On the day of Christmas, i went on a half day to stint to scout a “Prospective” property, the perks being very close to Nanhui. Even though the property din’t pan out, it was a pretty good winter day. The “December Skies” were absolutely gorgeous blue with no signs of smog and an incredible light which i have seen it only a couple of times in the past years. A good day to be out for birding. The day started with 5 “Falcated Ducks“(2 males and 3 females) opposite to the holiday inn, the brilliant light made me the enjoy the striking greenish head of the males.
Two male Falcated Ducks
Two Great Bitterns put a good show, stunning birds and definitely these are great birds in terms of size compared to the Yellow, Cinnamon and Black Bitterns.(Von Schrenck is still not in my list).
Adult Boomer
The other individual was so confident about its camouflage skill and merged into the reeds by prolonging its neck and pretending to be a reed.
The “odd” reed
Pipits were in good no’s, especially the Buff-bellied Pipit were in big flocks scavenging on the road. Last winter, me and Kevin Harding found our first “Water Pipit” in Hengsha. However, i was able to record some good shots of the “Water Pipit”.
Buff-bellied Pipit (aka) American Pipit
Rufous upper tail coverts (ssp blakistoni)
Fine streaking restricted to upper breast and white belly
Support cast
The day didn’t just end here. The “Ruddy Shelduck” which i saw in early November have found a partner and they were absolutely enjoying their winter days in Shanghai. The WWF site was filled up with water from the recent rain, numerous “Great Cormorants” and “Eastern Spot-billed Ducks” found a safe haven there. The reed beds which were converted into shrimp ponds over the autumn, held a dozen “Common Shelducks“.
The no of Eurasian Spoonbills have gone considerably high as the Black-faced Spoonbills outnumbered the Eurasian during my last visit in November. I was able to pick out one Black-faced among the 80+ Eurasian Spoonbills. The other huge bird of the day is “Oriental Stork”, 6 birds were feeding very actively.
Finally, the lifer of the day, “Blyth’s Pipit“. In fact, it was the first bird i saw on that day. It took bit of a homework on the pipits especially the Blyth’s and Water.
The ugly smog which usually restricts the distant objects is not a hurdle today. I found my fondness for the metal birds.
Checklist :
| Species |
| Ruddy Shelduck |
| Common Shelduck |
| Falcated Duck |
| Mallard |
| Eastern Spot-billed Duck |
| Northern Shoveler |
| Common Pochard |
| Tufted Duck |
| Little Grebe |
| Great Crested Grebe |
| Oriental Stork |
| Great Cormorant |
| Great Bittern |
| Gray Heron |
| Great Egret |
| Intermediate Egret |
| Little Egret |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron |
| Eurasian Spoonbill |
| Black-faced Spoonbill |
| Eastern Marsh-Harrier |
| Northern Harrier |
| Common Buzzard |
| Eurasian Moorhen |
| Eurasian Coot |
| Kentish Plover |
| Little Ringed Plover |
| Common Sandpiper |
| Common Greenshank |
| Dunlin |
| Brown-headed Gull |
| Common Kingfisher |
| Eurasian Kestrel |
| Long-tailed Shrike |
| Eurasian Magpie |
| Barn Swallow |
| Light-vented Bulbul |
| Blyth’s Pipit |
| Water Pipit |
| American Pipit |
| Chestnut-eared Bunting |
| Pallas’s Bunting |
Total : 42 species
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