Birding Shanghai in August 2022 – 10,000 Birds

I feel there’s a potential joke someplace in an individual saying in an exaggerated French accent “I’ve no egrets” (strive imagining the French accent please, in any other case that is positively not humorous. Even with the French accent, it most likely is not, however that’s one other downside).

In some way it bothers me that I’ve not been in a position to get this joke (presuming it certainly exists) into daylight. Second strive, if the French accent didn’t do it for you: Think about the particular person saying “I hahve no egrets” (This pronunciation is the results of believing within the powers of the web and considering that there most likely is a web site producing French accents out And certainly there’s, although I’m a bit dissatisfied that the phrase “egret” does probably not obtain any therapy, which I had hoped would make it sound extra like a French pronunciation of “remorse”).

Perhaps the joke works higher straight in French? “Je ne aigrette rien” by Edith Piaf? That doesn’t actually work both.

Anyway, this can be a Little Egret.

Right here is one other one.

Right here is one on a tree.

Do I remorse posting a photograph of a quite common chicken? No. I assume I ought to, although.

I’m simply skimming “Denial”, a e book by Jared Del Rosso, wherein he discusses (amongst many different, extra necessary issues) the best way birdwatchers deal with birds perceived as fascinating:

“Skilled birders typically redirect the eye of novice birdwatchers from a typical chicken, the robin or starling, to the unusual warbler flitting above them. Ultimately, the novice birder learns to present the widespread birds however a perfunctory look and depart them unreported when others ask what they’re watching.”

I imply, I perceive the precept, however does it should be af*cking warbler?

(Even much less related aspect word: To my delight, the writer has a firmly anti-Trump tone, remarking for instance that “A president claims he was being ‘sarcastic’ after, in all seriousness, he raises the opportunity of injecting People with bleach so as to management a pandemic.”)

At the least the quote above provides me a great purpose to point out a couple of extra quite common Shanghai birds … resembling Grey Heron …

… (a species liable to siblicide below particular situations) …

… Cattle Egret …

… (within the unhealthy outdated days of ornithology – round 1970, to be extra particular – a research of the meals consumed by this species was executed by merely capturing 365 of them – good work, Mr. Siegfried, I hope you might be pleased with your self ) …

… Intermediate Egret …

… (which apparently sometimes suffers from brood parasitism by Cattle Egrets, at the least in Korea) …

… Little Ringed Plover …

… (a chicken that appears to draw folks with weirdly particular pursuits even by the requirements of ornithologists – witness this paper titled “Half 1: Growing older and sexing the curonicus subspecies of the Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius“) …

… and everyone’s favourite leg mannequin, the Black-winged Stilt.

The species that prevented the month from being actually boring was the Amur Paradise Flycatcher. It appears they did nicely this yr, with fairly a couple of chicks being taught the best way to deal with dragonflies, whereas the dad and mom have been affected by molt. Too many pictures as typical…

A number of weeks later at Nanhui, a barely better-dressed member of the species was already on the best way south.

In different information: juvenile Black-crowned Evening Hero posing as guardian to one thing (the underworld?) …

… Widespread Sandpiper posing as, ahem, a quite common wader …

… an Oriental Magpie posing as one other warning of the risks of molt …

… a Brown Shrike posing as a non-public detective …

… (weirdly, the Latin species identify is cristatusdespite the fact that I can not see something like a crest, which is what cristatus signifies) …

… you Chinese language Pond Heron posing as a punk.

thankfully, Widespread Snipes nonetheless don’t look widespread to me.

And I virtually begin liking the Purple Turtle Dove. Mellowing with age? Or early onset dementia?

Within the “birdwatching in well-liked tradition” part, two entries this month (sadly each not doing a lot for my credentials as an mental).

Within the Jack Reacher novel “The Enemy”, the fictional father of Mr. Reacher, a Marine, is described as a birdwatcher:

“My very own father… He watched birds. He had been in most international locations on this planet, and he had seen loads of birds.”

And in season 4, episode 5 of “Killing Eve” (which turned out to be a fairly disappointing season), a personality named Helen talks about one of many two protagonists (Eve):

“I believed, there’s somebody who spends her life peering at extra unique specimens—like a chicken watcher determined to spy.”

Different highlights of the month: White-shouldered Starling …