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

A global Big Year while working full-time (?) (1 Viewer)

Update time:

eek 33: Aug 7 – Aug 13, Queensland, Australia

Working Days: 4

New species identified: 52

Total species to date: 1446

57.8 % of goal, 63.5% of year used

Sites visited: Cairns, Port Douglas, Mt. Lewis, Atherton Tablelands

Just three days in this wonderful area; not nearly enough time. We dipped on a few surprises, including harriers - none! And so much of the tablelands looked like such prime habitat, with all the rolling hills and all. Much hide and seek was played with the Fairy Martins, that were mixed in with Tree Martins - zooming swallows, martins, and swifts are always a real pain when your eyesight is bad. But I got the little buggers after only about twenty minutes more work after everyone else easily saw them. And a nice surprise was Electus Parrots - a breeding pair but likely escapees, per our guide.

https://legallyblindbirding.net/2018-gbwy-4/
 
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Week 34: Sick. No birding :(

But my list still grew by 1!

This past week saw eBird making their yearly taxonomy updates. And as a result, my count for the year went up by one, because the magpies that we saw in Yunnan, China, and those we saw in Beijing and in Taiwan, are now different species per their taxonomy (Yunnan has only Eurasian Magpie, while Beijing and Taiwan now have just Oriental Magpie).

We had planned to spend the weekend up at Khao Yai National Park, but after getting back from Cairns last week, we found ourselves whacked by some flu-like nastiness. Instead of birding I spent Fri-Sun in bed.

I expected the pace would catch up with us eventually. I've intentionally left two weekends in Sept open, in case we need to rest up for the big final push.

Here is the End Game, by week:

35: Bali (3-day)
36: open
37: Sandakan, Borneo (no guide)
38: open
39: Muscat, Oman (no guide)
40: Hong Kong
41: Delhi (no guide)
42: Sulawesi (4-day)
43: Shanghai (no guide)
44: Mandalay, Myanmar
45: Khao Yai (no guide)
46: Hanoi
47: Beijing
48: Cambodia (NE of Siem Reap)
49: Manila
50: Bangalore, India and Dubai,UAE (2 days each)
51: Chiang Mai
52: New Zealand (4 days before Dec 26 deadline hits, no guide)

A number of these are areas we have visited before, but where we will hit different sites and try to clean up on earlier misses. Other choices are driven purely by what can be done over the weekend, which means, where we can fly to quickly. It is aggravating that an area such as Assam, which is really not far from here, and which has reportedly spectacular birding, is impossible to do over a weekend. Instead we end up going to Delhi. Muscat, Oman is another example of where the flights work our perfectly - leave Friday night, nonstop, get in Friday night; leave late Sunday, nonstop, get home early Monday. Perfect for a birding trip. Too bad it isn't Nairobi.
 
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Greetings from Bangkok, it is good to be able to make a good update:

Week 35: Aug 21 - Aug 27, Bali, Indonesia

Working Days: 4

New species identified: 38

Total species to date: 1485

59.4 % of goal, 67.3% of year used

Sites visited: Bali Barat, Botanic Gardens, Handara Golf Course

Bali is quite lovely. The 'vibe' here is more relaxed than in the other parts of Indonesia we've seen, and certainly more so than in Malaysia. Finding beer is not hard at all!

We had a good local guide that tailored the trip to our targets, so we did fairly well with about two full days to work with. Got good looks at the Bali Myna, which has to be the prettiest of all the 'plain white' birds. Another nice encounter involved Savannah Nightjars calling and flying low over an open field just after sunset - with enough light to actually be able to see them well. Also enjoyed the friendly Bar-winged Prinias that would approach within a meter or two.

Some pictures at the usual place: https://legallyblindbirding.net/2018-gbwy-4/
 
Greetings from Thailand. Not a lot to report....

Week 36: Aug 28 - Sept 3, Bangkok, Thailand

Working Days: 5

New species identified: 1

Total species to date: 1486

59.4 % of goal, 69.2% of year used

Sites visited: Lat Krabang paddies

We took a weekend off from travel and birded around Bangkok instead. Specifically we headed out to Lat Krabang, which is an area east of the city, near the international airport, and mostly reachable by metro and taxi. There are many paddies and reedy and scrubby areas out here, with lots of avian activity - however the roads are narrow and relatively busy and one must always be looking out for the next vehicle.

Per eBird, the area holds at least four birds we still need; Baya Weaver, Black Bittern, Red Avadavat, and Watercock. We found the Baya Weavers - their elaborate nests decorate the larger trees everywhere here, while the smaller trees hold the less fancy, more unkempt nests of the Asian Golden Weavers. The other target birds were AWOL.

We go to Borneo next weekend and then we have one more travel-free weekend where we will again try to get the last few recalcitrant birds from the Bangkok area. Then it is the home stretch for the final thirteen weeks.
 
Greetings from Bangkok,

Week 37: Sept 4 – Sept 10, Sabah, Malaysia

Working Days: 4

New species identified: 8

Total species to date: 1494

60.0 % of goal, 71.1% of year used

Sites visited: Sepilok Jungle Resort, Rainforest Discovery Center

Our most recent trip was to the Sepilok area of Sabah, Malaysia. Getting here from Bangkok requires a stop-over in Kuala Lumpur, and since there are not a lot of flights between KL and Sandakan, our only workable itinerary had us arrive mid-afternoon on Friday and then stop birding mid-morning on Sunday. So we had all of Saturday plus an extra afternoon and morning.

Other than the hassle of getting in, Sandakan is a very good base from which to do a trip. From the airport, a 20-minute taxi ride gets you to Sepilok, where there are a number of lodging options, all within easy walking distance of several reserves. So you can get in and get around without a guide pretty easily here. Transportation and food are cheap. There is also an orangutan center that we did not visit.

We spent all day Saturday at the Rainforest Discovery Center. The trails, walkways, towers, buildings, and gardens here are nicely done - it caters to birders and photographers and so at least when we were here, it was pretty tranquil. The cafe is adequate - but one does not come here to eat, after all! The only complaint is that the ticket booth is not open until 08:00. However we arrived twenty minutes early and the guard let us in.

It was ungodly hot and humid, however, and the birding was quite slow. Some photographers that were also here in June said it was much more active then. We dipped on a number of the specialties, such as Bristlehead, Rhinoceros Hornbill, and the trogons. It was not for lack of effort - I made over a hundred audio recordings and have been analyzing them, looking for any trace of our targets. No such luck! But we did pick us some nice new birds such as Cream-vented Bulbul, Copper-throated Sunbird, Bushy-crested Hornbill, and nesting Wallace's Hawk-Eagle.

Latest pics here: https://legallyblindbirding.net/2018-gbwy-5/
 
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Not much to report:

Week 38: Sept 11 – Sept 17, Bangkok

Working Days: 5

New species identified: 3

Total species to date: 1497

60.0 % of goal, 73.1% of year used

Sites visited: Bang Krachao, Muang Boran Fish Ponds, Queen Sirikit Park

Have been seeing a few interesting migrants showing up on eBird, so we went looking for some of them, in addition to some of the AWOL residents, such as Watercock, Black Bittern, Red Avadavat, and Vinous-breasted Starling. We finally found one of the starlings at Bang Krachao. As for the migrants, we were hoping for Forest Wagtail, Eastern Crowned Warbler, and Amur Paradise-Flycatcher. We got the last two.

Saturday afternoon we took our first trip to the Muang Boran Fish Ponds hotspot. This was an adventure to find and to enter. Once we finally left the last road and crossed a small boardwalk leading to some shanties, the locals informed us we's have to crawl through a nail-studded wooden fence in order to get in to the trails. We were obliged to do this, even though there seemed to be a gate that they wouldn't open. They seemed to enjoy watching our uncoordinated gymnastics attempted to get through the fence. I'll mention this to the owner of the linked site above - I can imagine some visitors would not be able to get through this obstacle. We also learned that one can reach this area from a road along the north side without having such adventures.

Next weekend: Muscat, Oman
 
Update time:

Week 39: Sept 18 – Sept 24, Muscat, Oman

Working Days: 5

New species identified: 26

Total species to date: 1523

60.9 % of goal, 75% of year used

Sites visited: Al Qurm Nature Park, Al-Ansab Lagoons

I mentioned elsewhere, I think, that a weekend trip to Oman suggested itself because there were good flights between Bangkok and Muscat. Leave work at a normal time on Friday, fly out of Bangkok at 21:00 or so, get in before midnight, then leave Sunday night, and get in Monday at 6:30 and go back to work! Tailor-made. I could not find a guide, so we went to to the two hottest eBird hotspots on our own. Not having a scope made that tough, as many birds were distant. The camera had to serve in capacity as a scope.

"Hotspot" is a good term - there were good selections of water birds and shorebirds, and it was also damn hot as well. Sweltering. Even after a Bangkok summer, the mid-30's here seemed extreme for some reason. By Sunday midday we had had enough. 60 species in a day and half, all told. September appears to be a bit too early for many migrants - hopefully we will pick up more of them when we return to the area in December, when we will be in UAE.

A few photos here, and our experience going to Al-Ansab Lagoons: https://legallyblindbirding.net/2018-gbwy-5/
 
Update time:

Week 40: Sept 25 - Oct 1, Hong Kong

Working Days: 5

New species identified: 14

Total species to date: 1537

61.5 % of goal, 76.9% of year used

Sites visited: Mai Po, Kam Tin, Long Valley, Tai Po Kau, San Tin

The numbers continue to trickle in. 14 new birds. Seems like we don't see much, but we had 107 species in all and it was quite birdy all in all. I suppose I should keep a running tally of total species seen for each weekend to watch how the percentages of new birds change.

Most of our time was spent looking for shorebirds and water birds, at places like Mai Po and various fish ponds throughout the northern parts of HK. We had a guide - I cannot imagine trying to bird here without a vehicle. The train system here is nice but it doesn't get you very close to the prime birding spots.

There was a typhoon here two weeks ago and a lot of damage was sustained and many trees were down. This resulted in some good areas being closed to entry.

Plenty of migrants were moving through, so except for when the significant mid-day heat kept the activity down, there was plenty to see. We found a very early Chinese Grosbeak, which appears to be the first record (on eBird) of one in September. Also saw a strange dark morph of a Long-tailed Shrike, which apparently occurs only in HK, per our guide.

Next weekend: Delhi
 
Also saw a strange dark morph of a Long-tailed Shrike, which apparently occurs only in HK, per our guide.

Next weekend: Delhi

Not sure if the guide was a book or a person (?) but I've seen this dark morph at Poyang in winter so probably more widespread...

Enjoying the thread though and can't believe how fast the time is rushing by!

Cheers, McM
 
^ Thanks for the info/comments, McMadd. Yes the year is going by very fast!

This week's update:

Week 41: Oct 2 – Oct 8, New Delhi, India

Working Days: 5

New species identified: 12

Total species to date: 1549

62.0 % of goal, 78.8% of year used

Sites visited: Okhla Bird Sanctuary, Greater Kailash R Block District Park

Pictures at: https://legallyblindbirding.net/2018-gbwy-5/

Another fast, in-and-out weekend where it seems like we spent more time in planes and airports as we did out with the birds. All day Saturday we spent at Okhla Bird Sanctuary, which produced about 60 species in all for us. You can only enter at 7:30, by which time the sun has been up for an hour and the best part of the morning is already over. This area features a large body of water that demands a scope - my telephoto camera zoom had to suffice, and it did deliver some distant goodies like Ruddy Shelduck that we might not have seen otherwise.

OBS is certainly a hotspot worth the time but it is a bit rough and lacks any kind of facilities such as toilets or drinking water. Getting here from the nearby metro station was an adrenaline-filled adventure of walking in busy roads. By about 10:30 it was very difficult to be anywhere but in deep shade, and that went for the birds as well, it seems.

On Sunday morning we had just a few hours, so we walked to a nearby park and picked up a few more city birds, and then started the process of getting back home.

Other random notes:

This was our second visit to India. Just like in Mumbai, it was strange to see the scores of Black Kites all through the city, seemingly playing the role of corvids - as if there were not enough House Crows here already.

I'd always thought that Indian food was unique in that wherever in the world we've found it, it seemed capable of being equally good. By this I mean that in the USA, or in Singapore, or in Thailand, we have had great Indian food. But the food we had in Delhi was other-worldy, insanely mouth-watering, and downright erotic to eat. Is it something in the soil? Maybe it's just mental. In any case, I can tolerate the chaos and extreme conditions if it means more of this food.

Bangkok seems so ordered clean and tranquil, now, in comparison. Almost dull.
 
Time for an update:

Week 42: Oct 9 - Oct 16, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

Working Days: 3

New species identified: 38

Total species to date: 1576

63.0 % of goal, 80.8% of year used

Sites visited: Tangkoko Bataungus Nature Reserve

We spent several days in North Sulawesi, at Tangkoko. Bird activity was quite subdued and sightings were few and far between, but we picked up some nice endemics. Wonderful place for kingfishers, many of which were quite approachable. Photos of them at the usual place:

https://legallyblindbirding.net/2018-gbwy-5/

The only field guide I could find for this region was the recent one from Lynx (James A. Eaton, Bas van Balen, Nick W. Brickle, Frank E. Rheindt). It is quite expensive. It functioned well enough but it seems that the illustrations were simply lifted from the HBW, and in some cases didn’t provide the most desirable views. For example, some of the swifts are depicted only from above.

I also checked all my numbers and species for the year and found that I had accumulated eleven double-counted birds. My numbers are all corrected now.

Next week: Shanghai
 
The only field guide I could find for this region was the recent one from Lynx (James A. Eaton, Bas van Balen, Nick W. Brickle, Frank E. Rheindt). It is quite expensive. It functioned well enough but it seems that the illustrations were simply lifted from the HBW, and in some cases didn’t provide the most desirable views. For example, some of the swifts are depicted only from above.

Next week: Shanghai

Thу book you mention is a new book and until it's arrival, birders had to suffice with Coates and Bishop's 'A guide to the birds of Birds of Wallacea' which due to scarcity, was commanding a much higher price than this new book so be grateful! :t:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Guide-Birds-Wallacea-Sulawesi-Indonesia/dp/0959025731
 
Update time:

Week 43: Oct 16 - Oct 22, Shanghai, China

Working Days: 5

New species identified: 3

Total species to date: 1579

63.2 % of goal, 82.7% of year used

Sites visited: Nanhui Dongtan area

Two big improvements this week: (1) For the first trip since May, it was not hot and muggy and I wasn't wiping the condensation of my glasses every sixty seconds or so; (2) Unlike last weekend, no strangers entered out hotel room during the night!

Otherwise - tough weekend. We looked high and low for a variety of needed buntings, robins, thrushes, and flycatchers with little success. When we did finally find some buntings they turned out to be Black-faced Buntings, which we'd seen earlier in Taiwan.

Most of our birds were found around a man-made lake called Dishui, well south of the city. 31 species in all, with the non-target birds such as Spotted Dove and Chinese Bulbul being very plentiful. Thrushes? Not so much. I can imagine coming to this area for shorebird migration, and with a car and a scope doing quite well. I cannot see any reason to visit here again - and I'd rather go to Mai Po in Hong Kong in any case, where there are hides and much more habitat for passerines.

Next weekend: Mandalay, Myanmar
 
Update time:

Week 43: Oct 16 - Oct 22, Shanghai, China

Sites visited: Nanhui Dongtan area

Most of our birds were found around a man-made lake called Dishui, well south of the city. 31 species in all, with the non-target birds such as Spotted Dove and Chinese Bulbul being very plentiful. Thrushes? Not so much. I can imagine coming to this area for shorebird migration, and with a car and a scope doing quite well. I cannot see any reason to visit here again - and I'd rather go to Mai Po in Hong Kong in any case, where there are hides and much more habitat for passerines.

You need to have a vehicle and drive the seawall north from there. Also the Yangshan Islands across the 32km bridge are well documented (by McCaribou, Dev 'n' me amongst others) in Bird Forum China section as being the migration hotspot...

Shame you lucked out.

Cheers McM
 
You need to have a vehicle and drive the seawall north from there. Also the Yangshan Islands across the 32km bridge are well documented (by McCaribou, Dev 'n' me amongst others) in Bird Forum China section as being the migration hotspot...

Shame you lucked out.

Cheers McM

Yes - live and learn. We clearly didn't do our homework on this one.

But this weekend was better. The update follows...

Week 44: Oct 23 – Oct 29, Mandalay, Myanmar

Working Days: 5

New species identified: 12

Total species to date: 1591

63.6 % of goal, 84.6 % of year used

Sites visited: Irrawaddy River, Paleik Lake, Mandalay area

Pictures at https://legallyblindbirding.net/2018-gbwy-5/

Our first trip to Myanmar. We stayed within an hours' drive radius of Mandalay, and it was fairly birdy overall. A guide would seem necessary here, and we are thankful that we had one. Some of our birding involved him asking locals and farmers if we could walk through their fields. Not much in the way of trails here - so it was this, and roadside birding.

Late October, fall migration is not something that we normally associate with pounding heat from the sun, but that is what we had. From about 10:00 to 14:00 it was pretty much unbirdable. Otherwise the endemics we were looking for mostly cooperated. The White-bellied (Jerdon's) Minivet, easily seen in the smallish trees in the arid savannah, was especially rewarding - a welcome change from the neck-wrecking, canopy-dwelling Little Black-and-Red Jobs we are accustomed to squinting for in Thailand.

Next weekend we take an airport break, and head up by road to Khao Yai National Park, were we will try to clean up on some recalcitrant Thai birds.
 
Update:

Week 45: Oct 30 – Nov 5, Thailand

Working Days: 5

New species identified: 6

Total species to date: 1597

63.9% of goal, 86.5% of year used

Sites visited: Bang Pu, Khao Yai National Park, Wat Phra Phuttabath Koi

No air travel this weekend - that is the last time I will be saying that until mid January, when we are home in Minnesota. The final big push is about to start, and I'm hoping for 150-180 more new birds for the year.

This weekend we hit three different sites within three hours of Bangkok and picked up a few new arrivals and other uncommon birds previously missed. Bang Pu, which sits on the Gulf of Thailand, is now teeming with many thousands of Brown-headed Gulls. Khao Yai, north of Bangkok, is teeming with people (and Phylloscopus warblers). Wat Phra Phuttabath Koi, a temple also north of town, sits at the base of a rocky hillside that was teeming with mosquitos. This hillside is home to Limestone Wren-babblers, but we didn't find any.

Next weekend we head to Hanoi and Cuc Phuong, where we will be looking for the same wren-babblers.

Some photos: https://legallyblindbirding.net/2018-gbwy-6/
 
Update time:

Week 46: Nov 6 - Nov 12, Vietnam

Working Days: 5

New species identified: 10

Total species to date: 1607

64.8% of goal, 88.5% of year used

Sites visited: Cuc Phuong, Van Long Nature Reserve

Slow weekend with fewer birds than expected - rain certainly did not help. Our guide was a real piece of work. Even after my telling him about my vision problems, he couldn't help but provide me with such helpful comments and instructions such as: "It's right there! Right there!! One the ground!!!" and "Use your binoculars! Look! Just look through your binoculars!!" I had to tell him that shouting at me did not help me find the bird. He also didn't like the photos I was taking, and frequently asked to borrow my camera so that he could take the pictures. At one point, when he found a trogon (which we didn't need, but did he ask? No) - and which only he could see from his particular vantage point, he simply said "Give me your camera and I will take a picture of it for you." Gee, thanks! If that was all I needed, I'd just save my money and stay home and look at bird photos on the internet. No, I am here to see the birds if I can, and you are supposed to help me find them. He didn't carry a laser pointer, and his instructions usually amounted to "Up there, on the left side of the tree" - excellent instructions in the middle of a dark rainforest. (Now, while there are some guides that seem to do nothing with their lasers but scare birds off, there is certainly a Middle Way of skillfully pointing to an adjacent, closer branch or feature that gets the viewer to the right area, without wildly drawing circles around the bird and causing it to leave.)

Anyway, rant over. A few pictures in the usual place:

https://legallyblindbirding.net/2018-gbwy-6/
 
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Update...

Week 47: Nov 13 - Nov 19, Beijing, China

Working Days: 5

New species identified: 15

Total species to date: 1622

64.9% of goal, 90.3% of year used

Sites visited: Yeyahu Wetland Park

Not too much interesting to report. It was windy and cold (-1 C) in Beijing. The bulk of our new birds came at Yeyahu, which lies several hours northwest of the city by car. Too remote to access with public transportation, so we went with a local guide we'd used here in June. Ducks were a mix of common North American species like Gadwall, Mallard, Common Merganser, and new species for us including Falcated Duck, Smew, and Baer's Pochard.

Next week: Tmatboey, Cambodia
 
By the way, I added another photo from this China trip:

https://legallyblindbirding.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/dscn5440.jpg?w=2560

Not a great picture, though

I felt rather strongly at first that this was a Willow Tit. It had light edging in the tertials, and the bib seemed rather shaggy. The cap was not glossy, but actually appeared dark brown. It gave a call that sounded quite similar to a Black-capped Chickadee, but I have read that in the Far East, the calls of the two tits are rather similar. I'd love to have confirmation from someone experienced with Eurasian birds... Thanks...
 
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By the way, I added another photo from this China trip:

https://legallyblindbirding.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/dscn5440.jpg?w=2560

Not a great picture, though

I felt rather strongly at first that this was a Willow Tit. It had light edging in the tertials, and the bib seemed rather shaggy. The cap was not glossy, but actually appeared dark brown. It gave a call that sounded quite similar to a Black-capped Chickadee, but I have read that in the Far East, the calls of the two tits are rather similar. I'd love to have confirmation from someone experienced with Eurasian birds... Thanks...

Michael

Willow Tit and Marsh Tit are one of the most complicated species pairs to distinguish, and it is made even more complicated by trying to understand the subspecies at play here.

I believe that you should have been seeing for Marsh tit, hellmayri and for Willow tit, one of the previously split Songar tit group, probably stoetzneri.

Generally speaking, Willow is a species of higher elevations that Marsh, but in winter Willow can be an altitudinal migrant to lower levels.

Terry Townshend's Yeyahu site guide on BirdingBeijing webpages gives Marsh as common and resident and does not mention Willow (Songar).

However, from the Photo alone, I would suggest that it looks more Willow to me.

The brown tinged cap, the bull-necked appearance and the extensive bib suggest Willow (Songar) over Marsh IMO. Call wise, Willow sounds more like Black capped Chickadee to me than Marsh, although this can be subtle (to the extent I regularly get Marsh Tits responding to Willow Tit calls here in UK).

Are there any other photos? A good "side on" view would help.

I would suggest mailing Terry direct for local feedback.
 
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