Birds come a-calling

Photos by Li Haitao / for China Daily

This is the month that birds from as far as Siberia stop by in the Chinese capital on their way to the warmer south. Chen Liang is your guide to the best places in the city to see these feathered beauties.

As autumn approaches, can migratory birds be far behind? Flying in from as far as Siberia, most of these feathered creatures will pass the Chinese capital on their way to the south to spend the winter. While some will fly over the city, others may make short stopovers to recoup their strength. For some, though, Beijing is their destination. They will stay in the metropolis' mountains, marshes, grasslands, farms and parks and spend winter here, leaving only in spring.

Songbirds and shorebirds are usually the first to arrive; they are followed by small and medium-sized birds of prey, such as Eurasian sparrowhawk, Eurasian hobby, northern goshawk and eastern marsh harrier. Then come the large-sized birds of prey such as the short-toed snake eagle and greater spotted eagle. The short-term guests include ducks, geese, cranes and bustards, although a few, like common crane and great bustard, will winter on the outskirts of the city.

This is the time for the capital's birdwatchers to brace themselves for a busy season, which will last at least two months.

There are quite a few excellent birdwatching sites in and around the city. We recommend the following four that are suitable to both visiting birdwatchers and general nature lovers. These sites not only have excellent migrating birds to see, but also offer beautiful scenery.

Top of the list is the Wild Duck Lake, or Yeyahu in Chinese. About 90-120 minutes' drive northwest of downtown Beijing, the park lies about 10 km north of the popular section of the Great Wall at Badaling and close to the town of Yanqing.

The site is a flat, steppe-like area of mostly grassland with a small lake, surrounded by reed beds and several patches of woods. Lying to the south of Mount Songshan, it is a perfect place for migrating birds coming from the mountains.

Various types of ducks, swans and geese can be spotted on the water from the surrounding banks. At the height of migration in mid-October, they can be counted in the thousands.

Small songbirds, such as warblers, thrushes and buntings, can often be found in the shrubs and woods.

Up in the sky and riding on the thermal currents, birds of prey circle the area that abounds in easy prey. On a lucky day - usually right after a light rainfall - one can spot as many as 12 different species of raptors. It's a spectacular scene of blue skies, yellow reed beds, clear waters, colorful ducks in the hundreds and eagles hovering overhead.

Wild Duck Lake borders Guanting Reservoir, Kangxi Grassland and Guishui Riverside Park - all excellent places to watch migratory birds. The Guishui Riverside Park, stretching a few kilometers along Guishui River from the town of Yanqing, is also a great place for fishing, hiking and camping.

One of the best places to see small songbirds in the city is the nursery inside Tiantan Park, or Temple of Heaven. It is hidden in a corner of the World Heritage Site, so first-time visitors would have to ask around to find it.

At the nursery, songbirds such as the Siberian blue robins and Siberian rubythroat, which are known to be shy at their breeding sites, take a well-deserved break after their long and exhausting flight, and are quite happy to be gawked at.

The hilltops of Beijing's Western Hills are the best places to catch sight of birds of prey as they ride on the thermal currents to pass the ridge from north to south. These hills are best accessed from Beijing Botanical Gardens in the northwestern part of the city. Enter Yingtaogou (Cherry Valley), and prepare to spend two or three hours climbing up the trail to reach the top, for a brilliant panoramic view of the city on a clear day. You can see falcons, buzzards, sparrowhawks, kites and eagles, whose numbers can be counted in the hundreds, up close.

The last of our recommended sites is the farms near Miyun Reservoir at Bulaotun village in Miyuan county. More than 100 km north of downtown Beijing, this site on the northern bank of Beijing's largest reservoir is one of the largest wintering grounds for large-sized migrating birds.

Of them, the common cranes can be seen in the hundreds in the harvested fields. Great bustards are a birdwatchers' favorite, with the males possibly the heaviest birds in the world which can fly.

To reach Bulaotun, you can take a bus from Beijing to the town of Miyun and hire a minivan there.