Ng Tung Chai, Hong Kong (1 Viewer)

[MKinHK]

No hula hoop this morning but four-and-twenty Chinese Blackbirds were in the Oriole Tree and 19 Black-collared Starlings gathering on nearby wires may be a new high count for NTC.

Other winter migrants seen or heard before leaving home included a female Daurian Redstart, a very perky Dusky Warbler sallying out to catch flying insects, a singing Pygmy Wren Babbler and a Grey-headed Flycatcher.

The forest was even better - a feast of winter passerines would not be an unfair description - with five winter visitor ticks among a host of good birds. First up was a curious Asian Stubtail, followed by the "gud-gud" contact call of the first of five Red-flanked Bluetails, and an Asian Brown Flycatcher. But it was at Don't Dip dell that things really got out of hand when I was discovered by an ultra officious Great Tit who gave what must have been the "danger - snake!" alarm call or similar, because a whole flock of small stuff descended on me.

The flock was led by a second Grey-headed Flycatcher, swiftly followed by a late, but lovely Asian Paradise Flycatcher and then an unidentified Golden Spectacled Warbler, plus Red-billed Leiothrix, Pallas' Leaf and Yellow-browed Warblers, my first Grey-backed Thrush of the autumn, and a yellow-tinged Blyth's Leaf Warbler. For the first time ever I noted Mountain Tailorbirds in a mixed flock.

The first of three Rufous-tailed Robins shyly disappeared at my approach, but I continued to score well with a couple of Mountain Bush Warblers a cracking male Verditer Flycatcher, and the White-throated Fantail favoured me with a single rendition of its sweet and distinctive song before flitting off.

On my way back down throughthe same area I had both Black-throated and Greater Necklaced Laughing thrushes (about 15) and Greenish Warbler, which showed a clear grey-blue wash to the crown.

More common, but nonetheless welcome birds included good numbers of inquisitive Chestnut Bulbuls, at least six Streak-breasted Scimitar Babblers and a lone male Grey-chinned Minivet.

All told a wonderful morning.

On the way home from dinner this evening this young White-lipped Pit Viper was on the road. A pretty common snake here, but not one to be bitten by. The red on the tail and angular head are good identification criteria from the similar-looking but harmless Greater Green Snake.

Cheers
Mike

 

[MKinHK]

It will hardly shock the world, but a Green Sandpiper flying a couple of laps of the flower fields in front of the house was an unexpected patch tick this morning. Made me happy though!

Cheers
Mike

 

[MKinHK]

No opportunity to get into the forest recently, but walking my wife to the bus stop yesterday turned out to be pretty productive.

On the way down three Little Buntings were my first of the winter, and a female Daurian Redstart popped up and down as we went by.

Hong Kong has had its first two Red-breasted Flycatchers earlier this year, so every Red-throated now needs to be checked, just to make sure. One has been hanging around the bus stop for a few days, so after sending my beloved on her way I sat under the appropriate banyan tree and waited for it to appear. It duly did, coming very close to check me out; it had obviously learned approach technique from the airforce because it came right out of the sun, then sat in anonymous silhouette just a few metres away.

After a bit it flipped off behind some netting and young cherry trees and only after another ten minutes did it appear close enough for me to see that it was a lovely male Red-throated Flycatcher, complete with a small but distinct red throat patch - a rare plumage here, especially in winter. Not bad for a bus stop next to a road busy with rush hour traffic!

I decided to take the long way home, up the winding and treelined road to the village, but befre going 20 metres I'd added the first of 3 Grey-headed Flycatchers proudly declaiming its distinctive "sil-ly bil-ly" song.

A litle higher up I bumped into a flock of 25 Striated Yuhinas, which I'd never seen so low down before. I was only able to get another Grey-headed Flycatcher and a Velvet-fronted Nuthatch out of another flock that appeared against the light and on arriving back in the village square, an Asian Brown Flycatcher showed briefly in one of the big camphors.

I hope to get into the forest tomorrow morning, and very much looking forward to two full days of birding on Monday and Tuesday next week.

Cheers
Mike

 

[MKinHK]

No opportunity to get into the forest recently, but walking my wife to the bus stop yesterday turned out to be pretty productive.

On the way down three Little Buntings were my first of the winter, and a female Daurian Redstart popped up and down as we went by.

Hong Kong has had its first two Red-breasted Flycatchers earlier this year, so every Red-throated now needs to be checked, just to make sure. One has been hanging around the bus stop for a few days, so after sending my beloved on her way I sat under the appropriate banyan tree and waited for it to appear. It duly did, coming very close to check me out; it had obviously learned approach technique from the airforce because it came right out of the sun, then sat in anonymous silhouette just a few metres away.

After a bit it flipped off behind some netting and young cherry trees and only after another ten minutes did it appear close enough for me to see that it was a lovely male Red-throated Flycatcher, complete with a small but distinct red throat patch - a rare plumage here, especially in winter. Not bad for a bus stop next to a road busy with rush hour traffic!

I decided to take the long way home, up the winding and treelined road to the village, but befre going 20 metres I'd added the first of 3 Grey-headed Flycatchers proudly declaiming its distinctive "sil-ly bil-ly" song.

A litle higher up I bumped into a flock of 25 Striated Yuhinas, which I'd never seen so low down before. I was only able to get another Grey-headed Flycatcher and a Velvet-fronted Nuthatch out of another flock that appeared against the light and on arriving back in the village square, an Asian Brown Flycatcher showed briefly in one of the big camphors.

I hope to get into the forest tomorrow morning, and very much looking forward to two full days of birding on Monday and Tuesday next week.

Cheers
Mike

 

[MKinHK]

Just a quickie as its late, but birding over the last two days has been wonderful.

The major highlight was adding White-spectacled Warbler to my patch list this morning via cracking close-range views, especially of the eyering (broken above the eye) two wingbars, and clear grey cheeks, along with the briefest of views of a male Fujian Niltava.

Other goodies included Ashy Drongo and Black-winged Cuckooshrike in the same bare teee on the village driveway, the first White's Thrushes and Asian Stubtails yesterday, a good count of 5 Grey-headed Flycatchers and 2 Red-throated Flycatchers, and a typically trunk-trotting Blyth's Leaf Warbler.

Cheers
Mike

 

[MKinHK]

Just two day later and a huge change in the birds - Verditer, Rufous-tailed Robin, Striated Yuhina and Crested Serpent Eagle all came out of hiding, and there seemd to be an arrival of Olive-backed Pipits, while I didn't hear a single call from Mountian Tailorbird or Grey-headed Flycatcher[/B].

The White-spectacled Warbler again showed well, but my personal hihg light was very close views of the yuhinas and a flock of 20-oddGrey-chinned Minivets.

Cheers
Mike

 

[MKinHK]

The morning started well when a Rufous-tailed Robin showed itself very well close to the village, and a Hartert's Leaf Warbler was the first to appear out of a flock of phylloscs.

Above the temple I stopped to look for another Rufous-tailed Robin calling just below the path and my pishing brought in a curious Pygmy Wren Babbler, which showed well, perched halway up a bracken stem. I also heard and then saw a Mountain Bush Warbler and heard a very close Lesser Shortwing nearby.

Other highlights included White's and Grey-backed Thrushes in a fruiting tree, very brief views of the back end of the White-spec and the ever delightful song of the long-staying, but possibly escaped White-throated Fantail.

Rarest patch bird of the day was the White-bellied Yuhina (or Herpornis) associating with a foraging flock of Grey-chinned Minivets,which was just my second of the year. I also had a female Verditer on the way down.


Cheers
Mike

 

[MKinHK]

A quieter morning today - with Grey-backed and White's Thrush in the same fruiting tree the pick of the bunch- and another birder saw a Japanese Thrush here a bit later.

Lots of Velvet-fronted Nuthatches, and the same guy also had the White-spec again when I was looking the other way.

Much harder to take was missing HK's first Black Scoter at Mai Po this morning due to other commitments. Praying it stays . . .

Cheers
Mike

 

[MKinHK]

Sadly the answer to my prayers about the scoter were answered with a "no" - and it hasn't been seen again. We had other probable first records too - Blue-fronted Redstart for a few minutes on Po Toi, a Pelagic Cormorant captured by one photographer, and Brown Wood Owl in Tai Po Kau Forest, but I never had a chance of these, so they doesn't hurt in the same way.

Anyway, back to far more important matters (the joys of self-delusion) . . .

Yesterday's highlight was the unexpected reappearance, after almost a month, of the female Bull-headed Shrike at the edge of the flower field.

However, with the exception of three Mountain Bush Warblers and a flockof at least 70 Chinese Blackbirds being flushed from a line of fruitng trees by a Besra it was a frustrating morning - but I suppose that's to be expected when you try to show Lesser Shortwing, Russet Bush Warbler and Pygmy Wren Babbler - three of HK's most skulking birds - to a visiting birder. All of them sang within 5 meters of us - and we didn't get a sniff of a view!

Add to this the non-performance by the metronomically regular Red-throated Flycatcher at the bus stop and it was a long way from Ng Tung Chai at its best. Hmmm.

By way of cheering myself up here at last are the promised pix of the hula hoop from hell Note the blue nodules specially designed to gouge fat which are evenly distributed around the inner perimeter of the hoop.

Cheers
Mike

PS The Bull-headed Shrike was in the Oriole Tree this afternoon.

 

[MKinHK]

The Bull-headed Shrike showed for its third day yesterday.

Other birds in the forest on a rather quiet morning included Black-winged Cuckooshrike, an adult Striated Heron on the pool where I collect my drinking water, a couple of Grey-headed Flycatchers and my personal highlight was closest ever views of the 25-strong Striated Yuhina flock, which pished in very close to check me out.

Cheers
Mike

 

[Black Wheatear]

I am surprised Mike, that you have found so much time to be out and about so soon after getting wed! Looked at myself in the mirror this a.m (always a brave decision) and wondered if there was any chance of borrowing the hula hoop!!

 

[MKinHK]

The secret to my frequent birding is:

1. I live inside my patch and can nail birds even from my bed (if they call) and photograph them off the balcony (e.g Black-winged Cuckoo Shrike in the Oriole Tree as I write this!).
2. My wife likes to sleep in so I can have time in the forest in the morning at weekends - and still be back in time for breakfast
3. Four days of guiding for foreign visitors.

Peter - you are more than welcome to the hula hoop - but be warned photos will be posted if you try it here!

Also this morning 60 Chinese Blackbirds overhead and 2 Black-faced Buntings as I walked my wife to the bus stop. And from yesterday a pic of the rather monochrome HK race of Great Tit with the silly name - Parus major minor.

Cheers
Mike

 

[MKinHK]

The Bull-headed Shrike showed too briefly to photograph this morning, although I did see it disemboweling a moth before it dropped down the bank and disappeared.

Winter solstice is bad news for birders here - random explosions of firecrackers clear most of the birds out of the village, but I did find a male Grey-backed Thrush under the camphors, which are fruiting now and bringing in the flock of Chinese Blackbirds - more than 75 yesterday was a high count for this winter.

The big female Besra was lurking nearby. I assume the feeding Blackbirds make an attractive target, but so far I have only witnessed the explosions of the flock out of the trees, no actual kills.

Cheers
Mike

 

[ChinaBirds]

Hey Mike,
Good luck with the Hula Hooping and birding over the hols, glad to see you are feeling better now. Still hunting those last two elusive birds to make my UK 200, weather here pretty typical for this time of year! Just booked flights for my son and I to travel to New York in August (bonus of all those air miles to China) so starting to check out the birds there already!

Also hoping my wife and daughter will be able to come to Hong Kong in July, I will join them after one of my trips, so hopefully we can get together again some time!

Next trip to China in Jan, first week in Sanya again so hopefully will pick up some good birds there.

Always enjoy reading about your exploits in Hong Kong

Cheers for now
Nick

 

[MKinHK]

The end of an era . . .

Today is a sad day . . . after five and a half great years here I will be moving some time in the next month and no longer living within my Ng Tung Chai patch. My landlord told me a while ago he wanted to sell by the end of the year and after trying valiantly we failed to find anywhere suitable within the village.

However, all is not lost - we agreed today on a brand new flat about a kilometre away down the valley in Ping Long village - and will move in some time in January. This house is in sight of my current place and gives me views across an area of grassland and fields to a wide panorama of forested and grassy slopes. The landlady added to the attracting by telling me that she often heard Wild Boar from her place at night!

Today the grassland held 3 Bright-capped Cisticolas - a rare wintering bird in Hong Kong, and the first time for me in this valley, plus some other good farmland and forest edge species - Hair-crested Drongo, 5 Rubythroat calling, Red-throated Flycatcher, Grey-headed Flycatcher, Siberian Stonechat,and lots of Chinese Blackbirds.

While its a goodish uphill walk to get to Ng Tung Chai, there is another valley across just one ridge to the NE, which is easily accessible and also has good forest, but is much less disturbed by weekend hikers - I call it Tai Om Valley. Last winter I found a Chestnut-crowned Warbler here, which I'd had a couple of weeks earlier at Ng Tung Chai, suggesting there is a certain degree of interchange between the sites.

The decision to make is whether to expand my patch to include both areas (adding two species - Woodcock and Plumbeous Redstart - so far absent from Ng Tung Chai, or the whole of the valley (further adding Yellow-Bellied Tit, Black-capped Kingfisher, Imperial Eagle and Thick-billed Pigeon), or to draw a line under Ng Tung Chai and start a new patch for Ping Long.

Any thoughts gratefully received.

Cheers
Mike

 

[Mark Bruce]

Hi Mike,

Merry Christmas. Some really great birds you've been seeing over the past few weeks. I've just returned from a trip to South Africa. I wish it was a birding trip but it wasn't and thus birding time was limited.

I'm glad to hear that you still are going to be based in the general area of your old patch. I would just re-size your existing patch to include it. It's all the general area and it would be great to get an idea of what you're seeing over a slightly larger area with the new grasslands and forests included.

I've just returned from a quick trip to Jinshan in northern Taiwan. Four Red-crowned Cranes arrived there in late November the day I left for South Africa. They seem to be wintering and I went up to see them.

 

[MKinHK]

Good to have you back with us Mark - even enough to forgive the 4 Japanese Cranes in Taiwan - very envious.

An interesting morning following the arrival of a cold front the day before - overnight temperatures dropped to 11.5 centigrade.

35 Chinese Blackbirds in the Oriole tree might be a new high for the tree, and a Rufous-tailed Robin under the big trees behind the carpark made for a promising start. Birds on the usual segment between the village and the lower falls included a typical treetrunking Blyth's Leaf Warbler, a Hartert's Leaf Warbler, two Grey-headed Flycatchers, a female Mugimaki Flycatcher and a lovely male Verditer sitting out on top of the canopy, showing the full glory of its turquoise plumage. The White-throated Fantail put in a brief, but unhelpful appearance.

However potentially of greatest interest were a possible Pale Blue Flycatcher and a mystery phyllosc. I nly saw the flycatcher briefly, bt I was surprised at how different from the Verdite mentioned above - It appeared a quite different shade of blue, have a reduced facial mask and rather uniform underparts. However I never really got enough on it to put together a complete description and it will probably have to go down as one that got away.

The other bird of interest was a yellow-billed phyllosc thta showed poorly, only from below, but called distinctively with a three-note call, which turned out to be the first part of its song, which ended with a short buzz. It was singing in the bright sunshine this morning - making today a day for rueing my lack of a working tape-recorder.

Still, for both birds there's always tomorrow . .

You will also see from my signature that I secured just my second new bird for the year - a Spotted Bush Warbler (Bradypterus thoracicus davidi) found by my mate Richard at Long Valley late on Christmas Eve evening. This is just the third record and the first not to be trapped.

HK's two regular Bradypterus warblers are Russet and Brown, both of which were excluded by the combination of pale-tipped, but otherwise rather dark undertail coverts (like a River Warbler for Europen birders),which excludes Brown, a supercilium that extends beyond the eye (excluding both Russet and Brown), and a rathe rslnder, pointy-tipped bill with a largely pale, but dark-tipped, lower mandible (Russet has a pale lower mandible in winder, but not f the shape described).

Add to this it was grotting about in cover, chakking away to itself like a typical Bradypterus, but did respond well to pishing and even came up off the ground to about head-height - unthinkable for Russet, especially in winter.

So just the second tick of the year following my phenomenal 19 last year, but there's still a few days to go . . .

Cheers
Mike

 

[Mark Bruce]

Mike, yeah, those Red-crowned Cranes were a real Christmas present. That patch of yours really does produce some lovely birds. Good luck with tracking down the specials today.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[MKinHK]

a day of frustration yesterday - no sign of the flycatcher and just one snatch of song of the phyllosc, but another birder had the long-staying Speckled Piculet and even more tantalising - Chestnut-flanked White-eye - a new bird for Ng Tung Chai.

All I had was three Grey-headed Flycatchers and perhaps the last singing Lesser Shortwing of the winter - they tend to go quiet between Christmas and the end of March.

80+ Chinese Blackbirds, a new high for this winter, came out of the camphors in the late afternoon as well.

I also had 24 Black-collared Starlings in the Oriole Tree this morning - another high count.

Cheers
Mike

 

[Mark Bruce]

a day of frustration yesterday - no sign of the flycatcher and just one snatch of song of the phyllosc, but another birder had the long-staying Speckled Piculet and even more tantalising - Chestnut-flanked White-eye - a new bird for Ng Tung Chai.

All I had was three Grey-headed Flycatchers and perhaps the last singing Lesser Shortwing of the winter - they tend to go quiet between Christmas and the end of March.

80+ Chinese Blackbirds came out of the camphors in the late afternoon as well.

I also had 24 Black-collared Starlings in the Oriole tree this morning - another high count.

Cheers
Mike

Sorry to hear about that, Mike. Nothing quite as frustrating as knowing they're there but not getting a look.

We normally don't get Black-collared Starlings on Taiwan proper. We do on some the other islands. We've got a feral population that's established itself up in the north of Taiwan. Problem is now that you can never tell if you're looking at a true vagrant.