South China: cranes at Christmas

see also Northern China; Sichuan; Beidaihe and China - Crested Ibis and much more.

Outstanding among China’s vast variety of birds are its fabulouse cranes and these gorgeous creatures are among the many highlights of this exciting South China tour.  We expect to see five species of crane including majestic Red-crowned Cranes on the edge of the Yellow Sea and mythical Siberian, White-naped and Hooded Cranes at Poyang Hu National Nature Reserve. 

The supporting cast of birds includes an impressive, world-class list of waterbirds.  We should see thousands of Swan Geese, hundreds of Falcated Ducks and Baikal Teal, huge parties of Oriental Storks, and stand a good chance of encountering reasonable numbers of Scaly-sided Mergansers at their most reliable wintering site anywhere in the world.  Other goodies should include spectacular Mandarin Ducks and demure Saunders's Gulls while we also should find the rare Baer’s Pochard and perhaps even a Swinhoe’s Crake.  We also expect to see Pied Falconet.  Songbirds too will impress; among expected endemics and near endemics are Reed Parrotbill, Chinese Grey Shrike and Chinese Penduline Tit.

China has come a long way in the last decade or so.  Besides hosting an increasing number of comfortable hotels it now boasts an impressive transport infrastructure and we'll make good use of this on this exciting tour. 

Saturday 23 December 2006 to Thursday 4 January 2007
Saturday 22 December 2007 to Thursday 3 January 2008
with Paul Holt as leader.

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Day 1:  The tour begins with an overnight flight from London to Shanghai, mainland China’s largest and most dynamic city.

Day 2-4:  We’ll arrive in Shanghai in the early morning and will immediately drive north over the mighty Yangtze, China’s largest and arguably most important river, to Yancheng Nature Reserve.  Yancheng, China’s second largest Nature Reserve, will be the focus of these two days.  A vast complex of coastal grassland, shrimp ponds, saltpans and commercially harvested reed beds on the edge of the Yellow Sea, Yancheng harbours an impressive array of species.  Nearly half of the world’s 2000 or so Red-crowned Cranes winter here and we are sure to have good views of a number of these magnificent, strikingly-plumaged birds.  The reserve also harbours a resident population of the exquisite Saunders’s Gull and we expect to be able to study them at close quarters as they hunt crabs by patrolling over the mud-fringed fishponds.  Other targets here include Falcated and Baikal Teal, the near-endemic Chinese Grey Shrike, Chinese Penduline Tit, the endemic Reed and ubiquitous Vinous-throated Parrotbills, plus Rustic, Black-faced, Pallas’s and Ochre-rumped Buntings.  We'll spend two nights night at the reserve's modern guest house, followed by a third in a comfortable hotel on route back to Shanghai.

Day 5:  We will return to Shanghai in time to catch a flight to Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province.  Depending on the flight times we'd hope to drive partway towards Wuyuan, a picturesque small town in the north-eastern corner of the province.

Day 6:  Continuing on our journey we'll soon stop to scour a particular stretch of shallow river in search of the day's primary target, the rare Scaly-sided Merganser.  Sixty birds were counted here in November 2004 and we're likely to find a few parties of this attractive sawbill.  Other species here could include Long-billed Plover and Black-collared Starling while elsewhere around Wuyuan we'll spend time looking for Mandarin Duck, Pied Falconet and that magnificent songster, the Hwamei.  Night in Wuyuan.

Days 8-11:  It shouldn't take us long to reach the world-renown Poyang Hu.  We’ll spend four days based at the reserve headquarters in the heart of this fabulous reserve.  Poyang Hu is subject to huge annual fluctuations in its water level.  The lake covers up to 5500 square kilometres during the summer rainy season, and is then the largest lake in China, but water levels subsequently drop, and can fall by as much as 15 metres by the end of the winter dry season, resulting in the lake shrinking to an area of less than 10% of its largest size.  These massive fluctuations create a mosaic of shallow, residual lakes, and it’s the combination of these and the region’s fairly mild winters that creates ideal conditions for tens, or even hundreds of thousands of waterbirds.  Poyang Hu is widely regarded as one of the most important wetlands in the world and holds the planet’s largest concentrations of a number of severely endangered species.  Siberian Crane is undoubtedly the reserve’s star attraction and over 95% of the world population (4000 birds) of these magnificent creatures winter here, as do even larger numbers of the equally majestic White-naped Crane.  Hooded Crane is decidedly scarcer but we expect to encounter a number of them among the huge flocks of bugling cranes that we’re sure to encounter. 

The best way to explore this huge wetland reserve is by boat and we’ll make extensive use of one during our stay. The ancient Chinese tradition of cormorant-fishing is still widely practiced at Poyang Hu and we should see several groups of these busy, tethered birds.

Thousands of Tundra Swans, ‘Tundra’ Bean, Greater White-fronted and Swan Geese, hundreds of Oriental Storks and huge swirling flocks of Pied Avocets also spend the winter at Poyang Hu while other less conspicuous species include Japanese Swamp Warbler and, with luck, Swinhoe’s Crake.  Nights at Wucheng, a small village that’s on an island in the centre of Poyang Hu reserve at the height of the summer rains.

Day 12:  After a final morning at Poyang Hu we’ll return to Nanchang airport and fly back to Shanghai. We expect to arrive in time to have a sightseeing excursion into the heart of this bustling, ambitious metropolis and its intoxicating, eclectic mix of old European-style buildings and awe-inspiring modern structures.  Night in Shanghai.

Day 13:  In the early morning we’ll catch a flight to London where the tour concludes later that same day.

Note that there are only seven good quality rooms at the Yancheng National Nature Reserve guest house and as a consequence singles cannot be guaranteed here.  The accommodation at Poyang Hu is of a lower standard than normal Western expectations.

Cost about £2990 (2006)
Single Room Supplement £220 (2006)

Maximum group size:

12 with leader assisted by a local guide.

E-mail or phone +44 (0)1767 262522 for availability.

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Last updated July 2006.

Parties of Yellow-billed Grosbeaks can be a common site in South China in winter.

As is the black-headed form of Long-tailed Shrike and...

Brown-breasted Bulbul.

Although they cannot compete with Blue-fronted Redstart for colour.

Ruddy Shelducks can be found around most lakes.

Whereas Scaly-sided Merganser are only reliably found at one site.

All photos taken by Paul Holt.