Ng Tung Chai, Hong Kong (1 Viewer)

Thanks Jeff and Gretchen

I agree that the Crested Mynas look like gangsters. In reality they're too foolish to be truly sinister. Greater Coucal, on the other hand is a thoroughly seedy character, sneaking along inside bushes looking for anything to scrag.

There are a couple of other birds here with pretensions of gangsterhood, or at least dress for the part - I've posted a short clip of a calling Masked Laughingthrush here (the other bird you can hear calling is a typically noisy Black-necked Starling). They stand out as being the most easily seen and noisy laughingthrush, but they have about the same idiocy rating as Crested Myna.

Much more elegant, Long-tailed Shrike is very much the immaculate assassin. Today I watched one catch and make very short work of a large hornet, but I was too slow for a pic. The one below was more co-operative.

Other birds in the same area included at least three Red-flanked Bluetails, a couple of Little Buntings, which have been scarce this winter, a couple of calling, but secretive Siberian Rubythroat, an immature male Grey-backed Thrush, the wintering Wryneck put in another appearance and a male Blue Rock Thrush of the red-bellied race philippensis.

Behind the village a gang of Hair-crested Drongos were exploring the edge of the fung shui wood while both Greater Necklaced and Black-throated appeared briefly from the same patch, and an Ashy Drongo flew over.

Cheers
Mike

Sunday morning I headed up to Tai Om Shan. Having had a rather tame female Grey-backed Thrush in Tai Om village my walk up to Tai Om Shan started cheerfully with a loosely gathered but noisy gathering of Hair-crested Drongos , glittering in the sunlight. One bird that sat head on almost directly in front of the sun showed the hairs, splayed out over the crown, to terrific effect.

Th best birds of the day were a flock of 20 or so Striated Yuhinas exploring the leafless branches of a large trees before taking fright and zipping off at high, noisy speed.

Good skulky birds included a Mountain Bush Warbler, three or four Red-flanked Bluetails, a Pygmy Wren Babbler that gave terrific views hopping about on the rocks in the stream. There were also at least four other Grey-backed Thrushes a gang of Chestnut Bulbuls, a pop-up, and very gorgeous male Tristram's Bunting - my first of the winter. Predictably enough the Greenish Warbler couldn't bear not to be seen and zipped in too say hello.

On the way back down a Crested Serpent Eagle was perched in a bare tree across the valley and an extremely confiding Siberian Stonechat allowed me to finally get a decent photo (which I'll post tomorrow. I was interested to learn that the brown scales on the head eventually moult away to leave a totally black head.

The evening before I'd also discovered that the Black-necked Starlings and Crested Mynahs were using the bamboo stand that the Chinese Pond Herons' have been nesting in as their night-time roost a.k.a. shouting tree. I'll post a video in the next few days.

Cheers
Mike

What a great start to the week - Dylan texted me as I was leaving the village to say he'd found a couple of Japanese Grosbeaks in the chinese hackberry tree near the graves at the bottom of the path to Tai Om Shan.

A dilemma . . . be late for work or suck up the gripping. No contest - I called to make sure that Dylan (and his Bins) were still there and ran up the hill to see them. As I approached i slowed down so as not to scare the birds and was relieved to hear the quiet cracking of hackberry seeds - a sure sign the birds were still there.

Its amazing how hard it can be to see a big chunky long-tailed hawfinch in a bare tree (especially when the heart is pumping hard and the breath is raw, jagged and , but when they're feeding both Japanese and Chinese Grosbeaks can be remarkably unobtrusive.

However after a few neck twists I caught a fine bluish sheen on the dark wings of a half-hooded bird with no rufous on the flanks, no white on the wingtips, and no dark tip to the bill and a quick cross-check against a full-hooded, rufous-flanked male Chinese Grosbeak confirmed my fourth sighting of Japanese Grosbeak in Lam Tsuen - excellent! See here, from the previous record of Japanese Grosbeak in Ng Tung Chai for some slightly helpful pix for separating these two attractive finches.

Actually I have Dylan to thank for my most spectacular previous sighting of Japanese Grosbeak in the valley - when he found a flock of some 30 birds in a tree (also a Chinese Hackberry) about 200 metres from my old flat at Ng Tung Chai.

Cheers
Mike

Happiness is relative ...

Hi Mike,

Enjoyed your enthusiasm on seeing the Japanese Grosbeak! Do hope, what with the hard pumping heart and raw jagged breath, that the few neck twists were on the part of the grosbeak and not you!

I remember some year back how excited I was when I first saw a Chinese Grosbeak among a flock of (usual) Japanese ones at my local park. In my case, though, I had no dilemma of call-of-duty vs. higher good of exciting sighting, and so was physically unchallenged!

Best from Japan(ese Grosbeak land),

Norm

one of the best things about BF is other birders understanding the highs and the lows of birding - many thanks Norm!

And finally . . . I'm back home with enough time to upload the pic of the Siberian Stonechat .

cheers
Mike

A full morning at Ng Tung Chai was preceded by a superb Black-naped Oriole in the big camphor tree in the Ping Long car park.

I kicked off with a Blue Magpie, a Black-winged Cuckooshrike and a Mountain Bush Warbler at the head of the road, and then spent a brilliant ten minutes trying to whistle a couple of Black-throated Laughingthrushes into range of the coolpix. As the pic below shows, they were too quick and cautious for me. I had no more luck with the first of two Tristram's Buntings (I didn't even try on the second).

Heading up into the forest I had a Japanese Thrush two Rufous-tailed Robins, four Red-flanked Bluetails, a couple of Mountain Bulbuls and a fine flock of 20-odd Black Bulbuls that sat around to be photographed in a most obliging manner, as did a splendid male philippensis Blue Rock Thrush. I was also pleased to see a couple of Blyth's Leaf Warblers, which I've been slow to connect with in the valley this winter.

The best birds of the day were both frustrating - a Seicercus warbler sp. showed me just enough for me to see it wasn't a Sulphur-bellied Warbler, and a White-browed Fantail - a truly terrific sooty-black and white flycatcher that bounces around with its tail held out in a stiff fan has long been condemned as an extralimital escapee in Hong Kong.

Cheers
Mike

Mike,

Sounds like your new year is starting off quite well! Not too many fireworks scaring the birds I guess. Am enjoying the pictures - the Blue Rock Thrush is quite nice!

Hi Gretchen

Happy New Year of the Rabbit! Looks like its seriously cold still up your way - I saw Shi Jin's pix of the frozen sea.

Plenty of firecrackers down here, and as a result I try to bird away from them - and have done fine.

Saturday - my bird race team had a recce day, and walking down the valley I had three different Pale Thrushes, the Wryneck on the burned ground at Pak Tin Kong, and two different groups of White-browed Laughingthrushes. A fine male Grey-backed Thrush zipped over the veggie patch before I left home and a second later I saw the tailless Chinese Blackbird that seems to have settled in for a few days . This bird is obviously no weakling - as I write this he's just chased off another full-tailed from what he obviously sees as his personal patch.

As we scanned we also picked out two Ashy Drongos - one of the white-cheeked race , one not, to add to the single bird I seen earlier, and Hair Crested Drongos were zipping about and calling helpfully. Further up the valley a distant,silhouetted Grosbeak sp. dropped off its perch - and flew off - before we could get a scope on it.

However the crowning moment was to have two courting Crested Serpent Eagles drift slowly overhead. They were then joined by a third, prompting no more angst than a few more calls - I'll post a YouTube clip later (the bird's a speck, but the call is clearly audible).

Sunday I went off-patch to photograph an exceptionally showy Rufous-gorgetted Flycatcher at Bride's Pool, but walking up from the roundabout on the way home I found Green and Common Sandpipers loafing together and a very freaked out Blue Whistling Thrush that I surprised round a turn in the path. It stood on the edge of a storm drain, flipping its tail, whistling in alarm and and twisting its head to check me out from all different angles, clearly having no idea what to do about this sudden apparition. To my complete surprise it solved the problem by dropping into the drain - and disappearing down a tunnel I didn't even know existed - totally Viet Cong!

Just upstream I found a fine Little Egret in spring finery perched conveniently close to the road at eye level, and a Common Kingfisher looking distinctly odd lurking on a pure-white anti-erosion fabric which had been laid on the banks of the stream.

At She Shan one of yesterday's Pale Thrushes was still present, as was a White's Thrush, my first of the year in the valley, but the big reward for birding through the quiet midday hours was finding a flock of about 25 Chinese Grosbeaks with a single Japanese Grosbeak among them!

As with the birds earlier in the week they were feeding on Chinese hackberry, and allowed close approach, which culminated in a rather poor set of pictures and a videoclip (here), which came out rather better.

Cheers
Mike

Again, nice pictures - your egret is especially handsome, and I like to see the sandpipers together. I'll have to look for Hackberry trees -seem like a good place to keep an eye on. So, the 3rd pick is the bw thrush? looks quite different - really "freaked out", and they like tunnels, hmm.

Are you getting ready for a race soon? When?

Mike, that Stonechat shot is awesome!

Thank Tom - the stonechat is perhaps my best ever digipic of a bird, so I'm well chuffed.

Our Bird Race was yesterday Gretchen, but as its a working week I've had little opportunity to prepare except to stand on my roof and listen out for the dawn chorus, which has been a little disappointing.

However there have been a few bits and pieces this week - I forgot to mention an Emerald Dove which flew through the carpark last Sunday, and since then, on Tuesday a Black-winged Cuckooshrike was in the big camphor tree , a flock of half a dozen Chinese Grosbeaks whipped past on Wednesday, landing in the "Dusky Thrush tree" and Savannah Nightjar and Collared Scops Owl were both calling when I came home yesterday evening. Barred Owlet has been flirting with our 0630 start time, sometimes before, sometimes after.

However Friday morning was a bit of a cracker - at 0810 50 Chinese Grosbeaks flew into the Dusky Thrush tree, and to my delight two Japanese Grosbeaks were with them - first time I've seen them from home!

The race was enjoyable, but somehow we ended up 20 species behind the winning team - 141 vs 161. Normally we're competitive (we've won twice) and thought we'd had a reasonable day, so this was a bit of a shock! There was some compensation: at 0430 the Brown Wood Owl was calling as I got up and we had at least 3 Woodcock in the burned field - my first of the winter.

Off patch during the day we managed to see the Rufous-gorgetted Flycatcher, Smew, Middendorff's Goose, and Mew Gull - all description species, plus 20 pristine Falcated Ducks and on Thursday BF Mark Bruce was in town and the highlight of an extended lunchbreak visit to Hong Kong University was a fine male Fujian Niltava.

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK said:

The race was enjoyable, but somehow we ended up 20 species behind the winning team - 141 vs 161. Normally we're competitive (we've won twice) and thought we'd had a reasonable day, so this was a bit of a shock!

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If it's any consolation Mike, we were shocked by the difference as well. (For the benefit of those not involved, I was on the winning team)

We were helped by a generous dose of luck I think - Bonelli's Eagle mobbing Imperial Eagle, Emerald Dove almost hitting me in the head, Lesser Shortwing, Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike, Grey Bushchat, Eurasian Siskin, Citrine Wagtail, etc., all the way to the end when we flushed a Striated Heron on the way round Mai Po to the finish line. And of course, the known birds on the way including the Rufous-gorgetted Flycatcher, Plumbeous Redstart, Eastern Water Rail, Smew, Bean Geese

Overall, it was probably one of the best days of birding I've ever had in Hong Kong. (Helped of course by winning the race!)

Sounds brilliant! Hong Kong birding rocks.

Larry Wheatland said:

Sounds brilliant! Hong Kong birding rocks.

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Yeah, thanks for sharing it with us Mike :t: Sounds like lots of nice birds, not just on race day.

You've made me think I should have been examining each bird in the Chinese Grosbeak flock I saw the other day... I feel so happy when I've positively identified one or two by checking features, thinking (mistakenly) "birds of a feather..." means they'll all be the same :eek!:

Despite the sixth consecutive day of mist, drizzle and low cloud in the valley there was a nice mix of species in the veggie patch this afternoon were headlined by a fine male Japanese Thrush, which kept getting just out of view before the distraction of a giant worm was too much and it finally succumbed to the power of coolpix. It was just one of three thrushes, with a first winter male Grey-backed Thrush putting in a rare appearance and a male Chinese Blackbird also showing well.

There was a good supporting cast of chats, with Siberian Stonechat, a female Daurian Redstart, a male Red-flanked Bluetail and a male Magpie Robin all appearing in a very good five minute spell. A Yellow-browed Warbler poking around the lettuces was a sure sign that winter has been going on a bit too long and food is becoming scarce for the smaller migrants.

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK said:

Another overcast day in the valley.

The top bird of the day was a fine winter plumaged taivana Yellow Wagtail which was on a field with a Grey Wagtail, the ocularis White Wagtail from a couple of weeks ago, three or four leucopsis White Wagtails, a couple of Olive-backed Pipits and half a dozen Oriental Turtle Doves.

Other birds in the same area included an Ashy Drongo, three Hair-crested Drongos, one of which posed well (you can even tell from the way its hairs are wafting which way the wind was blowing) Greater Coucal, Koel, Siberian Stonechat, Dusky Warbler, Daurian Redstart,Chinese Pond Heron, and Long-tailed Shrike.

Dylan also had Pallas' Leaf Warbler and a Verditer in his garden.

Cheers
Mike

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Such a treat and just amazing photos ...... thanks for showing.

Nice to see some green plants! Suggest to that Japanese Thrush to mix it up a little and take a different way north this spring. I know a great little garden for him in May called the Jinshitan Country Club. River side, lots of worms, great view of the ocean, a tennis court...

Dong Bei said:

Nice to see some green plants! Suggest to that Japanese Thrush to mix it up a little and take a different way north this spring. I know a great little garden for him in May called the Jinshitan Country Club. River side, lots of worms, great view of the ocean, a tennis court...

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Via Friendship Hotel in Beidaihe, just to break the journey up so to speak

Dong Bei said:

Nice to see some green plants! Suggest to that Japanese Thrush to mix it up a little and take a different way north this spring. I know a great little garden for him in May called the Jinshitan Country Club. River side, lots of worms, great view of the ocean, a tennis court...

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Ha ha... made me laugh. Fingers crossed!

Delighted that my distinctly unflattering shots of the Japanese Thrush have provoked such interest, and wild optimism for the spring!

I had more quality birding in Lam Tsuen on Sunday, and in a piece of un-asahamed crowd-pleasing - still with a Japanese flavour . . .

The highlight was finally getting a photograph of one of the Japanese Grosbeaks that have been wintering with a flock of Chinese Grosbeaks. Once again they were in the hackberry trees above the graves at the beginning of the path to Tai Om Shan, but even though they were silhouetted against a grimly overcast sky, the wonders of photo software allowed me to produce a reasonable image. After a bit of exploring I found a spot from which I could photograph a female Chinese Grosbeak at eye level, but the Japanese dropped quietly out of site as I started lining them up. The same area also held a small flock of Greater Necklaced Laughingthrushes which zipped through at high speed.

There were also good numbers of thrushes knocking about:

Saturday's Japanese Thrush was again in the veggie patch - and despite refusing to pose for a better portrait, had the good grace to hang around until this morning. The first of three Pale Thrusheswas poking about on a patch of newly turned soil a few metres along the path. The other two were fly-bys up in the forest at Tai Om. Four Grey-backed Thrushes added to the variety, and a male Chinese Backbird showed great skill in staying exactly out of shot!

Other good birds between Ping Long and Tai Om were a rather tame Crested Serpent Eagle that posed well on a decoratively overgrown electricity pole, a typically curious Tristram's Bunting (they can rarely resist responding to a good pishing), a leucogenys Ashy Drongo, single Mountain and Russet Bush Warblers called, 2 Red-flanked Bluetails and female Daurian Redstart were happy to oblige, and a Blue Magpie (which is rather rare in Lam Tsuen) lurched out of the pathside undergrowth.

Finally, a phyllosc sp. in the veggie patch showed a slim, but clear crown stripe, a dark rump and only the faintest hint of pale fringes to the tertials. I guess this could be an old and rather worn Yellow-browed Warbler, but any other opinions would be most welcome.

Cheers
Mike