Spring passage now at peak
Dear Jonathon
Thank you for your comments, it does seem that Oriental Cuckoo has a wide variety of tonal qualities, unlike
canorus, it also has a much faster paced and quicker note. I am certain this is oriental.
Sunday was a very warm and humid day with heavy clouds. I started with a walk round my usual woodland at Qianhu then took a cab over to Elephant lake. I hardly recognized the place, huge amounts of earth moving and planting of trees has occurred to produce a very photogenic water parkland.
The main pool has a few tiny patches of reed which held the first black-browed reed warbler of the spring. A few migrants around, but nothing stunning. On Sunday night it poured, finally clearing up on Monday afternoon, I got down to Qianhu for a glorious clear and sunny evening’s birding, the most obvious migrant being lots of brown shrike.
Best birds Qianhu and Elephant Lake on Sunday 10 May and QH on Monday 11 May
Yellow bittern, 1 at EL on 10 May, first of the year
Black bittern, a pair flew over EL on 10 May, first spring record in the city
Striated heron, few at QH
BC Night Heron, 20+ around QH at dusk
Common sandpiper, 5+ at QH
LRP, 1 at QH
Indian cuckoo, calling at QH both days
Large hawk cuckoo, calling at QH
Brown shrike, 10+ at QH on 11 May, most pale grey-headed
lucionensis, but the one I photoed looks very brown headed, is this
cristatus?
LT Shrike, common, a young bird at EL
Black-winged cuckoo shrike, 1 calling male at EL on 10 May
Black drongo, 2 at EL on 11 May
Black-browed reed warbler, 1 in a tiny reedbed at EL on 10 May
Vinous-throated parrotbill, fairly common at QH, recorded a three-note whistle
http://www.xeno-canto.org/241076
Grey-streaked flycatcher, 1 at EL,
Asian brown flycatcher, 1 at QH
Dark-sided flycatcher, 1 at QH 11 May
Photos
1 and 2 A very brown brown shrike at QH this evening, is this a cristatatus?
3. Dark-sided fly at QH this evening
4. A poor shot of grey-streaked yesterday, note the long wings
5. After the rain an unusually clear view of the city from Qianhu