Dongtai is not exactly a new kid in the block and its not an old willy fox like Yangkou. Yangkou is or was a major stop over for Shorebirds along the East Asian – Australian flyway but the situation changed vastly over the last few years. It was not only a place of importance for the birds but also a majority of birders from all over the world came to find the “Holy Grail”, the iconic “Spoon-billed Sandpiper”. I made my first visit to Yangkou back in 2011 and the last in 2016, my previous post on the fall of Yangkou can be read here. Dongtai is not a newly discovered place, its been brought into the spotlight only recently. During my last two visits, the autumn trip in 2016 was very promising and the spring trip in 2017 was on the dull side. Although, we did not connect with specialties like the Spoon-billed Sandpiper or Nordmann’s Greenshank during 2016, we witnessed a good number of Shorebirds and 2018 turned an entirely new leaf and we had one of the best shorebirding trip of the decade. Yes, We did see Spoon-billed Sandpiper and Nordmann’s Greenshank, in heaps.
Acknowledgement :
There is no coincidence, just like 2016, this year trip also with the good old friend, Roger Theo Timmermann who was in Shanghai for business. As usual, thanks to Lily Tang for all the ground work and also taking up the driving duty for the first time.
General information :
We got in and out of Dongtai through our own vehicle. The drive from Shanghai took 3 hours onward and 4 hours during the return journey. We stayed at the Green Tree Inn of Jianggang Town. They have a variety of rooms ranging from 150-250RMB, the standard room with twin beds cost 150RMB per night. The main street of the town is 1km south of the hotel which has plenty of stores and restaurants.
Dongtai Birding Spots :
Usually there will be a google maps embedded in the blog post before but google has complicated the use of the embedded maps with billing and lot more technical stuff which at the moment i cannot fathom. So, going forward there will be only GPS co-ordinates provided in the post.
Birding Day:
We arrived at Dongtai after an half hour delay due to the pouring rain enroute. The mudflats start at the popular tourist spot Tiaozini (条子泥). Just like any other tourist place in China, this also comes packing. Bit of cooler weather also made the outdoor loving people thronging the beach. We started at the northern end of Tiaozini, that’s were the shorebirds congregate during the high tide (atleast during the last two visits). To our surprise, the marshes were already reclaimed and the mudflats were overgrown with grass. It wasn’t overall a wasted effort, we witnessed a big passerine push and the locust trees lining the sea wall was filled with birds. We picked up a fair share of Siberian Blue Robin, Blue and White Flycatcher, Yellow-rumped Flycatcher and a very confiding Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler.
One of many Siberian Blue Robins
Probably a very tied Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler – It wasn’t Skulking
The charming Yellow-rumped Flycatcher (Male)
We spent some time with the mixed flock of Terns which were actively feeding in an aquaculture farm and headed to the northern end of Tiaozini.
Black-headed Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Whiskered Tern with mouthful
The northern end which was productive during the last couple of outings have been reclaimed and the grass was extensive on the mudflats which didn’t bode well for the birds which usually come here during the high tide.
Northern end of Tiaozini
Massive invasion of Shield Bugs – They were literally on every tree and plant
By the time we decided to return to the southern end of Tiaozini, the tide has already started to come in and we noticed big flocks of shorebirds flying inland. When we stopped at the first roosting spot, we already hit the jackpot. 9 Nordmann’s Greenshank were roosting well outside a massive flock of Knots were easy picking. Later, we noticed another 12 of them in a different flock.
Nordmann’s Greenshank aka Spotted Greenshank
Can count the no. of Nordmann’s?
Birds congregating during high tide
Whenever i go to the Jiangsu coast, my expectations were always on a low profile, I just go there to watch the shorebirds. Back in 2011, i had high expectations to see a Spoon-billed Sandpiper and the resulting failure led to a huge disappointment. But this year was a total turn around, how many Spoonie’s did we see? Grab a beer or coffee, this is going to be a long story.
Spoonie No.1
Spoonie No.2
Spoonie No.3 – Can you find it
Spoonie No.4&5 (To the left and Right of the Sand Plover)
Spoonie No.6
Spoonie No : 7&8
Spoonie No.9
Spoonie No.10
Spoonie No.11
Spoonie No.12 with an Yellow engraved Flag 53. Flagged in Dongtai in 2015
Spoonie No. 13&14
Spoonie No.15 with lime 43 flag. It was supposed to have a satellite transmitter but we dint notice it.
That provides a tally of the Spoon-billed Sandpipers we had in the trip. Some more photos below,
Multi-tasking : Birding and Walking Dog
Eurasian Curlews in flight
Black-tailed Gulls were numerous
Two Red-listed Birds : Saunder’s Gull in the back, Spoon-billed Sandpiper in the front. The tidal mudflats of East China sea is vital for these two species.
Bar-tailed Godwits in morning flight
Great Knots leaving the roosting ground
Grey Plover leaving roosting ground
Two of a Kind – Great Knot and Bar-tailed Godwit
Dunlin
one of the 12 Dollarbirds – ebird spit on my face “Too many no’s for this location”
Young Grey-headed Lapwing
Another tired traveller – Grey Nightjar
Pied Avocets were numerous as usual
White-winged Terns were in numerous no’s (Thousands)
Caspian Tern
Shorebird flock during high tide
Red-necked Phalarope – Another injured individual which has lost its leg
Finally, the mud monkeys after a successful holy grail quest.
Roger & myself
Species List :
| Species | Location | Date |
| Eastern Spot-billed Duck | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Common/Green Pheasant | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Red Turtle Dove | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Spotted Dove | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Grey Nightjar | Dongtai | 2-Sep-18 |
| Black-winged Stilt | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Pied Avocet | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Eurasian Oystercatcher | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Grey Plover | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Pacific Golden Plover | Dongtai | 2-Sep-18 |
| Grey-headed Lapwing | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Lesser Sand Plover | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Greater Sand Plover | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Kentish Plover | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Whimbrel | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Far Eastern Curlew | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Eurasian Curlew | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Bar-tailed Godwit | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Ruddy Turnstone | Dongtai | 2-Sep-18 |
| Great Knot | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Red Knot | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Broad-billed Sandpiper | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Spoon-billed Sandpiper | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Red-necked Stint | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Dunlin | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Terek Sandpiper | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Red-necked Phalarope | Dongtai | 2-Sep-18 |
| Common Sandpiper | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Spotted Redshank | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Common Greenshank | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Nordmann’s Greenshank | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Marsh Sandpiper | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Common Redshank | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Saunders’s Gull | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Black-headed Gull | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Black-tailed Gull | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Little Tern | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Gull-billed Tern | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Caspian Tern | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| White-winged Tern | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Whiskered Tern | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Grey Heron | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Great Egret | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Intermediate Egret | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Little Egret | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Cattle Egret | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Black-crowned Night Heron | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Striated Heron | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Eurasian/African Hoopoe | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Oriental Dollarbird | Dongtai | 2-Sep-18 |
| Common Kestrel | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Brown Shrike | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Black Drongo | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Hair-crested Drongo | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Japanese Paradise Flycatcher | Dongtai | 2-Sep-18 |
| Pale Martin | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Barn Swallow | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Red-rumped Swallow | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Plain Prinia | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Dark-sided Flycatcher | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Asian Brown Flycatcher | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Blue-and-white Flycatcher | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Siberian Blue Robin | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Siberian Rubythroat | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Yellow-rumped Flycatcher | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Blue Rock Thrush | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Chinese Blackbird | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| Eastern Yellow Wagtail | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
| White Wagtail | Dongtai | 1-Sep-18 |
There are 3 comments on this post
Hi Dev T,
Wonderful report. Great to see the spoonies in particular.
Can you get back to me over mail. I need a certain image from you.
Regards,
Siddhartha Dey
Hi Siddhartha,
Thanks for stopping by. I have dropped a note to your email. Cheers!
Hello Dev, wonderful report. Congrats on all those migrants. Your Contact page isn't working, wondering if you could email me?