10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

Like many birding locations in China, it has been somewhat under birded in the past 18 months or so, as travel restrictions have kept most foreigners away and only some of the younger Chinese birders actively use eBird. The post Birding Baxi Forest, Sichuan, China appeared first on 10,000 Birds. Progress of sorts, I guess.

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10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

As often in China, the choice seems to be between terrible infrastructure and almost no people or great roads accompanied by caravans of tour buses. The post Birding Mengbishan, Sichuan, China appeared first on 10,000 Birds. The horrible essentially meaning half-an-hour delays for construction while the road is being upgraded.

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10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2021

Located about 2 hours from Xining by car, Qinghai Lake is China’s largest lake. Pallas’s Gull also breeds at Qinghai Lake, though the numbers are sadly much reduced: “The numbers breeding at L Qinghai, China, has apparently fallen from > 87,000 in 1970s to c. 15,000 in 2006” (HBW).

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10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

Asian Brown Flycatcher: The most boring flycatcher here in Eastern China is also by far the most common one. The post Birding Tiaozini, Jiangsu, China appeared first on 10,000 Birds. Proof that there is no god? If you really want to see more photos of Tiaozini birds, you can find them here.

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10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

What is your favorite bird species? It is the Chinese Monal, a beautiful big Chinese endemic, which used to be difficult to see, but is quite easy to capture a good photo nowadays. What is your name, and where do you live? My name is Ye Xuelin and I go by Jeremy Yip.

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China Birds Species 170

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2024

What is your favorite bird species? I would always say the Black-throated Tit, not just because it is the first bird I identified in the field, but also simply because it is cute. I have a soft spot for cute passerines. What is your name, and where do you live?

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China Birds Species 231

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2021

Clinal and individual variation make delineation of races somewhat difficult; proposed race turcomana (E Turkestan) is treated as a synonym of nominate, and castaneothorax (NE China) as a synonym of suschkini. The post Birding around Chaka, Qinghai, China appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

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10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 24, 2020

That means it also has many tropical birds that a foreigner living in China can see without risking to leave the country (which would mean 2 weeks of quarantine on reentry at best and complete exclusion at worst, depending on the ever-changing regulations). The post Birding Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

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10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 21, 2022

To say that an update of John MacKinnon’s “A Field Guide to the Birds of China” (2000) has been highly anticipated by birders interested in Chinese birds is almost an understatement. While there are some decent Chinese-language guides, they are of limited use for (local) illiterates like me.

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10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

The HBW even mentions the importance of Ruoergai for this species: “Key sites for migrants include the Ruoergai Plateau (China), which is also an important breeding area” Common Mergansers also seem to use these wetlands as breeding area. The post Birding Ruoergai, Sichuan, China appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

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10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2021

China’s massive investment in infrastructure has indirectly benefited birders. The post Birding Balangshan, Sichuan, China (part 1) appeared first on 10,000 Birds. Balangshan is a mountainous area in Sichuan complete with a pass at an altitude of 4500 meters. And it is a great place for birding.

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10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

The post Birding Ruoergai, Sichuan, China – The Raptor Edition appeared first on 10,000 Birds. Note: This trip was made with Alpinebirding , a Chinese tour company with very knowledgeable, English-speaking, and friendly guides – highly recommended to overseas birders. See my report on Tripadvisor if interested.

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10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

The post Birding Gonggangling and Dujiangyan, Sichuan, China appeared first on 10,000 Birds. ” Note: This trip was made with Alpinebirding , a Chinese tour company with very knowledgeable, English-speaking, and friendly guides – highly recommended to overseas birders despite the occasional question regarding music appreciation.

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10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2019

Spoon-billed Sandpiper at Tiaozini, Jiangsu, China. The Spoon-billed Sandpiper is probably the most iconic bird species in China – to the point that some bird guides I know are quite tired of looking for it. And yet, I have now birded China for almost 5 years without ever really trying to see one.

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10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

In China, wherever there is one real tourist attraction (like the Great Wall), the local strategy seems to be to add some fake attractions – replicas of palaces or tombs, amusement parks, shopping centers – in order to maximize the income from tourists.

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10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2024

Crested Myna (Shanghai, China) Black Crested Bulbul (Nonggang, China) Crested Barbet (Letaba, Bateleur, Kruger Park, South Africa) Crested Bunting (Nonggang, China) Crested Dove (somewhere in Australia) Crested Finchbill (Tengchong, China) Crested Flameback (Taman Negara, Malaysia) Crested Francolin (Ndumo, South Africa) Crested Goshawk (Shanghai, (..)

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10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2019

And then there were of course the usual birds of this part of China – not uncommon but still quite attractive birds rarely seen in Shanghai, such as Red-billed Blue Magpie , Collared Finchbill , Ashy Drongo , Red-billed Starling , Black-throated Bushtit and Mountain Bulbul. A village about 1.5 Red-billed Blue Magpie. Collared Finchbill.

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10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2022

The Spring Festival – or Chinese New Year – is a big period for traveling in China. While not on the scale of bird migration, it is routinely and somewhat lazily described as the biggest annual migration of humans in the world. Being somewhat allergic to crowds, I usually avoid traveling during the peak of this period.

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10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2019

The post Air Show at Nanhui, Shanghai, China appeared first on 10,000 Birds. But the chicks (or their parents) managed to find a road that – in a combination of rocks and trash – matches their appearance perfectly.

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10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2021

My last trip to Balangshan was in July 2021 – now I was back, three months later. Yes, I know you are not interested in boring semi-autobiographical descriptions of individual birding trips. But you may be interested in some of the most recent photos. I left out those showing merely fog (of which there was plenty at times).

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10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

Fortunately, some have found creative ways to deal with this issue: Trash indicating food ( Yellow-billed Chough , Balangshan, China). Trash as nesting material ( Upland Buzzard , Ruoergai, China). Trash as a vantage point ( Striated Heron , Nanhui, China). Trash as a bathtub ( Siberian Thrush , Nanhui, China).

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10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2022

T he Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker (Tengchong, China) is a tiny bit bigger and looks much soberer. A point in case: the Crimson-breasted Woodpecker (Tengchong, China). So, more than my usual maximum of five photos per species for the Eurasian Wryneck (Nanhui, Shanghai, China).

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10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 21, 2022

Julius Caesar apparently once said “I love treason but hate a traitor” My feelings with regard to a birding-related topic are similar – I love owls but hate owling. For some reason, it seems that getting older means liking the daytime more and nighttime less (at least in my case). Obviously, for watching owls, this is a problem.

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10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2022

Reed Parrotbill (Nanhui, Shanghai, China). Siberian Rubythroat (Nanhui, Shanghai, China). Spotted Redshank (Nanhui, Shanghai, China). Swinhoe’s White-eye (Nanhui, Shanghai, China). Whimbrel (Nanhui, Shanghai, China). White’s Thrush (Nanhui, Shanghai, China). Pied Avocet (Nanhui, Shanghai, China).

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10,000 Birds

MAY 27, 2021

A wet Grey-eyed Bulbul (Xishuangbanna, China). A wet Daurian Redstart (Shennongjia, China). Wet Orange-bellied Leafbird s (Tengchong, China). A wet Moustached Laughingthrush (Tengchong, China). A wet Blue-winged Minla (Tengchong, China). A wet Collared Finchbill (Shennongjia, China). Waterproof?

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10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 14, 2023

In 2022, the 10,000 Birds eBird Collaborative submitted 1,837 checklists from 9 countries ( Australia , China , Costa Rica , Mexico , Saint Lucia , Serbia , Trinidad and Tobago , United Kingdom , and the United States ) and observed 1,273 species. The Collaborative life list increased to 4,140.

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10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2020

Black-tailed Godwit (Nanhui, China, May 2020). Black-throated Tit (Tianmushan, China, Jun 2019). Black-winged Stilt (Nanhui, China, May 2019). Collared Finchbill (Zhenjiang, China, Oct 2015). Eurasian Oystercatcher (Tiaozini, China, Sep 2019). Hair-crested Drongo (Nanhui, China, Nov 2019). Hiking up a tree.

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10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2020

Black-capped Kingfisher (Nanhui, China, May 2018). Common Kingfisher (Mumbai, India, Feb 2019 and Nanhui, China, Apr 2020). Crested Kingfisher (HongAn, China, Jun 2015). Pied Kingfisher (Skukuza, South Africa, Nov 2018 and Nanhui, China, Jul 2020). Belted Kingfisher (Reno, USA, Jan 2015).

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Critter News

JULY 22, 2010

China is currently experiencing its biggest oil spill ever too. China's largest oil spill has spread to 430 square kilometers (166 square miles) hundreds of clean up workers struggle to cope. China Central Television earlier reported an estimate of 1,500 tons of oil has spilled. From Today Online.

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10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2024

in migratory whooper swans ( Cygnus cygnus ) in China” And if a swan looks at you in a particularly arrogant way, show it these papers too. Note: While all photos were taken on Hokkaido in Feb 2024, not all were taken at Lake Kussharo.

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10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2023

Yibin is a typical smallish Chinese city (which in China means slightly above 850,000 people in the metro area, which would make it the fifth-biggest city in Germany but does not get it into the top 100 in China). What a pity.)

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Critter News

JANUARY 16, 2011

In order to offset the loss of the seal product market in Europe, Canada has made a deal with China. China as a whole still doesn't have a national conscience about these issues. I'm not surprised. Although 40 Chinese animal rights groups have protested, they don't really have any political or financial clout to change anything.

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10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2021

Some people want Grey-headed Swamphens to be gone from Florida (photo taken in China, though). Fortunately, the birds are quite welcome by birders at Beihai Wetlands near Tengchong, Yunnan, China – not surprising given their attractive appearance.

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10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2022

It is now almost exactly two years that I last was outside of China. At some point, my stock of memories of birds seen outside of China will be used up, I am afraid. While I write this, the vessel is on a trip from Shekou, China to Callao, Peru, presumably to pick up some ore, most likely copper ore.

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Critter News

JANUARY 4, 2010

India’s newfound partnership with China on environment issues has yielded results in the area of tiger protection as well. Tags: India wildlife trafficking poaching tigers china. From the Economic Times (part of the India Times, I think). What kind of protection do they really mean? I'm too, too cynical.

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10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2023

Of course, I need to pretend not to brag about it, but the HBW page on the species still uses the photo of a China-based German photographer as its main illustration. There is also the usual article about the first sighting of the species at a new location. How exciting. It is actually much better than the photos shown in this post.

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Critter News

NOVEMBER 28, 2010

From TRAFFIC, Customs officers from Russia and China met last week to strengthen international co-operation in tackling cross-border smuggling of Tigers and other wildlife products. Tags: wildlife smuggling wildlife trafficking tigers china russia.

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