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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

The Magic Roundabout (1 Viewer)

MKinHK

Mike Kilburn
Hong Kong
In September I moved to a new job at Hong Kong International Airport and this week, as a change from spending lunchtime in the terminal building, I went looking for somewhere to sit outside.

Tuesday:(no bins)

It would be an over-statement to say that I scored big-time, but I did almost immediately come across a couple of Asian Brown Flycatchers hunting from the wires supporting some young trees on a small patch of grass on the edge of a roundabout. The roundabout itself is about forty to fifty metres in diameter, and holds a plantation of alien trees - Brisbane Box and acacias, a few low bushes, a tight thicket of some sort of palm, including a thick patch of bougainvillea and some short arid grass. Closer inspection revealed various scattered bits of toilet paper and it quickly became clear that it was an alternative toilet for the taxi drivers, who can queue for over an hour before getting a fare back to town.

Undeterred, and being an optimist, I also noted that it was close to the runway and was undoubtedly the best patch of cover for migrants attracted by the lights. I didn't find much more that day except a confused-looking White-throated Kingfisher, but resolved to come back the next couple of days to check it out more thoroughly.


Wednesday: (no bins)

A Brown Shrike flew off from the same area that the Asian Brown Flycatchers were again occupying and a Black Kite drifted over.


Thursday:

Nnow equipped with a pair of 8x25 Pentax mini bins, the line of heavily pruned bushes inside the roundabout held two Dusky Warblers and the Asian Brown Flycatchers were again present. There was also a mystery warbler skulking in the palms, I never got enough to do anything with it


Friday:


By rushing though my lunch I had a bit more time, and a stronger NE wind and a bit of low cloud had brought a couple of Stejneger's Stonechats to the staked-out trees, where one of the Asian Brown Flycatchers was still present for its fourth day. There were two more Dusky Warblers in the pruned bushes and as I poked along the trail between the palms I came across a small dark-plumaged rather slender, long-billed warbler walking on the ground. The path went the right way and I followed it in. It had hopped up into a low bush no more than five feet away, and gave pretty good front and side views for about ten minutes.

I was immediately struck by the complete lack of rufous in the plumage and the uniformly cold plumage tones. It had a long slender bill with a patchily paler lower mandible, and the curious hint of a hook on the upper mandible, a supercilium that curved over the eye and extended just a short distance past it, flaring and fading away, and with no hint of a dark shadow above. It was too dark to do anything with iris colour, and perhaps as a result of the darkness the flanks and breast were noticeably darker than the white throat. The side views did not give a clear sense of the primary projection.

Surprised by seeing it walk, which it did also when it got down from the perch and wandered off, I checked the undertail coverts to make sure it wasn't a Bradypterus or Locustella, but they appeared to be short and unmarked in any way.

I followed it back along the path as it hopped off into the palms, but lost it, and a scuttling on the other side turned out to be a fine male Siberian Rubythroat instead, which would have made my day on its own!

My gut feeling from the first view was that it was a Blyth's Reed Warbler. I eliminated Black-browed Reed, Manchurian Reed and Paddyfield on the lack of any dark shadow or lateral crown stripe above the supercilium, and Blunt-winged Warbler (in my view the only real contender as an alternative) on the uniformly cold tone to the plumage and the absence of any hint of a stubby-winged long-tailed jizz. I also toyed with the idea of Styan's or Middendorff's Warbler, but it was much too small for the latter and too coldly-plumaged (and without white tail tips) for the former.
I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has seen Accros walking rather than hopping, or with experience of a hook-tipped bill.

Whatever it was it was a rocking good bird for a a lunchtime poke about a highly dubious bit of habitat. There will definitely be more to come!

Cheers
Mike
 
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Good to hear that all is not lost with your move to the new job and that maybe a different set of birds may brighten your day. Congrats on your discoveries (apt).

No sign of a Florence, a Zeebedee or a Dougal then ?
 
??

Well, sounds like you've done well to find a new interesting local spot. It doesn't quite sound like kingfisher habitat - guess that's why it looked confused! (though I assume you're relatively close to water - I don't have any clear picture as I still haven't been to the "new" airport :-O )

Hope the week brings interesting new birds there.
 
Gretchen
The Magic Roundabout was an animated TV series from the sixties and seventies. The character Dylan is based on Bob Dylan and the whole series is full of drug references and has cult status in the UK. Well with Googling.

I'll post some pix of the actual roundabout in due course. Prepare to be underwhelmed.

Cheers
Mike
 
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Many thanks John

Much less time to call my own these days, and correspondingly less time for birding and guiding. But I've had a pretty good run, and can recommend a couple of good friends who I know will do a great job.

And anyone with a spare half hour in transit is more than welcome to a tour of the magic roundabout!

Cheers
Mike
 
We have a large complex roundabout in Swindon which was officially renamed The Magic Roundabout many years ago. No trees or bushes on it but perhaps I should stand there for a while.
 
Two new species on my first visit for more than a week - a fine male Daurian Redstart and a Chinese Blackbird, plus a Dusky Warbler were the migrants.

Three leucopsis White Wagtails, half a dozen Crested Mynas, a Long-tailed Shrike, two Magpie Robins and a couple of heard Chinese Bulbuls were less exciting, but all in all not bad given the heavy pruning done by the landscape gardening crew during the morning.

I also had Osprey and Amur Falcon from the bus on the way to work this week.

Cheers
Mike
 
"Amur", said Dylan.

"Aim at what?" said Zeberdee, excitedly.

"Stop that!! This is NOT Hunan province!! If it were, rabbit ears over there would be in the stew," said Florence, angrily.

"That's right!" said Dougal, supportively.

"Time for bed!" said Zeberdee, ashamedly.

"Amur... just gonna sing a song," said Dylan, confusedly.

"Sorry, Mike," said Shi Jin, sheepishly.

On a serious note.

Am enjoying reading this thread. Birds found on the local patch (and on the way to, of course) always seem to get the blood pumping more than rarer birds found elsewhere.

That Osprey must have been a sight to behold.

Cheers Mike,


Shi Jin
 
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Ha ha - enjoyed that Tom.

Kevin (from Zhangjiajie, Hunan .. no rabbits and no ears in the stew either, but lots of chilli) !
 
It's hard to type straight when you're laughing!

Yesterday I had a few more birds:

First up was a Brown Shrike that was eventually chased off by the resident Long-tailed Shrike.

Asian Brown Flycatcher
- buzzing away in the tree above my head as I had lunch, three Dusky Warblers grotting about below knee height in the pruned bushes. I also heard a Yellow-browed Warbler, and a female Daurian Redstart was newly in.

Crested Bulbul was an addition to the list of residents.

Cheers
Mike
 
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Hi Mike,

Made my first ever visit to HK yesterday. Well, I was at the airport for two hours in transit from New Zealand!

I was determined to find some birds (never been to Asia before), and I was delighted to see the open design to the terminal building with windows all round.

I didn't have any field guide, and the only birds I identified beyond doubt were a Black Kite and a couple of Crested Myna.

First, I saw a distant small BOP hovering. Would this just be Common Kestrel? I assume a small pigeon with a very whipy flight that flew through, was a Spotted Dove. I saw a large white heron flying along the airport shore. Would this be Great White Egret? A small group of finch-like birds flew overhead. Tree Sparrow perhaps? And finally, one or two Pipits or Larks flew off one of the grassy runway aprons (I thought Larks more likely). Whats the most likely species here? Thanks.

I think I noticed your roundabout as we took off! Didn't realise its significance till now!
 
Hi Sean

Thanks for the kind words about our terminal design. Your ID sounds spot on, although Richard's Pipit is the commonest short grass bird at the airport Northern Skylark is in for the winter and is also possible.

I really enjoy the roundabout. I get the chance to check it about twice a week at present and the list is building nicely.

Cheers
Mike
 
A quieter day today - with just an Olive-backed Pipit to add to the species list and a couple of calling Yellow-browed Warblers.

So to make this more interesting I'll add that I went to Long Valley to look for a Red-backed Shrike (HK's 4th record) that didn't show.

I had good compensation in the form of a Rustic Bunting I'd missed on Saturday (less than 15 HK records), 3 Chestnut-eared Buntings, 5 Yellow-breasted Buntings including a fine male that still had a nice dark band on the breast. I also found a very pale-faced Citrine Wagtail and as I got back to the road to catch a taxi an Amur Falcon drifted by on the other side of the road - allowing a nice comparison of its jizz against a much longer-tailed female Common Kestrel that had been hunting over Long Valley.

It also give me an excuse to post a couple of pix from Saturday.

Cheers
Mike

All in all a pretty good start to the day!
 

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A new addition today - a Blue Rock Thrush was lurking underneath the flyover next to the taxi rank. That apart single Dusky Warbler, YBW and Asian Brown Flycatcher were also recorded.

Cheers
Mike
 
Wow, that makes the roundabout sound more magic to me. (Blue Rock Thrush just seems like a "good" bird as far as I'm concerned). Nice to see new things appearing.
 
Even better today Gretchen . . .

A Stejneger's Stonechat eyeballed from the bus this morning was still there at lunchtime, along with my first Richard's Pipit for the roundabout itself and an Asian Brown Flycatcher.

I also had three more roundabout first records - a fine immature male Black-naped Oriole , a juvenile and very scruffy Oriental Turtle Dove and a briefly seenmale Grey-backed Thrush.

A second Wryneck, a Brown Shrike, five Dusky Warblers, a YBW, and two OBPs added to the party to make this my best ever session for migrant diversity - I also suspect that a flock of 15 Chinese Bulbuls were migrants too.

The best of it was these were all found in 40 lunchtime minutes!

Cheers
Mike
 
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