Following a very enjoyable return to my Ng Tung Chai (NTC) patch in October with visiting birder Tim Boucher (which I'll write about another day), I returned again on Boxing Day in pursuit of some of the wintering woodland birds that are absent or highly elusive on Lantau.
I started off pretty well in the farmland on the edge of the village as a
Barking Deer bounced away into the forest, pure white tail pointing skywards, and two
Grey-backed Thrushes and what was almost certainly a
White's Thrush zipped away out of a fruiting tree. Other good birds lower down in the valley including foraging flocks of
Blue-winged Minlas, Silver-eared Mesias, a few
Rufous-capped Babblers and a solitary female
Scarlet Minivet. As I walked up I heard two or three each of
Mountain Tailorbird and
Pygmy Wren Babbler, half-a-dozen Pallas's Leaf Warblers and three Yellow-browed Warblers.
Chestnut Bulbuls called in a few places on the way up, but it was otherwise rather quiet until I surprised a
Woodcock on one of the smaller waterfalls, which took off vertically at high speed. I again found birds along the landslide trail that climbs next to the Main Falls, including a couple of friendly
Mountain Bulbuls, more
Chestnut Bulbuls and, best of all, a magnificent male
Japanese Robin that called softly and to my delight showed for about a minute on the far bank of the tiny stream at the top of the valley. This was an especially good discovery as I found my first ever Japanese Robin here on Boxing Day back in 1993 - almost 25 years ago!
Now I've reactivated the thread here's a link to
another good day back in October last year when I successfully twitched Hong Kong's second
Emei Leaf Warbler which was found by former NTC resident John Alcock.
A quick reminder of how good this site has been can be found
here.
Cheers
Mike