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

Ng Tung Chai, Hong Kong (2 Viewers)

MKinHK said:
However, I did do NTC this morning and saw a juvenile Crested Goshawk bumbling ineffectively about not catching anything, and wonderful views of the male Hainan Blue Flycatcher again.

No migrants at all today, but there has been rain, and more forecast overnight, so hopefully tomorrow will bring a new influx - I'm targetting Sibe Blue Robin, Japanese Paradise Flycatcher (both annual here), Forest Wagtail (big hole in the list) and from the "beyond my wildest dreams" file, Mountain Hawk Eagle!

A first winter Siberian Blue Robin duly turned up this morning - my second of the year (after a cracking adult male in April). Its hard not to like birds that like feeding on paths - I flushed this guy off without getting properly onto it, but he just dropped onto some steps 10 yards ahead, and gave great views for a couple of minutes.

It always feels great when you call them before you find them (it just doesn't happen very often!)

I also heard a Pale-legged Leaf/ Sakhalin Leaf Warbler, and had Velvet -fronted Nuthatch for the fourth day in a row - equalling my total number of records from this site in four years of residence!

Cheers
Mike

PS thanks Mark - its still sinking in - and ever hopeful of nailing my own here before the month is out!

What do you have in the way of passage in the Fairy woodland? It would be interesting to compare passage dates.
 
More good birds. Sadly, Huben is a little too far inland to be a good site for passage migrants. It does get fair numbers of raptors passing through in late September to mid October and fair numbers of Chinese Sparrowhawk, Grey-faced Buzzard, and some Oriental Honey-buzzard can be seen. In early May there are always a few sightings of Ruddy Kingfisher and last September we had our first Dollarbirds. I think that places like Chigu and Beigang would be better for comparing notes, as being on the coast, they get fair numbers of passage migrants moving through. Hopefully I'll get to them soon and we can compare notes on what's passing through.
 
Mark Bruce said:
More good birds. Sadly, Huben is a little too far inland to be a good site for passage migrants. It does get fair numbers of raptors passing through in late September to mid October and fair numbers of Chinese Sparrowhawk, Grey-faced Buzzard, and some Oriental Honey-buzzard can be seen. In early May there are always a few sightings of Ruddy Kingfisher and last September we had our first Dollarbirds. I think that places like Chigu and Beigang would be better for comparing notes, as being on the coast, they get fair numbers of passage migrants moving through. Hopefully I'll get to them soon and we can compare notes on what's passing through.

I had a couple of Chinese Sparrowhawks one day last spring. They are a common spring migrant in Hong Kong, but don't appear at all in autumn, and Grey-faced Buzzards are the same, but come through in smaller numbers. I've had two different birds landing on telegraph poles in the village in foggy weather.

Now is the time for Oriental Honey Buzzards here, and I am checking out all Crested Serpent Eagles very carefully - I had my first two last year.

Your Ruddy Kingfishers are like a knife in the gut! We had the first ever in Hong Kong this year on an off island and I twice went and dipped, but the island itself (Po Toi) gave me so many good birds this year it seems churlish to complain!

Dollarbirds should be coming through from about now - they gather on electric wires high above the valley. My high count is 14 birds together in 2004, but I usually see ones and twos in late September and early October.


and today's birds . . .

an Asian Paradise Flycatcher and a couple of Pale-legged Leaf/Sakhalin Leaf Warblers showed well, and a very briefly seen Yellow-browed Warbler would be the earliest autumn record if accepted. An Asian Brown Flycatcher also showed nicely on a broken-off branch.

Apart from that there were lots of our resident "plastics" - Silver-eared Mesia and Blue-winged Minla (Velvet-fronted Nuthatch is also one from this category), as well as the usual spread of common residents including Rufous-capped Babbler, Chinese, Chestnut & Crested Bulbul, Common and Mountain Tailorbird, Japanese White-eye, Fork-tailed Sunbird, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, and Great Tit A Crested Serpent Eagle called overhead around noon.

Cheers
Mike
 
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Ruddy Kingfishers are few and far between in Huben. This year there was one spotted in the area. I didn't see it. You do get far more Flycatchers than Huben. Only Grey-streaked Flycatcher; Black-naped Blue Monarch; Ferruginous Flycatcher; and Vivid Niltava have been recorded.
 
My birding started dramatically when an Asian Paradise Flycatcher flew straight at me! It came to within a couple of feet before veering away. I think it was after a small yellow butterfly and was so intent on catching it that it didn't see me until the last second. The remainder of my normal walk was quiet except for another Asian Para seem briefly in a tree overhanging the river some 50 metres below.

With no pressure to go to work because it was Saturday I decided to climb higher up into the valley. And climb is the word - there is a very steep path that passes two waterfalls with only short sections of the trail being flatter and easier to bird. However, the forest here is excellent with large, mature trees and large birds-nest ferns and tree ferns, especially close the the river which flows faster between large boulders.

The only good bird was a Mountain Bulbul which sat out above the canopy for a few seconds. This is another recent colonist to Ng Tung Chai and other upland forest areas in HK, but still in small numbers. This part of the forest was very quiet so I took some time to look fo Hong Kong Cascade Frog, an endemic species that loves boulder-strewn rivers. I found over 20 of this very cryptically coloured frog.

As I pushed on up yet another steep section to the Top Falls I came across a mixed flock which contained a couple of Asian Paras, making four in total and giving me a new site record for this species, and an Eastern Crowned Warbler, as well as several Blue-winged Minlas and Japanese White-eyes. I folowed the flock for a while, trying to turn one of the Paras in Japanese Paradise Flycatcher - which look rather similar to Asian in the autumn - just hints of a maroon wash to the back and tail, but no luck.

There was a Grey Wagtail wandering around at the the impressive, 30m high Top Falls, where I stopped to drink from the river. Its a beautiful spot, but worth noting that 2 people have died from falling here within the last year, and two more had died about 15 years ago in a landslide along the path I was about to take!

As I drew level with the top of the falls I entered the clouds that had been gathering, but this did not stop me seeing my first Chestnut Bulbuls of the day - a juvenile with three adults. I also pished a phyllosc out of the fog, which never showed enough for identification, but was either Eastern Crowned or Arctic Warbler.

Arriving at the junction where the path either climbs to the top of Tai Mo Shan through good habitat for Large Grass Warbler or returns to the valley I started my descent and after coming out of the cloud found another mixed flock comprising Red-billed Leiothrix (silly name - I'll use the inaccurate old favourite Pekin Robin from now on), Blue winged Minlas, Streak-breasted Scimitar Babblers, Rufous-capped Babblers, and both Arctic and Pale-legged/Sakhalin Leaf Warblers. There was also a female Hainan Blue Flycatcher and, a scarce bird in this area, Yellow-bellied Prinia.

My last bird of the day before the rain came down was a Sooty Flycatcher, showing heavy streaks on the breast, but with too much darkness on the underparts to be Grey-streaked, which should also be coming through over the next few weeks.
 
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Mark Bruce said:
Ruddy Kingfishers are few and far between in Huben. This year there was one spotted in the area. I didn't see it. You do get far more Flycatchers than Huben. Only Grey-streaked Flycatcher; Black-naped Blue Monarch; Ferruginous Flycatcher; and Vivid Niltava have been recorded.

There is a disputed record of male Vivid Niltava from Ng Tung Chai in 1995 - unfortunately the observers, which sadly did not include me, could not agree on key plumage features and the record was rejected.
 
Sounds like you had a very good day. Been raining cats and dogs hear so haven't been out. Wish we were getting all those Asian Paras. We only get them as a very rare vagrant (2 records both from Taipei area.1997-5-2; 2005-5-15). Japanese Paras(race periophthalmica) are resident on Lanyu (Botel Tobago/ Orchid Island) and Lu-dao (Green Island) just off the south eastern tip of Taiwan, where they are pretty easy to see. We do get Japanese Paras passing through Taiwan (nominate and T.a.atrocaudata) and some spending the summer, but all in all they are a pretty rare sight on Taiwan.
 
Mark Bruce said:
Sounds like you had a very good day. Been raining cats and dogs hear so haven't been out. Wish we were getting all those Asian Paras. We only get them as a very rare vagrant (2 records both from Taipei area.1997-5-2; 2005-5-15). Japanese Paras(race periophthalmica) are resident on Lanyu (Botel Tobago/ Orchid Island) and Lu-dao (Green Island) just off the south eastern tip of Taiwan, where they are pretty easy to see. We do get Japanese Paras passing through Taiwan (nominate and T.a.atrocaudata) and some spending the summer, but all in all they are a pretty rare sight on Taiwan.

A much qiueter day today, wghich is odd since the first NE Monsoon cold front arrived with rain the day before. However, it did stop raining overnight, so perhaps all southbound migrants got up onto the NE winds and left.

However I did see another Pale-legged/Sakhalin Leaf Warbler and had a male Hainan Blue Flycatcher singing low down.

Hopefully more tomorrow, as the wind is still NE, which usually presages an arrival

AAAAGH! I've just been horribly gripped by the HKBWS website on another top early autumn target - Tiger Shrike! It appears some jammy (insert expletive) photographed one - and a Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher at Mai Po on the same day last week!

Finallyy, the pix below are of Hong Kong Cascade Frog, one of the small waterfalls, and the misty wood where phylloscs always stays as sp.s.
 

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Hi MKinHK,

Looks like a juv Tiger Shrike. We only get them as a very rare vagrant too.

I went down to the Augu Wetlands at the mouth of the Beigang River on Sunday and spent some time in the coastal forests. Like you we've been having bad weather. Large numbers of Brown Shrike passing through and nothing else. I caught a glimpse of a large warbler at a distance which looked to be an Oriental Reed Warbler and that was all. Around the water there was Whimbrel, Redshank, Common Sand, Black-winged Stilt, Kentish Plover, Common Tern (We don't get too many of those), Little Tern, and Whiskered Tern.
 
A quiet day at Ng Tung Chai yesterday - just a single Asian Para - a real disappoinment after several days of heavy rain. Hopefully the migrants to the north will be moving again now the worst of the weather has moved on.

Actually there were migrants - just not on my patch - went to chase a Tiger Shrike found yesterday on Po Toi Island and dipped horribly - the other 3 birders I went with got at least tickable views and I didn't have a sniff.

However, I did see Asian Brown, Grey-streaked, Dark-sided and Asian Paradise Flycatchers, Arctic & Pale-legged /Sakhalin Leaf Warblers, Brown Shrike, Black-naped Oriole, Black-winged Cuckooshrike, Striated Heron, Blue Rock Thrush, White-shouldered Starling, and a couple of thousand Red-necked Phalaropes from the ferry - so a good day except for the dip!
 
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Mark Bruce said:
Hi MKinHK,

Looks like a juv Tiger Shrike. We only get them as a very rare vagrant too.

I went down to the Augu Wetlands at the mouth of the Beigang River on Sunday and spent some time in the coastal forests. Like you we've been having bad weather. Large numbers of Brown Shrike passing through and nothing else. I caught a glimpse of a large warbler at a distance which looked to be an Oriental Reed Warbler and that was all. Around the water there was Whimbrel, Redshank, Common Sand, Black-winged Stilt, Kentish Plover, Common Tern (We don't get too many of those), Little Tern, and Whiskered Tern.

It is very interesting to hear how different Taiwan is. we assume in HK that many of the passerine migrants we get are broad front migrants. What your posting suggests to me is that the Taiwan Strait is a signifcant gap to these species.

Are there watchpoints perhaps on the north coast where migrants from Japan, Korea and Far Eastern Siberia filter along the Japanese Islands and through Taiwan are recorded?
 
MKinHK said:
It is very interesting to hear how different Taiwan is. we assume in HK that many of the passerine migrants we get are broad front migrants. What your posting suggests to me is that the Taiwan Strait is a significant gap to these species.
MKinHK said:
Are there watch points perhaps on the north coast where migrants from Japan, Korea and Far Eastern Siberia filter along the Japanese Islands and through Taiwan are recorded?

There is without a doubt a lot of passerine movement through the Taiwan Strait. The geography and weather conditions of the area definitely impact on what is being seen and where.

If Taiwan is approached from the "south" over the Bashi Channel, South China Sea or the Pacific then birds can make first landfall in the Kenting National Park area. Depending on how the bird is flying it should usually make landfall on the southwest coast somewhere between Kenting and Chigu in Tainan, where the Black-faced Spoonbills winter, or on the southeast coast between Kenting and Taitung. Remember that the many islands of the Taiwan Strait and the Pacific East coast are there too. Where and if they actually stop probably has a lot to do with weather conditions at the time.

The weather probably also plays a big part in how they move through Taiwan. In perfect weather, a brief stop and then on again leaving Taiwan behind, or in poor conditions, be that over Taiwan or having passed through on route, the migrants will then move through Taiwan with a greater number of stops and will be seen in Central Taiwan which they probably over fly in better conditions.

From the north Yehliu seems the important stop and again what the birds do after that depends on the weather and their condition.

We have quite a few buntings moving through: Japanese Yellow Bunting; Yellow-breasted Bunting; Chestnut bunting; and Little Bunting to name a few. Then Eurasian Siskin and Brambling. Also flycatchers like the Grey-streaked Flycatcher; Asian Brown Flycatcher; Narcissus Flycatcher; Red-throated Flycatcher; and Blue-and-white Flycatcher. There are also the Thrushes and others.

I think if I was spending more time in the areas that are frequented by migrants I think there would be a lot more in common with what you are seeing but the central areas will be shortly filling up with wintering birds.
 
We've just had an amazing 3-day spell for early autumn rarities in Hong Kong, follwing 4 days of rainy weather and four of my fur target species have been tuning up everywhere EXCEPT Ng Tung Chai!

a. There have been Four Tiger shrikes now (more than all previous records)
b. Drongo Cuckoo appeared on Saturday with one Tiger Shrike on Saturday
c. Blue-throated Bee-eater made a there and gone appearance
d. Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher at Mai Po on Sunday

and an as yet unconfirmed Short-toed Lark (Possibly Hume's or Greater) adds the the mix of excellent birds.Possibly Hume's or Greater

There have also been several Siberian Blue Robins, Forest Wagtails a swiftlet, Black Bittern and a Grey Phalarope (which I need).

This morning however Ng Tung Chai was a real pleasure.

I had one each of Arctic, Eastern Crowned, Pale-legged/Sakhalin Leaf and Greenish Warblers, with the latter being my first record of the autumn.

I also had the male Hainan Blue Flycatcher that has been around for a while, and my first Japanese Paradise Flyactcher of the autumn. They are darker-backed and darker tailed than Asian Para, but are otherwise rather similar.

On my way down I surprised a Crested Serpent Eagle on the path , which flew off with a clawful of vegetation - which seemed somewhat odd.

Best of all was a Forest Wagtail wandering aound on the path close to the village - a much anticipated patch tick!

Back in the village quick scan of the slopes produced a Crested Goshawk being mobbed by a Besra. The Besra looked tiny by comparison, so I'm guessing it was a male and the Crested Gos a female. Anonther Crested Gos was also displaying nearby.
 
Mark Bruce said:
Sounds like a good weekend. Did you get to see any of the rarities?
Some nice warbler sightings in your patch.

Ouch - bad question!

The weekend was a combintaion of dipping and not being able to chase these birds due to other commitments!

I dipped on a Tiger Shrike that 3 others saw when I was with them, and went for another and the Drongo Cuckoo on the next day when they were not refound.

I greatly regret not getting up early enough on Saturday to do my patch before spending the day on a boat with my girlfriend and her mates - when good birds were everywhere.

3 Whiskered Terns and a passage Black-winged Stilt seen off the boat didn't fill the gap!

However things are looking up - I stayed home to work this morning and a Brown Shrike popped into a tree in front of my house - for a second patch tick today!
 
MKinHK said:
I dipped on a Tiger Shrike that 3 others saw when I was with them, and went for another and the Drongo Cuckoo on the next day when they were not refound.
Ouch!!! Very painful experience :-C !!!

I expect we'll get some Brown Shrike in the garden within the next few weeks. It still a little early for our winter birds but the Brown Shrike, Blue Rock Thrush, and Daurian Redstart can't be that far away. I only bought the house last November, so exactly when the winter birds arrive in the garden is still new to me. I can just go on what was around when we moved in.
 
Passage continues this week, and looks set to do so for some time - a NE monsoon appears comfrtably set and is dropping birds all over HK - including the first report of Grey-headed Woodpecker for over 20 years (couldn't go for it due to work commitments).

I went out again today - still in pursuit of Tiger Shrike Drongo Cuckoo, Blue throated Bee-eater.

I again saw Arctic, Eastern-crowned and Pale-legged/ Sakhalin Leaf Warblers, but a whole new suite of flycatchers comprised an immature male Hainan Blue, my second Yellow-rumped of the month, and singleton Grey-streaked and Asian Brown.

I had a Dollarbird on a site visit for work this morning - they should be arriving to perch on the power lines across the valley any day now!
 
You're still seeing some good birds. How common are Dollarbirds this time of year in Hong Kong? Dollarbirds for us are a rare sight.
 
Hi Mark

The migrants will keep coming into early December and in waves as cold weather affects feeding opportunities further north in China. Spring starts again in late Feb, when the first Large Hawk Cuckoos arrive, and cotinues into early June.

Dollarbird are a regular spring and autumn migrant - my record is 16 on the wires above my house but 1-3 is more usual. They mostly pass through from mid September to mid October (avge 25 birds/year) and mid April to late May (avge 40 birds/year).

I know they breed widely in S China, and would have no reason to head east or northeast and I think numbers thin out the further north of thr Yangtze you go.

Cheers
Mike
 
Mike, you're seeing a lot more Dollarbirds than us.

The northern Dollarbirds (mostly race calonyx) seem to move down into southern China for winter with very few Dollarbirds moving out into the Taiwan Strait. I'm not sure if any of the birds from SE Xizang (race cyanicollis) are heading to the Philippines (where race cyanicollis is resident) and these possibly are the handful of birds we are seeing passing through Taiwan.

I'm spending the weekend on two Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute (TESRI) field stations in the central mountains and will ask if anyone knows anything about the Dollarbirds passing through Taiwan.

The Blue-tailed Bee-eater is another strange one. Spends the summer on the Taiwan controlled island of Kinmen in the Taiwan Strait. Reasonably common on the Fujian coast and resident in the Philippines but not a single record from Taiwan proper, in spite their presence in the Taiwan Strait during typhoon season.
 
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