Bird News from Robin Newlin
A return trip to Paldang found much of the same birds as last week’s visit; waterfowl numbers seemed somewhat reduced, or perhaps just more spread out (today I covered a smaller area). The pair of Scaly-sided Mergansers was still present, as were scattered groups of Whooper Swans, good numbers of Common Goldeneyes, Goosanders, Spot-billed Ducks, Gadwalls, and Mallards; at various times, skeins of Bean Geese flew over.
Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus ©Robin Newlin
Welcoming committee Canis lupus familiaris ©Robin Newlin
Taking leave of the swans, I made it past the resident puppy gang (not without paying a toll of cracker bits) and down-river toward the channel islands. Two White-tailed Sea Eagles were present; usually sitting quietly on rocks, occasionally mobbed by magpies or crows, sometimes taking to the air. At one point the Steller’s Sea Eagle flew in, raucously calling, to chase the White-tail; they both flew off and inland in an almost companionable manner.
White-tailed Sea Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla ©Robin Newlin
Steller’s Sea Eagle Haliaeetus pelagicus ©Robin Newlin
Common Goldeneye Bucephela clangula ©Robin Newlin
Passerines were represented by such quality as Japanese Wagtails, Grey-capped Greenfinches, two Bramblings, two Daurian Redstarts, Eurasian Tree Sparrows, Vinous-throated Parrotbills, and a couple of Buff-bellied Pipits.
Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer Montanus ©Robin Newlin
Thanks for the updates! I AM flying in Monday morning and *really* hope to see the Steller’s and SSME. If you have time and can email me the location of the merg pair, that’d be amazing. I have been to Paldang once before, also in December, (I walked south to the river then right along that bank…). I only managed the White-tailed Sea Eagles then. Fingers crossed!