Xian Botanic Gardens Birding
When: May 2016 Weather: Cool 18C
Nikon P900, Leica Q
In Xian for a meeting, had a couple of hours free in the morning….the only place where there might be some birding seemed to be at the Xian Botanic Gardens, one of the earliest BGs in all of China. It’s not very big but a perfect size for a couple of hours….but first a gripe at the powers that be that decide that the gates should only open at 8am! 8 am is an hour too late and an hour taken away from prime birding time! What made it worse was that the gatekeepers let everyone else who was obviously local through …I obviously didn’t look local enough with my cameras etc…. sigh.
This was a rather nicely manicured BG with numerous pretty flower beds with lots of paths intertwined….
well maintained BG with paths, lakes and pagodas…
some of the water lily ponds were reminiscent of Wu Guan Zhong paintings…
the explosion of colours was brilliant
but there were also not so colourful but still intriguing beauties…
the first bird you will certainly see is the azure winged magpie…football anyone?
the early morning dew ..
this ?poppy attracted lots of bees
heart of the flower
A pair of loving spotted doves
a thousand daisies tossed their heads in sprightly dance…to paraphrase wordsworth…
Chinese blackbird
left profile better?
?male blackbird
Crested mynah
lonely water lily…
long tailed shrike
breakfast
Hello…
Oriental turtle dove?
pretty flowers!
and more..
And just before I left, this beautiful brown bird landed right in front of me!
He was such a handsome fellow!
White browed laughing thrush
last one ..
Next few picture from my outing to the Yang Ling Tombs, a much less visited alternative to the Terracotta statue location…
Oriental greenfinch from afar….
oriental greenfinch
light vented bulbul
light vented bulbul singing merrily
the xian botanic gardens was a lovely little BG to spend a couple of hours in..recommended!
The Natural Traveller 