thirudevaram
Trapped in mist ***s
Pretty distinct! Fortunately, it's not even complicated as hybrids of gull species. Good for me. Should be an interesting species for a work day.
-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
The Magic Roundabout (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter MKinHK
- Start date
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Distinctive indeed Dev. There was no sign of it today, but I did add another bird to the Roundabout list - a Common Buzzard - my 39th species since I started here in October. With three working days left the obvious target is 40 spp. in Q42012
Other birds included a well-seen female Japanese Thrush (giving a bit more substance to my guess on the zeep-away from the day before) and a male Grey-backed Thrush, both in the northern border, plus three Olive-backed Pipits and a female Daurian Redstart on the lawn.
Ten Japanese White-eye were too high and flighty to check for Chestnut-flanked, and a Common Tailorbird was my first for a week or two.
Other regulars included three leucopsis White Wagtails, a couple of YBWs and the rock-steady female Stegneger's Stonechat.
Cheers
Mike
Other birds included a well-seen female Japanese Thrush (giving a bit more substance to my guess on the zeep-away from the day before) and a male Grey-backed Thrush, both in the northern border, plus three Olive-backed Pipits and a female Daurian Redstart on the lawn.
Ten Japanese White-eye were too high and flighty to check for Chestnut-flanked, and a Common Tailorbird was my first for a week or two.
Other regulars included three leucopsis White Wagtails, a couple of YBWs and the rock-steady female Stegneger's Stonechat.
Cheers
Mike
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
One more speciers for the list today, but not a new one - I'm pretty sure I've seen Black-necked Starling previously, but a pair flushed by a maintenance team provided sifficient confirmation to safely claim my 40th species.
Therre usual suspects were still about (Stejneger's Stonechat, Daurian Redstart, White Wagtail and YBW), but a male Chinese Blackbird seen from the bus on the way in was a good start to the day, four Olive-backed Pipits was a new high count, a Dusky Warbler was my first for a while, and bird of the day was a Wryneck, which may have been brought in by yesterday's cold front.
This will be be my last post before the holiday, so Merry Christmas and many thanks for following this rather random thread which (gardens apart) must be the smallest patch on BirdForum.
Cheers
Mike
Therre usual suspects were still about (Stejneger's Stonechat, Daurian Redstart, White Wagtail and YBW), but a male Chinese Blackbird seen from the bus on the way in was a good start to the day, four Olive-backed Pipits was a new high count, a Dusky Warbler was my first for a while, and bird of the day was a Wryneck, which may have been brought in by yesterday's cold front.
This will be be my last post before the holiday, so Merry Christmas and many thanks for following this rather random thread which (gardens apart) must be the smallest patch on BirdForum.
Cheers
Mike
Last edited:
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
It's been a real pleasure to find this site Gretchen . . . and even more to be finding birds of the quality that I have been seeing . . . and again saw today!
It started predictably enough with a Chinese Blackbird from the bus this morning, and the two female chats - Stejneger's Stonechat and Daurian Redstart and four Olive-backed Pipits on the grassy patch, plus my first view of the Long-tailed Shrike - nicely fluffed up against the cold - for several weeks.
As I walked up to the crash barrier I saw a rather slender and upright thrush on the grass some forty metres away. Thinking it would be Eye-browed I got the bins on it and was somewhat nonplussed by the slightly washed-out rufous orange breast and head. Then the penny dropped - a stonking adult male NAUMANN'S THRUSH!. This is an absolutely massive bird for me - a self-found Hong Kong tick, on the Magic Roundabout, just the second since 1990 and the thirteenth ever, and even better, a claw-back from one I dipped at Lok Ma Chau two years ago!
Absolutely delighted, I watched it feeding on the grass for a few minutes in full view - another big bonus as most thrushes grot about nervously in the leaf litter in deep cover and flush out, giving the dodgiest of arse-end views.
My delight deepened as I realised it was just too classic a bird to have any hint of the hybrid about it.
The head and breast were beautifully washed orange-rufous which extended from the lower breast up the neck and throat and onto the sides of the neck, where it merged smoothly into the slightly colder brown of the upperparts. From the side the long supercilium looked the same colour, but a paler straw yellow from head-on. It had a brown eyestripe through the eye and connecting with the nape and down onto the ear coverts.
The crown nape and back was a less orangy brown, while the rump and tail was distinctively rufous - looking all rufous in flight, but with a couple of darker brown central rectrices and the same diffuse darker tones across the tip when on the deck. The dark tertials showed distinctive narrow rufous fringes, while the folded primaries looked all-dark, contrasting with the brighter orange-rufous of the rump and uppertail.
Most importantly the spotting on the flanks was a consistent rufous orange against a pale belly, becoming denser on the rear flanks and merging nicely into the orange-rufous rump.
It was wonderful to watch it feeding to within 25 metres of me, first on the grass, and then rooting vigorously through the leaf litter in front of the recently-pruned bushes. It twice flew in the twenty minutes I watched it, but each time returned within a couple of minutes, obviously deciding that however poor, this was still the best available habitat.
A real red-letter day, but with two more working days to go I'm reluctant to call time just yet on a glorious end to the year on my truly Magic Roundabout!
Cheers
Mike
It started predictably enough with a Chinese Blackbird from the bus this morning, and the two female chats - Stejneger's Stonechat and Daurian Redstart and four Olive-backed Pipits on the grassy patch, plus my first view of the Long-tailed Shrike - nicely fluffed up against the cold - for several weeks.
As I walked up to the crash barrier I saw a rather slender and upright thrush on the grass some forty metres away. Thinking it would be Eye-browed I got the bins on it and was somewhat nonplussed by the slightly washed-out rufous orange breast and head. Then the penny dropped - a stonking adult male NAUMANN'S THRUSH!. This is an absolutely massive bird for me - a self-found Hong Kong tick, on the Magic Roundabout, just the second since 1990 and the thirteenth ever, and even better, a claw-back from one I dipped at Lok Ma Chau two years ago!
Absolutely delighted, I watched it feeding on the grass for a few minutes in full view - another big bonus as most thrushes grot about nervously in the leaf litter in deep cover and flush out, giving the dodgiest of arse-end views.
My delight deepened as I realised it was just too classic a bird to have any hint of the hybrid about it.
The head and breast were beautifully washed orange-rufous which extended from the lower breast up the neck and throat and onto the sides of the neck, where it merged smoothly into the slightly colder brown of the upperparts. From the side the long supercilium looked the same colour, but a paler straw yellow from head-on. It had a brown eyestripe through the eye and connecting with the nape and down onto the ear coverts.
The crown nape and back was a less orangy brown, while the rump and tail was distinctively rufous - looking all rufous in flight, but with a couple of darker brown central rectrices and the same diffuse darker tones across the tip when on the deck. The dark tertials showed distinctive narrow rufous fringes, while the folded primaries looked all-dark, contrasting with the brighter orange-rufous of the rump and uppertail.
Most importantly the spotting on the flanks was a consistent rufous orange against a pale belly, becoming denser on the rear flanks and merging nicely into the orange-rufous rump.
It was wonderful to watch it feeding to within 25 metres of me, first on the grass, and then rooting vigorously through the leaf litter in front of the recently-pruned bushes. It twice flew in the twenty minutes I watched it, but each time returned within a couple of minutes, obviously deciding that however poor, this was still the best available habitat.
A real red-letter day, but with two more working days to go I'm reluctant to call time just yet on a glorious end to the year on my truly Magic Roundabout!
Cheers
Mike
Last edited:
McMadd
You should see the other bloke...
Congratulations Mike!
Excellent record, excellent bird! We had one last weekend up here and I have to say I was well taken with the subtlety of the bird...pics on my thread once I've got my act together to write things up...
Here's to a bird-filled 2013...let's take this as an omen of the riches to follow!!
ATB
Mark
Excellent record, excellent bird! We had one last weekend up here and I have to say I was well taken with the subtlety of the bird...pics on my thread once I've got my act together to write things up...
Here's to a bird-filled 2013...let's take this as an omen of the riches to follow!!
ATB
Mark
JWN Andrewes
Poor Judge of Pasta.
Nice one Mike. Been enjoying this thread. Good luck for 2013 (and indeed the balance of 2012).
James
James
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Many thanks everyone!
The Naumann's Thrush a.k.a. King of the Magic Roundabout as I've called him showed superbly again today, although preferring to forage in the leaf litter under the canopy rather than the open lawn.
It didn't matter. It came to within 10 metres of the bunch of photographers who turned up to pay homage, and received much more grief from a pair of Magpie Robins, a Brown Shrike and an unidentified thrush that occasionally chased it off for a few minutes.
I got some shots and a short film of it foraging, but then left my camera in the office, so the pix will have to wait until next week. However the pix from my friends Peter and Michelle are pretty spectacular.
Other birds seen today included two Daurian Redstarts, a Pale Thrush, a Brown Flycatcher, and the usual 4 OBPs and female Stejneger's Stonechat.
Cheers
Mike
PS Tom, I wonder who that wise man was?
The Naumann's Thrush a.k.a. King of the Magic Roundabout as I've called him showed superbly again today, although preferring to forage in the leaf litter under the canopy rather than the open lawn.
It didn't matter. It came to within 10 metres of the bunch of photographers who turned up to pay homage, and received much more grief from a pair of Magpie Robins, a Brown Shrike and an unidentified thrush that occasionally chased it off for a few minutes.
I got some shots and a short film of it foraging, but then left my camera in the office, so the pix will have to wait until next week. However the pix from my friends Peter and Michelle are pretty spectacular.
Other birds seen today included two Daurian Redstarts, a Pale Thrush, a Brown Flycatcher, and the usual 4 OBPs and female Stejneger's Stonechat.
Cheers
Mike
PS Tom, I wonder who that wise man was?
Last edited:
Jeff Hopkins
Just another...observer
God Save the King!
Great find, Mike.
Great find, Mike.
thirudevaram
Trapped in mist ***s
A well deserved bird for holidays. Don't forget your worktime Mike!!! o
Wish you many more additions to your newly found and interesting patch in the new year.
Wish you many more additions to your newly found and interesting patch in the new year.
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Many thanks Dev and Mark
Some sad news - on Sunday the Naumann's Thrush was found dead with a Long-tailed Shrike standing over it. It seems extraordinary for a Long-tailed Shrike to take such a large bird that appeared to be in good health the day before, so any insight would be most welcome.
On a happier note my last session of the year at lunchtime today was also productive, if not to the same dramatic scale. (Dev: the Roundabout is such a small patch that lunchtime is more than plenty -but don't go putting ideas into my head!)
The pick of the bunch was a fine Black Bulbul - with a nice white head that was after the fruit in one of the meelia trees, closely followed by a welcome return from the leucopis x alboides White Wagtail.
I also had singles of Grey-backed, Japanese and Pale Thrushes, plus the regular Daurian Redstart (2), Stejneger's Stonechat and Asian Brown Flycatcher on the grass verge. I also heard a Yellow-browed Warbler.
So the final score for the first quarter is 42 species.
Best wishes to everyone for the New Year!
Cheers
Mike
Some sad news - on Sunday the Naumann's Thrush was found dead with a Long-tailed Shrike standing over it. It seems extraordinary for a Long-tailed Shrike to take such a large bird that appeared to be in good health the day before, so any insight would be most welcome.
On a happier note my last session of the year at lunchtime today was also productive, if not to the same dramatic scale. (Dev: the Roundabout is such a small patch that lunchtime is more than plenty -but don't go putting ideas into my head!)
The pick of the bunch was a fine Black Bulbul - with a nice white head that was after the fruit in one of the meelia trees, closely followed by a welcome return from the leucopis x alboides White Wagtail.
I also had singles of Grey-backed, Japanese and Pale Thrushes, plus the regular Daurian Redstart (2), Stejneger's Stonechat and Asian Brown Flycatcher on the grass verge. I also heard a Yellow-browed Warbler.
So the final score for the first quarter is 42 species.
Best wishes to everyone for the New Year!
Cheers
Mike
thirudevaram
Trapped in mist ***s
That's a sad end to the famous Naumann's which attracted lot of attention, yesterday i saw a failed attempt of long-tailed shrike trying to snatch a pale thrush. I guess the shrike at your place had a run of luck, all part of the food chain.
Happy new year Mike!
Happy new year Mike!
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
It definitely went out in a blaze of glory Dev!
First day of a new quarter - and a pretty good start with an impressive 19 species, including two new birds - Eurasian Kestrel and four Scaly-breasted Munias.
Regular attendees included the first winter male Grey-backed Thrush, female Japanese Thrush and a rather dull Chinese Blackbird. Chinese and Red-whiskered Bulbuls, leucopsis White Wagtail, four OBPs, Pallas's and Dusky Warblers, ten Crested Mynas, and the usual two Daurian Redstarts, Stejneger's Stonechat , and Asian Brown Flycatcher were on the grassy verge.
A Common Buzzard made a brief flyover.
There was less excitement in finding single figure flocks of Tree Sparrow and Japanese White-eye , and a Magpie Robin. If we count remains both Watercock and Naumann's Thrush would again be on the list. On balance I think not.
Cheers
Mike
First day of a new quarter - and a pretty good start with an impressive 19 species, including two new birds - Eurasian Kestrel and four Scaly-breasted Munias.
Regular attendees included the first winter male Grey-backed Thrush, female Japanese Thrush and a rather dull Chinese Blackbird. Chinese and Red-whiskered Bulbuls, leucopsis White Wagtail, four OBPs, Pallas's and Dusky Warblers, ten Crested Mynas, and the usual two Daurian Redstarts, Stejneger's Stonechat , and Asian Brown Flycatcher were on the grassy verge.
A Common Buzzard made a brief flyover.
There was less excitement in finding single figure flocks of Tree Sparrow and Japanese White-eye , and a Magpie Robin. If we count remains both Watercock and Naumann's Thrush would again be on the list. On balance I think not.
Cheers
Mike
Last edited:
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Yesterday was another species-rich day - with some 20 species being the new record day count. The additions to yesterday's list were a Black Kite characteristically twisting its forked tail as it drifted over, a couple of Yellow-browed Warblersperched high, a Pale Thrush that zipped across the clearing and aCommon Tailorbird rootling along the line of trees edging the roundabout just above ground level.
My personal highlight was the female Japanese Thrush emerging from among the palms onto the lawn where 9 Chinese Bulbuls were foraging happily.
I didn't get out today but a glimpse of a flock of ardeids out of the office window turned out to be 42 Black-crowned Night Herons that circled around before dropping down onto the Magic Roundabout, adding another bird to the patch list. I'm guessing they'd been disturbed from roosting somewhere else nearby.
Cheers
Mike
My personal highlight was the female Japanese Thrush emerging from among the palms onto the lawn where 9 Chinese Bulbuls were foraging happily.
I didn't get out today but a glimpse of a flock of ardeids out of the office window turned out to be 42 Black-crowned Night Herons that circled around before dropping down onto the Magic Roundabout, adding another bird to the patch list. I'm guessing they'd been disturbed from roosting somewhere else nearby.
Cheers
Mike
Last edited:
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
It won't be part of the official record of the patch, but as its connected to my airport work I'll post here on my visit to our off-site air quality monitoring control station on Sha Chau.
This is a couple of small islands a couple of kilometres to the north of the airport and right on the border with Guangdong.
The highlights were a fine count of a dozen Pacific Reef Egrets on the rocks and jetty and 15 Great Cormorants, which I searched carefully for the slightest hint of a Pelagic. I had no such luck, but I'll keep looking on future winter visits.
I also watched a juvenile Peregrine swoop unsuccessfully on a newly arriving Oriental Turtle Dove, before drifting off across the summit of the island, where it was hassled by a couple of Large-billed Crows, who had in turn been chased off by five Collared Crows.
A brief pish revealed Chinese and Crested Bulbuls, Common Tailorbird and a female Daurian Redstart. A Common Sandpiper flitted along the wave washed rocks, and both Blue Rock Thrush and Long-tailed Shrike put in brief appearances. A distant large gull was most likely Heuglin's, but goes down as a sp.
And finally . . . the briefest roll of pink in the sea about 400m north of the station was a tantalisingly short view of a Chinese White Dolphin .
Cheers
Mike
This is a couple of small islands a couple of kilometres to the north of the airport and right on the border with Guangdong.
The highlights were a fine count of a dozen Pacific Reef Egrets on the rocks and jetty and 15 Great Cormorants, which I searched carefully for the slightest hint of a Pelagic. I had no such luck, but I'll keep looking on future winter visits.
I also watched a juvenile Peregrine swoop unsuccessfully on a newly arriving Oriental Turtle Dove, before drifting off across the summit of the island, where it was hassled by a couple of Large-billed Crows, who had in turn been chased off by five Collared Crows.
A brief pish revealed Chinese and Crested Bulbuls, Common Tailorbird and a female Daurian Redstart. A Common Sandpiper flitted along the wave washed rocks, and both Blue Rock Thrush and Long-tailed Shrike put in brief appearances. A distant large gull was most likely Heuglin's, but goes down as a sp.
And finally . . . the briefest roll of pink in the sea about 400m north of the station was a tantalisingly short view of a Chinese White Dolphin .
Cheers
Mike
Attachments
Last edited:
