查看完整版本: Lam Tsuen - Spring 2010

Lam Tsuen - Spring 2010

After a winter with plenty of good birds Spring has arrived!

This morning I heard both [b]Large Hawk Cuckoo [/b]and Lesser [b]Coucal[/b] singing and at 5am this morning the large owl was giving its three note call.

Another sign of spring was the [b]White-browed Laughingthrush[/b] coming into the grassland close to Ping Long

I also heard [b]Savannah Nighjar[/b] last night for the fourth day in a row.

Cheers

Mike K

I should have gotten up earlier!  The Savannah Nightjar was still calling at 5.55am as was a barred owlet.  Barn swallows have started to accumulate as well, some are prospecting old nests in Pak Tin Kong.

Dylan

Does anyone know if the Chestnut-bellied Rock thrush is still around at Kadoorie?

Lam Tuen: Spring 2010

Ah, to the bulbul and to the sparrow, both of which are my favorites, Spring is *always* here. The bulbul shrieks and the sparrow chirps, as early as 6:30am in the morning, which kinda make your day.

Hi Dave,

The Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush was seen again yesterday in KFBG(3Mar10).

Hey

Thanks Hey

Twitched it this lunchtime!

Signs of passage at Lam Tsuen - three [b]Red-rumped Swallows[/b] were flying around my house at Ping Long yesterday afternoon, and [b]Large Hawk Cuckoo[/b] was calling first thing this morning.

There was also a [b]Savanna Nightjar[/b] calling last night - its been around for a week now.

Winter visitors still around include 2 [b]Siberian Stonechats[/b], a female [b]Daurian Redstart[/b], a couple of [b]Chinese Blackbirds[/b], the small gang of [b]Olive-backed Pipits[/b] and a [b]Dusky Warbler[/b].

Cheers

Mike

[[i] Last edited by kmike at 7/03/2010 06:36 [/i]]

The [b]Black Bulbul[/b] flock is still in residence at Tai Om Shan, and there were three [b]Black-winged Cuckooshrikes[/b] in the big tree at the lower edge of the graveyard.

Cheers
Mike K

A female [b]Grey Bushchat[/b], a [b]Daurian Redstart[/b]  and the [b]Bull-headed Shrike[/b] were on the lower fields at Tai Yeung Che this morning, and Dylan had the [b]Riverchat[/b] in the car park.

Cheers

Mike K

Another good patch bird today - an [b]Oriental Pratincole[/b] was over the trashed land at about 1:45 The nearest a bird has come to Lam Tsuen is one seen from KARC a few years ago.

Other good birds included the flock of 25 [b]Black Bulbuls[/b] still at Tai Om Shan, female [b]Bull-headed Shrikes[/b] at Tai Yeung Che and the fields south of the She Shan Road, and a [b]Common Rosefinch[/b] and [b]Daurian Redstart [/b]at the same spot.

The [b]Brown Wood Owl[/b] called again last night shortly after midnight and the [b]Savanna Nightjar[/b] was going strong tonight

Cheers
Mike K

[[i] Last edited by kmike at 18/03/2010 23:44 [/i]]

What is probably the last cold front of winter made for a very pleasant visit to the woods on the NE edge of the patch. An old army road winds up to a lovely patch of woods in a steep ravine which held a [b]Red-flanked Bluetail, Pallas' Leaf, Yellow-browed[/b] and singing [b]Mountain Bush Warblers[/b].

There were also three or four thrushes , of which at least one was a first summer [b]Grey-backed Thrush[/b] and a flock of [b]Greater-necklaced Laughingthrushes[/b] were also of interest.

The[b] Black-faced Buntings[/b] and [b]Olive-backed Pipits[/b] remain and one of the [b]Chinese Pond Herons[/b] was pretty close to full breeding plumage. After having the colony in the village obliterated by freak winds last year I very much hope they breed here again.

Cheers

Mike

The first day of the holiday when the fog lifted I headed up the valley to try my hand at digiscoping some of the forest birds and, after a long quiet  couple of hours, had nowt to show but dodgy pix of an [b]Ashy Drongo[/b] and a [b]Scarlet Minivet[/b].

It was not until I headed down past the stream that I found a female [b]Blue-and-white Flycatcher[/b] that was perched on a bamboo and reshuffling its feathers after a wash - my first flycatcher of the year in the valley.

On the way back down I jammed into a male [b]Japanese Paradise Flycatcher[/b] at the bottom row of graves.  It flipped out to catch an insect and then showed very well for about an hour, and even allowed me to get a couple of shots. To add icing on the cake a male [b]Narcissus Flycatcher[/b] appeared a couple of times in the same trees, and a few minutes later a [b]Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike[/b] showed well and sang briefly.

The day before 5 [b]White-shouldered Starlings[/b] were in the village both first thing in the morning and in the afternoon, and a [b]White-cheeked Laughingthrush[/b] posed briefly on the edge of the veggie patch.

Cheers
Mike K

Mike

You're now truly qualified to join the society's 'firing squad'. See how well blended the beautiful
JPF with nature and yet standing out a perfect spring example of its kind.

S L Tai

Thanks Mr Tai!

Cheers

Mike

4/4 ~1200 noon

Black-naped Oriole

A Slaty-legged Crake was calling in Ping Long when I came home this evening.

Anyone else had one yet this year?

Cheers
Mike

Yes, heard here where I now live at Wong Chuk Shan San Tsuen/Mau Ping San Tsuen, Sai Kung about three evenings ago.

But not since...Chestnut-winged Cuckoos seem to have taken over in the meantime.

Mike Turnbull

Yesterday there were 2 Grey-streaked Flycatchers and 2 Chinese Goshawks ( a male and a female) around Ping Long/ Tai Om Shan. There was also a Chestnut-winged Cuckoo and a Hainan Blue Flycatcher, a Collared Crow - my first in Ping Long - and late Dusky Warbler.

Earlier in the week there was a Cattle Egret on Thursday morning.

Cheers
Mike

Top bird today was a pristine male[b] Eye-browed Thrush[/b], which I eventually saw high up under the canopy above Tai Om Shan Village. Not a great view, but my first in Lam Tsuen for a while so it was a nice way to finish what has been a poor winter for thrushes.

The male Chinese Goshawk was still about, and  had 3 Crested Serpent Eagles in the air together, and saw Besra doing its plunging display flight on a good day for raptors - no surprising given the sunshine.

[attach]6522[/attach]

There was also a Dusky Warbler in the orchard next to my house, and two Chinese Starling flew past in the early morning.

However most memorable moment of the day was hearing a sliding behind me and watching a [b][i]Chinese Cobra[/i][/b] sliding away from about 18 inches behind me. Good job I didn't take a step back!  However it was my first for Lam Tsuen, so a patch tick!

Cheers

Mike

I have been very remiss in not posting on here, apologies.  A combination of work and family demands have badly eaten into the important things in life...

Small raptors seem to  be very obvious around Lam Tsuen at the moment, I have had more and better views of Besra in the last week than I have ever had before, as well as crested goshawk.  There have been display flights over the marshy areas around Pak Tin Kong and yesterday evening I saw one carrying a long legged bird, it then perched and started to pluck the prey.  It could possibly have been a crested mynah, the Besra was certainly having trouble flying with the heavy payload.

Also apparent are the first broods of birds.  Young tree sparrow, Sooty-headed bulbul, Crested Bulbul have been about.  I was very pleased to see an adult and two young kingfishers on the stream near my house this morning.

Slaty-legged crake, chestnut winged, plaintive and Large-hawk cuckoo are still calling around the marshy area and are competing with the frog chorus.

Dylan

I also had a Little Bunting yesterday morning.

Over the weekend I also found the nest of the White-rumped Munia and watched it pluck grass heads like the one in the photo above to form the structure of the nest.

Cheers
Mike

7 May 2010; 4.30 pm
Ha Tin Liu Ha   (marshy area)

[b]Hodgson's Hawk Cuckoo, Asian brown flycatcher[/b] and at least three [b]Dollarbirds[/b] (more birds flew behind a tree canopy so didn't see what they were)

Dylan

[[i] Last edited by subbuteo at 8/05/2010 12:19 [/i]]

Today between Ping Long and She Shan

6 Dollarbirds
15 Cattle Egrets
1 Black Drongo
1 Oriental Turtle Dove
1 Richard's Pipit
1 Chestnut-winged Cuckoo (h)
3 Large Hawk Cuckoos - all seen!
1 falcon sp - Hobby most likely

+ 1 White-headed Munia (escape)

Cheers
Mike K

12 May 2010; 6.15 pm
Ha Tin Liu Ha   (marshy area)

Hodgson's Hawk Cuckoo calling.  I'm yet to pin down the exact location- but it is somewhere in the forested area behind the three small villages that flank the marshy area.  Yesterday, it was more towards Ping Long.  The calls are intermittent- unlike the Large Hawk Cuckoo- still calling all night.  I've only heard Indian Cuckoo once this year in the valley; Plaintive Cuckoo, Koel, Greater and Lesser Coucal are still going strong.

Dylan