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Monday, February 17, 2025

Birding Balangshan (tunnel space) in June 2023 – 10,000 Birds


Sure, I do know. It’s form of unappealing to see weblog posts with extremely particular and somewhat boring-sounding titles reminiscent of this one. However then, birdwatching is boring more often than not, too – all of the durations when there are not any birds …

As by now ordinary for me, the journey was performed with Alpinebirding, which helped cut back the time spent not seeing any birds. And sure, they’re nonetheless providing me free beers on future journeys if I point out them positively in one in every of these posts. A transparent battle of curiosity, in case you ask me.

Birding the tunnel space (and a few locations at roughly the identical degree) was a little bit of a disappointment this time as I didn’t get good pictures of the somewhat secretive Firethroat

… and the male Chinese language Monal.

Nonetheless, I take it as a praise to my very own masculine attraction that the feminine Chinese language Monals have been rather more accommodating. I nearly satisfied myself that females are extra enticing than males anyway …

The Chinese language Monal is assessed as Weak, and local weather change is predicted to cut back its vary additional because it shifts to increased elevations (supply).

There are scientists who have a look at what Chinese language Monals eat, although the strategies employed sound considerably disagreeable, as indicated by a paper titled “Differences due to the season within the plant eating regimen of the Chinese language Monal revealed by fecal DNA metabarcoding evaluation”.

Persevering with with the theme of disappointments, I took about 200 or 300 pictures of Himalayan Griffons in flight, of which precisely one turned out to be serviceable (sadly, my suggestion to Alpinebirding to place a human or animal corpse someplace to draw vultures was not taken up).

Naturally, like a soccer participant accusingly taking a look at his footwear after lacking a straightforward shot, I principally blame all of the unhealthy pictures on my digicam.

Nonetheless, compensation arrived within the form of Golden Bush Robins – each male …

 

… and feminine.

On a optimistic be aware, in one examine, when small swaths of dense bamboo have been minimize and cleared for an unrelated examine, these have been utilized by small insectivorous species together with the Golden Bush Robin for foraging. People should not at all times unhealthy for birds, solely about 95% of the time.

The tunnel space can be a great place for attending to know completely different rosefinches: Darkish-breasted Rosefinch

 

 

Widespread Rosefinch

 

… and Chinese language White-browed Rosefinch.

 

The Housemartins have been a Hull, Uk primarily based band lively round 1983-1988, with some nice pop singles reminiscent of “Rise up off your knees” (with lyrics reminiscent of “Some personal pennies in a jar, some personal oil tankers” and “Don’t shoot somebody tomorrow you could shoot at present” – the form of lyrics I favored as an impressionable younger man) and “5 recover from excited“.

To honor the band, just a few chicken species have been named after it, together with the Asian Housemartin.

They breed within the tunnel space, giving these birdwatchers anxiously ready for the Chinese language Monal to indicate up one thing to do within the meantime – like watching the shift change.

Apparently, Chestnut Thrushes with bigger head volumes usually tend to study a novel talent than people with a smaller head quantity. Sounds a bit like some bizarre Nazi eugenics experiment to me, however I suppose it’s simply science.

The Lengthy-tailed Minivet is one in every of various similar-looking minivets by which the males are scarlet and crimson whereas the marginally much less attention-grabbing females go for yellow and black.

 

The HBW grumbles that the Lengthy-tailed Minivet can solely be “distinguished with problem from different red-and-black minivets” – a little bit of a reduction, I believed this was simply me.

Anyway, one in every of my favourite pictures of the journey.

There are two redstarts with “white” of their identify within the tunnel space. One is the White-throated Redstart.

As typical for chicken names, the species is known as after a comparatively inconspicuous a part of its general look.

To me, at first look, the Latin species identify schisticeps – from “lapis schistos”,  fissile stone, and “caput”, head – doesn’t make rather more sense, as fissile signifies {that a} stone is straightforward to separate somewhat than having a particular shade. A chicken with an easy-to-split head?  

The opposite – extra generally seen alongside rivers within the mountains – is the White-capped Redstart.

It usually shares rivers with the Plumbeous Water Redstart (not proven) however spends extra time on the river margins whereas the Plumbeous Water Redstart focuses on the central areas (supply). Biologists – or as Ze Frank would say, the Science Hippies – name this ecological segregation (e.g., right here). People usually use the same idea, for instance, by excluding US Supreme Court docket Judges from following pesky guidelines relating to the declaration of presents.

Not on the middle of the river (by no means thoughts that that is only a puddle on the highway).

There appears to be some consensus concerning the usually boring look of the Aberrant Bush Warbler, with the HBW calling it “a nondescript, olive-brown, insectivorous chicken” and eBird going for “small shy warbler. Boring brown …”

On condition that another bush warblers such because the Manchurian Bush Warbler have the same look, I’m not certain what the “aberrant” (“departing from an accepted customary”) refers to. Does anybody know? Much more boring look even by the low accepted requirements of bush warblers?

Birds that I didn’t come to Balangshan for – as they spend the winter in Shanghai – included the Purple-flanked Bluetail

… and the Olive-backed Pipit. Nonetheless, good to study the place they spend their summers. I agree that it may be too sizzling in Shanghai then. Additionally, there are not any orchids there, and among the extra bizarre flowers within the tunnel space are good to take a look at, too …

 



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