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Autumn migration at Beidaihe 1986 to 1990 conclusions |
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Written by Martin Williams
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Sunday, 11 November 2007 |
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Page 7 of 7
Appendix D: Corrections to the Report on Cambridge Ornithological Expedi-tion to China 1985 (Williams 1986)
Martin D. Williams
Slavonian Grebe (Horned Grebe) Podiceps auritus The flock of 55 on 21 March was distant, and the birds were identified by silhouette. Other records to date suggest this species is scarce at Beidaihe, while the similar Black-necked Grebe P. nigricollis may occur in large flocks in late March/early April. This record may, therefore, be suspect.
Cotton Pygmy Goose Nettapus coromandelianus Views of the four birds identified as this spe-cies were poor; the record is likely suspect.
Osprey Pandion haliaeetus The statement that Hemmingsen had no spring records of this species is incorrect; he had spring records on at least six dates.
Japanese Sparrowhawk Accipiter gularis It is possible that at least several ‘Northern Sparrow-hawks’ A. nisus were this species, especially in May.
Mountain Hawk-Eagle Spizaetus nipalensis The ‘Mountain Hawk-Eagles’ recorded in spring 1985 were misidentified Crested Honey-Buzzards Pernis ptilorhynchus—these can be up to 50 percent larger than Eurasian Honey-Buzzards P. apivorus. (Perhaps a larger form of the Crested Honey-Buzzard passes Beidaihe later in spring; most of the 85 ‘Mountain Hawk-Eagles’ passed after 49 Crested Honey-Buzzards were recorded.) This species should be deleted from the list of Beidaihe birds.
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus At least one of the ‘Peregrine Falcons’ seen in spring 1985 was remarkably brown. It was considered to be an immature Peregrine, but may have been a Saker Falcon F. cherrug, a species not recorded in spring 1985 but subsequently found to be regular at Beidaihe, especially in autumn.
Pintail Snipe Gallinago stenura Partly on the basis of previous records, we assumed all the Pin-tail Snipe or very similar Swinhoe’s Snipe G. megala seen were this species; a few may have been the latter.
Collared Scops-Owl Otus bakkamoena The only bird seen, on 9 May, was identified on the basis of orange eye colour; an owl seen at the same locality the next day, by a different observer, was identified as an Oriental Scops-Owl O. lempiji (O. scops in Williams 1986), on the basis of yellow eye colour. There are, as yet, no certain records of Collared Scops-Owl at Beidaihe.
Richard’s Pipit Anthus richardi The records of ‘Richard’s Pipits’ may include a few of the similar Blyth’s Pipit A. godlewski, which have since been recorded at Beidaihe in spring but usually in lower numbers than Richard’s Pipits.
Water Pipit Anthus spinoletta The two forms of ‘Water Pipits’ which occur at Beidaihe are now regarded as separate species - the (Siberian) Water Pipit A. spinoletta blakistoni and the Buff-bellied Pipit A. rubescens. Most of the records of ‘Water Pipits’ probably refer to the Buff-bellied Pipit, which is apparently the commoner of the two, and tends to occur rather later in spring.
Yellow-streaked Warbler Phylloscopus armandii The observer now believes that the bird seen on 14 May which showed characters of this species was a Radde’s Warbler P. schwarzi.
Arctic Warbler Phylloscopus borealis Five or more of the ‘Arctic Warblers’ were misidentified Pale-legged Leaf-Warblers P. tenellipes; some Arctic Warblers were, in turn, misidentified as Two-barred Greenish Warblers P. trochiloides plumbeitarsus (Greenish Warblers, in Williams 1986).
Raven Corvus corax It is possible that the one to three ‘Ravens’ seen during the spring were Large-billed Crows C. macrorhynchus. We misidentified Large-billed Crows as this species at the Great Wall near Shanhaiguan; they can appear surprisingly similar to Ravens (Large-billed Crows in north China tend to be larger than those in the south; there is an even more pronounced increase in size from south to north in Japan: Peter Kennerley, verbally).
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 11 November 2007 )
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