Ochang full day

What a day.  I walked and birded from sunrise to sunset 7 til 5, walked up a (small) mountain and back, then out across some paddy fields to a river.

I started out back at the park over the street, determined to find a Rustic Bunting, convinced that they were mixed in with the Yellow-throateds and that I had written them off before as juveniles. I managed quite quickly to find one that would stay still long enough to convince me.  497. Almost immediately then, I spotted a bird that looked odd... eventually I figured out it was a young/female Bull-headed Shrike. This was doubly good, because I had probably seen one on the way into the park, but wasn't quite able to make sure. 498.

I then took a detour to where I had seen finches the other day, and managed to find Bullfinches, Long-tailed Tits and Marsh Tits.

 

At this point I set out up the hill/mountain. It was a great walk, but I didn't see any new birds, although there were some Pallas's Rosefinches at the top...

...and a temple.

On the way down, I had a great look at a couple of Siberian Accentors, an id I was concerned about from the other day.

A Rustic Bunting posed for me too.

Then it was time to start the walk to the river - first roadside bird was a Buff-bellied (American) Pipit.

With the help of my phone's GPS, I made my way toward the river, seeing a Common Snipe and a Dusky Thrush on the way.

499, 500! At the river, there was a real wild pheasant.

I crossed the river on a road bridge, from which I saw three Green Sandpipers picking at the edge, along with Teal, Mallards, Spot-billed Ducks, Gadwall and a Little Grebe. 501. On the other side, I walked to another bridge to come back, seeing a Meadow Bunting:

 and then, unexpectedly, a Chinese Grey Shrike. 502.

Back on the other side, another Bull-headed Shrike.

And finally a Daurian Redstart who let me get closer and held still long enough for pictures.

 

and a male Bull-headed Shrike, who I saw kill and eat an Elegant Bunting almost the same size as him (r).

 

With the light starting to come low, I headed back, seeing a Peregrine Falcon flying along a drainage ditch then perched on a pylon,

and a Grey-headed Green Woodpecker (getting a proper look this time) on another.

It took me a while to work out what he was - to start with I thought he was a thrush!
With the light dying, I took a Tree Sparrow tree,

I haven't been able to get a better shot of a Treesp - they seem to be jumpy.
And as a final treat to close out the day, a Hawfinch, heavily zoomed and cropped but still unmistakeable.

503.