Kai Pflug picks up litter at Microforest 1, Nanhui, Shanghai, 11 Sept. 2016. Photos by Craig Brelsford.

Meet Kai Pflug, Nanhui’s Mr. Clean

by Craig Brelsford
Founder, shanghaibirding.com

Let’s hear it for Kai Pflug! The Shanghai-based German birder has taken it upon himself to clean up Cape Nanhui, Shanghai’s best-known birding area. On Sun. 11 Sept., Kai hauled out two bagfuls of trash from Cape Nanhui’s Microforest 2 (30.926138, 121.970795), and I’m proud to say my wife Elaine Du helped Kai out on Microforest 1 (30.923889, 121.971635). Kai has long been cleaning the microforests, and his work has had a big effect on those precious migrant traps.

In his car, Kai keeps six pairs of tongs as well as a roll of plastic bags. Kai told me he uses tongs “to show others that it’s possible to clean up trash without getting your hands dirty!” He keeps six pairs so that others can join him in his quest to keep the microforests clean.

Photographers
Photographers await Fairy Pitta in Microforest 2 (30.926138, 121.970795). (Craig Brelsford)

As if his work on the trash weren’t enough, Kai further burnished his eco-credentials Sunday morning at Microforest 2. There, about 30 photographers have set up camp to photograph Fairy Pitta, a species that has been present in the tiny wood since early September. Someone had speared mealworms onto a metal hook. The hook could rip the mouth of a hungry pitta. Kai spied the hook, marched into the setup, and tore it down. In his good Chinese, the product of 12 years living in this country, Kai explained to the surprised photographers, “This isn’t good! It can kill birds.”

pitta
A Fairy Pitta leaps toward a food item at the photography setup in Microforest 2, 11 Sept. (Craig Brelsford)

Kai’s actions Sunday were the backdrop to an eventful birding day. Partnering yet again with veteran British birder Michael Grunwell, Elaine and I noted 75 species. We birded the well-known coastal sites at Cape Nanhui as well as the sod farm (31.112586, 121.824742) south of Pudong Airport. We had our first migrant bunting of the season, endangered Yellow-breasted Bunting; Himalayan Swiftlet in the skies above the Magic Parking Lot (30.882784, 121.972782); and Pechora Pipit in the wet agricultural land north of Lúcháo (芦潮; 30.851111, 121.848528).

Other goodies were Lesser Coucal catching a frog, Asian Stubtail joining Fairy Pitta at the photography setup, and season’s first Yellow-browed Warbler, Siberian Thrush, and Blue-and-white Flycatcher. We had Green Sandpiper, Grey-tailed Tattler, and a migrating flock of Red Collared Dove near the Pechoras and Eurasian Wryneck in the recently planted trees on the inner base of the sea wall. The microforests yielded a second Fairy Pitta, 8 Black-naped Oriole, 7 Japanese Paradise Flycatcher, and a good count of 12 Siberian Blue Robin.

Black-naped Oriole
This Black-naped Oriole, one of eight we found Sunday at Nanhui, was in full migration mode and very hungry. A forest dweller, Black-naped Oriole is usually among the shyest of birds, but this juvenile was foraging in the open and allowed us to approach while it searched frantically for food. It even sampled a flower petal. (Craig Brelsford)

Our trip to the sod farm (31.112586, 121.824742) was cut short by rain. Before the shower we noted ca. 800 Oriental Pratincole. Obviously this grassy area is important to the species, which breeds in the Shanghai region and which with the development of Pudong has seen a dramatic shrinkage of its territory.

On Mon. 5 Sept. Elaine and I did our first urban birding of the season at Shanghai’s Century Park. Among the 24 species we noted were passage migrants Oriental Dollarbird, Asian Brown Flycatcher, and Grey-streaked Flycatcher.

PHOTOS

Siberian Blue Robin
Siberian Blue Robin, among the 12 we found Sun. 11 Sept. in the microforests of Cape Nanhui. At Nanhui one usually views these secretive birds from a distance and obscured by branches and leaves, as shown in the two left-hand panels. On their breeding grounds in Heilongjiang, where this past spring Elaine and I studied Siberian Blue Robin and other Northeast China breeders, one is lucky to get even this good a view. (Craig Brelsford)
Lesser Coucal
Lesser Coucal with prey. (Craig Brelsford)

Featured image: Kai Pflug picks up litter at Microforest 1 (30.923889, 121.971635), Cape Nanhui, 11 Sept. (Craig Brelsford)
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Published by

Craig Brelsford

Craig Brelsford is the founder of shanghaibirding.com. Brelsford lived in Shanghai from 2007 to 2018. Now back home in Florida, Brelsford maintains close ties to the Shanghai birding community and continues his enthusiastic development of this website. When Brelsford departed China, he was the top-ranked eBirder in that country, having noted more than 930 species. Brelsford was also the top-ranked eBirder in Shanghai, with more than 320 species. Brelsford’s photos of birds have won various awards and been published in books and periodicals and on websites all over the world. Brelsford’s Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of China, published in its entirety on this website, is the most Shanghai-centric field guide ever written. Brelsford is a graduate of the University of Florida and earned a master's in business administration at the University of Liege, Belgium.

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