The Magic Roundabout (1 Viewer)

MKinHK · Mar 15, 2014

Waiting for spring to kick in here . . . but doubling my record Large-billed Crow count from two to four was hardly it!

Two Grey-backed Thrushes were still about along with singles each of Pallas's Leaf Warbler and Yellow-browed Warbler and finally, there were six OBPs on the Grassy Verge.

Here are a couple of pix from the past couple of weeks

Off patch I had a late Eastern Buzzard from the train going past the Sunny Bay stop

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK · Mar 18, 2014

This morning started superbly today when I picked up a Grey-headed Lapwing on the waterlogged grassy patch just to the south of the terminal buildings from my morning bus ride.

Hoping to get a photo I headed back at lunchtime to find that this area was hopping with birds - a second Grey-headed Lapwing had joined the first, a Swintail Snipe flushed out of the same patch where the grass was marginally longer, a female Stejneger's Stonechat was hunting from a low perch and an unidentified wader was flushed by runners and disappeared before I could get onto it. This was very frustrating as it was right in size for Oriental Plover - and there has already been one at Mai Po this month . . .

Other useful bits and pieces included a male Chinese Blackbird, thirty-odd Silky Starlings, a pair of Black-necked Starlings, a couple of Barn Swallows, a rather scruffy Yellow-browed Warbler and four each of Richard's Pipit and Olive-backed Pipit.

Cheers
Mike

PS pix tomorrow

MKinHK · Mar 19, 2014

. . .and even more birds for the patch today - it really seems like the midwinter blues have been sent on their way by the arrival of spring!

Having said that today's patch tick was a Black-billed Magpie (116), which is very much a resident species here, flying over the waste water treatment plant. I saw it from the bus on my way in an hour earlier than usual as I wanted to check out the Lapwing pool again. And lo . . . one of the Grey-headed Lapwings was again present, along with the Swintail Snipe, which sat still long enough for me to fire off a couple of shots. Undying gratitude to anyone who can conclusively nail this as either Swinhoe's or Pintail Snipe.

Unfortunately the Lapwing displayed exquisitely bad timing by flying off a second before I pulled the trigger. You can't win 'em all. Other birds in the area included a Common Sandpiper, a few Silky Starlings and Crested Mynas, a Richard's Pipit and a couple of White Wagtails.

At lunchtime a stroll round the roundabout delivered again with two Yellow-browed Warblers, a Grey-backed Thrush on the Eastern Tangle, seven OBPs, a Great Egret on the landing light jetty, a flyover Black Kite and at least three and possibly four splendid Chestnut Bulbuls, which simply could not decide where to sit and flipped from tree top to treetop merrily singing out their distinctive "kiss me quick" call.

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK · Mar 24, 2014

This afternoon's lunchtime session on the roundabout was a funny old mix - staring with a new high count of three Spotted Doves in a flowering meelia tree on the Grassy Verge, two calling Yellow-Browed Warblers and a surprise Chestnut Bulbul lingering in the Core Area, a juvenile Black-tailed Gull out over the sea near the landing lights, and a newly arrived Dusky Warbler lurking at the easternmost corner of the Northern Edge.

With time to spare I wandered over to the lapwing pool, adding another YBW and a Dusky Shrike on the golf course and a dozen or so Silky Starlings, a couple of Richard's Pipits and some OBPs lurking in the stunted palm-like trees before finding a Common Sandpiper, an LRP and a splendid brick-pink Red-throated Pipit plus several Silky Starlings bathing in one of the remaining standing pools.

Cheers
Mike

Peewit · Mar 24, 2014

Hi Mike

Wow a job with a birding view - and it is sounding good :t:

I hope if/when I work again, birding will be a great to while away a lunch time. with a walk in the fresh air and an keen eye on nature bodes well anyday :-O

Afraid I am another Magic Roundabout fan from the olden days (from earler posts in this thread) - age is catching up here LOL 3

Regards
Kathy
x

MKinHK · Mar 28, 2014

Not much fresh air on this Magic Roundabout I'm afraid Kathy - although I do appreciate it being so close to work.

We're still very much in transition this week. An early start on Tuesday proved a quiet disappointment with only a second view of the Magpie from the bus and a flushed female Grey-backed Thrush and three or four Red-billed Starlings on the golf course to lighten the gloom.

Today was better as I added four White-shouldered Starlings amongst the 30-odd Silky Starlings, including one with a ochre-washed belly to leave me one short of 50 for the quarter and only Monday remaining to fill the gap.

There were also two pristine Red-throated Pipits on the lawn by the lapwing pool, with a couple each of OBP and Richard's Pipit. . . but still no flycatchers. A Dusky Shrike sat long enough for an upgraded portrait for this species at the airport.

Cheers
Mike

McMadd · Mar 28, 2014

MKinHK said:
Not much fresh air on this Magic Roundabout I'm afraid Kathy - although I do appreciate it being so close to work.

We're still very much in transition this week. An early start on Tuesday proved a quiet disappointment with only a second view of the Magpie from the bus and a flushed female Grey-backed Thrush and three or four Red-billed Starlings on the golf course to lighten the gloom.

Today was better as I added four White-shouldered Starlings amongst the 30-odd Silky Starlings, including one with a ochre-washed belly to leave me one short of 50 for the quarter and only Monday remaining to fill the gap.

There were also two pristine Red-throated Pipits on the lawn by the lapwing pool, with a couple each of OBP and Richard's Pipit. . . but still no flycatchers. A Dusky Shrike sat long enough for an upgraded portrait for this species at the airport.

Cheers
Mike

Wow! The Dusky Shrike is quite...pale...hadn't realised they were quite so variable Mike...good stuff as always

cheers
McM

MKinHK · Apr 1, 2014

Dusky Thrushes are indeed pretty variable - at least in HK Mark.

On Saturday it started raining. On Sunday night it rained very hard indeed. On Monday I did both roundabouts looking for storm-tossed migrants and came up three Black-crowned Night Herons (which actually were probably local birds) , a solitary Yellow Wagtail and a philippensis Blue Rock Thrush were on the golf course and a a couple of Swintail Snipe and two Red-throated Pipits on the lawn near the Lapwing pool. There were also five White-shouldered Starlings in the banyans and 30-odd Silky Starlings feeding near another temporary pool.

The best of these was the wagtail, which was my 50th bird of the quarter. I also had the Common Magpie for the second time on one of the roundabouts near the Cathay Pacific building.

So the second quarter of my birding year and sixth since I began birding at the airport closed with five new additions - two gulls, two waders and the long overdue Black-billed Magpie. It took 22 visits to pick up the 50 species I recorded, which was 8 species (or 16%) more than I managed in the same quarter last year. My personal highlights were the good numbers of gulls from the seawatch point and the photographing the Grey-headed Lapwings and Swintail Snipe on the Lapwing Pool.

1st April
Today it had rained overnight, but cleared by the time I caught my bus. I'm starting to have doubts about the Magpie - as I found it in pretty much the same spot as on Monday. If it's still there tomorrow I'll have to start worrying about it being a hoax that has been put there to get my blood racing and serve as the subject for another pointless thread in the Rarities Bird News section.

Anyway .. . the migration season finally started for real when I picked up male Narcissus Flycatcher and Blue-and-white Flycatcher on the Eastern Tangle. Both showed pretty well, but only the B&W sat still long enough for pix.
A Yellow-browed Warbler and a the same Dusky Warbler were also present, as were the Black-crowned Night Herons.

Three small swifts went over just too high for me to be certain there was no white rump, so while they may have been Himalayan Swiftlets they will sadly have to go down as ones that got away.

Still, after the flycatchers I wasn't too bothered!

Cheers
Mike

thrush · Apr 1, 2014

Your Hong Kong flycatchers are harbingers of good things to come up here in Shanghai. Thanks for the heads-up! I'll be on the lookout.

thirudevaram · Apr 2, 2014

Could there be someone so 无聊 to crash the roundabout sightings Mike? Corvids are good vantage point specialists and they stick to their perches if it's a good vantage point. Great news on the flycatchers.

MKinHK · Apr 3, 2014

More rain, but only one more flycatcher today - a solitary Asian Brown Flycatcher in the Core Area, along with a nicely confiding Common Sandpiper which started in a ditch on the Grassy Verge, but flipped across the slip road to hunker down on the edge of a puddle. I was disappointed not to pick up any birds except the same three Black-crowned Night Herons on the Tangles, but scored only my second ocularisWhite Wagtail - a very pale bird - along with the leucopsis x alboides White Wagtail on the lawn by the Northern Edge. This same area also held three OBPs and a fine male philippensis Blue Rock Thrush , which perched on a corner of the substation roof.

The golf course was virtually deserted - at least by golfers, which made space for two fine Oriental Pratincoles, a Little Ringed Plover and another Common Sandpiper and a couple of Richard's Pipits. Eight or so Barn Swallows moving steadily East completed the set of migrants for the day.

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK · Apr 8, 2014

So far this is looking like a quiet spring.

Friday last week I had just one migrant - a fine adult Chinese Pond Heron that was perched among the blossoms on one of the (presumably naturally-seeded) meelia trees. The only other additions to the quarterly list being confined to Great Tit, a Spotted Dove and a long-staying female Grey-backed Thrush that scuttled away into cover giving only the briefest of views.

Today was a little better - producing a very active Asian Brown Flycatcher and a male Narcissus Flycatcher on the Core Area along with a couple of displaying leucopsis White Wagtails. They both appeared to be male birds with black backs and full bibs - one of which had a funny white spot on the right-hand side of the bib. They jumped about a foot in the air and then droop and ran a few steps and repeated - giving a fine demonstration of why they are called ballerinas in Italian. While that was going on a Pale-legged / Sakhalin Leaf Warbler began calling persistently, but refused to come out for my pishing.

Edit: On the golf course the Dusky Shrike was having fun chasing the male philippensis Rock Thrush from perch to perch

Cheers
Mike

Frogfish · Apr 8, 2014

Mike, you need to come up to Shanghai more than I need to come to HK it seems ! Our Migration Season has just exploded into life.

MKinHK · Apr 9, 2014

No explosions here, but I did get my first good bird for a while - a female Brown-headed Thrush (118) was lurking at the top of the bank on the Western Tangle at luchtime today. This was my tenth species of thrush and probably the species I have most trouble seeing in HK - with just three or four sightings in the last 20 years.

It only just gave away enough of itself for me to be sure it wasn't a female Grey-backed, but as the dribs and drabs of partial/semi-obstructed and murky views built up over a couple of minutes it became clear that there was a fine uniformity to the brown on the head, back and neck, a deeper and more orangey tint to the flanks, no hint of spotting on the breast and a properly part-yellow-part dark-coloured bill.

More than happy with that I also found a rather scruffy male Blue-and-white Flycatcher and a single Dusky Warbler on the Northern Edge and at least five and possibly as many as seven Black-crowned Night Herons lurking on the Eastern Tangle.

There were five or six White Wagtails - all leucopsis as far as I could tell on the golf course, along with three or four Richard's Pipits and a couple of Black-necked Starlings.

I also had a couple of Silky Starlings from the bus on the way in and several Little Egrets from the train on my way into town this afternoon.

Cheers
Mike

Ps I 've also added pix of the Common Sand on the Grassy verge to give an idea that migrants can turn up and make use of just about any habitat!

Gretchen · Apr 10, 2014

Though not "scenic" - it is fun to see the bigger context. It looks pretty clean and pleasant though. Congrats on getting the unusual thrush.

thirudevaram · Apr 10, 2014

I'm at the verge of two years since my last sighting of the Brown-headed Thrush. Would love one up here

MKinHK · Apr 13, 2014

Slightly shocked to be portraying the ambience of the roundabout in such a good light, but since it seems to be working here's another pic to make it look even more lovely . . . (to be posted shortly)

Dev - with spring migration in full swing I guess you have very chance for a Brown-headed Thrush. We'll never know but there's even the faintest of chances that my bird might turn up in Shanghai!

Friday started well with another snipe sp. from the bus, and then I cut off a conversation with one of my team to confirm that a wader with a big white rump was flying around outside the window was an Oriental Pratincole. I also added Black Kite for the quarter, and another adult Chinese Pond Heron was again on the Core Area.

All three pix were taken on 8th April (see above)

Cheers
Mike

Gretchen · Apr 13, 2014

Ooooh it looks like you have flowers! Have a faint recollection of those appearing on bushes, trees and plants, but still waiting to see evidence locally (Minneapolis is just getting over 40 degrees today). Nice shot of the narcissus too.

MKinHK · Apr 18, 2014

And some more flowers Gretchen - this time on a banksia tree.

Just one visit to the Roundabout this week as this season continues to be more of a hop than a spring . . .

The only migrants were a Chinese Starling in the banksia along with some Crested Mynas, and a Richard's Pipit on the golf course, but I did also have a Great Egret on the silt curtain in the bay and a couple of Black-crowned Night Heron again on the Eastern Tangle.

Cheers
Mike

Gretchen · Apr 18, 2014

Nice photo! (and interesting o see the unfolding flower) I'm watching your pics with particular interest since we just got a Canon 50x and are still working out its (and our) abilities.

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