First visit to the horse ranch: searching for the Oriental Plover

Late March, and the Oriental Plovers have begun to migrate; the annual tradition is upon us once more: going to the horse ranch to search for the Oriental Plover. It has been three years and five days since the last time, the only time, I ever saw one. (Reliving that experience once more: I was only a new middle schooler three years ago... A Leopard Cat brushed right past me!) The main flock hasn't reached Beijing yet, but scattered individuals have already arrived ahead of it; one appeared at Xiaocao village in Miyun a couple of days ago.

The horse ranch at dawn is still cold enough to require a down jacket. The water level is much like last year's, with a decent stretch of mudflat and farmland left. Over the fields, flocks of Buff-bellied Pipits and wagtails kept passing overhead, the songs of Asian Short-toed Larks and Eurasian Skylarks drifted down from the sky, and a single Common Starling sliced past. Two immature Common Cranes, for some reason, still haven't left. Did they fail to keep up with the main flock and stay behind?

Scanning the distance with the scope: plenty of ducks on the water, though not many species. And then, at last, the first shorebird calls of the day came up from the mudflat. A small group of Kentish Plovers and a few Little Ringed Plovers were feeding there, with a group of Black-winged Stilts standing farther off near the water and a scattered three Northern Lapwings.

Following the water's edge to the small hill between the horse ranch and Kangxi Grassland, we decided to give Kangxi Grassland a look. Unexpectedly, the duck variety there was considerably richer: Garganeys, Northern Shovelers, Red-crested Pochards, Ferruginous Ducks, Smews, and more. Besides the ducks, the shorebird list grew by one species too: in one small pool, three Spotted Redshanks were idling about.

Retracing our steps over the little hill back to the horse ranch, today's exploration of Kangxi Grassland came to an end. The hope now rests on next week: most likely a full day circling Guanting, and hopefully some good finds.

To finish: it's been a long time since I last posted a bird list here. Today's horse ranch was quiet, the birds all rather distant, with few chances for photos, but the variety was respectable all the same. So let's close with today's 51 species.