Ng Tung Chai, Hong Kong (1 Viewer)

firstreesjohn · Feb 20, 2010

Grey-backed Thrush

Gretchen:

You can see one or two (?) of these, if you haven't already, near to you, at the Lotus Hills (Lianfangshan Park) in Beidaihe.

In late autumn and winter, the wooded areas here are very good for flocks of thrushes, generally.

MKinHK · Feb 20, 2010

I had a great start to the morning with two female Bull-headed Shrikes chasing each other around the car park at Tai Yeung Che.

I hard a harsh chattering call I didn't recognize from a small bush and just as I was thinking "I wonder if that's the Bull-headed Shrike". Immediately one popped out of the bush and landed on a nearby frame, but no sooner had it landed when another came screaming after it, and chased it up into the tall trees along the Lam Kam Road, before returning across the river.

My best guess is that the bird from the other side wandered into the territory of the Tai Yeung Che bird, and was chased away by the furious territory-holder. About an hour later I saw one of them in the cherry orchard at the Ping Long bus stop (Yuen Long direction), and I had a glimpse of the victorious female perched above the bridge at Tai Yeung Che from the bus.

Other good birds in the Tai Yeung Che area included a calling Blue Magpie, an Emerald Dove, and a Mountain Bush Warbler. The Crested Bulbul was on a convenient perch near the path.

Cheers
Mike K

Gretchen · Feb 20, 2010

More nice pics! I was rather excited to have a red-beaked blue magpie sitting for 5-10 minutes on our balcony railing, making one of its many interesting (softer) noises the other day. Great bird!

Is your other pic a red-whiskered bulbul or does it have another name too? (all the multiple bird names are so confusing for me!)

Gretchen · Feb 20, 2010

firstreesjohn said:
Gretchen:

You can see one or two (?) of these, if you haven't already, near to you, at the Lotus Hills (Lianfangshan Park) in Beidaihe.

In late autumn and winter, the wooded areas here are very good for flocks of thrushes, generally.

Thanks John. I saw one grey-backed last spring, along with 2 other kinds, but I still haven't seen enough to have developed much confidence with thrushes - though having such good views of the Naumann's the other day helped (and saw a Chinese Thrush pretty well in the spring). Seeing flocks of them would be a new experience at this point!

MKinHK · Feb 21, 2010

A swift hour between 0800 and 0900 this morning near Siu Om Shan and Pak Tin Kong:

Brown Wood Owl - heard by Dylan Saturday night around 7:20pm

Black-winged Cuckooshrike - 2
Scarlet Minivet - 4

Daurian Redstart - 1f
Siberian Rubythroat - 2 heard

Chinese Blackbird - 3
Grey-backed Thrush - 1f

Taiga Flycatcher - 1
Verditer - 1f

White-browed Laughingthrush - 3

Hair-crested Drongo - 2

Cheers
Mike K

MKinHK · Feb 27, 2010

Last night a Savanna Nightjar called above the village as I arrived back after work, and this morning a Blue Magpie called for a couple of minutes from the scaffolding where a new house is being built, and despite temperature rising over 20centigrade since last Saturday the Daurian Redstart was still on the veggie patch this morning along with a couple of Chinese Blackbirds.

With Spring in the air Koel and Plaintive Cuckoos are now calling and there are two pairs of White-breasted Waterhens displaying and contesting turf at full volume starting around 6 am every morning. Add in the Barn Swallows that are now back and holding territory and it won't be long before we start to see real passage and a thinning of winter visitors.

Cheers

Mike

MKinHK · Feb 28, 2010

The Savannah Nightjar was calling again last night; and today a swift 90 minutes on the patch paid off with a Black Kite chasing a Crested Honey Buzzard while I was trying to photograph the Blue Whistling Thrush and the Bull-headed Shrike is still here despite the rise in temperatures.

There were also a couple of Pacific Swifts in with a flock of 40-50 House Swifts and Barn Swallows obviously taking advantage of a hatch of winged insects over Tai Om woods.

More signs of spring . . .

Cheers
Mike

Gretchen · Mar 1, 2010

That Blue Whistling Thrush is a beauty! (and you and your new camera doing a very nice job) Sounds like lots of interesting activity going on on your patch!

It's strange to think that the coming of spring doesn't bring you lots of new birds as it does to us northerners, but that spring means your birds leave - different "seasons" I guess. I suppose you'll have a good number of migrants passing through in the next month, but no birds coming to breed there in HK?

MKinHK · Mar 3, 2010

Thanks Gretchen

all hand held so far, so I think I can do better!

This morning I heard both Large Hawk Cuckoo and Lesser Coucal singing and at 5am this morning the large owl was giving its three note call.

Another sign of spring was the White-browed Laughingthrush coming into the grassland close to Ping Long

I also heard Savannah Nightjar last night for the fourth day in a row.

. . . and the final big news is that Red-throated Thrush became the 500th bird to be added to the Hong Kong list!

MKinHK · Mar 6, 2010

Three Red-rumped Swallows were flying round the house this afternoon - my first of the year.

I also got some shots of the female Daurian Redstart, Red-whiskered Bubuls eating guava fresh on the tree and a Sooty-headed Bulbul.

Cheers

Mike

Gretchen · Mar 7, 2010

Nice! I missed seeing the Daurian Redstart that wintered here last year - I wasn't out enough to see it, so I don't know if it stayed again or not. If those Red-whiskered guys have eaten all the missing guava in that pic, they are pretty ferocious eaters. Great views on all the pics!

MKinHK · Mar 7, 2010

Thanks Gretchen.

A couple more pix - one of Chinese Bulbul at the same guava - obviously conveniently placed at head height, and a couple more of the Crested and Sooty-headed Bulbuls.

Lam Tsuen also hosted BF Bristol to Kagu icons Larry and Nicky for a very dank morning. The highlights were the flock of Black Bulbuls that has now been here almost 2 months and Chestnut Bulbuls that were new for them.

We also had three Black-winged Cuckooshrikes together at the bottom of Tai Om Shan, an Ashy Drongo, and calling Pygmy Wren Babbler, Black-naped Monarch, Mountain Bush Warbler and singing Pallas' Leaf Warbler.

That was it for my birding but you can read Larry & Nicky's thread for an update on what they saw at Mai Po this afternoon.

Cheers
Mike

Larry Sweetland · Mar 8, 2010

A big thank you to Mike from us for showing us around his local patch and sorting us out with a smart looking lifer, Chestnut Bulbul. Don't know what we'd have done later that day if Mike hadn't also provided us with some warm clothing. We stupidly left our room in just T-shirts, and the weather turned much colder than we expected!

MKinHK · Mar 10, 2010

Larry

Only sorry the patch didn't perform better for you, but at least HK, and especially Mai Po, did!

I had one of the Bull-headed Shrikes at the bus stop this morning. It narrowly avoided an untimely death on the road, before returning to the cherry orchard.

Cheers

Mike

Gretchen · Mar 11, 2010

Glad to see on the other thread that you managed to see that Philippine duck!

Do you get to see the pygmy wren babbler some or is it pretty skulky? I might have had a glimpse of one at Doi Inthanon - but very brief!

MKinHK · Mar 15, 2010

Hi Gretchen

Pygmy Wren Babbler is very skulking- I see it one time in 8 or 10 times I hear it calling.

A new, and long overdue, patch tick this morning - a female Grey Bushchat - at Tai Yeung Che where I failed to connect with a first winter male Crested Bunting that was photographed there yesterday. However, the Bull-headed Shrike was still present, and Dylan also had the Riverchat.

Cheers
Mike

firstreesjohn · Mar 15, 2010

Pygmy Wren Babbler

Although I've 'seen' this in the gloom on most occasions I've been on the summit boardwalk at Doi Inthanon, Thailand, the best views were near our rather nice rooms at Wawu, Sichuan.

(Another Sichuan plug, Gretchen ! )

Out in the open for minutes on end (and not just once), it did the opposite of what a skulker is supposed to do- singing loudly, right out in the open and in broad daylight.

MKinHK · Mar 18, 2010

Nice pic - another good reason to go to Wawu someday.

Another good patch bird today - an Oriental Pratincole was over the trashed land at about 1:45 The nearest a bird has come to Lam Tsuen is one seen from KARC a few years ago.

Other good birds included the flock of 25 Black Bulbuls still at Tai Om Shan, female Bull-headed Shrikes at Tai Yeung Che and the fields south of the She Shan Road, and a Common Rosefinch and Daurian Redstart at the same spot.

The Brown Wood Owl called again last night shortly after midnight and the Savanna Nightjar was going strong tonight

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK · Mar 21, 2010

An interesting morning on the patch kicking off with just the second Black-throated Laughingthrush making it down to the veggie gardens around the house.

There were also a couple of Black-faced Buntings and Chinese Blackbirds which came to visit, a singing Olive-backed Pipit, and most surprising a Javan Mongoose, which sidled through.

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK · Mar 25, 2010

Quiet this week so far although a couple of nights of poor sleep have allowed me to hear the three note call of the Brown Wood Owl in the fung shui wood opposite the house, and Savanna Nightjar continues to call over the village in the evenings.

The Black-faced Buntings are still hanging about too.

Cheers

Mike

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