Ng Tung Chai, Hong Kong (1 Viewer)

[MKinHK]

A quick stroll through the lower part of the patch, which is a mix of grassy marshland and cultivated fields (flowers mostly).

New for the patch year list was a "Swintail" Snipe, that flipped up and sat down quickly in view, but not so that it mattered - as these two cannot be safely split except in the hand.

Two Eurasian Kestrels calling as they circled over She Shan was a pleasure, as were a flock of about 10 Little Buntings, a couple of Zitting Cisticolas a Common Buzzard, and a single Bright-capped Cisticola.

I also pulled a group of three White-browed Laughingthrushes into view and had a single Richard's Pipit five Siberian stonechats and a rather territorial Daurian Redstart on the reclaimed land.

Off-patch a Great Black-headed Gull at Mai Po was my first for two or three years.

Cheers
Mike

 

[MKinHK]

Four Crested Serpent Eagles overhead and calling simultaneously in a clear blue winter sky was a real joy earlier today, and a Lesser Coucal sounding like a waterhen outside the bathroom window first thing this morning was certainly unexpected. A Besra seen shortly after the Eagles was my first for a while.

Yesterday a Red-throated Flycatcher was seen distantly from the path up to Tai Om Shan

Off-patch a Common Gull of the race heini was at Mai Po this afternoon, along with two Slaty-backed Gulls, while yesterday the highlight was a fine drake Mallard, now scarcer than Falcated Ducks at Mai Po!



Cheers
Mike

 

[Jynx]

Four Crested Serpent Eagles overhead and calling simultaneously in a clear blue winter sky was a real joy earlier today, and a Lesser Coucal sounding like a waterhen outside the bathroom window first thing this morning was certainly unexpected. A Besra seen shortly after the Eagles was my first for a while.

Yesterday a Red-throated Flycatcher was seen distantly from the path up to Tai Om Shan

Off-patch a Common Gull of the race heini was at Mai Po this afternoon, along with two Slaty-backed Gulls, while yesterday the highlight was a fine drake Mallard, now scarcer than Falcated Ducks at Mai Po!

Cheers
Mike

Hi Mike
Bridgette and I were pleased to be with you when you found the Mallard, but trust me the male Daurian Redstart, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Imperial Eagle, Eastern Marsh Harrier and Saunder's Gull to name but a few were far more thrilling.

 

[Mark Bruce]

Mallard, now scarcer than Falcated Ducks ! Has it always been that way in HK, Mike ? Not many Falcated Ducks here but no shortage of Mallards.

 

[MKinHK]

Hi Mark

Mallards have declined drastically in HK, even since my return in 93 - and Falcated have been down in single figures most of that time as well, but going back to the mid 80s Falcate peak counts reached over 400, while Mallard have never got above 70 birds.

I've seen less than a dozen of either since 1994.

This winter up to 4 Falcated (i've had none so far) have been reported but the Mallard is a true loner.

Hi Mike

That's the glory of birding - I wouldn't look twice at a Mallard if I was back in Berkshire visiting my Mum, but here in HK it acquires a completely different value - and at leastit wasn't eaten by the Eagle or the Harrier, which were both on the same pond!

Cheers

Mike

 

[Mark Bruce]

I'm surprised, Mike. I thought Taiwan and HK were similar when it came to wintering ducks given the similar latitude. No real shortage of wintering Mallards here. They're a fairly common sight. We likely have between 5-10 wintering Falcated Ducks.

 

[MKinHK]

Off-patch again today for another HK tick - and one of the two really huge tart's ticks for me in HK - Brown Crake. They used to breed, but have always been sporadic, and I've only tried once for them in 15 years. However, all the others with decent lists have had it for years, s a good one to catch up with. I also had a couple of Grey-capped Greenfinch - another bird that was formerly common - they were my first for me than 3 years.

Three HK tix and only mid-Feb!

Cheers
Mike

 

[MKinHK]

And finally back on the patch last Sunday morning . . .

Top birds were a group of 10 Yellow-billed Grosbeaks eating Chinese Hackberry seeds in a tree about 100 yards from the house, followed by a flash of a Siberian Rubythroat(with apologies to Jynx) , who dived into cover, but then had the good grace to pop his head up just long enough to show off his throat before dropping back in.

Apart from that it was nice to see the scarcer agriculture-dependent species that are a minor speciality of the valley - a couple of Sooty-headed Bulbuls and a gang of White-cheeked Laughingthrushes.

Additional interest came from the first Barn Swallows of the year and a Masked Laughingthrush carrying nesting material.

The day before a Crested Goshawk had descended out of the fog-smothered woodlands to hunt bulbuls and pipits from a lamppost overlooking the veggie patch, and a Grey Heron - rare in the valley - flew over the house.

On Monday a Collared Crow was on the roundabout as I headed into town for work.

Cheers
Mike

 

[MKinHK]

Three Yellow-billed Grosbeaks and a Black-winged Cuckoosrike appeared in the fig tree next to my house just as I was walking out to meet fellow BFer Nick Sismey for a morning's birding.

But the big news was a fire that burned through the marsh and grassland in front of the house. This is not necessarily a bad thing - helps to control the mikania (a nasty invasive wed) and keeps the grassland as grassland.A Common Buzzard tried to hunt along the edge of the fire, but kept having to move further away because of the smoke. I'll post pix in the next day or so.

Off-patch Nick, his colleague Jason and I had a good morning, picking up Red-rumped Swallow and most importantly Barred Owlet at the House-eating tree in Kam Tin, and on the edge of the drainage channel 18 Grey-headed Lapwing, plus seveal Black-winged Stilt, Green Sand, Common Sand, Wood Sand (including 55 together on a small creek) and a couple of Red-throated Pipits.

Moving on to Nam Sang Wai we had about 15 Black-faced Spoonbills, a rather buff-tinged Peregrine trying to catch a sick Avocet marooned far out on the mud without getting itself wet and mucky - eventually it gave up, an adult Greater Spotted Eagle well-found by Nick, a couple of Heuglin's Gulls, Collared Crows aplenty, plus Common Teal, Wigeon Shoveler and an Osprey, which came close overhead.

Across the channel at Tai Sang Wai we found a subadult Imperial Eagle soaring ever higher, and both White-cheeked and Silky Starlings. Best bird here was a winter plumaged Whiskered Tern, while Black Drongo was initially shy, but appeared eventually. As we headed back we added both Crested Serpent Eagle and Common Buzzard from the car.

 

[Mark Bruce]

Some great birds, Mike :t: ! Yellow-billed Grosbeak. That must be pretty rare down in your part of the world? They're vagrant on Taiwan. I've only seen them once, in Korea.

 

[Jumpin 4 Joy]

Went birding in Hong Kong, while on holiday, last Wednesday, and saw these life ticks. Would have seen more if I was able to identify the more exotic ones.

Crested Myna, Black Collared Starling, Long Tailed Shrike, Japanese White-Eye, Masked Laughing-Thrush, Yellow-Browed Warbler, Yellow-Bellied Prinia, Oriental Magpie Robin, Sooty-Headed Bulbul, Chinese Bulbul, White Wagtail, Great Egret and Black Kite.

Quite a few year ticks, including a Garganey at Mai Po, but I can't remember the others.

I noticed the urban sparrows that scavenge are Tree Sparrows, not House Sparrows. In England and most other countries, it is the House Sparrows that are the urban sparrows. Does anyone know why this is ?

 

[MKinHK]

Hi Mark

I guess the grosbeaks don't like water (the Taiwan Strait) as they are a regular winter visitor and very occasional breeder here. Japanese Grosbeak is much rarer, and Hawfinch rarer still.

A nice suite of farmland birds Jumpin 4 Joy.

Tree Sparrow is predominant throughout China. I have seen House Sparrow in Xinjiang in far NW China - its good one to get on your China list, if you keep one.

Cheers
Mike

 

[Jumpin 4 Joy]

Hi Mark

I guess the grosbeaks don't like water (the Taiwan Strait) as they are a regular winter visitor and very occasional breeder here. Japanese Grosbeak is much rarer, and Hawfinch rarer still.

A nice suite of farmland birds Jumpin 4 Joy.

Tree Sparrow is predominant throughout China. I have seen House Sparrow in Xinjiang in far NW China - its good one to get on your China list, if you keep one.

Cheers
Mike

Thanks for replying, Mike.

I was just in Hong Kong on holiday, so the possibility of keeping either a list for that or China will be very slim.

 

[Mark Bruce]

Went birding in Hong Kong, while on holiday, last Wednesday, and saw these life ticks. Would have seen more if I was able to identify the more exotic ones.

Crested Myna, Black Collared Starling, Long Tailed Shrike, Japanese White-Eye, Masked Laughing-Thrush, Yellow-Browed Warbler, Yellow-Bellied Prinia, Oriental Magpie Robin, Sooty-Headed Bulbul, Chinese Bulbul, White Wagtail, Great Egret and Black Kite.

Quite a few year ticks, including a Garganey at Mai Po, but I can't remember the others.

I noticed the urban sparrows that scavenge are Tree Sparrows, not House Sparrows. In England and most other countries, it is the House Sparrows that are the urban sparrows. Does anyone know why this is ?

You'll find for much of South-East Asia and East Asia it's Tree Sparrows. Not many House Sparrows in this part of the world.

 

[Jynx]

And finally back on the patch last Sunday morning . . .

Top birds were a group of 10 Yellow-billed Grosbeaks eating Chinese Hackberry seeds in a tree about 100 yards from the house, followed by a flash of a Siberian Rubythroat(with apologies to Jynx) , who dived into cover, but then had the good grace to pop his head up just long enough to show off his throat before dropping back in.

Apart from that it was nice to see the scarcer agriculture-dependent species that are a minor speciality of the valley - a couple of Sooty-headed Bulbuls and a gang of White-cheeked Laughingthrushes.

Additional interest came from the first Barn Swallows of the year and a Masked Laughingthrush carrying nesting material.

The day before a Crested Goshawk had descended out of the fog-smothered woodlands to hunt bulbuls and pipits from a lamppost overlooking the veggie patch, and a Grey Heron - rare in the valley - flew over the house.

On Monday a Collared Crow was on the roundabout as I headed into town for work.

Cheers
Mike

Apology grudgingly accepted, Grrrr!!
We did have two Barn Swallows at Mai Po on the 30th Jan when we met up, but I presume you mean in your valley
ATB
Mike

 

[MKinHK]

Not much bird action - although Barn Swallows (on patch only Jynx) were up to five yesterday and a pair White Breasted Waterhen were stetching their vocal chords for the onset of spring at about 0445 this morning.

The attached photo is of a sadly deceased Buff-striped Keelback which I brought home to photograph (thankfully my wife was out!). I saw a live one on 30th March last year ago, so its good to have a record of the species - even though its only because some oik hit it with a rock.

Cheers

Mike

 

[MKinHK]

Time for a a fanfare . . . a new patch tick in the mist this morning . . . Moorhen! An immature bird with a dark bill was in the stream near the chrysanthemum fields. I'd never even considered the possibility of getting it on the patch, so it was a nice surprise on a grimly dark morning.

Other birds included a group of four Black-faced Buntings, a Little Bunting, a Chinese Bush Warbler in a stand of bamboos and a pair Hair-crested Drongos making enough nose to give the impression that they were courting.

I also enjoyed seeing 26 Oriental Turtle Doves huddled together in the branches of a rather stunted tree on the edge of the grassland.

Cheers
Mike

 

[MKinHK]

What do you do with a bird that is a second record for Hong Kong, is clearly identifiable, but you never see it? A Brown Wood Owl was calling from the woods across the marsh last night, and close enough to clearly hear its four-note call - hoo-hoohoohooo.

It (almost) makes me want to be an American so I can tick it, as it will be extremely difficult to see. I strongly suspect that the large owl I heard here in April last year (but never so distinctly) was the same species.

Anyway it goes on the patch list and will be submitted to the records committee, but my own tick will have to wait!

Cheers
Mike

 

[MKinHK]

A long week of mist-filled valley has made for little local birding, but I should have posted two Black-winged Cuckooshrikes seen flying out over the valley from my morning bus on Tuesday, and what I guess will be the final sighting of a female Daurian Redstart for the winter.

I was off patch at Mai Po this afternoon - the highlight being two Slaty-backed Gulls, three Black-tailed Gulls, a Ruff, An Eastern Marsh Harrier killing and eating an exhausted Feral Pigeon, a couple of dozen Saunders' Gulls in breeding plumage and four Asian House Martins.

Two days earlier a site visit near the border had given up an adult Greater Spotted Eagle and a second winter fulvescens bird with a wierd pale collar ( most likely caused by moult), plus a juvenile Pied Harrier - a rare bird in winter in HK.

Hoping that the weather will lift enough for the Brown Wood Owl to call again.

Cheers
Mike

 

[MKinHK]

Last night I heard the first (migrant) cuckoo of Spring - A Large Hawk Cuckoo.

And on Sunday another birder had Dusky Thrush on the patch - which that would be a huge patch tick. . . hoping to find out more and hoping harder that it stays around. The same birder also had a Black-naped Oriole - another migrant.


Cheers
Mike