappey’s Flycatcher also occurs in the lower, taller forests, and hopefully, we will be alerted to its presence by its melodic song, before setting eyes on its lovely azure plumage. The fifth localized speciality is the endemic Chinese Beautiful Rosefinch which, after reclassification of some subspecies, is now restricted to some areas of moist montane scrub in northeast China and Mongolia.

While searching for these species we should find a number of other good species including the endemic Chinese Thrush and near-endemic Yellow-bellied Tit and Chinese Nuthatch, while other specialities include Alström’s, Chinese and Claudia’s Leaf Warblers, the shy White-bellied Redstart and the handsome White-throated Rock Thrush (though this last is quite scarce). 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.

Other species we may well find here include Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Golden Eagle, Eurasian Hobby, Hill Pigeon, Long-tailed Minivet, Eurasian Wren, the lovely Siberian Blue Robin, Eastern Crowned and Hume’s Warblers, the secretive Asian Stubtail, Willow Tit (the form here is sometimes split as Songar Tit), Coal Tit, Eurasian Nuthatch, Eurasian Jay (of the form brandti), Red-billed Chough and Large-billed Crow.

Eastern China: Day 18  After some more birding in the Lingshan area we will return to Beijing and take an afternoon or evening flight to Wulanhaote (or Ulanhot) in eastern Inner Mongolia. The arid steppe here will certainly come as a complete contrast to everything we have seen before! We will spend a total of three nights in the borderlands between Inner Mongolia and Jilin province (part of the region once known as Manchuria), with the first night at Wulanhaote and the next two at Baicheng.

Eastern China: Days 19-20  The wide Manchurian Plain is real ‘big sky country’ reminiscent of the American prairies. The steppes in this area provide one of the last refuges for the near-endemic Jankowski’s Bunting. This almost mythical species was rediscovered breeding in this region in the 1990s and has subsequently been found at a scattering of locations where extensive areas of grassland or scrub-grassland survive. These are habitats that have been largely cleared for cultivation elsewhere in Manchuria, so the species is now thought to be highly endangered. We shall enjoy searching for and watching this unusual species, which few birders have observed. These scrubby grasslands also hold Japanese Quail, Asian Short-toed Lark, Eurasian Skylark, Bluethroat, Lanceolated Warbler and the smart Pallas’s Reed Bunting (of the form lydiae).

We will also explore a mixture of dry, open grasslands, rivers, lakes and marshes surrounded by reedbeds and scattered elm woodlands. This region is renowned for its breeding cranes (which have been kept going partly through a re-introduction scheme). Watching the Red-crowned (or Japanese) Cranes calling and dancing in their marshland home is an evocative experience. Furthermore, the threatened Swan Goose and the rare White-naped Crane both breed in the area, as does the rare Oriental Stork. At the time we visit, there is even a slim chance for a lingering migrant Siberian Crane or two!

Other interesting new species we are likely to see include the striking Pied Harrier (now becoming uncommon in the area), the splendid little Amur Falcon which is common in this region, Daurian Partridge, Chinese Penduline Tit, the impressive Chinese Grey Shrike, Carrion Crow, Rook, the piebald Daurian Jackdaw and Chestnut-eared Bunting. With luck, we will also come across one or two of the rarer specialities such as Von Schrenck’s Bittern, Asian Dowitcher, Manchurian Reed Warbler or Japanese Reed (or Ochre-rumped) Bunting. We used to see the Baer’s Pochard regularly in this region, but agricultural changes, more frequent droughts and other issues have drastically reduced the population so nowadays a sighting is lucky indeed.

Other new species we may well encounter in the region include Great Crested and Black-necked Grebes, Eurasian Spoonbill, Greylag Goose, Common Shelduck, Mallard, Gadwall, Garganey, Northern Shoveler, Eastern Marsh Harrier, Northern Lapwing and the gorgeous Yellow-throated Bunting.

If conditions are right, the shelterbelts may also attract migrant warblers, flycatchers and buntings or perhaps even something much rarer (we have seen Japanese Waxwing on passage here).

Eastern China: Day 21  After some final wetland birding we will return to Wulanhaote (or Ulanhot) airport and fly back to Beijing where our tour ends in the afternoon or the evening depending on the flight schedule at the time (there are very few flights out of Wulanhaote).

(Note: if the flight from Wulanhaote does not arrive at Beijing Capital Airport (PEK) but at Beijing Daxing Airport an inter-airport transfer will be provided.)