Meatballs (White & Brown): Part 1

August 1th, 2024, Birding @ Hualin Park, Altay Part 1

Hualin Park, located in Altay, Xinjiang, is a park built primarily around natural birch trees. It covers a total area of 52.5 hectares. It is situated at the north-western edge of Altay city, in a river floodplain region along the upper reach of the Kelan River. The river divides the park into six small islands.

After a short walk on the wooden road among the trees, I heard the call of the Common Nightingale. After scanning the branches, I saw a Common Nightingale! It was chirping loudly with its mouth open. On a branch beside the Nightangle, a young Nightangle was sitting quietly. It was gray with dots on its face, the color completely different from the adult Nightangle. It's so cute, like a meatball.

After leaving the Nightangle, I found a few Long-tailed tits sitting on the branches. Each tit was like a white snowball, small but wicked. It is the young bird of the Long-tailed tit, thus it still has a red circle surrounding its eye and a bit of brown on its head and a long tail.