robertfuge
Member
Mike.. just discovered this thread.. great reading.. really useful.. I am visiting HK from Feb 25 to March 1 for a birding trip.. will have car.. will try to have a look at the birds you describe.. thanks Rob
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Ng Tung Chai, Hong Kong (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter MKinHK
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Mark Bruce
Super Moderator
Any signs of migration yet, Mike? It's freezing here. I haven't picked up anything yet other than seeing quite a few Brown Shrike around. With this odd cold weather across the region we may be in for a few surprises over the next few weeks.
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Hi Mark
No sign of spring passage, but we have had some cold weather movements, with the most interesting being the thrushes mentioned above. I also added White-rumped Munia to my house list yesterday morning, plus a new location for Mountain Tailorbird, possibly displaced by the cold, and a Blue Magpie taking exception to a coasting Buzzard in the new patch area.
The male Black-winged Cuckooshrike put in another brief appearance in the veggie garden later that afternoon.
Yesterday also produced three more White's Thrushes nearby and another well-seen Bright-capped Cisticola at Lin Au, which lies across the ridge opposite the house.
Cheers
Mike
No sign of spring passage, but we have had some cold weather movements, with the most interesting being the thrushes mentioned above. I also added White-rumped Munia to my house list yesterday morning, plus a new location for Mountain Tailorbird, possibly displaced by the cold, and a Blue Magpie taking exception to a coasting Buzzard in the new patch area.
The male Black-winged Cuckooshrike put in another brief appearance in the veggie garden later that afternoon.
Yesterday also produced three more White's Thrushes nearby and another well-seen Bright-capped Cisticola at Lin Au, which lies across the ridge opposite the house.
Cheers
Mike
Mark Bruce
Super Moderator
Blue Magpie, very nice ! I had a pair of Crested Goshawk around the house on Saturday. It's the first time I've seen them around our area. They're common enough in Huben. No sign of movement yet.
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
A funny sort of day with the major highlight a patch tick of sorts.
Swinhoe's and Pintail Snipe are just about inseperable in the field, although we usually assume that any snipe without the contrasting pale trailing edge of Fantail Snipe, which looks heavy and flushes silently, flying for only a short distance is probably Swinhoe's. In contrast Pintail are more likely to rocket away, zigzagging and calling.
So it is likly that this evening's Swintail Snipe (the compromise that keeps us all sane) was in fact a Swinhoe's, but without catching it or watching it preen its tail I will never be certain.
Other birds seen today included Ashy and Hair-crested Drongos, a peak count of 33 Black-collared Starlings, along with 48 Crested Mynahs, my first Lesser Coucal for nearly a month, two Rubythroats and singles each of Japanese Thrush, Rufous-tailed Robin and Red-flanked Bluetail. Three Little Buntings were the first for a few weeks here.
Two Mountain Tailorbirds and a singing Pygmy Wren Babbler reassured me that they had survived our longest cold spell for 50 years.
Three adult Crested Serpent Eagles flew over the house this afternoon, and a Crested Goshawk showed briefly as I came home at dusk.
Cheers
Mike
Swinhoe's and Pintail Snipe are just about inseperable in the field, although we usually assume that any snipe without the contrasting pale trailing edge of Fantail Snipe, which looks heavy and flushes silently, flying for only a short distance is probably Swinhoe's. In contrast Pintail are more likely to rocket away, zigzagging and calling.
So it is likly that this evening's Swintail Snipe (the compromise that keeps us all sane) was in fact a Swinhoe's, but without catching it or watching it preen its tail I will never be certain.
Other birds seen today included Ashy and Hair-crested Drongos, a peak count of 33 Black-collared Starlings, along with 48 Crested Mynahs, my first Lesser Coucal for nearly a month, two Rubythroats and singles each of Japanese Thrush, Rufous-tailed Robin and Red-flanked Bluetail. Three Little Buntings were the first for a few weeks here.
Two Mountain Tailorbirds and a singing Pygmy Wren Babbler reassured me that they had survived our longest cold spell for 50 years.
Three adult Crested Serpent Eagles flew over the house this afternoon, and a Crested Goshawk showed briefly as I came home at dusk.
Cheers
Mike
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
I went up to Ng Tung Chai village this morning and the undoubted highlight was picking up an Orange-headed Ground Thrush which had been seen and photographed a couple of weeks earlier by other birders.
The following birds were also present:
Red-flanked Bluetail - 1
Mountain Tailorbird - many singing
Mountain Bush Warbler - 1 singing
Pallas' Leaf Warbler - 2 singing
Yellow-browed Warbler - 1
Goodson's Leaf Warbler - 2
Spectacled Warbler sp. - 1
Tristram's Bunting - 1m
However all of these were dwarfed by my major bird of a the day - my first Slender-billed Gull in Hong Kong was found at Mai Po and I caught up with it late this afternoon - a monster tick!
Cheers
Mike.
The following birds were also present:
Red-flanked Bluetail - 1
Mountain Tailorbird - many singing
Mountain Bush Warbler - 1 singing
Pallas' Leaf Warbler - 2 singing
Yellow-browed Warbler - 1
Goodson's Leaf Warbler - 2
Spectacled Warbler sp. - 1
Tristram's Bunting - 1m
However all of these were dwarfed by my major bird of a the day - my first Slender-billed Gull in Hong Kong was found at Mai Po and I caught up with it late this afternoon - a monster tick!
Cheers
Mike.
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
I had a morning yesterday in the forest proper at Ng Tung Chai village
It was rather quiet, with best birds being a couple of Grey-backed Thrushes, very brief views of the Tristram's Bunting again, and a Mountain Bush Warbler. Besra and Crested Goshawk appeared to hunt at more or less the same time, but most birds skulked resolutely.
The fields below my house this evening were rather better with the top bird being the Water Rail and the Swintail Snipe again at the same spot as a couple of week ago.
Other good birds included at least 10 Chinese Blackbirds, a Grey-backed Thrush and a Scaly Thrush, while a Rubythroat calling in the evening reassured me that the hot weather of the last two days has not forced everthing to start heading north for the summer.
Cheers
Mike
It was rather quiet, with best birds being a couple of Grey-backed Thrushes, very brief views of the Tristram's Bunting again, and a Mountain Bush Warbler. Besra and Crested Goshawk appeared to hunt at more or less the same time, but most birds skulked resolutely.
The fields below my house this evening were rather better with the top bird being the Water Rail and the Swintail Snipe again at the same spot as a couple of week ago.
Other good birds included at least 10 Chinese Blackbirds, a Grey-backed Thrush and a Scaly Thrush, while a Rubythroat calling in the evening reassured me that the hot weather of the last two days has not forced everthing to start heading north for the summer.
Cheers
Mike
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
a rather quiet evening walk, with a Lesser Coucal and a Bright-capped Cisticola flipping briefly up and then immediately down again the pick of a rather thin bunch.
This morning my first Sooty-headed Bulbul from the house was a nice surprise, White-throated Kingfisher was a rare plasure, and yesterday morning I heard, but did not see, a couple of Scarlet Minivets over the house - also for the first time.
Expecting to hear the first Large Hawk Cuckoo of the spring any day now.
Cheers
Mike
This morning my first Sooty-headed Bulbul from the house was a nice surprise, White-throated Kingfisher was a rare plasure, and yesterday morning I heard, but did not see, a couple of Scarlet Minivets over the house - also for the first time.
Expecting to hear the first Large Hawk Cuckoo of the spring any day now.
Cheers
Mike
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
A female White-throated Rock Thrush seen briefly in the cherry tree field by the Ping Long bus stop was a major surprise yesterday. There are about 10 records in HK, so a top bird for the patch. This is my second - I had a glorious male in the forest behind Ng Tung Chai village a couple of years ago.
Russet Bush Warbler singing is the top attraction as I type this out as the sun comes up, but the dawn chorus has also included Chinese Blackbird, Black-necked Starling, Crested Mynah, Greater Coucal, Magpie Robin, Spotted Dove, Yellow-bellied Prinia, White-breasted Waterhen, Large-billed Crow, Crested Bulbul, Chinese Bulbul and Olive-backed Pipit.
Cheers
Mike
Russet Bush Warbler singing is the top attraction as I type this out as the sun comes up, but the dawn chorus has also included Chinese Blackbird, Black-necked Starling, Crested Mynah, Greater Coucal, Magpie Robin, Spotted Dove, Yellow-bellied Prinia, White-breasted Waterhen, Large-billed Crow, Crested Bulbul, Chinese Bulbul and Olive-backed Pipit.
Cheers
Mike
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Not much chance for on-patch birding over the last week, but I've added Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Collared Scops Owl and Barred Owlet to the list for the new house, and a couple of Grey Treepie loafing in a bare tree yesterday afternoon were new for this part of the valley and a year tick.
Hong Kong's first Large Hawk Cuckoo of the spring (very late this year) was calling last night and the night before.
Best lingering winter bird is a Chinese Blackbird, but there are still a few Olive-backed Pipits, which should be around for a while yet.
Looked up from finishing typing this to see four Hair-crested Drongos in a tree whose spring leaves seem to have appeared from nowhere in the last 48 hours
Cheers
Mike
Hong Kong's first Large Hawk Cuckoo of the spring (very late this year) was calling last night and the night before.
Best lingering winter bird is a Chinese Blackbird, but there are still a few Olive-backed Pipits, which should be around for a while yet.
Looked up from finishing typing this to see four Hair-crested Drongos in a tree whose spring leaves seem to have appeared from nowhere in the last 48 hours
Cheers
Mike
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MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
A walk around the local patch with my Mum this afternoon produced a smattering of decent birds. First up were Red-throated Flycatcher (calling but not seen) and Black-winged Cuckooshrike in the cemetary just outside Tai Om village. Before we headed out there were couple of Chinese Blackbirds, a Siberian Stonechat and a Lesser Coucal dobbing about and seven Silky Starlings whizzed by first thing in the morning.
As we walked up into the valley we twice flushed a Crested Serpent Eagle which then flew across the valley to perch in full view (The phot is of one , possibly the same bird, that perched in a tree 80m from the house yesterday). We dropped down into Tin Liu Ha where a bare tree (the same as last week) held a couple each of GreyTreepie and Hair-crested Drongo.
We walked up to Lin Au via a wonderful feng shui woodland with a couple of huge trees, but didn't see much until coming up to an open valley filled with grassed-over paddy fields and a few large trees close to a lovely clear stream. Best birds here were a single all-black Black Bulbul - my first of the year - and both Scarlet and Grey-chinned Minivets.
As I came back through the grasslands close to home there were five Oriental Turtle Doves mooching in a dead tree and from nearby a brilliant yellow Black-naped Oriole flew up, giving distant but clear views, before landing in the large tree close to my house. An early migrant and the first of the year in Hong Kong.
Cheers
Mike
As we walked up into the valley we twice flushed a Crested Serpent Eagle which then flew across the valley to perch in full view (The phot is of one , possibly the same bird, that perched in a tree 80m from the house yesterday). We dropped down into Tin Liu Ha where a bare tree (the same as last week) held a couple each of GreyTreepie and Hair-crested Drongo.
We walked up to Lin Au via a wonderful feng shui woodland with a couple of huge trees, but didn't see much until coming up to an open valley filled with grassed-over paddy fields and a few large trees close to a lovely clear stream. Best birds here were a single all-black Black Bulbul - my first of the year - and both Scarlet and Grey-chinned Minivets.
As I came back through the grasslands close to home there were five Oriental Turtle Doves mooching in a dead tree and from nearby a brilliant yellow Black-naped Oriole flew up, giving distant but clear views, before landing in the large tree close to my house. An early migrant and the first of the year in Hong Kong.
Cheers
Mike
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MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
More signs of our late-starting spring this week included 2 Rufous tailed Robins yesterday at Tai Om and five more this morning (including three giving the distinctive "Little Grebe song") at Ng Tung Chai, plus a Ferruginous Flycatcher by the lower falls, male Grey-backed and Japanese Thrushes, this morning with another Japanese Thrush seen well at Tai Om yesterday.
This latter bird was of the race lactea which shows a grey rather than a black mantle, which contrasts noticeably with the pure black head and breast. It is possibly a distinct subspecies that breeds in centra China rather than in Japan.
Lingering winter visitors included three Olive-backed Pipits, a Siberian Stonechat, an Asian Stubtail, up to five singing Pallas' Leaf Warblers a very hard to see Red-throated Flycatcher and a couple of Tristram's Buntings.
Some of the resident species adding colour to the week incuded the Lesser Coucal, which started singing yesterday, two different pairs of Rufous-capped Babblers seen copulating this morning and last sunday (the former pair were particularly impressive - managing to do it three times in a minute!),a Blue-winged Minla gathering cobwebs for nestbuilding, and I heard a Blue Magpie in the feng shui woods opposite the house yesterday.
However pride of place goes to the Crested Serpent Eagles soaring close overhead yesterday. I also watched one switching hunting perches - low-hanging branches from which I assume it is hoping to drop onto anything of suitable size that appears beneath it.
But my best patch discovery of the week was not a bird at all, but a snake tick - a beautiful golden-headed Buff-striped Keelback scuttled into a hole near the small restaurant in the village as I arrived back from Ng Tung Chai this morning.There was also a dead White-spotted Slug Snake on the road coming down from NTC.
Cheers
Mike K
This latter bird was of the race lactea which shows a grey rather than a black mantle, which contrasts noticeably with the pure black head and breast. It is possibly a distinct subspecies that breeds in centra China rather than in Japan.
Lingering winter visitors included three Olive-backed Pipits, a Siberian Stonechat, an Asian Stubtail, up to five singing Pallas' Leaf Warblers a very hard to see Red-throated Flycatcher and a couple of Tristram's Buntings.
Some of the resident species adding colour to the week incuded the Lesser Coucal, which started singing yesterday, two different pairs of Rufous-capped Babblers seen copulating this morning and last sunday (the former pair were particularly impressive - managing to do it three times in a minute!),a Blue-winged Minla gathering cobwebs for nestbuilding, and I heard a Blue Magpie in the feng shui woods opposite the house yesterday.
However pride of place goes to the Crested Serpent Eagles soaring close overhead yesterday. I also watched one switching hunting perches - low-hanging branches from which I assume it is hoping to drop onto anything of suitable size that appears beneath it.
But my best patch discovery of the week was not a bird at all, but a snake tick - a beautiful golden-headed Buff-striped Keelback scuttled into a hole near the small restaurant in the village as I arrived back from Ng Tung Chai this morning.There was also a dead White-spotted Slug Snake on the road coming down from NTC.
Cheers
Mike K
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Top new this morning was a third laughingthrush in the veggie patch - my first Black-throated Laugher here followed an incident in which a pair of White-browed Laughers were seen off by a trio of larger (and far more common) Masked Laughers. This interaction very effectively illustrated why White-browed is so rare in HK.
As I write a Lesser Coucal with a few juvenile feathers on the breast is showing pretty well.
The patch behaved well yesterday too - all three resident raptors Crested Serpent Eagle, Crested Goshawk and Besra all showed in a 40 minute spell for Ron a visitor from New Jersey, who volunteers at a raptor watchpoint.
Cheers
Mike
As I write a Lesser Coucal with a few juvenile feathers on the breast is showing pretty well.
The patch behaved well yesterday too - all three resident raptors Crested Serpent Eagle, Crested Goshawk and Besra all showed in a 40 minute spell for Ron a visitor from New Jersey, who volunteers at a raptor watchpoint.
Cheers
Mike
Mark Bruce
Super Moderator
Three Laugher species in your veggie patch ! Mike, I must come visit you soon :t:.
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Signs of spring passage this morning, a Little Bunting, and from Monday a Dollarbird flying above the grasslands was a nice surprise. It was just the second bird in HK this spring and my earliest at Ng Tung Chai by more than 10 days.
Late last night I heard a large owl calling distantly - it was some distance away (too far to go and look for it at 0100) but the probability is that it was an Eagle Owl, which as and when I can confirm it, will be a terrific addition to the patch list.
Cheers
Mike
Late last night I heard a large owl calling distantly - it was some distance away (too far to go and look for it at 0100) but the probability is that it was an Eagle Owl, which as and when I can confirm it, will be a terrific addition to the patch list.
Cheers
Mike
Mark Bruce
Super Moderator
Eagle Owl ! That would be a great patch tick, Mike. Taiwan recorded its first Eagle Owl last May.
Not much moving through Huben but our first Fairy Pitta of the season was recorded on Saturday. Two days earlier than last year. Lots of Oriental Cuckoo about. Hopefully, a little later in the month we'll have some Ruddy Kingfisher moving through Huben.
Mark Bruce
Super Moderator
Mike, yeah, it could well be. Any chance you could pm or e-mail me the details of the sighting? There's very little in the way of wintering and migration records.
Cheers,
Mark
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
a female White-shouldered Starling in the trees outside my house was the first at my new house, and just my second record on the patch since a group of 5 on 27th Sept 2004.
elsewhere in HK the big guns were firing - on a short visit this morning I saw a Spoon-billed Sandpiper and a Chinese Egret from the boardwalk at Mai Po, and another Fairy Pitta was called in from Po Toi.
Cheers
Mike
elsewhere in HK the big guns were firing - on a short visit this morning I saw a Spoon-billed Sandpiper and a Chinese Egret from the boardwalk at Mai Po, and another Fairy Pitta was called in from Po Toi.
Cheers
Mike
Hi Mike,
Good to see you in the boardwalk hide today, here a link to a pic. of Spoon-billed Sandpiper I took from there
http://www.hkbws.org.hk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=11189#11189
Regards
John
Good to see you in the boardwalk hide today, here a link to a pic. of Spoon-billed Sandpiper I took from there
http://www.hkbws.org.hk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=11189#11189
Regards
John
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