On the first day of the holiday, we set off in the dark for the horse ranch, looking for the Oriental Plover I had been longing a whole year to see. When we arrived, the water had risen so much that it had flooded the entire area where the plovers used to be, and we had to search the only two patches of ground left.
Suddenly, four little lumps of earth on the mudflat at the water's edge began to move. I looked carefully: four Little Ringed Plovers feeding.
We kept searching, and Common Snipes, Eastern Marsh Harriers, Eastern Yellow Wagtails, and Red-throated Pipits flew past one after another.
Scanning with the spotting scope, I found a great gathering of ducks far in the distance: Eurasian Wigeons, Red-crested Pochards, Common Pochards, Tufted Ducks, Ferruginous Ducks, and Baer's Pochards. But of my Oriental Plover, there was no sign.
It seemed my wish was not going to come true. Just as I was about to get back in the car, seven Eurasian Spoonbills swept across the sky in a V formation, my first of the year.
As the car pulled away and I looked out at this land of disappointment, three big birds suddenly flew in. "Great Bustards! Great Bustards! Stop, stop!" The three of them circled for a while and landed in a distant field. It was the first time I had ever found Great Bustards on my own. All the birders kept a respectful distance from them, entirely unprompted.
On the way home, we decided to stop at Shahe to look for the Reed Bunting. We found it without much trouble: now feeding among the reeds, now swinging on a willow. What a friendly Reed Bunting; it slowly lifted my disappointed mood.
It was nearly five in the afternoon and we were almost home when a message popped up on my phone: an Eyebrowed Thrush had been found at the Temple of Heaven! The news startled even my mom, who was resting. We wanted to rush straight there, but by the time we arrived the sun would already have set, so we had to give it up. "First thing tomorrow morning, then," Dad promised.
It was, after all, a species with only a handful of records in Beijing each year. I was so excited I dreamed about it all night.
We reached the Temple of Heaven before seven. We made a round of the Magic Wood, where the thrush had been seen the day before, but couldn't find it. So I hurried off to the nursery and was the first one in when it opened; in that small nursery we came across Red-throated Thrushes, Dusky Thrushes, Naumann's Thrushes, Eurasian Siskins, and Red-flanked Bluetails.
Dad, who had been standing guard in the nursery all along, got quite a few good photos today, and at his strong request I reluctantly agreed to use these four of his.
The Chinese Blackbirds had been imitating all kinds of sounds since early morning, their melodious mimicry in full song; they had already started building nests.
Plenty of the great birders of the city had come to the Temple of Heaven for the Eyebrowed Thrush, but whether searching everywhere or waiting in the Magic Wood, none of them had found it. I worked several of the birding spots four or five times without meeting it either. I came back to the Magic Wood to wait, and after a long while it still hadn't shown. It was already noon, and we were hungry and ready to leave. Before going, I told Mr. Bai (yes, the same Mr. Bai who joined that wonderfully dramatic search for the Scaly-sided Merganser in Pinggu, a story for another post): "Mr. Bai, if it shows up right after I leave, you have to call me!"
We had just walked out of the north gate of the Temple of Heaven when a WeChat message arrived from Mr. Bai: "It's in the Magic Wood!" Was that ever magical! I flew back down the path, and the Eyebrowed Thrush hopped right out of a pine beside me. I was beside myself with excitement! It dropped into a small puddle to drink together with two Naumann's Thrushes.
Then suddenly, out came an Oriental Magpie to make trouble, and one screech sent this rare guest flying!
The news spread fast, and every birder in the Temple of Heaven came running! All sorts of birds also came to drink and bathe: Black-throated Thrushes, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Grey-capped Greenfinches, Bramblings, Chinese Grosbeaks, and more.
Another three hours went by, and the Eyebrowed Thrush never reappeared. With no lunch and a sore behind from all the sitting, I simply couldn't hold out any longer.
A dream fulfilled. At the Temple of Heaven, I had finally fulfilled my dream of the Eyebrowed Thrush.
Even the Azure-winged Magpies looked especially beautiful today!
Comments