The exams were finally over. Last weekend and again midweek I'd been testing, reviewing at home the whole time, unable to go out, and this weekend I could finally relax! Just as I was agonizing over where to go, it struck me that this is exactly the time of year when Oriental Plovers pass through on their northbound migration. Every year around now I go searching for them around Guanting Reservoir. Last year at Sangyuan, we left at one or two in the afternoon, and a big flock was found only after we'd gone: a perfect miss. This time, with nothing pressing, I planned to stay until sunset and search every spot at Guanting.
At eight in the morning I came to Sangyuan first. The water had risen all the way to the wetland entrance, though luckily a large stretch of farmland was still above water. Scanning with the scope, the numbers of geese and ducks were enormous: one great sheet of water held two species of swan, three species of goose, and sixteen species of duck. From afar, apart from the swans like drifting white cotton, everything else was a dense constellation of little black dots.
After the waterfowl, I moved to the nearby fields to look for birds out in the open. On the drive over, an Upland Buzzard swept past the car.
There were many Eurasian Skylarks in the fields, and looking closely, plenty of Asian Short-toed Larks too, flitting about and singing in flight. Every year at this season, searching for the Oriental Plover at Sangyuan, I can count on seeing Asian Short-toed Larks here.
On the fence beside the field, a Chinese Grey Shrike was singing, and it even attracted a second one; the two of them perched together for a while. I hadn't expected these fierce birds not to fight each other. Perhaps they had no territorial dispute, or perhaps they were a pair (telling male from female Chinese Grey Shrike by sight is nearly impossible).
Calls came from the sky: a big flock of Common Cranes was circling overhead. I went through them with the naked eye first, hoping a smaller White-naped Crane or even a Sandhill Crane might hide among them, but no such luck; this was a flock of pure Common Cranes.
A few Northern Lapwings strolled by the car, and far out on a tree standing in the water sat a White-tailed Eagle; another birder said it had been there motionless since half past seven in the morning.
Almost noon, and the temperature had climbed, so we left Sangyuan for lunch, planning to look at Shacheng in the afternoon and return to Sangyuan for sunset. Fed and watered in town, we headed for the Shacheng wetlands. Last year, while searching for the Oriental Plover, we had tried to get in and failed; this year we'd see if we could explore it.
Good luck: the earth mound that blocked the way last year had been leveled, and we could enter. A few Grey-headed Lapwings fed by the road, Bearded Reedlings called their diu-diu from the reeds, and a Black Stork flew over. What lovely habitat in there.
While we were watching the Bearded Reedlings, a few small flocks of ducks flew past in the distance. I hadn't paid them much attention, but my classmate Gu took some photos, and it turned out Baer's Pochards were hiding in the flock of Ferruginous Ducks, an excellent record.
Suddenly a flock of crows flew right past the car, and the bigger birds among them were Rooks. I hadn't expected Rooks here, and a small flock at that: to be precise, one Daurian Jackdaw and one Carrion Crow were mixed into the Rooks, with the Rooks in the majority.
Sunset was approaching, and we decided to get back to Sangyuan before it. Just as we were about to drive back, a gull flew over the river channel; one photo and it turned out to be a Common Gull. The last time I'd seen one was two years ago, here at Guanting; I hadn't expected to meet one again today. A Common Gull looks a lot like a Siberian Gull at a distance, but look carefully and the difference shows: the Common Gull's bill is short and slender, not as heavy as the Siberian Gull's, and it's quite easy to separate.
Dad joked, "At the seaside we don't see any 'sea gulls', but by the river we see one, so shouldn't it be called a river gull?" This gull isn't the generic "seagull" of everyday speech; it's a species actually named Common Gull, and the "seagulls" people usually mean at the seaside are mostly Black-headed Gulls.
Full of rewards, we left the Shacheng wetlands happily and hurried toward Sangyuan.
We reached Sangyuan before sunset, only to find that cars were now barred from entering. Since we still had time, we decided to try the horse ranch, which was on the way home anyway.
We made it to the horse ranch just before the sun went down and swept the last small unflooded stretch of farmland, still without an Oriental Plover. A birder we met said someone had already seen one here on the nineteenth. Last year the plovers arrived on the twenty-first; this year, two days earlier.
And so, with the wind turbines and the setting sun, our day trip around Guanting Reservoir came to an end. Maybe next week another wave of Oriental Plovers will arrive, and meet me.
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