Birds at Wuliansuhai
Birds Recorded at Wuliansuhai (west of Baotou), Inner Mongolia, 24 and 25 September; and at Hasuhai (between Baotou and Hohhot) on 26 September 2004
Martin and Maya Williams
During afternoon of 24 September, we covered sections of the lake shoreline of the lake – also written Ulansuhai Nur.
On 25 September, with the help of Mr Chang Long (a local who knows many of the birds). we took a boat ride on the lake, and again covered stretches of shoreline, including in a reserve.
On 26 September, during the return to Hohhot, we called in at Hasuhai, a smaller lake, with fishponds and fields along the edge.
Birds recorded at Wuliansuhai (Ulansuhai Nur) and Hasuhai
Unless otherwise noted, all at Wuliansuhai.
Totals are estimates, rather than counts.
1. Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis 5 on 24th, 70 on 25th.
2. Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus 2 on 24th, 150 on 25th.
3. Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 30 on 25th.
4. Great Egret Egretta alba 25 on 24th, 15 on 25th. Curiously, saw birds “sky pointing” – strutting with bills pointed to sky: two birds, together, on 24th (as if a pair); also one bird, briefly, on 25th.
5. Grey Heron Ardea cinerea 30 on 24th, 40 on 25th; seven at Hasuhai on 25th.
6. Purple Heron A. purpurea Two on 24th.
7. Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax Three on 25th.
8. White Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia 20 on 24th and 50 on 25th.
9. Mute Swan Cygnus olor 80 at reserve on 25th.
10. Swan Goose Anser cygnoides 4 on 24th and 12 on 25th.
11. Greylag Goose Anser anser 15 on 25th.
12. Bean Goose Anser fabalis 3 on 24th and 4 on 25th.
13. Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna 5 on 25th.
14. Ruddy Shelduck T. ferruginea 12 on 25th.
15. Gadwall Anas strepera 8 on 24th, 130 on 25th.
16. Common Teal A. crecca 50 on 24th, 10 on 25th.
17. Mallard A. platyrhynchos 2 on 24th and 25th.
18. Spotbill Duck A. poecilorhyncha 4 on 24th.
19. Common Shoveler A. clypeata 1 on 24th.
20. Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca 5 on 24th and 20 on 25th; also 3 at Hasuhai on 26th.
21. Common Pochard A. ferina 5 on 24th and 8 on 25th.
22. Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina 40 on 24th and 800 on 25th; also 350 at Hasuhai on 26th.
23. Short-toed Eagle Circaetus gallicus 1 on 25th.
24. Eastern Marsh-Harrier Circus spilonotus 1 on 24th and 8 on 25th; also 3 at Hasuhai on 26th.
25. Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga 1 on 25th.
26. Amur Falcon Falco amurensis 180 at Hasuhai on 26th.
27. Eurasian Kestrel Falco tinnunculus 1 on 25th.
28. Saker Falcon F. cherrug 1 on 25th.
29. Daurian Partridge Perdix dauuricae Covey of 10 on 25th.
30. Ring-necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus 1 on 25th; 1 at Hasuhai on 26th.
31. Moorhen Gallinulus chloropus 10 on 24th; 1 at Hasuhai on 26th.
32. Coot Fulica atra 300 on 24th and 1000 on 25th; also 20 at Hasuhai on 26th.
33. Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta 20 on 25th.
34. Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus 1 on 25th.
35. Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva 10 on 24th and 15 on 25th.
36. Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus 10 on 24th and 300 on 25th; also 6 at Hasuhai on 26th.
37. Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius 2 on 25th.
38. Kentish Plover C. alexandrinus 2 on 25th.
39. Black-winged Stilt Limosa limosa 200 on 25th.
40. Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus 6 on 24th and 10 on 25th.
41. Wood Sandpiper T. glareola 2 on 24th and 6 on 25th.
42. Green Sandpiper T. ochropus 1 on 24th and 2 on 25th.
43. Common Greenshank T. nebularia 3 on 24th and 25th.
44. Marsh Sandpiper T. stagnatalis 2 on 25th.
45. Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago 9 on 25th.
46. Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea 100 on 25th.
47. Red-necked Stint C. ruficollis 4 on 25th. (May have been Little Stint C. minuta, but perhaps too far east, and this species most likely?)
48. Temminck’s Stint C. temminckii 4 on 25th.
49. Yellow-legged Gull Larus cachinans 1 on 25th.
50. Common Black-headed Gull L. ridibundus 50 on 24th and 300 on 25th; also over 50 at Hasuhai on 26th.
51. Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida 4 on 25th.
52. Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia 6 on 25th.
53. Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto 8 on 24th and at least 3 on 25th.
54. Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis 1 on 26th.
55. Hoopoe Upupa epops 1 on 25th.
56. Great Spotted Woodpecker Picoides major a woodpecker heard on 25th was presumably this species.
57. Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica 6 on 24th and 10 on 25th; 10 at Hasuhai on 26th.
58. Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava 80 on 24th and 40 on 25th; 5 at Hasuhai on 26th.
59. Grey Wagtail M. cinerea 3 on 25th.
60. White Wagtail M. alba 20 on 24th and 5 on 25th (ocularis the only sub-species noted)
61. Water Pipit Anthus spinoletta 1 on 25th (identified partly by blackish legs).
62. Chinese Grey Shrike Lanius sphenocercus singles on 24th and 25th; two at Hasuhai on 26th.
63. Daurian Redstart Phoenicurus auroreus 2 on 25th.
64. Pallas’s Warbler Phylloscopus proregulus 1 at Wuliansuhai on 26th.
65. Little Bunting Emberiza pusilla 1 on 25th.
66. Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus 8 on 24thand 5 on 25th.
67. Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris 3 on 24th and 10 on 25th.
68. Grey Starling S. cineraceus 50 on 24th and 30 on 25th; 200 at Hasuhai on 26th.
69. Black-billed Magpie Pica pica At least two on 25th.
70. Daurian Jackdaw Corvus dauuricus Three at Hasuhai on 26th.
