Birding the Northernmost Point in China

Though it describes events that took place 11 years ago, this post remains relevant and worthy of publication today. That’s because the author, Brian Ivon Jones, writes about a remote, underbirded location, about which few or no reports exist in English—Mohe, Heilongjiang, the northernmost city in China and a crossroads of European, Siberian, and East Asian birds. To longtime readers of this site, Brian needs no introduction; I have written about him much, for he has partnered with me on some of my best expeditions. Adept at finding overlooked but rich birding areas in China, Brian gave me the idea to bird Dulong Gorge in Yunnan. There, I watched Brian snap the best photos ever taken in the wild of Gongshan Muntjac. Please enjoy now this great post, published for the first time and exclusively on shanghaibirding.com. Need a tour to Mohe or anywhere in China? shanghaibirding.com has the best bird guides in the country. Write us at tours@shanghaibirding.com. — Craig Brelsford

by Brian Ivon Jones
for shanghaibirding.com

I birded Mohe, Heilongjiang (52.973446, 122.536943), the northernmost city in China, from 17 to 25 May. I decided to explore this area because very few people seemed to have visited Mohe on birding trips. As there were no trip reports that I could find to refer to for advice, I had no idea where I would visit each day, so I decided, after scrutinising Google Earth, to make trips 35–50 km (20–30 mi.) north, south, east, and west of Mohe Town.

The bird of the week was a singing Willow Warbler. I observed it for about five minutes on the edge of a birch tree area on marshland alongside the road. My problem was I was never able to get a record shot of the bird. I obviously realise that with no photographic evidence and no one else present to verify the bird’s identity that it cannot be accepted for the China list, but there is absolutely no doubt in my mind it was a Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus yakutensis. Field notes as follows: greyish-brown Phylloscopus warbler with no wing bars and slightly yellowish tinge to secondary feather edges. Head with yellowish to off-white supercilium and blackish eye-line, both quite prominent, not as bulky or as large as Arctic Warbler. Bill fine, darkish upper mandible, yellowish lower mandible. Upperparts greyish-brown with no obvious difference in rump colour but tail darker in colour to back and mantle. Underparts white to whitish with readily discernible yellowish area under wing and extending patchily to undertail. Legs pink. Song a soft warble which I was only just able to hear.

The number of birds was low—I think the bulk of the migrants had yet to arrive—but the birds I noted were remarkably high in quality. There were practically no Eurasian Tree Sparrow, no pigeons, doves, or starlings around. In China it is not often you see Northern Raven more commonly than Carrion Crow (1)!

Other highlights:

• Hazel Grouse: 2 seen and heard. Found one dead bird, almost certainly a goshawk kill. From the way the bird had been plumed, it might possibly have been a Eurasian Eagle-Owl that did the deed, but the location on a birch forest path points to a goshawk ambush.

• Black-billed Capercaillie: Twice heard coarse bill-clicking call.

• Solitary Snipe: The bird was flushed from a forest stream on a hillside, no alarm call, circled around me and then landed again about 50 m from where it had jumped. I had very good views of it in the air. It is only the second time I have found this bird. Red Letter Day!

• Jack Snipe: I flushed this bird twice near the road. It had apparently arrived with a party of Common Snipe. I had previously recorded it on the Wenyu River in Beijing.

• Arctic Warbler and Brambling were the most common birds I saw in the forest. Most were already nesting and some had young. I noted 26 Common Sandpiper, mainly on the Emuer River. I noted many Oriental Cuckoo; Common Cuckoo arrived a few days after Oriental Cuckoo. All 3 of the Red-flanked Bluetail that I noted were females; all 6 of the Daurian Redstart were males. I noted all four races classified under Eastern Yellow Wagtail Motacilla tschutschensis: plexa, tschutschensis, macronyx, and taivana.

Terrain and climate: The terrain is sub-Siberian low-montane taiga forest, mostly consisting of larch and silver birch, often with a beautiful understory of shrub azalea. Attractive though it was, it was not so much fun when trying to navigate a path through the forest with a telephoto lens and bins hanging around your neck—especially as it seemed that unwelcome guests, in the form of ticks, were ever ready to clamber aboard a passing blood wagon. The birch is often spread over marsh areas, which is good for both plant and insect life. The hill-forest floor, I should point out, was often decked out with beautiful Eastern Pasqueflower Pulsatilla patens, Snake’s Head Fritillary Fritillaria meleagris and an unidentified dwarf iris. I also saw many wild blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry plants, obviously good food for the grouse species. I saw good numbers of Siberian Chipmunk as well as occasionally tracks of Siberian Roe Deer. Butterflies were everywhere, some of the more interesting species being the easily recognizable Green Hairstreak Callophrys rubi, Purple Hairstreak Favonius quercus, Grizzled Skipper Pyrgus malvae, and Camberwell Beauty Nymphalis antiopa.

The sun was shining brightly by 04:00 and setting 16 hours later at nearly 20:00. Daily temps ranged from single-digit centigrade early on to 20°–24° Celsius (68°–75° Fahrenheit) by mid-afternoon. Winds were from the northeast most days and usually were light, but one day was very blowy indeed, with gusts of 20–30 knots. The norm was sunshine in the morning with cloud and drizzle in the afternoon. I found much moss and lichen, evidence the air is clean and pure in this part of China—a welcome change after passing through Beijing.

Birding locations: I tried to vary my locations as much as possible, but in the end I made three trips to the same location, as it was by far the best spot I came across. This was along a disused side road for 3 km (2 mi.) and then a steepish climb and covering the forested hilltops for about 6½ km (4 mi.) before circling back. The marsh areas in spring and summer are extremely tricky to cross, as they mostly consist of shaky tussocks of grass with soft marsh around the base. Winter I am sure would be a doddle with the ground being frozen. There were still patches of snow along the stream and river edges, and as winter officially starts in October here, summers are short, June I am told being the best month.

Pests: Ticks are a nuisance, and I pulled four off me at the end of the first day. Whenever you take a breather and sit down on a tree stump you inevitably see the steady progress of small brown insects heading northwards up your leg. I have to say I derived considerable satisfaction when popping these parasites between two fingernails. On a more serious note, as we all know, ticks should always be taken seriously, as they can carry serious diseases.

Mosquitoes are huge this far north, nearly the size of a small lacewing but comparatively non-aggressive, compared with the very anti-social varieties I am used to in Shenzhen, my home base. It may be they were mostly males and so not interested in the royal blood. I had only one instance when they massed around my ears in attack formation. But a swift judicious burst of repellent sent them packing. It should be noted they don’t get up after receiving a direct hit from Off.

Travel: I flew a rather convoluted route: Shenzhen to Beijing, then Beijing–Harbin and Harbin–Mohe. The last leg was via Okay Airways, which used a 50-seater MA60 turbo-prop aircraft for the three-hour, 10-minute Harbin–Mohe leg. The flight stops at Heihe before flying on to Mohe Gulian Airport. Mohe Gulian Airport is 17 km (11 mi.) from Mohe Town.

Hotel: I stayed at the Shenheng Hotel, a typical business hotel. The rooms were suites, huge with two TVs. Simple but efficient. The hotel had a restaurant, surprisingly not cheap, but the portions were huge and in the end I gave up eating in the hotel, as I could never finish the meal.

Shops: There was a supermarket in the adjoining block on the 4th floor which had the essentials but with mostly empty shelves. Fresh fruit was in short supply, with everything looking as though it had had a very long and arduous journey getting to Mohe, with the exception of apples, which were good. Bread was the usual selection of sweet cakes and buns, mostly sprinkled with coconut. To make my evening sandwiches, I settled on some bap-like buns, which suspiciously never went stale. I probably shortened my life by the odd year or two but it got the job done with mayonnaise, pork luncheon meat, and cucumber. There was a chemist shop adjoining the supermarket building which had lots of herbal tea and various possets and potions but little of value for curing colds or plasters for cuts. However, as I, being a seasoned traveler, normally travel with the basic essentials (i.e., everything needed for the common cold to being mauled by a small bear), the lack of variety was not a problem. There were 24-hour ATMS for all major Chinese banks across the road.

Local transport: I had a very nice and able lady cab driver in from the airport, so I made arrangements for her husband, Yeni Degang, to act as my driver for the duration. Yeni was utterly reliable, picking me up on time in the morning and afternoon. This was critical, as many of the areas I was walking in were outside mobile phone reception. We agreed on my normal rate of 100–150 RMB for the longer runs 1–2 hours out of town and 30–50 RMB for the shorter trips (15–30 minutes). Most of my trips were around 50 minutes out of town. Roads were OK but often buckled and pitted by frost and ice, as is the norm in northern climes. The expressway was excellent. Yeni was a remarkably good driver, flat out most of the time, especially when a target taxi had the audacity to overtake us or was spotted down the road. He has learnt how to brake and swing round a corner, usually managing to keep all four wheels on the tarmac, and apart from taking the car out of gear at 130 km/h and coasting, no problems. There was one “moment,” however, when we encountered fog on our outward-bound trip in the early morning. It was pretty thick, but Yeni took the hazard quite seriously and reduced RPM from warp speed to a sensible, more sedate pace. The problem occurred when it started to clear on the upward stretches of road, because this was signal for Yeni to cut in the after-burners, which meant when we descended we entered a pea-souper blind and travelling just below the speed of light. But that said, to an old hand like myself, inured to fear through long experience with Haifeng sky jockeys, this was a walk in the park.

BIRDS NOTED … AND MISSED

I drew up a dream list of birds I was hoping to find. In particular, I had been impressed with the winter owl appearances in neighboring Inner Mongolia and was hoping to find some of the species birders had seen there the previous winter. In this I was disappointed, but I am convinced I will have much more success during the early winter, when I am assuming some of the Siberian species will move down into the Mohe area. I also believe it will be much easier to find the grouse species with snow on the ground and when they are not rearing young. Until there is snow, I can’t see Siberian Goshawk Astur gentilis albidus appearing in the area, as it would have no natural camouflage against its quarry. I have noted several areas of rocky outcrops amongst the hill forest which could hold Willow Ptarmigan—but again, I don’t think you would find them until the snow arrives.

The following is the list of birds I noted in Mohe, Heilongjiang in May 2014. Hyperlinks connect to entries in Craig Brelsford’s Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of China, published in its entirety on this website:

Northern Shoveler Spatula clypeata
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
Eurasian Teal A. crecca
Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula
Hazel Grouse Tetrastes bonasia
Black-billed Capercaillie Tetrao urogalloides
Black Grouse Lyrurus tetrix
Common Swift Apus apus pekinensis
Pacific Swift A. pacificus
Oriental Cuckoo Cuculus optatus
Common Cuckoo C. canorus
Jack Snipe Lymnocryptes minimus
Solitary Snipe Gallinago solitaria
Common Snipe G. gallinago
Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
Oriental Honey Buzzard Pernis pernis orientalis
Eurasian Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus
Pied Harrier Circus melanoleucos
Steppe Buzzard Buteo buteo vulpinus
Eastern Buzzard B. japonicus
Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker Picoides tridactylus
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Dryobates minor
Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major
White-backed Woodpecker D. leucotos
Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus
Eurasian Hobby F. subbuteo
Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus
Bull-headed Shrike L. bucephalus
Brandt’s Jay Garrulus glandarius brandtii
Carrion Crow Corvus corone
Northern Raven C. corax
Marsh Tit Poecile palustris brevirostris
Willow Tit P. montanus baicalensis
Siberian House Martin Delichon lagopodum
Radde’s Warbler Phylloscopus schwarzi
Dusky Warbler P. fuscatus
Willow Warbler P. trochilus yakutensis
Two-barred Warbler P. plumbeitarsus
Arctic Warbler P. borealis
Eurasian Nuthatch Sitta europaea baicalensis
Asian Brown Flycatcher Muscicapa dauurica
Siberian Rubythroat Calliope calliope
Swinhoe’s Robin Larvivora sibilans
Red-flanked Bluetail Tarsiger cyanurus
Daurian Redstart Phoenicurus auroreus
Siberian Stonechat Saxicola maurus maurus
Amur Stonechat S. stejnegeri
Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus
Eastern Yellow Wagtail Motacilla tschutschensis
Citrine Wagtail M. citreola
Grey Wagtail M. cinerea
White Wagtail M. leucopsis
Olive-backed Pipit Anthus hodgsoni
Pechora Pipit A. gustavi
Water Pipit A. spinoletta
Brambling Fringilla montifringilla
Common Rosefinch Carpodacus erythrinus
Eurasian Siskin Spinus spinus
Pine Bunting Emberiza leucocephalus
Meadow Bunting E. weigoldi
Little Bunting E. pusilla
Chestnut Bunting E. rutila
Black-faced Bunting E. spodocephala

FURTHER READING

shanghaibirding.com offers the world’s most complete coverage of birding Heilongjiang, Northeast China, and Siberia and the Russian Far East. Click any link:

• Birding the Lesser Khingan Mountains: In the quasi-boreal forests of this range in central Heilongjiang, our family found East Asian specialties White’s Thrush and Siberian Thrush, enjoyed the song of Mugimaki Flycatcher, and glimpsed Northern Hawk-Cuckoo. We explored Wuying National Forest Park, gateway to the Lesser Khingans.

• Great Tit, New Eastern Record: We found Great Tit in Jiayin County, Heilongjiang, just south of the Sino-Russian border. On eBird our record of Parus major is the easternmost ever in China. The Great Tit was in the zone of contact between P. major and Japanese Tit P. cinereus minor, which we found nearby. The zone of contact is growing, and its boundaries remain unclear.

• Band-bellied Crake and Other Northeast China Specialties: Birding eastern Heilongjiang in May and June, the height of breeding season, our team noted Band-bellied Crake, found breeding Eurasian Eagle-Owl and Mandarin Duck, and recorded the secretive Gray’s Grasshopper Warbler.

• Birds of the Remnant Manchurian Forest: Elaine Du and Craig Brelsford became the first birders to survey Wushun River National Forest Park in Elaine’s home county of Boli in eastern Heilongjiang. The duo noted 91 species around Wushun, among them Ural Owl and regional breeders Eastern Crowned Warbler, Radde’s Warbler, and White-throated Rock Thrush.

• Birding Siberia and the Russian Far East: Read our reports on Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve, home of Blakiston’s Fish Owl; the Yamal Peninsula; and Kamchatka. For birders in Shanghai, an understanding of the birds of Siberia and the Russian Far East is crucial, as many species that are winter visitors and passage migrants in Shanghai breed in North Asia.

Featured image: Scenes from Mohe, Heilongjiang. Clockwise from L: Common Rosefinch, Emuer River, Eastern Pasqueflower, larch and birch forest, and Pied Harrier. (Brian Ivon Jones)

Be notified every time we post. Send an
email with “Subscribe” as the subject to
info@shanghaibirding.com

Donate to Shanghai Birding!

Choose your level (USD)
Well-wisher—$10Buddy—$5Friend—$25Supporter—$50Donor—$100Sponsor—$500Champion—$1000