Exploring Lantau (1 Viewer)

and a few more pix from Pui O today

Cheers
Mike

Lovely pics Mike. Especially Tai o in Tide. I can recognize the place now Kentish Plover's are masters in swooping those hiding worms. There is always tomorrow. Swinhoe's on next visit:t:

I was happy to return to Tai O this morning after a two-week break (I was in the UK).

On a still cool morning I was hopeful of picking up Chinese Penduline Tit and perhaps John's Eastern Water Rail in the reedbeds to the south of the town. I had no joy on either, but the area was still birdy - delivering three flyover Silky Starlings, a Dusky Warbler, a couple of Chinese Blackbirds, two Little Buntings, a Manchurian Bush Warbler that pished out nicely, and a Yellow Bittern lurking deep in the reeds. I also had a Wryneck lurking in the mangroves along the path.

There were also unusually high numbers of Grey Herons - 15 - in the big gei wai (gei wais are tidals fishpond with mangrove edges and islands) nearby and my first Little Grebe at Tai O, plus a couple of Common Kingfishers.

I had a warbler takking and flashing bright white underwings at me from deep cover at the edge of the marsh. I never got onto it, but it reignites my suspicions that I may have had a Pale-footed Bush Warbler (which is described in Kennerley & Pearson as having white underwing coverts) a couple of weeks ago. I welcome hearing from anyone who has seen any bush warblers giving a wing-lifting display.

The Shaolin Valley was, if anything, even more birdy than usual - although the great majority of the birds were Crested and Chinese Bulbuls feeding off the seeds of the Turn in the wind tree. However in amongst them was plenty of variety in the shape of a couple of Red-flanked Bluetails, six Daurian Redstarts, including a very confiding female who played silly buggers by hiding its white wing spot under its fluffed up belly feathers, four Oriental Turtle Doves, at least half a dozen Silky Starlings (the pic of a female below shows the seeds of the Turn in the wind tree) , and eight or ten Chinese Grosbeaks that were feeding on the hackberry fruit.

I had to work a bit harder for the skulkers, with a just a single Rufous-tailed Robin, while Asian Stubtail and Lesser Shortwing left it to my final walk out of the valley to call and sing respectively, but a couple of Pallas's Leaf Warblers showed well, and I came away with a very respectable five Grey-backed Thrushes.

One of the graves has a small channel for a miniature moat on its curving front edge. I had never previously seen birds wash or drink from this obvious source of water so I tried putting a branch into it. When I returned 20 minutes (and one female Black-winged Cuckooshrike to the the good) later I was delighted to see a female Red-flanked Bluetail prospecting and then a fine range of species dropping in. These included Chinese, Crested and Chestnut Bulbuls, which all used the branch to wash, plus a Silky Starling, a female Chinese Grosbeak, and a fine male Japanese Thrush, all of which seemed quite happy to drink by leaning over the edge in to the water.

Other birds seen on the day included a couple of Eastern Buzzards (one at Tai O and the other from the bus) a Pacific Egret (also from the bus) and a singing Russet Bush Warbler.

Its good to be back!

Cheers
Mike

Another productive morning in Tai O started with a few birds on the edge of the southern marsh.

First up were four Black-faced Buntings in the bushes at the landward edge and in the stream that feeds in to the back of the marsh a calling Lesser Shortwing and two noisy but elusive Asian Stubtails. A Grey Wagtail a male Daurian Redstart and a Stejneger's Stonechat were in a ditch at the edge of the village.

A hopeful pish into the reedbed pulled in a late Black-browed Reed Warbler - my first on Lantau. Other birds there included a squadron of six Chinese Blackbirds that swooped down from Keung Shan to forage in the marsh and sixty-odd Silky Starlings that swirled around before dropping into a melaleuca to feed.

The Shaolin Valley had a very similar range of species to last week, although it gave the impression of having fewer birds.

The dominant thrush - as is generally the case in Hong Kong - was Grey-backed Thrush and a female Japanese Thrush put in a brief appearance. The very tame female Daurian Redstart again performed superbly, but the Rufous-tailed Robin and Red-flanked Bluetail were reluctant to emerge from cover.

The same Chinese Grosbeaks were better at hiding, but betrayed their presence by the cracking of hackberry seeds - their favourite food in HK in the winter.

A bradypterus , which was presumably Russet Bush Warbler came to within a couple of feet away, but stayed so deep in cover that I could do not anything with it.

The only significant new bird in the valley turned out to be a Wryneck that popped up just as I was leaving.

I took the ferry back in the hope of closer view of a Chinese White Dolphin. No joy, but as the ferry arrived in Tung Chung I saw and photographed a Reef Egret on a silt curtain in the bay, and walking back to the bus station picked up Manchurian Bush, Yellow-browed, and Dusky Warblers, a Grey-backed Thrush, another 50 Silky Starlings and three Grey Herons for a surprisingly productive finish.

Cheers
Mike

I recently returned home after a week in Hong Kong. Having read this thread for a while, I was particularly keen to visit Tai O. That I did on 4th December and was very impressed, going again on the 6th. I saw a range of bird species, totalling 24 species on the two visits, puzzled over the butterflies and, on the 6th, I had the marvellous sight of 6 chinese white dolphins off the viewpoint on the ridge. The village of Tai O is a great place to visit from a human viewpoint, especially if you are intrigued by the sight of a wide range of foodstuffs out for sale in the narrow streets among the houses built on stilts.

On the 7th I visited a part of Lantau that doesn't feature in this thread. I got off the train at Sunny Bay station and walked west along the promenade. Apart from 16 crested mynas, the area appeared devoid of birds until I saw a white-throated kingfisher perching on one of the wooden poles in the bay that is shown as Yam O Wan in a map in The Birds of Hong Kong and South China by Clive Viney, Karen Phillipps and Lam Chiu Ying. A collared crow was perching in a tree top on the end of the small peninsula beyond. At the end of the promenade I turned right along a footpath through the trees on the peninsula, turning back when the path reached the first of the fishermen's huts along there. Having searched unsuccessfully in New South Wales when I was in Australia a week before, I was particularly pleased to see two emerald doves amongst the trees. Also along the path I saw 3 masked laughingthrushes, as well as a black kite, red-whiskered and chinese bulbuls, oriental magpie robin and japanese white-eye.

My main reason for visiting Hong Kong was that my daughter Anna is working there at the moment. The next day, Sunday 8th, was Anna's one day off in the week, and we took the cable car from Tung Chung to Ngong Ping and the Big Buddha. I saw 8 species of birds up there – spotted doves, grey wagtail, red-whiskered and chinese bulbuls, daurian redstart, japanese white-eyes, common magpie and large-billed crows.

P.S. Thanks to Mike and other posters for a 5 star thread!

Some nice birds Allen - especially the Collared Crow, which I am yet to see on Lantau, and the Emerald Doves. I'd be interested to know what your other 24 species were from your Tai O visits.

Delighted to hear you enjoyed Tai O - the stripey shellfish were snapped along the main drag through the village just after you cross the bridge - and congratulations on seeing the dolphins - I've searched without luck these past two weekends.

Cheers
Mike

Birds seen at Tai O by ASM

Here you are ...

Little Grebe
Grey Heron
Little Egret
Great Egret
Black Kite
White-breasted Waterhen
Common Sandpiper
Spotted Dove
Greater Coucal
Common Kingfisher
House Swift
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
White Wagtail
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Chinese Bulbul
Oriental Magpie Robin
Daurian Redstart
Plain Prinia
Dusky Warbler
Yellow-browed Warbler
Japanese White-eye
Long-tailed Shrike
Common Magpie
Crested Myna

Many thanks for posting your list Allen - the Collared Crow is certainly the stand-out bird, but another visitor has also had one in the last week, so maybe its just me who's not seeing them.

This morning at Tai O started well with Daurian Redstart, Red-flanked Bluetail and Stejneger's Stonechat at the back of the southern marsh, and a rather showy Dusky Warbler that was friendly enough to allow the pic below to be taken. As I walked over to the valley I watched a group of ten Silky Starling drop onto some some exposed rocks on the beach and begin foraging - an odd sight indeed. I'd be interested to know if Silkys have been noted as shoreline foragers elsewhere.

The Shaolin Valley kicked of in similar fashion as a very tame adult Grey-backed Thrush calmly checked me out from the edge of a bush before another Bluetail and another Daurian Redstart competed to be most easily photographed on the same patch of pathway. A minute later reality was restored as a Rufous-tailed Robin hopped away into cover without offering the slightest hint of wanting to join the gallery.

A few more of the usual suspects put in an appearance - more Grey-backed Thrushes, a male and a female Japanese Thrush, two Red-billed Blue Magpies, two Manchurian Bush Warblers, half-a-dozen Chestnut Bulbuls, a male Siberian Rubythroat - noisily indignant at being flushed, a Oriental Turtle Dove, and an Eastern Buzzard floating on the wind above the ridge.

The major excitement of the day was messing up a potential Japanese Grosbeak. When I got onto it - high in a Chinese Hackberry - my immediate impression on seeing an all-yellow bill and reduced hood was Japanese. I couldn't see any white wing-tips or orange flanks, but it did appear to have a slightly greyer rump. I suspect it was a Japanese - anyone seen Chinese Grosbeak in winter with an all-yellow bill? - but I just didn't do enough enough t be 100% certain.

And finally . . . another bit of Tai O randomness. Where would anyone choose to hold a territory-wide sports tournament other than the most remote village in Hong Kong? This was certainly seen as no impediment to the Hong Kong Croquet Association (who even knew there was one?) and it has to be said that as I passed the carpark dozens of youngsters were alighting from coaches with weird shaped bags on their backs.

Cheers
Mike

No birding today, but an after-lunch family visit to the park produced a Chinese Blackbird, a Grey Wagtail and an Oriental Turtle Dove, plus this cracking Magpie Robin, which passed the Christmas card audition with flying colours, despite the lack of a red breast.

Cheers & Merry Christmas!
Mike

A long long walk from the pass between Sunset and Lantau Peaks then down the South Lantau Trail to the water catchment and along to Shui Hau. It turned out to be pretty hard work with just a Grey-backed Thrush, a female Japanese Thrush and a couple of Daurian Redstarts. There were a few rustles and flashes in the undergrowth but the rewards were pretty slim for the two hours, even if the scenery was worth the walk.

Round the first bend on the catchment a White's Thrush flew up onto a branch and posed perfectly for a couple of photos before a white-haired old dude came jogging past and flushed it. There were a few Daurian Redstarts, four Red-flanked Bluetails and the same number of Grey-backed Thrushes, two flocks of Chestnut Bulbuls and a male philippensis Blue Rock Thrush in a messy transitional plumage.

I also had my first Blyth's-type Leaf Warbler of the winter - a rather grey-tinged bird without a trace of yellow on the face or under the tail tat was happily crawling along and around the larger branches in the approved manner.

The final photo is of some red sundew plants along the upper portions of the trail. Wkipedia says there are 194 spp. - anybody know which one?

Cheers
Mike

Love your artistic monochrome touch to the Tai O village scenary. Happy Holidays Mike!

Many thanks Dev - and Merry Christmas to you too!

Yesterday I headed down towards Yi O for something a little different. In the end I barely spent half an hour there as my time had long been consumed by having too many birds and other distractions along the way.

I kicked off with a Manchurian Bush Warbler in the marsh that popped out at first pish and a White's Thrush that had so far forgotten its dignity as to be competing with the Tree Sparrows for household breadcrumbs just the other side of the playground. Even better, just as I left the village I doubled back to check out a scuttling in the leaves and picked up the white-tipped outer tail feathers of my first Pale Thrush of the winter.

Just across the path a Chinese Pond Heron dropped on to the foreshore and provided superb views and a great photo-op as it hunted in the pools.

The path to Yi O is almost completely shaded by overhead canopy for the first kilometre, making it a promising area for chats and thrushes. I found two male Daurian Redstarts and a Red-flanked Bluetail flycatching for the remaining berries in a heavily ravaged turn-in-the-wind tree, a Grey-backed Thrush perch perfectly, if briefly, in a rare shaft of sunlight, and an strikingly bright Mountain Tailorbird bounced through a tangle to investigate me

The campsite, which marks the end of the enclosed section of the path held the first of three Violet Whistling Thrushes, another male Grey-backed Thrush and a Red-flanked Bluetail that was so curious it flew into the branches directly above my head.

Exploring a small path uphill from the main drag a Brown-flanked Bush Warbler takked a few times before creeping through some bamboos to see me and, as I stopped for a rest, another Red-flanked Bluetail zipped through.

The next diversion, which followed a path uphill through an abandoned village was more productive - as a couple of Grey-backed Thrushes zipped away giving only the briefest of views and then the first Asian Stubtail of the day fed openly along the path.

A bit higher up I found a smartly painted blue and white building, which was a bit of a mystery until a Water Services Department pump house with a helpful plaque appeared round the next corner. As I stepped forward to investigate it a rustle at my feet caught my attention, but I did not look down until the second rustle, which was made my the tail end of a good-sized olive-green snake disappearing into the bushes - a handsome adult Red-necked Keelback that had been sunning itself beside the path. They are venomous, but as the poison is delivered from the rear fangs they generally need a good chew to do any harm. It didn't go far and I was able to get a couple of shots of the head as it lurked in the bushes.

The path ended at a dam across the top of a 100-odd foot cliff/waterfall, which was clearly intended to provide water for the Yi O villagers. As I looked over the edge I was a little surprised to see what looked like a Dusky Warbler scuttling about on the open rock face. When I got the bins on it my thoughts then turned to Radde's Warbler, but even with a stubby-ish and rather pale bill it just looked wrong - the super not distinctive or long enough, no mottled cheeks and no wing panel. It also looked long-tailed and just not bull-necked enough. At the same time it really didn't look like Dusky - being more olive-toned and without the darker, pointy bill. But, and its a big but, the little bugger didn't call - even under the extreme duress of hot pursuit from a Long-tailed Shrike - and this is the key diagnostic feature for Yellow-streaked Warbler. Without the call, any likelihood of a record of a species with less than ten Hong Kong records is next to nil. Ho Hum.

Above the dam were two smaller waterfalls, making this a truly lovely spot, and one that cried out for a Plumbeous Redstart, forktail or Riverchat, but not even a Grey Wagtail or Blue Whistling Thrush put in an appearance.

On the way back down the Red-necked Keelback was out and sunbathing again. By stepping carefully I was able to get some much better shots of what I assume must be a very mature adult as it lacked any hint of dark spotting on the body.

On the way down the hill a male Siberian Rubythroat and a male Red-flanked Bluetail appeared on the path in front of me for a superb double of these lovely birds. Good as that was the bluetail then decided I was interesting and hopped up the steps towards me until I was aiming the camera within a metre of my own feet just amazing! Not to be outdone a Rufous-tailed Robin also came in super-close and checked me out from behind some creepers.

The lower portion of the same stream held a single Pale-legged/Sakhalin Leaf Warbler and on the final bend before Yi O a pandoo Blue Rock Thrush was hunting from the seaside rocks.

Yi O was busy with people turning the land into farmland and much of it was birdless, with the exception of two Chinese Blackbirds in the woods, eight Oriental Turtle Doves and a bunch of Scaly-breasted and White-rumped Munias in a harvested rice field. Other bits and pieces included Dusky Warbler, Plain and Yellow-bellied Prinias and a female Siberian Rubythroat.

Mike,

Thanks for this thread about Lantau. After reading about the birds, places, etc, my 4 visits to the island (not including the 2 train rides from and to the airport) added greatly to my week in Hong Kong at the start of the month.

Good luck for 2014.

Allen

Delighted to hear the thread has been useful as well as fun to write Allen.

It's been a real revelation to discover Lantau as a birding site over the last year. Apart from the airport, which is covered separately on my Magic Roundabout thread, I've developed a real affection for Tai O as a village and been amazed by it as a birding site. The highlights have included an incredible run in October/November that was headed by the Wood Warbler (a potential first for Hong Kong, but still pending a decision from the Records Committee), but also included Elegant and Yellow-browed Buntings, an Orange-headed Thrush, and a Brambling. Other goodies have been the fine passage of flycatchers (especially Yellow-rumped), the Purple Heron coming off the ridge plus White-throated Needletail and Himalayan Swiftlets providing fine aerial displays in spring and autumn respectively.

Pui O has produced a few birds of real quality, headed by the Malayan Night Heron and Brown Fish Owls, and a couple of Common Starlings, plus an Amur Falcon just over the hill at Shap Long. The Oriental Plover twitched on a "betroot buying expedition" was my only Lantau bird that was not self-found.

Other highlights have been the returns from the long treks from Shek Pik to Tai O via Fan Lau and Yi O that included a whopping count of 44 Grey-streaked Flycatchers, Black Baza and a Swinhoe's Minivet, while John did even better in this area with a couple of epic days in spring and late autumn.

I’ve also enjoyed some of the other biodiversity – headlined by the Chinese White Dolphins off Tai O and Fan Lau, but well supported by great views of Copperhead Racer, Red-necked Keelback and the unfortunate Checkered Keelback tussling with a Grey Heron at Pui O as well as my first pitcher plants – and the crabs at Pui O.

In summary I've very much taken to Lantau, recorded, I think, 173 species (excluding the airport) and I suspect it will be increasingly difficult to tempt me away . . .although news of a Barred Cuckoo Dove from Kadoorie Farm and a Chiffchaff at Long Valley this afternoon has certainly raised the possibility!

Cheers, and best wishes for 2014
Mike

Butterflies at Tai O

Mike, and others from Hong Kong,

As well as birds and the amazing white dolphins, I spent a lot of time looking at the butterflies on my two walks around Tai O last month. I was able to identify some from photographs in David Diskin's books, namely (and I hope that I have them correct, of course!):

Great orange tip
Indian cabbage white
Red-base jezebel
Lemon emigrant

I also saw the red-base jezebel at other places in Hong Kong, including in a little park by an entrance to Tai Wo Hau MTR station.

I saw several other butterflies around Tai O that I was unable to identify but others more familiar with them might be able to help me with identification. Where the butterflies that I saw resembled species that I have seen in Europe and Australia I have given the scientific names as a help, hopefully, as the ones at Tai O might be of the same or a closely related genus. Of course, that assumes some familiarity with European and Australian butterflies! Anyway ...

One, which was one of the more common species was very large (for a butterfly!), with wings which were mostly black but with white spots on the trailing edge of the hind wing and a bluish tinge on the forewing. I saw them flying past Tai O Promenade, for example.

One by the bus stop at Tai O looked very like a large version of the small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) that we have in Europe.

Another by the bus stop on the other visit looked like the orchard swallowtail (Papilio aegeus) in Australia.

A tiny blue species in the grass along the path just NE of the dolphin view point was of a very irridescent blue colour, probably even more irridescent than the ullyses in Australia.

One looked like the common crow (Euploea core) in Australia in wing shape and distribution of black and white colours. That was on the way down from the obelisk towards the mouth of the creek by the abandoned looking temple.

Lastly, there was a species a bit like the plain tiger (Danaus chrysippus) that I have seen in Spain on occasion. Actually, looking at a Cocteau Twins website (work that one out!) and Wikipedia I read that the plain tiger is a common species in Asia, so it might have been that which I was seeing.

Thanks, and good luck for 2014.

Allen

An early start to the year had me getting off the first bus from Tung Chung to Tai O at the turning for the big buddha, but to walk the other way along the ridge of hills between Shek Pik Reservoir, the Keung Shan valley and the Fan Lau/Yi O area. Since it was light but the sun was not yet up I was hoping to jam into an Eagle Owl or - better still - a Grass Owl.

It started well as Grey-backed Thrush, Daurian Redstart and Red-flanked Bluetail were all patrolling the trail as the light brightened. As I emerged onto the grassy hilltop I had a fine view of the sun rising over the sea beyond Shek Pik Reservoir on a very still and peaceful morning.

The first bird to appear was a Zitting Cisticola that flipped away showing pale tips to its long winter tail. From deep in cover another bird made a low displeased, farty-sounding noise, but never showed itself. My best guess is one of the bradypterus warblers, but although I heard it several times in the next couple of hours I never saw even the slightest shiver of a grass stem.

I was about to sit down to wait it out when I noticed white splashes on the rock I'd chosen. On the other side of it was a dried brown object the size and shape of a Lincolnshire pork sausage. On closer inspection it proved to be composed of matted hair and bones - doubtless the pellet of a Eurasian Eagle Owl! I redoubled my scouring of appropriate rocks for the rest of the morning, but with no success - except for finding another pellet right in the middle of the path a few hundred metres away!

Another hundred metres further on some buntings started calling and showed nicely feeding on grass seed-heads. Three Grey-backed Thrushes flew over the ridge, providing an unusually open flight view before the star of the morning a fine male Grey Bushchat appeared and showed distantly but well over the next 30 minutes, followed by a female and a Daurian Redstart and a Richard's Pipit I could not string into an Upland Pipit in the same fold of the hill.

The upland theme was continued by a noisy pair of Bright-capped Cisticolas and my first Lesser Coucal on Lantau, but after that the birding went into a decline and the only other birds of note were a female Eurasian Kestrel, an Eastern Buzzard and a couple of Red-rumped Swallows seen while trying unsuccessfullyto find a way down to the Yi O waterfall from the gorge above.

I did however find a fine pitcher plant - the first truly accessible one I've seen and was able to get right up to it and get a few shots.

Cheers
Mike

Allen S. Moore said:

Butterflies at Tai O
One, which was one of the more common species was very large (for a butterfly!), with wings which were mostly black but with white spots on the trailing edge of the hind wing and a bluish tinge on the forewing. I saw them flying past Tai O Promenade, for example.

One by the bus stop at Tai O looked very like a large version of the small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) that we have in Europe.

Another by the bus stop on the other visit looked like the orchard swallowtail (Papilio aegeus) in Australia.

A tiny blue species in the grass along the path just NE of the dolphin view point was of a very irridescent blue colour, probably even more irridescent than the ullyses in Australia.

One looked like the common crow (Euploea core) in Australia in wing shape and distribution of black and white colours. That was on the way down from the obelisk towards the mouth of the creek by the abandoned looking temple.

Lastly, there was a species a bit like the plain tiger (Danaus chrysippus) that I have seen in Spain on occasion. Actually, looking at a Cocteau Twins website (work that one out!) and Wikipedia I read that the plain tiger is a common species in Asia, so it might have been that which I was seeing.

Click to expand...

OK, I will have a try at these. Of course, some are tricky without seeing them but hopefully will give you some ideas where to look. Your suggestions of Comon Crow and Plain Tiger are possible (although Common Tiger Danaus genutia is far commoner, especially on Lantau)

The first (large, black with blue tinge on forewing) sounds like it is likely to be Blue-spotted Crow Euploea midamus, which is common in HK in autumn.

I'm not familiar with Orchard Swallowtail, but this one could well have been a species of Papilio. Looking at pictures of Orchard Swallowtail, I would guess that Great Mormon Papilio memnon might be a good candidate.

For the others, I'm really not sure what to suggest. The 'tortoiseshell' should be possible I just can't think of anything that fits. The best I can suggest is Peacock Pansy Junonia almana, which has similar black/orange pattern on the leading edge of the forewing, but if so I'm surprised you didn't mention the eye spots!

We have a lot of species of blue, so I'm not sure that's identifiable. But probably the brightest, most iridescent blue is Dark Cerulean Jamides bochus, which is common in autumn (usually shrubland not grassland, but can wander)

Hope that helps!

johnallcock said:

OK, I will have a try at these. Of course, some are tricky without seeing them but hopefully will give you some ideas where to look. Your suggestions of Comon Crow and Plain Tiger are possible (although Common Tiger Danaus genutia is far commoner, especially on Lantau)

The first (large, black with blue tinge on forewing) sounds like it is likely to be Blue-spotted Crow Euploea midamus, which is common in HK in autumn.

I'm not familiar with Orchard Swallowtail, but this one could well have been a species of Papilio. Looking at pictures of Orchard Swallowtail, I would guess that Great Mormon Papilio memnon might be a good candidate.

For the others, I'm really not sure what to suggest. The 'tortoiseshell' should be possible I just can't think of anything that fits. The best I can suggest is Peacock Pansy Junonia almana, which has similar black/orange pattern on the leading edge of the forewing, but if so I'm surprised you didn't mention the eye spots!

We have a lot of species of blue, so I'm not sure that's identifiable. But probably the brightest, most iridescent blue is Dark Cerulean Jamides bochus, which is common in autumn (usually shrubland not grassland, but can wander)

Hope that helps!

Click to expand...

Thanks John,

It is good of you to take so much effort to try to make some sense of my notes!

When I looked further at my notes I realised that I actually considered either common or plain tiger for a similar butterfly which I saw near the Riverside Hide in the Wetland Park. In the case of that butterfly I noted that there was a black mark shaped like a number 5 by the leading edge of the forewings.

As for the first butterfly that I asked about, I reckon that it was the blue-spotted crow. The photos in Diskin's books both show the under wing, but after reading your suggestion I checked the species on line, and photos of it look like what I saw. Thanks.

As for the others, if I make it to Hong Kong again I will be suitably 'armed' to know better what to look out for. Perhaps I should just invest in the butterfly book for a future visit!

I'm glad to be able to put a name on some of the butterflies that I saw in Hong Kong last month. That is never the case with fritillaries in Spain, for example. There are more than 20 species, but I can never identify any of them!

Allen

I can't be much help on butterflies I'm afraid Allen.

I made my first visit of the year to Tai O this morning and spent a solid five hours in the Shaolin Valley and along the Dolphin Ridge.

Right by the entrance to the valley there is a view down onto a small garden and up the slope to a telecomm tower. Its a pretty small area, but turned out to be amazingly productive as I racked up some 21 species in a little more than ten minutes!

Crested and Chinese Bulbuls were all over the place but what really caught my attention were a female Red-flanked Bluetail, and a White's Thrush eyeballing me suspiciously over its shoulder before sidling away into cover, swiftly followed by a male Chinese Blackbird, which also departed in haste. Even before it had gone half-a-dozen Silky Starling swooped in and landed in a tree at the back. And before they had settled a sharp takking from a Dusky Warbler perched on the fence had me looking up to see a female Daurian Redstart perched right next to it!

Several Japanese White Eyes, a Magpie Robin,an Olive-backed Pipit, a Common Tailorbird and a bunch of Tree Sparrows added to the general traffic, while Black Kite and an Eastern Buzzard drifted across the top of the hill and a pair of Red-billed Blue Magpies bounced exuberantly across the slope. My favourite bird was a first winter male Grey-backed Thrush which hopped through to the front to check me out after plucking up the courage to do so after a couple of panicked departures into cover.

Other birds included a flock of a dozen White-rumped Munias, a Spotted Dove, a calling Yellow-browed Warbler.

Buoyed up by this promising start I headed into the valley and took another four and a half hours to add another fifteen species. the best of these were a pair of Red-rumped Swallows quartering the grassy slopes below the trig point on the ridge and a Russet Bush Warbler that sneaked in super close, chakking away the whole time and eventually showing me all the necessary bits to confirm the ID.

Expected additions included Sooty-headed and Chestnut Bulbuls, Asian Stubtail and Chinese Grosbeaks (both heard only), Oriental Turtle Dove, Black-faced Bunting, Cinereous Tit, Oriental Turtle Dove, Large-billed Crow, Long-tailed Shrike, Rufous-tailed Robin, Blue Whistling Thrush and Pallas's Leaf Warbler. Less regular here were an Emerald Dove flying up form the drinking moat on one of the graves and a gang of Masked Laughingthrushes.

As I waited for the bus I picked up Grey Heron, Great Egret and eight Little Egrets in the gei wai and a Common Kingfisher perched on the anchor of a fishing boat.

I was also delighted to see five Chinese White Dolphins from the ridge, my first for a couple of months.

Cheers
Mike

A swift couple of hours on Sunday morning produced an overwintering Brown Shrike that had me going early on as it looked disturbingly monochrome in the early morning light. As the light came up the brown tones on the back and flanks emerged and revealed the bird to be a typical winter-plumaged lucionensis.

The other good bird was a Pale Thrush that flipped across the path and then a short while later it stopped briefly in the open, then fled into cover, flashing white tips to the outer tail coverts.

There was a fine range of birds on the wettest part of the marsh - macronyx and taivana Yellow Wagtails, Olive-backed, Red-throated and Richard's Pipits, but no Buff-bellied Pipit that I could make it out, despite trying for a good long while, but with no scope they were always too far out of reach. An Intermediate Egret and a young Grey Heron led the ardeids, with eight or so Cattle Egret and similar numbers of Little Egrets also in close attendance on the Water Buffalo. There were also plenty of snipe - both Fantail and Swintail. Brazil suggests that Swintail shows yellower legs. Anyone know how good a feature this is and whether the bird below might be edged towards Swinhoe's?

Other bits and pieces included a White-throated Kingfisher out in the bay, Chinese Blackbird, Intermediate, Little, Great and Cattle Egrets, a solitary Stejneger's Stonechat and a couple of Daurian Redstarts and a flock of 100-odd Silky Starlings.

The snake is an unfortunately roadkilled Checkered Keelback - just 50 metres from the spot where another had wrestled with the Grey Heron back before the turn of the year.

Cheers
Mike

PS yesterday I sneaked off to Long Valley for a lunchtime twitch of the Siberian Chiffchaff that was found a few days ago. I only saw it very briefly, but the views were just about enough to tick it. Long Valley was a bird-rich as ever, and I jammed into a Brambling and a Chestnut-eared Bunting on my way both to and from seeing the Chiffchaff.