Text: nano5
I heard that an uncommon bird appeared at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, the red-breasted bird, and the birds went to report to all. I can be regarded as a Buddhist birdwatcher, I have no pursuit of new bird species, and observing magpies and sparrows can also be enjoyed. It appeared, and within a few hours, the red-breasted grebe was forgotten.
If I hadn't made an appointment with a friend to experience bird watching, and went to the woods where "yokai" (local uncommon birds) are most likely to be found at the altar, perhaps I wouldn't have had any intersection with the red-breasted harrier. why? Because the red-breasted grebe is rare in China, it has been recorded three or four times in total. Do not deliberately take the initiative to find, it is difficult to meet.
Approaching the forest that Beijing bird people are familiar with, at the edge of the forest, I met a few bird friends who listened to the sound and looked for the red-breasted grebe to shoot, they had recorded it, between the branches, the light was insufficient, very difficult to shoot. They were very kind enough to tell me the approximate location of the appearance, and I stood near the first official bird watching companion for a short while, did not see the birds, and went inside to continue the bird watching experience of the day, what was what was encountered, and watched as I met.
A manhole cover near the northwest end of the forest was aimed at by seven or eight long guns and short guns. Inevitably, the old trick of seduction is to put bread worms on the branches of the fake scenery and wait for the birds to appear. I have always been reluctant to join their group, even if I happen to photograph the birds that have been lured down, I feel discounted in my heart and feel very awkward.
We deliberately walked around the gun group to the southwest corner, stopped to listen, trying to spot some birds. Seeing a few large, sparrows, bead-necked doves, companions watching birds for the first time, a little excited, there are many questions to answer, we chat in a low voice.
Suddenly, the afterglow of my eyes found a small bird flickering, landing on a nearby branch, and flying to the manhole cover that the bird shooter had been around, and there was very little water in it.
After the bird fell, it turned around, the wings relaxed and shrugged down the posture of wanting to take a bath (at this time the camera was still turned off), I quickly opened the camera, took a few shots at it, did not expect that the bird may feel that the water is too little, and flew back to the nearby branches, then I saw clearly, the branches of the birds fell, is inserted on the ground! Undoubtedly, this used to be the branch of the prop! The heart is very resistant, but the opportunity can not be lost, first record it. Poor little bird, who may have mistakenly thought that there was already a worm there, but there was not! It quickly flew away, looking at the pictures taken, guessing that it should be the red-breasted harrier that has attracted many people to shoot in the past month or so.
According to information found on the Internet, the red-breasted grebe breeds on the European continent, east to the Ural Mountains, the Caucasus Mountains, northern Iran and the western Himalayas. It winters in Asia in northern India. It is likely to occur in western Xinjiang and southwestern Tibet during migration and overwintering periods. Sub-adults may also occur in eastern China with the red-throated grebe during the migratory season.
According to the records, this is the second record in Beijing (the fourth record in China), and there is an interval of 8 years from the first record.
In early December 2010, a red-breasted harrier was photographed in Beijing's Yuanmingyuan. At the time, this was the third case found nationwide (the first two cases appeared in Hebei and Hong Kong).
Panda, the author of The Red-breasted Harrier Benji, describes the story of the red-breasted Harrier in China very professionally (http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_538d6d7a0100o4k1.html). Panda's article concludes: "This bird is the first time that the red-breasted grebe appeared in China as a sub-adult bird, and the rest of the records are of adult males or females; this allows us to grasp the identification of the sub-adults of the red-breasted grebe; the other season is more special, not in the autumn." Because the crossing time of the red-throated eagle is usually very early, it can appear in Beijing in early August and is almost gone in October; and any bird that appears in Beijing in December is an anti-seasonal record. I reckon this individual has been wandering around China for a long time before, and judging by the feathers and state, this is an individual with good physique and good moulting. Now there are so many bird friends to feed. As long as beijing does not have catastrophic cold weather, it still has a chance to survive this winter and participate in the wave of birds migrating north..."
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It is no wonder that a small bird stirs the hearts of the birds in Beijing, and the chance of meeting is too few.
The red-breasted harrier recorded this time, because of its characteristics very similar to the female bird of the red-throated harrier, was initially recognized as the red-throated harrier, and later someone in the group went to teach the British bird friend Terry, who confirmed that it was a red-breasted harrier. Ask him to tell him the difference between a red throat and a red breast, and he sent an introduction in English:
Mainly looking at the depth of the beak and the tail feather, in order to facilitate understanding, the Internet also found a picture taken by Mr. Enoch 8 years ago, as well as the annotation instructions he added according to the introduction of another bird friend Panda, as follows:
The picture above is drawn by Teacher Enoch based on the text description of Panda's "Red-breasted Hime Grebe Honki". The picture was also taken 8 years ago.
Inadvertently rubbed a hot spot and felt the magic of the Temple of Heaven again. I hope that this red-breasted bird can overwinter safely at the Temple of Heaven and meet the large troops who have migrated back to the north next spring.
Image: nano5