Changqing in June

Asia, Birding, Birding Trips, China, East Asia

Changqing in June

Published by

Zongzhuang Liu

on

2021-06-15

Changqing NNR in Shaanxi was initially created to conserve the Giant Panda. I know a friend there who worked as a ranger and participated in pandas and other wildlife conservation projects for over thirty years. Here are some photos from when I was birding with him inside or near the NNR in June 2021.

View of Mt. Qingling, the major mountain in the region.

Montane in Changqing.

Outside the NNR, we spent most of the time driving along the road for birds. We explored the region around the village and saw several specialties in that habitat. There were Drongos, Dollarbird, and very common Red-billed Blue Magpies, etc, near the village.

Eurystomus orientalis 三宝鸟 Dollarbird. It is said that it can drive Pica serica (Oriental Magpie) away and take their nests.

Dicrurus hottentottus 发冠卷尾 Hair-crested Drongo, a summer visitor.

Dicrurus leucophaeus 灰卷尾 Ashy Drongo. It belongs to the subspecies leucogenis, featured by the “eye patch”.

Urocissa erythroryncha 红嘴蓝鹊 Red-billed Blue-Magpie. Very common. One bird is preening the other.

Saxicola ferreus 灰林䳭 Gray Bushchat

Glaucidium cuculoides 斑头鸺鹠 Asian Barred Owlet. Usually found near fields or human dwellings.

Eudynamys scolopaceus 噪鹃 Asian Koel female. Remarkable for its “ko-EL!” and belongs to the brood parasite old-world cuckoos.

The Chinese Sparrowhawk (Accipiter soloensis) is a summer visitor to Mt. Qingling. It is a small, cute hawk that feeds on frogs, lizards, and other small animals. In summer, it’s common to see them standing on electrical wires in the countryside of southern China.

Accipiter soloensis 赤腹鹰 Chinese Sparrowhawk

Accipiter soloensis 赤腹鹰 Chinese Sparrowhawk. Drying its feathers. The iris becomes smaller in a bright light condition.

The Chinese Sparrowhawk waits for the wing to dry before Mt. Qingling.

Many common birds, including herons, egrets, sparrows, and crakes, fed in the agricultural fields. The reintroduced Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon) is flourishing here.

Nipponia nippon 朱鹮 Crested Ibis. Non-breeding plumage.

Nipponia nippon 朱鹮 Crested Ibis. Breeding plumage.

Nipponia nippon 朱鹮 Crested Ibis. It sometimes perches on the wires.

Nipponia nippon 朱鹮 Crested Ibis on the left and an Amaurornis phoenicurus 白胸苦恶鸟 White-breasted Waterhen on the right.

We drove a bit farther and explored the part of the road that went uphill. I was very happy with the Tawny Fish-Owl (Ketupa flavipes) we found there. We spot many people fishing there, probably from Sichuan, where fishing was prohibited in some natural water bodies for conservation reasons.

Ketupa flavipes 黄腿渔鸮 Tawny Fish-Owl

Besides the Fish Owl and those Sichuan people, the Crested Kingfishers (Megaceryle lugubris) also go fishing in this river. They prefer rocky streams or rivers in valleys, which are better for large fish. Like many other kingfishers, they make burrows in the cliffs for their nests.

The nest burrow of Crested Kingfishers.

Megaceryle lugubris 冠鱼狗 Crested Kingfisher, female.

We met a flock of Spectacled Parrotbills (Suthora conspicillata). These very cute little birds have a narrow distribution in central China. It was the 1009th bird species I had seen in my life.

Suthora conspicillata 白眶鸦雀 Spectacled Parrotbill

We spent two afternoons birding inside the NNR (restricted access) in a jeep. Due to the heavy rain, we did not see any robins, and there were not so many warblers. However, we encountered several pheasant species on the road, and I was fairly glad. We saw 13 Golden Pheasants (Chrysolophus pictus) in various stages of the plumage, though several looked weird.

Chrysolophus pictus 红腹锦鸡 Golden Pheasant, male.

Chrysolophus pictus 红腹锦鸡 Golden Pheasant, adult female.

Chrysolophus pictus 红腹锦鸡 Golden Pheasant, male.

Chrysolophus pictus 红腹锦鸡 Golden Pheasant, juvinle (?) male.

A Koklass Pheasant (Pucrasia macrolopha) mother crossed the road with about 20 chicks. The chicks were cute and lovely. When we stopped the jeep, they suddenly disappeared into the bushes.