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by Elliotte Rusty Harold.
Original Post: #411 and 412 at the Old Summer Temple
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Saturday morning (Day #3) Beth was attending the conference so I decided to do some local birding. It took a bit of doing, but the kind folks at the registration desk managed to write “Please take me to the Old Summer Palace” on a piece of paper I could give to a cab driver. The disadvantages of a non-alphabetic language: they knew how to say the Chinese name of the Old Summer Palace, but it’s an uncommon name so no one knew how to write it. They ended up copying it out of my guide book. Nor did the first cab driver I tried no how to read it. Fortunately, the second cab driver understood it; and eventually I got there, paid my $10 Yuan admission, and walked in.
The first bird I spotted was a Black-billed Magpie, but soon after I found a different magpie, the Azure-winged Magpie, my first life bird of the day. This is very pretty bird, with an unusual distribution. They’re found in Spain, but then, for some reason no one understands, there’s a huge gap in their distribution until the middle of Asia. I didn’t get any good photos of Azure-winged Magpies thast day, but here’s one froma couple of days later at the Zoo:
Shortly after spotting the magpie, I met a Chinese birder, the first and only one I saw the whole trip. He was as excited to see me as I was to see him. Unfortunately his English extended as far as my Chinese: I could say “Nihao” and he could say, “Hello” and after that our conversation degenerated into a lot of pointing at trees and field guides. However in this process we were able to find a Great Spotted Woodpecker, and he was able to tell me that the crows we were seeing were indeed Thick-billed Crows, Corvus macrorynchos, not Carrion Crows. That made them life bird #412 for me. He also found a Great Spotted Woodpecker for me, and tried to teach me the Chinese word for Woodpecker (Sicha, I think if I’m remembering correctly). I tried to teach him the English word for “Magpie”. I’m not sure how much of that stuck with either of us, but it was the most significant interaction I had with a non-Anglophone Chinese the entire trip.
After going our separate ways, I moved back toward where I’d entered and spotted two “starlings” feeding on the ground in a large, palace-sized depression. Unfortunately they spotted me too; and flew off giving me clear views of large white patches on their wings. That meant that whatever they were, they weren’t starlings. They also seemed bigger than European Starlings: maybe midway between a starling and a Rock Pigeon. I also noticed that the bill and legs weren’t black. Maybe red, orange, or yellow? I tried to relocate them in the trees they’d flown into, but never found them again.
Later back in the hotel, carefully reviewing the field guide, I decided they might have been Crested Mynas. Unfortunately the range for this species didn’t seem to extend all the way to Beijing, but it came within a few hundred miles. No other bird of remotely similar shape seemed to have white patches on its wings. Unfortunately I couldn’t be sure about this one.
Next I wandered around a lake. There were a few Mallards and lots of peeping frogs (though I only heard these, never saw them). Then I saw a large black lump on a bed of reeds. Could it be? Yes, a Black Swan!
I excitedly paged through my field guide hoping this was actually native and countable here, but sadly it wasn’t. Presumably it’s introduced as it is everywhere else outside of Australia. Lots of folks were interested in it though and someone had set up a scope (the only one of those I saw all trip) focused on the nest. They even had a sign. I suppose this sign doesn’t say, “First ever native Black swan outside of Australia”:
The next lake over I saw what looked like a red-headed Pied-billed Grebe. Checking my field guide, it was a what I expected, a Little Grebe. I spent a little time exploring some of the ruins (the British and French Allied Forces destroyed the Palace around 1860 at the end of one of the Opium Wars) and flushed what I thought might be an interesting Pigeon (they’re quite a lot of them over here) but when I tracked it down, it was just another Rock Pigeon.
Backtracking around the lake, three swallows flew by. They looked like Barn Swallows, though not quite as orange as the ones we have in the states. Checking my field guide, that’s exactly what they were.
There were several more grebes on the lake, but one of them looked a little larger. Taking a closer look, that’s because it wasn’t a grebe at all. It was a Eurasian Green-winged Teal. (It doesn’t have a white stripe the American Green-winged Teals do.) Currently this is classified as a subspecies, not a fully separate species, but I’ll hang onto to it in case ornithologists decide to split the species later.
I spent some more time wandering through the main ruins, but didn’t find any new species. However I did see dozens more Azure-winged Magpies. I also a white heron fly over, but through the trees and I didn’t get a good look. There were several things that could be. However a little later on another lake I see what look’s like a Great Egret on the far shore. Scanning it with my binoculars I see a distinct black bill. Great Egrets have yellow bills, so what is this? Checking the field guide, I see that over here Great Egrets in fact do have black bills. Another subspecies perhaps to hold onto in case they ever get split.
I wal;ked back along the other shore of the lake. For reasons that weren’t apparent, many of the trees along the lake had been shorn of almost all their leaves. The branches were lined up along side the path, and women were making crowns out of the leaves for their children and their mothers. Some Chinese custom or festival perhaps?
I headed back out and caught a cab to the conservatory in time for lunch. That afternoon the conference took us to The Great Wall at Badaling, which was interesting, and somewhat pretty; if gray and bird free. The only birds that were obvious there were Black-billed Magpies. I was somewhat astonished at just how touristy the whole place was. Maybe if we ever go back, I’ll get a chance to visit some of the less developed parts.
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