MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Sunday morning brought more promising weather - fresh northeast winds and some persistent drizzle - for a walk around the valley with Don Sutherland, who was visiting from the US.
As we arrived in Tai Om a grey-brown flycatcher silhouetted atop a dead tree flicked out before we could confirm its ID, and while we were waiting two juvenile Sooty Flycatchers tumbled onto a wire just a few metres away. Assuming that one of the was our original bird we headed up the valley, scoring early with a band of Greater Necklaced Laughingthrushes including one that had the good manners to preen in plain sight underneath the canopy of a small tree. The path up the valley had been newly cleared, but there were not too many birds except brief views of a Crested Serpent Eagle until a small group of Rufous-capped Babblers and a Mountain Tailorbird responded wonderfully to some pishing and came to investigate us from close quarters in the ruined village, and a Silver-eared Mesia put in a brief appearance.
On the way down a Crested Goshawk was was giving its characteristic wing-flicking fluffy-undertail display, and a Grey-streaked Flycatcher, which is what I had suspected the first bird we saw to be. An oddity on a collapse banana tree was my first ever leaf-cutter bee, complete with leaf.
As we passed Tai Om village a funeral was underway that included a venerable and uniformed four piece brass band that mangled "Abide with me" and a couple of other old standards before giving way to the more usual cymbal clashers. However, being birder the sight of a fine pair of Scarlet Minivets soon distracted our attention. And as we passed the house of the (former) dog that bit me a Besra drifted over before a superb Black-naped Oriole swooped over before perching scope-ably (if that 's a word) in a fruiting fig tree.
Our next stop was Lung A Pai, where we stopped to photograph a fine mural showing Crested Mynas while waiting for a pair of cheerfully growing White-cheeked Laughingthrushes to show themselves. The real highlight here was a superbly photogenic hairstreak butterfly - a Purple Sapphire, whose bright golden yellow underwings were set off perfectly by the yellow marigold on which it chose to pose (although the sharpest pic was after it flipped onto a leaf). Here we also had a flock of 50-odd minivets in a couple of sizes, of which only Scarlets were calling. However they remained frustrating distant and silhouetted, making any further ID impossible.
Over at She Shan a couple of Swintail Snipe were on the same marshy patch as the day before and a lone Richard's Pipit sowed on the shorter grass along with several Zitting Cisticolas and a Pallas' Grasshopper Warbler. This was the start of a bit of a purple patch. While we stood there a Black-winged Cuckooshrike flooped over before circling back to land in the giant bamboo by the river, and as were crossed the river a Dollarbird appeared from nowhere on the wires some 25 metres away. As the rain got heavier we sheltered under a tree and picked out a Hair-crested Drongo gracing a distant telegraph wire. As we stepped out we noticed a superb adult Crested Serpent Eagle sitting out the rain giving us great views before becoming camera shy and seeking better shelter in a tree canopy . . . and as it disappeared four Black-naped Orioles and another Black-winged Cuckooshrike dropped out of the sky and into a tree right in front of us.
And that was it for the morning. Don came away with 15 new species plus the hairstreak, which was my personal bird of the day - which is admittedly a bit perverse on a day when migrants were literally falling out of the sky!
Cheers
Mike
As we arrived in Tai Om a grey-brown flycatcher silhouetted atop a dead tree flicked out before we could confirm its ID, and while we were waiting two juvenile Sooty Flycatchers tumbled onto a wire just a few metres away. Assuming that one of the was our original bird we headed up the valley, scoring early with a band of Greater Necklaced Laughingthrushes including one that had the good manners to preen in plain sight underneath the canopy of a small tree. The path up the valley had been newly cleared, but there were not too many birds except brief views of a Crested Serpent Eagle until a small group of Rufous-capped Babblers and a Mountain Tailorbird responded wonderfully to some pishing and came to investigate us from close quarters in the ruined village, and a Silver-eared Mesia put in a brief appearance.
On the way down a Crested Goshawk was was giving its characteristic wing-flicking fluffy-undertail display, and a Grey-streaked Flycatcher, which is what I had suspected the first bird we saw to be. An oddity on a collapse banana tree was my first ever leaf-cutter bee, complete with leaf.
As we passed Tai Om village a funeral was underway that included a venerable and uniformed four piece brass band that mangled "Abide with me" and a couple of other old standards before giving way to the more usual cymbal clashers. However, being birder the sight of a fine pair of Scarlet Minivets soon distracted our attention. And as we passed the house of the (former) dog that bit me a Besra drifted over before a superb Black-naped Oriole swooped over before perching scope-ably (if that 's a word) in a fruiting fig tree.
Our next stop was Lung A Pai, where we stopped to photograph a fine mural showing Crested Mynas while waiting for a pair of cheerfully growing White-cheeked Laughingthrushes to show themselves. The real highlight here was a superbly photogenic hairstreak butterfly - a Purple Sapphire, whose bright golden yellow underwings were set off perfectly by the yellow marigold on which it chose to pose (although the sharpest pic was after it flipped onto a leaf). Here we also had a flock of 50-odd minivets in a couple of sizes, of which only Scarlets were calling. However they remained frustrating distant and silhouetted, making any further ID impossible.
Over at She Shan a couple of Swintail Snipe were on the same marshy patch as the day before and a lone Richard's Pipit sowed on the shorter grass along with several Zitting Cisticolas and a Pallas' Grasshopper Warbler. This was the start of a bit of a purple patch. While we stood there a Black-winged Cuckooshrike flooped over before circling back to land in the giant bamboo by the river, and as were crossed the river a Dollarbird appeared from nowhere on the wires some 25 metres away. As the rain got heavier we sheltered under a tree and picked out a Hair-crested Drongo gracing a distant telegraph wire. As we stepped out we noticed a superb adult Crested Serpent Eagle sitting out the rain giving us great views before becoming camera shy and seeking better shelter in a tree canopy . . . and as it disappeared four Black-naped Orioles and another Black-winged Cuckooshrike dropped out of the sky and into a tree right in front of us.
And that was it for the morning. Don came away with 15 new species plus the hairstreak, which was my personal bird of the day - which is admittedly a bit perverse on a day when migrants were literally falling out of the sky!
Cheers
Mike
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