Ng Tung Chai, Hong Kong (1 Viewer)

A good morning for flycatchers, and more signs of the coming of winter:

2 Dark-sided Flycatchers were traditional late autumn migrants, but the 4 Grey-headed Flycatchers and a stunning male Black-naped Monarch were definitie harbingers of winter, as was the escaped White-throated Fantail, which is now in its 3rd or 4th winter in the valley.

A Yellow-cheeked Tit was no 136 on the patch this year, making 150 a probably unattainable, but tantalisingly possible, target for the year.

It felt like there were birds there to be discoverd, but time-pressure from work meant I had to walk aay from a big mixed feeding flock.

Yesterday's trip up the valley I finally saw the first Blue-and-white Flycatcher of the autumn - a first winter male. In addition, a female Black-naped Monarch was clearly different to the pristine male of the previous posting. There were the now expected 3 Grey-headed Flycatchers and Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike, while Olive-backed Pipits (3 today) and 5 Yellow-browed Warblers hinted at a new arrival.

The Yellow-cheeked Tit again showed well, and a male Buff-bellied Flowerpecker was the first seen this year - almost 10 months afer hearing one on Jan 1.

More winter arrivals this morning - a wonderful male Verditer Flycatcher and a much more dowdy Blyth's Leaf Warbler (the white-bellied race) being the pick of the bunch. The male Black-naped Monarch again showed well and the 3 Grey-headed Flycatchers seemed to be holding onto the same territorities.
6 OBPs was also a new high count for the winter, but YBW were down to 2, suggesting passage in ongoing. The Black-winged Cuckooshrike was again in the tree in front of my house.

Was tempted to claim a flyby sparrowhawk as Eurasian and a new patch tick, but with the discussion ongoing in the ID/taxonomy thread, decided that better views would definitely be required!

You're getting a lot of wintering birds, Mike. I'm not really seeing that many arrivals around the house. No Blue Rock Thrush, yet. Closer to the coast quite a few wintering birds around. I'm going into the mountains for the weekend, so I should get an idea of wintering birds at higher altitudes.

There seems to be a really good flow of a few new winter visitors each time I go up the valley (or look out the window!) at the moment, which I'm really enjoying - not all passage periods are like this!

However, no regular winter thrushes here yet, although Chinese Blackbird and White's Thrush have been seen on Po Toi Island. I was speculating with a mate that all the warm weather further north in China is holding them up until a decent cold front pushes through. It seemed strange to have seen Grey-backed Thrush in Zhejiang almost a month ago and not to have had a sniff down here yet. Then I checked the Hong Kong Avifauna and saw that they do not arrive here before the second week of November and the earliest ever record is today! It always pays to check the data!

Maybe the typhoon in the S China Sea will do something wierd - late typhoons have a way of delivering unusual birds - but we'll have to see which way it goes first - its having a major dither at the present.

Away from the patch missing HK's first Cotton Pygmy Goose in 30 years (other commitments) was a tough one to take, but I guess the Black-headed Bunting and the Piculet really made up for it!

Very interested to her what you pick up in the mountains - was really tantalised by my one-night stay there a few years ago. I hope that when you winter visitors do arrive, it will be with an influx of goodies that makes it worth the wait.

Cheers
Mike

New for the autumn on the patch this morning was a really well marked female Daurian Redstart seen off the balcony this morning.

Better still, but not at Ng Tung Chai, was HK's second Sulphur-breasted Warbler and my 16th HK tick this year! In HK SBW needs to be separated from Goodson's Leaf Warbler, which also has yellow underparts, but grey rather than black eyestripe and Lateral crown stripes. The yellow underparts are not as extensive, nor is the yellow colour so rich.

I also had great views of a Pygmy Wren Babbler, a couple of White-bellied Yuhinas and saw my first Asian Stubtail of the autumn. My first and belated Chinese Blackbird was heard close to Tai Po Kau - really should be at Ng Tung Chai any day now.

Finally heard and saw a Chinese Blackbird on the way out of the village yesterday evening. This bird is half as big again as the typical UK Blackbird, and has a rather strangled single note call, with none of the beautiful liquid warbling of the slenderer UK birds. The split must surely be a matter of time.

Much more exciting was a dash from work to see HK's first Lesser White-fronted Goose - 2 juveniles turned up this morning and were finally identified around 3 this afternoon. I managed to get there at 5 and had good views in late aftenoon sunlight - lovely! - 17th HK tick of the year!

The first week of November is the traditional week for rare geese - presumably overshoots aiming for Poyang or Donting or other lakes in the Yangtze River basin. a huge proportion of the global population of Lesser White-font winters there.

Lovely. That's a grrrreat spot ! I've only seen a Lesser White-fronted Goose once. It was the end of January this year and I, my wife and two mates were looking for Northern Lapwing in the rice fields around town. We spotted a goose. I lifted my bins and couldn't believe what I was seeing. The others were saying what's that. I stood there like an idiot shaking and making strange noises because I was so excited I couldn't speak.

Hi Mark

I know the feeling - its a good job I was on my own when I found the piculet as trying to speak to anyone else would have brought on a seious attack of the wibbles!

its a good job I did a runner from work yesterday - the birds were gone this morning!

How did you get on in the mountains?

MKinHK said:

Hi Mark

I know the feeling - its a good job I was on my own when I found the piculet as trying to speak to anyone else would have brought on a seious attack of the wibbles!

its a good job I did a runner from work yesterday - the birds were gone this morning!

How did you get on in the mountains?

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The mountains were very cold but still great. Lots of ice but no snow yet. The cold does drive a number of species to lower elevations. As time was short we only birded pretty high up 2600-3500 m. I saw Alpine Accentor, Vinaceous Rosefinch, Grey-headed Bullfinch, Large-billed Crow, Nutcracker, White-whiskered Laughingthrush, Green-backed Tit, Coal Tit, Black-throated Tit, Nuthatch, Collared Bush Robin, Taiwan Yuhina, Streak-throated Fulvetta, Golden Parrotbill, Rufous-capped Babbler, Taiwan Firecrest, Grey Wagtail, and Asian House Martin. I think I caught a sight of a Winter Wren diving into the undergrowth.

Mark Bruce said:

The mountains were very cold but still great. Lots of ice but no snow yet. The cold does drive a number of species to lower elevations. As time was short we only birded pretty high up 2600-3500 m. I saw Alpine Accentor, Vinaceous Rosefinch, Grey-headed Bullfinch, Large-billed Crow, Nutcracker, White-whiskered Laughingthrush, Green-backed Tit, Coal Tit, Black-throated Tit, Nuthatch, Collared Bush Robin, Taiwan Yuhina, Streak-throated Fulvetta, Golden Parrotbill, Rufous-capped Babbler, Taiwan Firecrest, Grey Wagtail, and Asian House Martin. I think I caught a sight of a Winter Wren diving into the undergrowth.

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Hi Mark

lots of good stuff there - I especially want to see the laughingthrush and the Firecrest. I always remember being blown away by my first Alpine Accentor - the books really don't do them justice.

A good morning in NTC. Ashy Drongo and Pallas' Leaf Warbler were newly in and a good set of flycatchers included repeat views of Gray-headed, Blue-and-white and the pristine male Black-naped Monarch and Verditer.

Most interesting, however, was protracted views of White-throateded Fantail. This bird is an interesting one. It was presumed to be extralimital and an escape when first discovered, but now it has returned for its third winter and, since has never been seen in the summer, a couple of members of the HK records committee are beginning to consider the possibility of wild origin.

Today it gave its best ever views - chasing Grey-headed Flycatchers around - showing wonderful aerodynamic manoeuverability with its tail fanned out. It also gave its distinctive musical song - a top bird all round!

Other highlights included Black-winged Cuckooshrike in the forest with a flock of Scarlet and Grey-chinned Minivets, a new record count of five singing Lesser Shortwings, A, A white-bellied Blyth's Leaf Warbler and another unidentified Phyllosc - big and clumsy as an Arctic, but with an all yellow lower mandible, male Scarlet-backed and Buff-bellied Flowerpeckers in the same tree briefly, a Yellow-cheeked Tit, a good-sized flock of 15 or so Rufous-capped Babblers, a tightly-packed flock of about 100 Chinese Bulbuls - probably arriving migrants, and for curiosity value, Black-throated Laughing thrushes imitating both Besra and Large Hawk Cuckoo!

. . . and all in just 2 hours!

Some great sightings. I better make a plan for a visit. When you come to see those Fairy Pitta we'll take you up into the mountains for the laughingthrush and the Firecrest. In this weather both the Alpine Accentor and WW Laughingthrush look like little balls of wool. I never get tired of seeing either and they are very approachable.

No chance to get out since coming back from a quickie weekend trip to Guangxi in W China, but Chinese Blackbirds are now properly in and doing things properly flying over the house in small flocks - 12 yesterday and 3 so far this morning.

The Guangxi trip was a good one - to a reserve called Nonggang Shan in the far southwest near the Vietnam border. Major targets were White-winged Magpie, Indochinese Green Magpie, Limestone Wren Babbler, Large Scimitar Babbler and Pied Hornbill.

We saw over 20 WW Magpies, 2 ICGMs (both a wonderful!) and heard the Scimitar Babbler and Bar-backed Partridge. Other good China birds included Broad-billed Warbler, Dark-necked Tailorbird, White-rumped Shama. Apparently Chinese Leaf Warbler was a first for the province. I'll post a full trip report in a couple of days on the appropriate thread.


Cheers
Mike

Woke up too late to go into the forest this morning but the Black-winged Cuckooshrike and a wonderful pair of Scarlet Minivets were in the big tree 30m from the house and best of all a Wryneck flipped up from the scruffy patch of grass in front of the house, then dropped back down, allowing wonderful close views through the scope for a couple of minutes- a new patch tick! - no 168.

Hi you Guys, I’ve just hopped on to this thread and have had a ball writing down all the new names of birds you have mentioned, now I’me off into the Internet to try and find pictures of them. I am surprised that no other member of the Bird Forum hasn’t joined in to help you out. There is one Australian member who lives in Hong Kong most of the time, called Neil, he is the most prolific photographer in Bird Forum and has posted the most pictures in the Gallery, and there are a lot of pictures of the birds you two have mentioned. The first place I will have to look into will be the Database, I’me sure I will find most of them there. Thanks for the entertainment, :clap: great reading, keep it up and thanks. :t: Tanny.

Tanny said:

Hi you Guys, I’ve just hopped on to this thread and have had a ball writing down all the new names of birds you have mentioned, now I’me off into the Internet to try and find pictures of them.

There is one Australian member who lives in Hong Kong most of the time, called Neil, he is the most prolific photographer in Bird Forum

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Hi Tanny

Thanks for your encouragement.

Neil also posts on the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society website (www.hkbws.org.hk), so I get to see all his pix there. If you are looking for sites with pix of the birds I see here the best is probably the Oriental Bird Images website (www.orientalbirdimages.org), while there is a wonderful array of Hong Kong birds on the HKBWS site. I understand there are over 1000 species of Chinese birds in the Shenzhen Bird Watching Society Gallery, but it is in Chinese.

Actually, not too much encouragement needed today - a couple of good birds during a wet and misty session in the forest this morning - a 1st winter male Mugimaki Flycatcher was my second of the autumn, but the first was so early (5th September 6 weeks before the first accepted record) that it is being viewed with scepticism as a possible escape in some quarters (mutter, mutter, mutter...). Anyway no-one will argue about this one!

The other good forest birds were very brief views of 2 different Rufous-tailed Robins, and three Yellow-browed Warblers showed well.

The big excitement today however, was on the wires above the farmland in front of the village carpark - a female Bull-headed Shrike - a Hong Kong year tick, but much more importantly new bird for the patch no.169! Having only just changed my signature to celebrate the Wryneck of Monday morning it is displaced by another great bird! This amazing year justs keeps on delivering wonderful birds!

While watching and photographing the shrike a few other birds made cameo appearances - a trio of Orange-bellied Leafbirds flew in and then a couple of minutes later out again, the Black-winged Cuckooshrike materialised in the big bare tree, an Asian Brown Flycatcher showed briefly,and a couple of Grey Treepies made just their fourth visit of the year.

The Bull-headed Shrike was again present this morning, but with today being clear and sunny it obviously decided that Ng Tung Chai was not to its liking (there's no accounting for taste), and having resisted an attempted mugging by a foolishly brave Grey Wagtail and shown beautifully in the early morning sunshine, it flew off strongly down the valley.

At least it stayed a bit longer than the Wryneck and the Black-headed Bunting - and both of halves of a birding couple that are strating to get competitive about their individual lists were able to see it on consecutive days.

There was also female Daurian Redstart and the usual Black-winged Cuckooshrike dive-bombed us as we were watching the shrike. I finally managed a pic of it yesterday afternoon.

Thanks mate, I'me getting addicted to your reports, with many birds I have never heard of. Some birds mentioned are similar to the ones I knew in Australia, like the Cuckoo Shrikes and the Grey Fantails but obviously a sub-species.
Thank's for the web sites of your local birds and Neils pictures. I am studying the Woodpecker family at the moment and any picture I see is thoroughly scrutinised, prior to this I was studying the Tit family and was surprised to see that our common Great and Coal Tits were residing in your area, although their colour was more grey.
Good luck. Tanny

Tanny said:

I was studying the Tit family and was surprised to see that our common Great and Coal Tits were residing in your area, although their colour was more grey.

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There is some discussion in splitting this very grey form of Great Tit,which occurs in China and Japan (and maybe Korea) and calling it Parus Minor and in English possibly Japanese Tit. In my not very humble opinion both names suck, so I hope I'm wrong.

The Coal Tits in China are great - they have little spiky crests! There are no records yet in Hong Kong.

This morning was a good one in Ng Tung Chai:

There was no sign of the Bull-headed Shrike this morning, but immediately on entering the forest I saw the first of five or six Asian Stubtail - a tiny Cettia that spends it time rooting about in leaf litter and uttering a loud sharp call or an explosive song. They were an obvious sign of an arrival of migrants following the poor weather of the last couple of days.

Apart from a long-staying Greenish Warbler and a Grey Treepie calling across the ther sie of the valley, the walk up into the valley was pretty quiet, but just past the temple Lesser Shotwings sang from both sides of the path almost simultaneously - suggesting that a turf war was under way. Curiously I had two more of these very secretive birds very close together in Dont' Dip Dell and had a rare open view of one of the birds for a few seconds.

The Dell was wonderful. As I approached i caught a glimpse of something coming off the deck onto a low branch, and then down again. Changing the angle to get a clear view I eventually had very good views of the metallic blue crown, royal blue back and bright orange belly of a male Fukien Niltava - my fourth record here - and the first since Feb 04. Its a special bird for me here, as it was one I first saw at this site on my very first visit on Boxing Day in 1994 (see post 1 on this thread).

As I was watching the Niltava I heard a Grey-headed Flycatcher start calling and enjoyed a wonderful bird wave that included the Black-naped Monarch, several inquisitive Grey-chinned Minivets, a Red-billed Leiothrix, a number of Chestnut Bulbuls and a sparkling Mountain Tailorbird. Having to come back to work I left reluctantly, but added Scarlet Minivet at point blank range, a couple of Yellow-browed Warblers, a Hwamei that flushed from almost beneath my feet, and a couple of Velvet-fronted Nuthatches making one of their irregular visits to the valley. As I got back to the village I heard but could not see a couple of turdus thrushes lurking on the slope above me - no IDbut more signs of birds arriving for the winter.

Do you know mate, these reports of yours are absolutly facinating to a person who has never been to your side of the world and some of the birds you mention are totaly new to me. Thankfully we now have the internet to help us and when I put into "keyword" the name "Hwamei", I am instantly told what it is, the Melodious Laughing Thrush, or Chinese Thrush. Hwamei, translated to English means, paint-brow, from the white eye-ring behind the eye, however the (Taiwan) Hwamei does not have that feture.
The "Leiothrix" turned out to be the well known "Peking Robin".
The Asian Stubtail, or Bush Warbler was a new bird to me, but now I know that there are three sub species. The Asian, or Scaly-headed Stubtail (Urosphena squameiceps) from Taiwan. (U... whiteheadi) from Malaya, and the (U.... subulata) from Timor.
I could not find any reference to the "Lesser Shotwing", I will need your advice on that one.
Thank you for the pleasure of your observations and for helping me in discovering this new method of bird watching. I can study the birds from around the world without moving from my desk.