On 26 November, the U.S. Ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, and his wife, Ms. Elizabeth Baylies, hosted the latest Ambassadors for Nature event at their residence. Entitled “Unexpected Biodiversity of Beijing”, the centrepiece was a lecture by Peking University Professor Luo Shu-Jin about Beijing’s leopard cats. The audience, including ambassadors and senior diplomats from eight countries, Chinese academics, and PhD students, were treated to a wonderful presentation about the secret lives of these elusive predators which can be found in healthy numbers in the mountains and wetlands of Beijing, even inside the 6th ring road.
We learned that Beijing is one of only eight G20 capitals to host populations of wild cats and that the leopard cat is one of the “big 10” mammals in China’s capital city, alongside two species of badger, two species of weasel, masked palm civet, raccoon dog, wild boar, siberian roe deer and Chinese goral.
Professor Luo, ably supported by her students, told the story of Beijing’s leopard cats being photographed at the venue for the 2022 Winter Olympics and, at the end of the talk, presented Ambassador Burns with a personalised photograph of a leopard cat walking a trail with the downhill ski slope in the background.
In his remarks, Ambassador Burns highlighted how diplomatic missions can lead by example by incorporating biodiversity and environmental practices into their operations and facilities. The Ambassador underscored the common interest of the United States, China, and other countries to work together on pressing international environmental challenges, including by tackling climate change at the recently concluded COP 29.
The Ambassadors for Nature initiative is an informal group of 37 ambassadors who have developed and committed to the Pledge for Nature with the aim of incorporating biodiversity into the way diplomatic green spaces are managed and promoting biodiversity among staff and in diplomatic exchanges. For more about the initiative, see this link: https://wildbeijing.org/the-ambassadors-for-nature-initiative/
As we head into a new year, it’s traditionally a good time to reflect on the previous 12 months. After three difficult years of pandemic restrictions, 2023 was a welcome return to at least some kind of normality in China, with the borders opening up and physical meetings again being possible. I have been incredibly fortunate to be involved in some exciting and innovative projects and to work with some of the best people I’ve ever met. I haven’t been very efficient at updating the blog part of the website this year, so here are a few selected highlights from 2023.
First, the nocturnal bird migration study in partnership with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and Peking University. Spring 2023 was the fourth consecutive season of recording nocturnal bird sounds from the rooftop of AIIB’s headquarters in Beijing. In total, we recorded more than 83,000 calls from at least 111 species, all from just one building.
Spectograms of the some of the species recorded at night from the roof of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
A draft scientific paper, led by Peking University, has been submitted to a journal for consideration and, in late November, Liu Shuangqi presented the results to the British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) conference. This is the first study of its kind in East Asia and, as well as helping to raise public awareness of the ‘invisible miracle’ that happens over our heads as Beijing’s residents sleep at night (thanks to media articles in China and even in The Economist), it has demonstrated the diversity of birds passing over the capital and, importantly, the diversity of their habitat requirements. It was instructive that the top three species recorded by volume were Olive-backed Pipit Anthus hodgsoni 树鹨 Shù liù (woodland species), Eurasian Skylark Alauda arvensis 云雀 Yúnquè (grassland species) and Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax 夜鹭 Yè lù (wetland species). This illustrates that if Beijing is to fulfil its role in the flyway – to secure safe passage of migratory birds – it must provide a balance of natural habitats to help these extraordinary travellers to cross what is, to them, a hostile urban environment. Encouragingly, at the summer 2022 workshop in AIIB to present the initial results, the Beijing municipal government recognised the value of scrub and grassland habitats (until recently classified as ‘waste land’) and committed to integrate the findings of the nocturnal migration project into the way they manage green spaces in Beijing. Given that the Beijing Municipal Forest and Parks Bureau manages 71% of Beijing’s land, that is a big step. The last few decades have seen a heavy emphasis on tree-planting in the capital, often at the expense of scrub and grassland, driven by the use of ‘tree-cover’ as the overriding measure of the quality of the environment. In most cases, when trees are planted, it has usually involved single species monocultures, all the same age and in straight lines, with undergrowth and fallen leaves removed to keep the trees ‘tidy’, resulting in very little biodiversity. We very much hope that this is a turning point towards a more balanced and qualitative approach to habitat management. It’s going to take time to see significant change but, as the capital city of the country that presided over agreement by more than 190 countries on the new Global Biodiversity Framework under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, it would be fitting if Beijing led the way towards aligning the city with biodiversity goals by integrating the needs of migratory birds into urban planning.
We are planning to continue monitoring nocturnal bird migration from AIIB’s roof and have received tremendous support from Cornell Lab (Andrew Farnsworth and Benjamin van Doren) to help with automated detections and identifications, which will make processing the recordings more efficient (thus far, all processing has been done manually). Once we have the automated processing working effectively, we plan to explore the potential for schools to deploy recorders on their campuses as a way to expand the monitoring of migratory birds.. and potentially even set up competitions, for example to see which school records the most Olive-backed Pipits in a season. Huge thanks go to my partners at Peking University, especially Professor Hua Fangyuan and Liu Shuangqi, to AIIB staff for their invaluable support, especially Sir Danny Alexander, Alberto Ninio, Tian Hua, Yan Bo and Li Zeyu, and to the Beijing Municipal government, especially Wang Xiaoping, for the wonderful cooperation and positive response to the findings.
Second, the Ambassadors for Nature initiative has gone from strength to strength. Launched in July 2022 by Clare Fearnley, the former New Zealand Ambassador to China, with 14 founding members, as of 31 December there are 35 ambassadors signed up to support the “pledge for nature”, committing to manage their diplomatic green spaces in a more friendly way for nature. Events this year have been hosted by the Irish, Swiss, Belgian and Slovenian Ambassadors focusing on migratory birds, pollinators and guidance for embassy gardeners, with a field trip to Miyun Reservoir hosted by the Beijing Municipal government.
The Ambassadors for Nature group at the Qingshui River, Miyun District, May 2023.
In addition to encouraging actions – such as planting native pollinator-friendly species, keeping areas wild, reducing and eliminating the use of pesticides, monitoring wildlife and erecting insect hotels, bird and bat boxes to support biodiversity in diplomatic green spaces – the initiative has been a great way to get biodiversity onto the agenda of senior foreign policy officials and to promote international cooperation. For example, thanks to Bruno Angelet, the new Belgian Ambassador, there are plans for a new international cooperation project to study the Beijing Swift involving Chinese, European (Belgian, UK and Swedish) and African (Namibian) scientists, with political support from the Beijing Municipal government and the relevant embassies. And it was thanks to this network of ambassadors that I was honoured to go birding with US Ambassador Nicholas Burns and his wife, Libby, to Shahe Reservoir in Beijing. Following that, Ambassador Burns invited me to a reception at his residence in honour of visiting California governor, Gavin Newsom. I briefed Governor Newsom on the incredible story of one particular migratory bird that connects China and the US (Alaska) – the Bar-tailed Godwit – and discussed the potential for a three-way ‘(Inter)National Park’ involving New Zealand, Yellow Sea of China and Alaska to celebrate this incredible bird as a way of celebrating biodiversity and building bridges. I believe Gavin has high political ambitions, so maybe it planted a seed!
California Governor Gavin Newsom at a reception at the US Embassy in Beijing at the end of his visit to China in October 2023.
The Ambassadors for Nature initiative has also provided opportunities to engage on biodiversity with visiting ministers from a range of participating countries, including the New Zealand Foreign Minister and the Canadian Environment Minister.
With the visiting Canadian Environment Minister, Steven Guilbeault, at Shahe Reservoir
In addition, building on the success of the Ambassadors for Nature initiative in Beijing, I understand that the New Zealand ministry of foreign affairs is considering the idea of encouraging ALL of its embassies overseas commit to the ‘pledge for nature‘. And the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in the Republic of Korea is planning to begin a similar initiative with foreign embassies in Seoul.
At the same time, several schools have adopted the ‘pledge for nature‘ and are applying it to their campuses. It has been wonderful to work with students and teachers, including at the Western Academy of Beijing (WAB), where different groups of students have led on implementing each aspect of the pledge. Helping nature is infectious!
This group of students at the Western Academy of Beijing has taken responsibility for identifying a suitable area to leave wild and to monitor changes in the wildlife, especially insects, for comparison with the remainder of the campus.
Third, I’ve been part of a small group pushing for the control of the sale of mist nets. Despite strengthened wildlife protection laws, improved law enforcement and greater public awareness, mist nets remain one of the biggest killers of migratory birds in China (and SE Asia). Even in Beijing, poachers still operate. In the capital, these criminals target mainly Siberian Rubythroat and Bluethroat for the cagebird trade but data from prosecutors show that mist nets have been used in many large-scale trapping efforts, both for the cagebird trade and for exotic food, all across China. Twice this year I have personally encountered poachers using nets to trap migratory birds in Shunyi District. The map below, produced by Gu Xuan, shows the locations where poachers have been apprehended in Beijing in 2023 alone.
A map showing the locations where poachers have been caught in Beijing in 2023 (Gu Xuan).
The good news is that there is determination to tackle this illegal activity and there is a lot going on behind the scenes that I hope to be able to talk about in a future post. Needless to say, action is starting and, today, if you search for mist nets on e-commerce platforms, a warning appears that it is illegal to capture wild birds, and this is just the start.
At the same time, it is likely that the UN Convention on Migratory Species will promote tackling the illegal killing of birds, including with nets, at its next meeting in February 2024, so I am optimistic that further progress will be made this year both in China and internationally.
Fourth, over the last few years it has been the privilege of my life to work with ShanShui Conservation Center to help set up the “Valley of the Cats” project in Qinghai Province on the Tibetan Plateau. This is the community-based conservation and wildlife-tourism project, working with a village of Tibetan yak herder families. The herder families host visitors in their homes and guide them to look for the special wildlife they have in the area, including snow leopard, wolf, lynx etc. Many visitors remark on what a privilege it is to experience authentic Tibetan hospitality, as well as having the opportunity to see the elusive snow leopard. At the end of 2023, the project is close to passing the milestone of 4 million RMB (GBP 440,000) of revenue, 100% of which has stayed in the community. The project was showcased at the 2nd National Parks forum in Xining in August 2023 as an example of sustainable tourism and a way to bring income into local communities to reward them for their stewardship of important and fragile landscapes, and has won a host of national awards. In late August 2023, following the National Parks Forum, with ShanShui Conservation Center I visited two other (spectacular) villages that are interested in setting up similar initiatives.
A glacier at 5,000m asl near Diqing, Qinghai Province
One of the spectacular valleys in Diqing at 4,900m asl.
There is no doubt that the Valley of the Cats model, focusing on low volume and community-led tourism, can help to bring income to relatively poor communities while protecting fragile ecosystems. However, it is not a model that will work everywhere. In my view, three conditions are required for success: first, the presence of sought after wildlife (to create demand); second, a robust and established community structure that is able to handle decision-making and deal authoritatively with any issues that arise; and third, a supportive local government (essential in China). It will take time to establish similar projects in other villages but the high interest from other communities reflects the potential of this approach to engage and support communities inside China’s national parks. ShanShui Conservation Center, powered by a terrific group of enthusiastic and dedicated young people, is doing brilliant work and I cannot praise them enough for the contribution this NGO is making to conservation in China.
It was during the September visit to Qinghai that we were fortunate to enjoy a stunning encounter with a female snow leopard next to the track.. Alerted by the alarm calls of several marmots as we were driving, we stopped to check whether there was a predator in the vicinity. Looking at the directions faced by the calling marmots, and triangulating their lines of sight, we were able to spot the big cat as she stalked one of the rodents. When just a few metres away, she made a dash but the marmot disappeared down its burrow in a cloud of dust in the nick of time. The video below (low resolution for ease of uploading) was taken just after the failed hunt using my iPhone attached to my Swarovski ATX95 scope.
Watching a snow leopard from the track in the Valley of the Cats, August 2023
Special thanks to Shi Xiangying, Zhao Xiang, Yuqiu (Iris), Jun Yi (Audrey) and Qiuni for their hard work and for a wonderful trip in August.
Fifth, after my brush with TV in 2019 when I enjoyed the incredible experience of filming with Ray Mears as part of his Wild China series, I seem to have somehow become a (somewhat reluctant!) TV presenter in China. In April I spent a week at Tiaozini, Dongtan, Jiangsu Province, with CCTV4 making a documentary to highlight the importance of coastal wetlands and migratory birds. Tiaozini is at the heart of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway and is a vital stopover for millions of migratory shorebirds – natural heritage that is shared by 22 countries from New Zealand in the south to Arctic Russia and Alaska in the north. The programme aired in June on prime time TV. And September saw the launch of National Geographic/CICC’s “Road to Carbon Neutrality”, a two-part documentary series. The two episodes, hosted by China-based photojournalist Sean Gallagher and me respectively, focus on nationwide efforts to reduce China’s carbon emissions in order to meet the twin goals of peaking emissions by 2030 and achieving net zero by 2060. Filmed in 2022, navigating all manner of pandemic-related restrictions, the documentary has been shown in more than 50 countries worldwide. And in November I appeared in an episode of UK explorer, Ash Dykes’ series “The Great Wall with Ash Dykes”, speaking with Ash about the wildlife of the Great Wall around Beijing. Later that month I was invited to the studio of CCTV’s international channel, CGTN, to film a talk on the importance of biodiversity and what people can do to help. That aired in early December. It is encouraging to see the growing media interest in biodiversity in China and, although I am not a natural in front of the camera, I am happy to do anything that will help to advance the interests of nature.
Filming in Tiaozini about the importance of coastal wetlands and migratory birds, April 2023
Finally, at the end of the year, I was able to spend Christmas with my family in Norfolk for the first time since 2019. It was a wonderful chance to spend time with my elderly parents and to catch up on some of the incredible wildlife experiences in north Norfolk, especially the spectacular flights of Pink-footed Geese at Holkham.
This year, I was keen to record the awesome sound of the geese and the 22-min soundscape below starts with the wakening of the local Eurasian Wrens and Blackbirds before the Pink-footed Geese begin to lift, passing over in groups, their calls slowly growing in intensity. At 07m50s the local Jackdaws leave their roost and, towards the end, the calls and song of Goldfinches tinkle as the last of the geese leave the roost. Best enjoyed with headphones! Thanks to Holkham Nature Reserve manager, Jake Fiennes, for tips on where best to record the geese.
As if that experience wasn’t incredible enough, for a few days before Christmas, rare nacreous (“mother of pearl”) clouds were visible, providing a stunning backdrop as the geese returned to their roost at dusk…
Pink-footed Geese returning to Holkham National Nature Reserve just after sunset against a backdrop of nacreous ‘mother of pearl’ clouds.
A lone Eurasian Curlew going to roost at dusk as nacreous clouds light up the evening sky.
It was a fitting end to 2023, a reminder of the breathtaking beauty of nature and why I do what I do.
As we begin 2024, I would like to acknowledge the brilliant, and growing, group of conservationists in China who are doing wonderful work to celebrate and protect the special wildlife we have all around us, and the places it needs. It is an ongoing privilege to support what you do!
Finally finally, some of you may have noticed that Birding Beijing has evolved into Wild Beijing. This reflects the broadening interest and coverage of the website. As well as the branding, the web address has also changed from birdingbeijing.com to wildbeijing.org. There will be an automatic redirect for a few months but, in due course, only wildbeijing.org will be accessible, so please update any bookmarks. Subscriptions for alerts about new posts have been automatically transferred to the new site.
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and nature-filled 2024!
Watercolour of an (Amur) Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis, 豹猫, Bàomāo), January 2024. This small cat (around 50% bigger than the average house cat) is native to Beijing and can be found in the mountains and in some wetlands where there is lots of cover. As an ambush hunter it needs scrub and grassland, both habitats that have decreased significantly in lowland Beijing due to development and tree-planting. Primarily nocturnal, sightings during daylight hours are rare. This small painting is in celebration of an incredible sighting in Tongzhou District in December 2023. More details here.
Title image: a Beijing Swift (Apus apus pekinensis 北京雨燕 Běijīng yǔyàn) flying through a rainbow, Wenyu River, June 2023.
Earlier this week I was invited to join Peking University’s Leopard Cat research team on a field trip to their study site. Led by Professor Luo Shu-Jin, the team has been studying the capital’s wild cats for three years, and has recently stepped up its research by fitting tracking collars. The collars, so far fitted to three females, are showing for the first time the movements of these secretive felines. Early results have revealed that the three females are primarily nocturnal, have rather distinct territories and swim often. The closest relative to the Leopard Cat is the Fishing Cat of South Asia, so perhaps we should not be surprised they are not averse to taking a dip.
This week’s trip to the field site was to check and maintain infrared cameras and to set up a trap with the hope of catching and collaring a male. In large cats such as the Snow Leopard, it is the male that has a relatively large territory within which several females may hold smaller territories. It will be fascinating to see whether this is the case for Beijing’s Leopard Cats.
Checking the trap before installation at the study site.
The trap includes a trigger that, via the phone network, will inform the team as soon as the trap is sprung. The team is on call 24 hours per day so that they can react quickly and minimise the time that any captured animal is in captivity.
Professor Luo and her team setting up the trap at the study site. The aim is to catch and collar a male, following the fitting of collars to three females, in order to compare movements and territories.The trap after it has been ‘camouflaged’.
It was an honour for me to join the team for the day and to learn so much about their work. Beijing is one of the few major capital cities that supports a population of wild cats, so understanding better their ecology, including their habitat requirements, will help to inform land management policies in Beijing with a view to securing the future of this special animal in the Chinese capital.
To keep up to date with the research team’s progress, please check this dedicated page.
Title image: the Peking University Leopard Cat Research Team.
Not many capital cities can boast populations of wild cats and some may be surprised to learn that Beijing is one. I am delighted to publish a new page dedicated to Leopard Cats in Beijing. This page provides information and updates from an exciting new project about this poorly known species, led by Peking University’s Professor Luo Shu-Jin in collaboration with the China Felid Conservation Alliance (CFCA). The project has already made some exciting discoveries, revealing just how little we know about biodiversity, even in one of the world’s major capital cities. The page can be found here and includes some fantastic images of Leopard Cat from Beijing. Check back regularly for updates!
Huge credit to Luo Shu-Jin and her team for her work on what must be one of the jewels in the crown of Beijing’s biodiversity.
On Friday 22 November, I spent the day at Miyun Reservoir with visiting Marie Louise Ng from Hong Kong. It was a stunningly beautiful day – cold early on but spectacularly clear and with almost no wind. It was one of those days that, as a resident of Beijing where the air can often be toxic, I absolutely adore.
Miyun Reservoir on a clear autumn day. It’s hard to believe this is Beijing!
We visited two sites on the northern shore of the reservoir and, at the first, we were treated to spectacular flyovers of several hundred COMMON CRANES, with a handful of HOODED CRANES amongst them.. and skeins of BEAN GEESE flying from their roosting sites to the feeding grounds in the maize fields. At least 4 JAPANESE REED BUNTINGS kept us company at our observation point.
After a couple of hours we decided to take a walk to some weedy fields in which I had peviously seen PALLAS’S SANDGROUSE.
As we headed over the brow of a small hill, there was movement in the grass and, quickly training my binoculars, I could see a cat walking slowly from right to left, less than 100 metres away. My heart leapt. It looked big and, immediately, with that thick bushy tail and spotted markings on its fur, I thought it must be a LEOPARD CAT. Gripped by the presence of a very special mammal, we watched it as it made its way onto a dirt track. With the sun behind us, it was now in full view and we were enjoying spectacular views (I am sure the low sun also played a role in delaying this beautiful animal’s detection of us). We reached for our cameras and reeled off some photos as it suddenly broke into a trot and then melted into the vegetation to the north of the track. We watched, captivated, as it made its way towards a small lake, eventually vanishing into the long grass with the local magpies agitated and noisy.
I turned to Marie with what must have been the biggest grin I have ever sported and said immediately “that’s my best wildlife experience of the year!”
LEOPARD CAT (Prionailurus bengalensis) of the ssp euptilurus/euptilura (aka AMUR LEOPARD CAT). Note the dark stripes on the back of the head and the pale patches on the back of the ears, as well as the thick, striped, tail.LEOPARD CAT, Miyun Reservoir, 22 November 2013. Sightings, especially during the daytime, are very rare in the capital.At less than 100m range, and with the morning sun behind us, views were spectacular!
Although Leopard Cat is probably not rare in the mountains around Beijing, sightings certainly are. I am aware of just one other recent Beijing sighting – one seen at Yeyahu by Brian Jones on 11 October 2010. The information below about the status of LEOPARD CAT in China is from Zhu Lei, for which many thanks.
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Gao (1987, in ‘Fauna Sinica. Mammalia. Vol. 8. Carnivora’) reports that there are 4 subspecies of Leopard Cat in China, euptilura (NE China, north of Yellow River), bengalensis (SW China), chinensis (N and S China) and hainana (endemic to Hainan Island). The ssp. euptilura has the largest body and lightest coat, also the very faint spot marking. The ssp. chinensis is darker, more distinctively spotted, and has 2 black dorsal stripes.
Chen et al. (2002, in ‘Mammals of Beijing’) points out that the ssp. of Leopard Cat in Beijing is euptilura, according to measurements and colour markings of specimens from Yanqing and Mentougou.
Xie and Smith (2008) recognise 5 ssp. in China, alleni (includes hainana, endemic to Hainan), bengalensis (SW Guangxi, SW Guizhou, Sichuan, S Xizang, Yunnan), chinensis (S Anhui, SW and E China, Taiwan), euptilura (north of Huaihe River, Beijing, NE China), scripta (N Yunnan, W Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi and SE Xizang, Chinese endemic ssp.).
Based on above reference and the pics you’ve sent, I think your cat definitely is ssp. euptilurus (light coat and very faint spotted).
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The ssp euptilurus or “Amur Leopard Cat” looks very different to the southern China and SE Asian subspecies (see images here for comparison) and, I understand, it’s a potential split into a separate species in its own right. The taxonomy of Leopard Cat in China is poorly understood, so classification may be subject to change.
However man decides to classify this cat, it is a beautiful animal and we were privileged to spend a special minute or two in its company.. proving once again that Beijing is a superb place for birds and wildlife.
The third in the series of guest posts on Birding Beijing is from Brian Jones. Brian was kind enough to take me on my first visit to Wild Duck Lake (covering the areas of Ma Chang and Yeyahu Nature Reserve) soon after I arrived in Beijing and his enthusiasm for the place, as well as the great birds, made it a fantastic introduction to birding in China. That enthusiasm was infectious and I have since made regular visits to what is surely the premier birding site in the Beijing area. Brian visited WDL almost every week over a period of three years and thus has an unrivalled understanding of the birding in all seasons at this site and he has racked up an impressive list of records, including an amazing sighting of a Leopard Cat (with photo!). And so, with that short introduction, it’s over to Brian to tell you more about this wonderful place….
The Magic of Yeyahu Nature Reserve and Its Environs of Ma Chang
The viewing tower at "Eagle Field", Yeyahu Nature Reserve
This is my spiritual birdwatching home and somewhere I would recommend to any birder visiting Beijing. It is good at all times of the year but perhaps marginally less so during June and July.
Yeyahu NR and neighbouring Ma Chang are, to my mind, the premier birdwatching sites in the Beijing area. Surprisingly the area is grossly under-birded and in the three years that I lived in Beijing having visited the site more than 160 times, apart from regulars like Jesper Hornskov, the highly respected China guide and his parties, I have probably seen no more than 30-40 birders.
The reserve lies approximately 80kms to the NW of Beijing and is reached by the Badaling expressway. The trip, depending on delays caused by trucks breaking down, normally takes about one and a half hours. But this can become over two and a half hours with delays so I got into the habit of busing out on Friday evening and staying overnight in Yanqing. My ever-reliable taxi driver Li Yan would look after me like a surrogate mother and pick me up at all hours.
My regular birdwatching companion Spike Millington and I would normally start at Ma Chang which is an open sandy desert-like area surrounded by crop fields mostly Maize and Peanuts.This is a haven for Cranes (Common, White-naped, Hooded, occasionally Demoiselle and Siberian) as well as the elusive Oriental Plover in the Spring (end of March-beginning of May and very occasionally in the Autumn), Great Bustard and raptors.
Demoiselle Crane, Wild Duck Lake
This is a wonderful location for raptors and it is not unusual to reach double figures of species during a day’s birdwatching. Larks are also plentiful including the much sought-after Mongolian Lark which, in the very cold winter of 2009/10, could be found in flocks of 200 birds. That particular winter also produced an irruption of Pallas’s Sandgrouse – one day I counted over 300 birds – and the extraordinary record of a dark variant Gyr Falcon. It is worthwhile exploring the area surrounding the wind turbines to the west of Ma Chang for Great Bustard, which are normally seen during the Autumn and late winter.
You can walk from Ma Chang to Yeyahu NR either through or round the fence that divides the two areas and it is certainly more worthwhile to do so as you will see far more birds than taxi cabbing from one to the other. Daurian Partridge are present in small numbers as well as Japanese Quail. During Winter and Spring time, the walk produces many Buntings, including the occasional irruption of Pine Buntings (one flock of 300 seen in 2010). I have also recorded the rare Streaked Reed Warbler along the edge of the reservoir.
Yeyahu NR produces a remarkable number of species considering the lack of any forested areas. If you want to find large raptors then head for the area we call Eagle field which lies between the lake and the reservoir to the north. Late morning in the Spring and Autumn will normally produce something special. Short-toed Eagle, which is a scarce bird in north China, is easily found here as well as Greater Spotted Eagles. During the winter White-tailed Eagles are commonly seen but, surprisingly, Golden Eagles are rare at Yeyahu. We have also found Booted and Terry Townshend this year saw an Imperial Eagle. I recorded Himalayan Griffon (2010) at this location. I believe it is the only Beijing record and I am quite sure a Steppe Eagle and Lammergeier will one day put in an appearance. Accipiters and Falcons are plentiful depending on the time of year with Saker Falcons being more common than Peregrines and an occasional Siberian Goshawk amongst the Northern Goshawks, being found. During migration it is not unusual to see migrating flocks of 50+ Amur falcons sometimes with small parties of Lesser Kestrel (best location at the bottom of Ma Chang). I found a flock of over 30 Lesser Kestrels one morning.
All the Harriers can be found with good numbers of Eastern Marsh (which breed both at Ma Chang and on the lake), Hen, Pied and on four occasions I have seen Pallid Harriers. Relict Gulls in the Spring and occasionally a Pallas’s Gull will show. Bitterns are common, I estimate there maybe as many as 30 breeding pairs of Great Bitterns in the area as well as good numbers of Von Schrenck’s, a rare bird in most areas of China, and the ubiquitous Yellow Bittern. If you walk along the boardwalk at Yeyahu early in the morning in May you will probably find Crakes or Water Rail. The reedbeds also hold breeding Chinese Penduline Tits, one of the very few places where they breed in the Beijing area, perhaps the only location and last year we recorded the first breeding pair of Chinese Grey Shrikes at Yeyahu for the area. Chinese Grey Shrikes, which are uncommon elsewhere, are common at Yeyahu during the winter.
One of my birdwatching friends Richard Carden from Singapore who has visited the site with me on several occasions has a habit of setting me lists of target birds to find. There have only been two glaring misses to the “list”, Great Bustard and Eagle Owl neither of which is normally that hard to locate at the appropriate time of the year. However Yeyahu made up for these deficiencies by producing an extralimital male Desert Wheatear and a Baird’s Sandpiper (yet to be ratified but the id of which we are both quite certain is correct) as well as a female Pallid Harrier. Peter Ericsson, the well-known guide from Bangkok was also present on one of the red-letter days. I would happily take an oath, that there is no such thing as a bad day during a visit to Yeyahu/Ma Chang. You can always count on the “Yeyahu surprise”.
Yeyahu also supports a considerable bio-diversity especially for lepidoptera, diurnal moths, amphibians and flora. Unfortunately to study lepidoptera you need to look down while birdwatching you are looking up so a choice must be made. I was also very lucky one morning to find myself walking down a track undetected behind a Leopard Cat which are rare now and usually strictly nocturnal.
Leopard Cat, Wild Duck Lake
There are of course aspects which are less favourable not least the “cavalry and dune buggies” who are out all year except during winter in the Ma Chang area.These are riders who charge hither and thither, yelling like cowboys, but falling off with great regularity. It is quite common to see riderless horses heading back to the corral followed some minutes later by a limping vacquero. Dune buggies have a nice habit of getting bogged down as do the cars full of photgraphers who spend much of their time chasing Lapwings. This is why it is worthwhile arriving at Ma Chang by 0700hrs before the Oriental Plovers etc. have been disturbed by the “Charge of the Light Brigade”. There used to be a problem with boatloads of shooting parties, mist netters, snare trappers and long-doggers, all illegal activities in China. But many of these activities have been curtailed because we took a very pro-active stance and “destroyed” all that crossed our path. You can never entirely limit poaching in China because there is a lack of understanding and caring amongst the local population but you can keep it under control by making a big fuss whenever you catch somebody setting up nets etc.
Finally I would recommend to any birder that they walk and not drive round the area. It will prove to be so much more rewarding. If you consider that the area has practically no trees and is mostly flat grassland, the 260 odd species that we have recorded in the reserve is, by China’s birdwatching standards, quite remarkable. I have rarely exceeded 60 species in a day at Yeyahu, but the list will always be full of unusual and exciting birds.
Brian Jones is a 66 years-old Art & Financial consultant who worked at Sothebys for ten years. He has spent three years in China, mostly in Beijing but now based in Shenzhen, working as an independent consultant with a Chinese metals information board and industrial re-cycling group as well as a Chinese investment company. Brian has a great interest in all aspects of the environment, is a keen ornithologist and entomologist and an avid Scuba diver. He is also an ex-falconer, hence his excitement anytime something with a hooked beak flies past!.
