The Magic Roundabout (1 Viewer)

MKinHK · Oct 16, 2013

Gutted to have missed a whole week owing to a bird-free work trip to Kansai airport in Japan, a public holiday and a meeting in town yesterday. Anyway . . . today started with a Chinese Pond Heronand Richard's Pipit near the end of the south Runway before two briefly-seen falcons drifting over the Core Area had me twitchy for Amur Falcon before once of them circled and showed itself to be a male Eurasian Kestrel. I didn't get any more on the other bird which, presumably was also a Kestrel.

The only others birds on the roundabout proper were three Richard's Pipits, a Spotted Dove, and an Asian Brown Flycatcher, but the golf course came up trumps with half a dozen more Richard's Pipits, a Stejneger's Stonechat, standing upright on the grass (and for one-heart-stopping moment conning me into thinking "Wheatear!"), four or five Scaly-breasted Munias and best of all, in the company of some leucopsis White Wagtails, a fine male Black-backed Wagtail (95) (aka lugens White Wagtail) swooped in on black-edged white wings, and dropped onto the grass to show its black back, eyestripe and the gap between the black side of the bib and the neck patch. Another very good bird for the Magic Roundabout!

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK · Oct 21, 2013

A very quiet day today with just a Dusky Warbler and an Asian Brown Flycatcher plus the usual Richard's Pipits on the golf course.

I did get a couple of pix - and will start a new list of those I photograph. A Canon SX 50 HS is my new toy.

The ABF is an unusually poorly-marked bird especially on the head. This species usually shows distinctively pale lords which emphasises the dark eye. I even tried to turn it into Sooty when it first irked up a few weeks ago.

Cheers
Mike

Frogfish · Oct 22, 2013

MKinHK said:
A very quiet day today with just a Dusky Warbler and an Asian Brown Flycatcher plus the usual Richard's Pipits on the golf course.

I did get a couple of pix - and will start a new list of those I photograph. A Canon SX 50 HS is my new toy.

The ABF is an unusually poorly-marked bird especially on the head. This species usually shows distinctively pale lords which emphasises the dark eye. I even tried to turn it into Sooty when it first irked up a few weeks ago.

Cheers
Mike

Nice shots Mike. I was looking at the Canon SX 50 HS (excellent value for money for birding) as a back-up to my heavyweights on my longer 5-10 day trips (just in case something goes down) .... I find it hard to get past the 'Canon' bit though o

MKinHK · Oct 22, 2013

Thanks Kevin

I have no such worries, but I was upgrading from a handheld Coolpix, and the 45 page thread discussion how to get the best out if it (including recommendations for settings) persuaded me.

Cheers
Mike

Frogfish · Oct 23, 2013

MKinHK said:
Thanks Kevin

I have no such worries, but I was upgrading from a handheld Coolpix, and the 45 page thread discussion how to get the best out if it (including recommendations for settings) persuaded me.

Cheers
Mike

Yep. Excellent thread, that's the one that almost convinced me. I look forward to seeing yours perform on my trip, maybe that will tip me over the edge ! Do you use it on a monopod ? That's a very long FL when zoomed out.

MKinHK · Oct 24, 2013

A monopod has crossed my mind Kevin, but as I bought the camera to cut down on weight I'm not sure I'm ready to go there just yet.

I guess I'm a birder first and the pix are a bonus.

After the quiet of Monday the Roundabout was right back on form today. The headline birds were a Grey-headed Flycatcher (96), a fine male Daurian Redstart that posed nicely, a female Blue-and-white Flycatcher , and a fine showing by the long-staying leucopsis x alboides White Wagtail, which was loitering around the garbage trucks with a leucopsis White Wagtail, a bunch of Tree Sparrows, a Crested Myna and one of the four Dusky Warblers on show today.

I also had a rather flighty Stejneger's Stonechat, an Asian Brown Flycatcher, six Richard's Pipits and, on the golf course a fine male Red Turtle Dove and three House Swifts.

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK · Oct 25, 2013

A pre-work hour on the Roundabout started well with a Peregrine (97) and a couple of Eurasian Kestrels soaring together, with the former being mobbed by a couple of Black Drongos.

Other birds included an Arctic Warbler, two Yellow-browed Warblers, three Dusky Warblers and a female Daurian Redstart.

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK · Oct 28, 2013

Another good day at the roundabout was all about the grassland in the Core Area that has remained uncut since I first hoped it might pull in something good back in August.

First up was a White Wagtail on the road, and then a Zitting Cisticola (98) popped up and dropped back into cover. As it did a stubby-looking Richard's Pipit popped up, and without calling flew up and landed in a bauhinia tree. At the same time an Oriental Reed Warbler popped up zipped over to the hedge and as it landed it flushed a short-tailed bird that immediately dropped into the grass.

The Cisticola flipped up and into a bush, flashing a typically long winter tail, but the other bird, which I thought would be a Japanese Quail, came up almost from under my shoe with a much stronger, longer-winged flight action, leaving me completely mystified.

Three Olive-backed Pipits were rootling about under the trees and an Asian Brown Flycatcher posed briefly overhead before a Chinese Pond Heron came out from another section of the grass and then a small dark-streaked olive-coloured warbler flushed out and dropped into cover without showing tail spots or a rufous rump. I barely got bins on it, but I was reluctant to tick it on such poor views. Fortunately I didn't have to as a definite Lanceolated Warbler (99) spent 20 minutes scrabbling round my feet in the Western Tangle, and hiding under the most meagre of cover.

The last bird of a fine morning was a male Daurian Redstart posed beautifully on the Northern Edge, first on the lawn and then down to a few feet under the canopy.

Cheers
Mike

Gretchen · Oct 29, 2013

This sounds sort of like a cross between bird watching and a (old fashioned) pinball game! Fun to hear all the action.

That Lancy looks like it had meager cover - good for your camera, but hopefully there's no sparrowhawk type around to take advantage....

MKinHK · Oct 29, 2013

That's very much how it felt Gretchen!

Today I had a second bite at the cherry as a Japanese Quail (100) erupted out of the grass from almost the same spot as yesterday's mystery bird. I'm now assuming that I just messed up the poor views I had yesterday. Even so it was great to get that 100th species for the patch!

Other birds seen today included a Wryneck, a Brown Shrike, two Asian Brown Flycatchers, an Arctic Warbler, a late Eastern Crowned Warbler, Yellow Browed Warbler, Oriental Reed Warbler and a couple of "takking" Dusky Warblers.

Other birds seen today, but not by me, include a Little Curlew on the airfield, and both Plain Prinia and Black-browed Reed Warbler on the golf course - all of which would new for the patch . . .

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK · Oct 30, 2013

A quieter day today with the Lanceolated Warbler and Wryneck lurking in the Western Tangle and a Crested Goshawk that cruised slowly across the carpark the best birds. I did also have a male Blue Rock Thrush on the sea wall near my search point and the same. IRS or another zipping about on the balcony during an afternoon meeting.

Other birds included a flock of five Richard's Pipits flying over a d another six or seven on the golf course, a couple of Dusky Warblers, an unwell-looking Chinese Pond Heron that has been mooching about for a few days, two Sooty-headed Bulbuls on the golf course fence, and the trio of Olive-backed Pipits were again on the grass in the Core Area.

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK · Nov 1, 2013

Friday was a great day for the quarterly results as a splendid five species were added to the list within one minute on my bus ride into work. Grey Heron, Great Egret and Pacific Reef Egret were all perched on the silt curtain in the bay, and two Chinese Blackbirds were fighting under the big banyans into which a Silky Starling had just flown. You've got to be happy with that!

A swift stroll around the Roundabout itself delivered my first Pale-legged/Sakhalin Leaf Warbler since September, four Dusky Warblers, a YBW, an Arctic Warbler, an Oriental Reed Warbler on the golf course and possibly the Lancy again on the Western Tangle.

The other good bird was a female Blue-and-white Flycatcher that may well have bee the same bird I saw last week, which the three Olive-backed Pipits seem to have made themselves comfortable.

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK · Nov 6, 2013

Species no. 101 duly arrived today in the unexpected form of a Hair-crested Drongo that perched helpfully in the Western Tangle, which also held a grizzling Manchurian Bush Warbler with a nicely obvious reddish cap that was curious enough to come out for a look at me.

Other birds included an Arctic, two Dusky and threeYellow-browed Warblers, plus the usual Asian Brown Flycatcher. A Long-tailed Shrike was also lurking with its usual air of elegant menace.

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK · Nov 6, 2013

A few more additions to the list for the quarter today, making 62 so far. These were an overflying Oriental Turtle Dove and two Common Sandpipers and a juvenile Yellow Wagtail on the golf course.

Other birds seen included the Japanese Quail again flushed from the (still-uncut) lawn and a warbler in the grass that I never even saw as it scuttled away like a mouse (meaning it was most likely a bradypterus), Eastern Great Tit, Japanese White Eye, Chinese and Crested Bulbuls, a Common Tailorbird, two Dusky Warblers and two Yellow-browed Warblers and a on the golf course a Black-necked Starling, several Richard's Pipits and a male Daurian Redstart, both leucopsis and the leucopsis x alboides White Wagtail.

Bird of the day was a Crested Goshawk that was carrying what looked like a large brown prey item almost as big as itself. I was frustrated not to get a proper look at it's prey as I suspect it may have been a roundabout tick, but since it was already dead it might have been even more frustrating to identify something I could only add as a dead species (like the Watercock from last autumn).

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK · Nov 8, 2013

Today was quieter and dominated by warblers, with two YBWs, three Duskies, an Arctic Warbler and another Lanceolated Warbler all showing pretty well. I watched it scuttling through the grass like a mouse and its likely that this was the suspected bradypterus from Wednesday.

Other birds included a very vocal female Daurian Redstart and the long-staying and ever-chatty Asian Brown Flycatcher.

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK · Nov 12, 2013

A very blustery day was headlined by a pair of Silky Starlings on the Grassy Verge and four White-shouldered Starlings flying over the golf course and landing in a roadside tree. A pair of Black-necked Starlings were also present, as were the usual Crested Mynas.

Also of interest was what I think was one of the offspring of the leucopsis x alboides White Wagtail - I'll post pix shortly - as well as the original article.

Other than that I heard a Yellow-browed Warbler, briefly saw the Asian Brown Flycatcher, and watched a Black Kite battling the wind.

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK · Nov 15, 2013

Yesterday started very quiet at the core area, with nowt but singles of YBW, Asian Brown Flycatcher and Dusky Warbler, but sprung to life in the Western Tangle, where I picked up another five YBW, another each of Asian Brown Flycatcher and Dusky Warbler before being practicaly blinded by a superb male Mugimaki Flycatcher (102) that showed well for 30 seconds before disappearing as I reached for the camera, and a fine male Daurian Redstart.

Yet another Wryneck, in what has been a very good autumn for this species - with five recorded so far - was feeding just too far back in cover for even the Canon SX50 to lock on to it.

The Northern Edge provided further reward in the shape of my first Rufous-tailed Robin (103) here, a couple more YBWs, and a female Daurian Redstart. The only other bird of significance was a Black Kite that glided over and then went to sit on the runway appraoch lighting just offshore from the seawatching point.

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK · Nov 19, 2013

The Roundabout was birdy again today albeit with a slightly grim start as my first bird was the heavily decomposed and barely identifiable remains of a Lanceolated Warbler on the Grassy Verge. Having seen one scuttlign away through the grass last week I wondered if it might have fallen prey to the grass cutters.

Also on the Grassy Verge was my first ocularis White Wagtail (104) - a female bird that had lost its tail but seemed quite happy pootling around looking for moths in the grass.

Over in the Core Area a brownish bird rooting in the leaf litter popped up and to my great surprise revealed itself to be a fine female Grey Bushchat (105). Today was, of course, the day I left my camera at home, but at least this was an easily identifiable bird so although there are no pix there is at least none of the stress caused by the large locustella I found in early October.

And there was more - my first Pallas's Leaf Warbler foraged through the mid-story and two Oriental Turtle Doves and a couple of Olive-backed Pipits were on the lawn, while the regulars included a male and female Daurian Redstart, a calling YBW and an Asian Brown Flycatcher.

The Western Tangle seemed to be full of birds - at least 3 Dusky Warblers, a couple more YBWs a thrush that was probably Chinese Blackbird and once again the Wryneck. A Grey-backed Thrush was on the Northern Edge along with two more Daurian Redstarts and another Dusky Warbler and flyover birds included two Black Kites, a Little Egret and eight Chinese Starlings over the golf course.

Cheers
Mike

Jeff Hopkins · Nov 19, 2013

MKinHK said:
Also on the Grassy Verge was my first ocularis White Wagtail (104) - a female bird that had lost its tail but seemed quite happy pootling around looking for moths in the grass.

Does that make it a wag-nothing? 8-P

MKinHK · Nov 20, 2013

Sounds fair enough to me Jeff.

Today's highlight was not on the Roundabout at all. I was invited to lunch today on the terrace at the Deep Water Bay Golf Club on Hong Kong Island. A few Tree Sparrows were pootling on and around the hedge surrounding the putting green when one jumped up on top of a rubbish bin just the other side of the hedge about seven or eight yards away. First I noticed that its jizz was rather upright, then that it had a short dark erect crest, complete with a pale central crown stripe and even better that it had a purple-red breast band and streaking on the flanks that contrasted strongly with its very white throat and underparts - it could only be an adult female Rustic Bunting of which there have been less than 15 records in Hong Kong.

I had no bins but did manage the crappiest of pix with my phone before it realised it was being far too co-operative, and headed of across the course, but it absolutely made my lunchtime!

Cheers
Mike

The Magic Roundabout (1 Viewer)

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