kmike

The first migrants of the autumn were a pair of Grey Wagtails opposite the Ping Long bus stop earlier in the week.

If anyone is birding in Lam Tsuen and Finds a Wood Sandpiper, please could you  post this on the website - there are no records yet in Lam Tsuen!

And finally, not migrant, but a couple of resident birds which have shown well over the summer.

Barred Owlet - Ping Long  5am 17 Aug
White-browed Laughingthrush - 1 of a family party of 5 which bred nearby 1 Aug
First breeding record of Chinese Starling  a pic of a juvenile from 20 July

Cheers
Mike K

[ Last edited by kmike at 22/08/2010 20:06 ]

ddavid

Mike

I had a Wood Sandpiper with a Green Sandpiper on the river below the Golden Triangle on February 27th this year. This is the only one I can recall seeing in LTV - which must be why I have written an exclamation mark next to the record in my notebook!

Cheers,

Dave

kmike

Good to know - Many thanks Dave

Cheers
Mike

subbuteo

What we need a is a water buffalo or two in the marsh, open water is really lacking in Lam Tsuen.  Anyone know where I can get one?  Roll on Autumn- it has been a quiet summer; I'm really looking froward to seeing the first stonechat- shouldn't be long now.

Dylan

subbuteo

Brown Wood Owl was calling this evening (6.20pm) near Pak Tin Kong.  Barred Owlet joined in too.

Dylan

lchunfai

Wonderful !
By the way, how long did it call ?
Thanks a lot

Fai Jai

thinfor

So happy that Lam Tsuen birders have started the autumn birding already and many thanks for your updated info here!  

subbuteo

Not so much a case of starting birding, just has not been much to report- I had not appreciated how quiet summer was until this year.  

I am aware that many people would like Brown Wood Owl as an addition to their HK list, unfortunately, as I'm sure Mike will confirm, it is very difficult to predict.  I have heard it only a few times and I am out in the valley most days.  I have not heard it call at the same time twice or on consecutive days.  Yesterday was the first time I have heard it call at dusk.  I have heard it at dawn (last August) and at various times in the early night.  Mike, I believe has heard it call in the wee hours.  And it seems to be mobile, calling from different locations along the Tai Mo Shan flank of the valley.

It is just good to know it is still there!

lchunfai

Many thnks for your useful informations.
Good to know it loves LT area  

Fai Jai

brendank

As I never birded Lam Tsuen and I can't find a good reference on the net, would it be possible for someone to comment quickly on transportation to Lam Tsuen and key birding areas in Lam Tsuen?

james10

Take KMB 64K (heading to Yuen Long) at the Tai Wo station. You may choose to get off at a number of destinations, from 較寮下 to 麻布尾.

subbuteo

The 64K runs right through the valley and will give you access to any of the sites below.  The 25K green minibus from the road below Tai Wo KCR runs as far as the bottom of the road to Ng Tung Chai.  There is really no good map available for Lam Tsuen- best I have found is here:

click to zoom

I mainly bird along the Tai Mo Shan side of the valley.  

Key sites:  

Ng Tung Chai.  Probably the most diverse in terms of birds- very busy at weekends.
Tai Om Shan.  My new favourite site because it is rarely visited.  Mixture of orchards, woodland and open grassland.
Golden Triangle.  The Fung Shui wood beside Kwun Yik store.  Hasn't been as productive for me recently- a lot of disturbance to the undergrowth last year but seems to be recovering now.
She Shan to Ping Long mostly open farmland with well wooded hillsides and some large trees.  Open marshy / grassland area area has been productive for buntings in winter.  
Kadoorie Farm. Somewhere I have not birded enough which I hope to rectify this winter.
Tai Yeung Che.  Village on the opposite side of the river to Ping Long had great birds in the past winter.
She Shan grassland Pipits and buntings last year, also quail.
She Shan ponds had black-browed reed warbler and teal last winter.
Hong Lok Yuen roundabout Plumbeous redstart and thrushes as well as water birds.

Hope this helps- my break is over- I can add more details when I get a chance.

Dylan

brendank

Thanks, Dylan! This is really an excellent description and a useful map too!

Brendan

[ Last edited by brendank at 27/08/2010 15:57 ]

kmike

Hi Brendan  

I blog on Lam Tsuen birding and other wildlife here: http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=66653

Cheers
Mike K

subbuteo

Mike's blog is great- he is the Lam Tsuen expert!  Just a note on the map- some of the paths marked on there are impassable due to overgrowth through lack of use- especially in the summer months.  Many routes are opened up in the Autumn my grave visitors and hikers- there are often trail tags to follow along where the routes pass even though the route may not be obvious.  lam Tsuen is very underwatched- I am sure Mike and I miss some good birds (me far more than Mike!)

[ Last edited by subbuteo at 27/08/2010 19:21 ]

brendank

I suppose when most birders think of the New Territories they think of Mai Po, LV, and Tai Po Kau.  But Mike and Dylan have definitely convinced me to explore more.

brendank

I suppose when most birders think of the New Territories they think of Mai Po, LV, and Tai Po Kau.  But Mike and Dylan have definitely convinced me to explore more.

ddavid

At the overgrown southern corner of the She Shan grassy area this afternoon (29-8-2010) there were at least 3 Bright-capped Cisticolas and a Zitting Cisticola.

There were also 500++ Wandering Gliders Pantala flavescens in the area. This dragonfly is a long-distance migrant and this swarm probably consisted of recent arrivals from the Philippines moving ahead of tropical storm Lion Rock.

david

[ Last edited by ddavid at 29/08/2010 20:34 ]

subbuteo

Thanks for that- I had watched a talk about that species of dragonfly here:

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en ... t_cross_oceans.html

He calls them "globe skimmers" Didn't realise they were what I was watching this afternoon!

Dylan

ddavid

Dylan

Pantala flavescens seems to have a variety of English names - Wandering Glider, Typhoon Dragonfly, Orange Glider and, as you note, Globe Skimmer.

Many thanks for the link to Charles Anderson's talk on the migration of the Globe Skimmer from India to Africa.

The paper he wrote on the same topic can be found at http://www.mrc.gov.mv/index.php/publications/

It's interesting the link he makes between the migration of birds such as Amur Falcon at the same time and on the same flight path as the dragonflies. As he says in his paper, Amur Falcons use the Globe Skimmers as a source of "in-flight refuelling".

Fascinating stuff!

dave

subbuteo

A walk this evening (5.30-7.15pm) proved both frustrating and successful.  The main frustration was a flycatcher which took a long time to present itself and then only fleetingly.  I had thought it was a Ferruginous Flycatcher but after consulting my books, poor light and fleeting views have reduced my confidence and now I don't know what it was.  As I left the flycatcher I flushed a large bird from a tree below the path, it flew across in front of me and low through the tree trunks.  It was long-winged, dark (brown?) and had no obvious marks- a big bland bird.  I don't know what it was.  It seemed crested goshawk size so perhaps one was roosting.

The success was the Brown Wood Owl was calling again- from a different location- more towards Ping Long this time.  As I mentioned before, I am out most evenings/nights and rarely hear it but if there is any pattern at all clear evenings seem to be best.  Barred Owlets  where calling all over and one flew overhead.

Dylan

[ Last edited by subbuteo at 8/09/2010 06:12 ]

kmike

today in Ng Tung Chai:

Eastern Crowned Warbler - 2
Greenish Warbler - 1
Pale-legged/Sakhalin Leaf Warbler - 1

Mountain Bulbul - 1

and  . . . rain, rain, rain

Cheers
Mike

subbuteo

Ng Tung Chai this morning (7.30 to 10.30).

Eastern Crowned Warbler - 1
Yellow-rumped Flycatcher - 1

There were a couple more flycatchers but I couldn't pin them down they kept in cover, blue colouration on one.  Also Emerald Dove, Mountain Tailorbird (5+), Red-billed Leothrix, and  Wild Boar (2 juveniles foraging within 20 feet of me).  I was pleased to note that the cutting back along the path carried out over the summer was not as bad as it could have been.  

Dylan

subbuteo

First snipe (fantail/pintail?) I've seen for a while foraging on muddy pools along a track at Pak Tin Kong, presumably a migrant.  Nice to have a bit more variety about after a quiet summer!

kmike

Patch tick this morning - Oriental Reed Warbler in the veggie patch with the Crested Bulbuls.

Has anyone had one of these in Lam Tsuen previously, or can I claim an addition to the Lam Tsuen list?

Cheers
Mike

subbuteo

16/9/10 6.10 am

First dollarbird this morning over the swamp between Pak Tin Kong and Ping Long.

Dylan

kmike

. . . and there were two Dollarbirds this evening on the power lines opposite Ping Long.

Cheers
Mike K

kmike

This morning there were four Dollarbirds - three flying around the pylons at N end of Tai To Yan ridge, and one on the powerlines above the Kadoorie Farm Bus Stop - all scoped at long range from my roof!

Cheers

Mike

kmike

Arriving home at about 2pm, there was an immature White-bellied Sea Eagle soaring over the village. It drifted off towards Lung A Pai and the Lin Au ridge.

This is just my second record in Lam Tsuen - the first was an adult that flew past Kadoorie Farm when I was working there a few years ago.

Cheers
Mike K

subbuteo

This morning at 5.50 am Brown Wood Owl was heard calling.  There was initially a three note call and a few minutes later I heard the usual four note call.  Barred Owlet has also been making a lot of noise recently.

Over the last couple of days Hair-crested Drongoes have been seen along with single Dollarbirds on Sunday and early this morning.

Dylan

subbuteo

A walk up to Tai Om Shan this morning- still not possible to get all the way through to the higher forest as the path is heavily overgrown.


Open country birds:
Black-becked Starling
Crested Mynah
Crested Bulbul
Sooty-headed Bulbul
Great Tit
Common Tailorbird
Tree Sparrow
Magpie Robin
Spotted Dove
White-breasted waterhen
Chinese Pond Heron
Magpie
Masked Laughing Thrush

Path up to Tai Om SHan:
Mountain Tailorbird
Pale-legged Leaf Warbler
Rufous-capped Babbler
Blue-winged Minla
Yellow-bellied Prinia
Japanese White-eye
Hwamei
Black-throated Laughing Thrush
Greater Necklaced Laughing Thrush
Grey Treepie x3 (my HK list bogey bird- need to find a new one!)

Also three Accipters but no firm id- one was very dark, the other two flew together and were very pale below.

[ Last edited by subbuteo at 23/09/2010 17:40 ]

kmike

Having had a couple of Dollarbirds from the window I went up on the roof to see how many I could pick up with a proper scan . . . and found 10!  Four we above Wo Hop Shek, four were over Ng Tung Chai and two over Lung A Pai.

While I was counting them a total of 61 Chinese Starlings (two flocks of 6 and 55) flew down the valley, looking like a chessboard which had decided to disconnect itself and fly away.

While I was admiring a juvenile Lesser Coucal a couple of Black Drongos, the first of the autumn in the valley, appeared, and a few minutes later a couple of Yellow Wagtails called as they flew over, but too high to be seen.

Not bad for 30 minutes!

Cheers
Mike

kmike

Quieter today, with just a Dollarbird on the power lines over Tai Om and a young, pale-bellied Black Drongo hunting from the big tree in the grassland in front of the house.

Cheers
Mike K

kmike

A walk up to Ng Tung Chai started well with an Arctic Warbler right at the beginning of the trail, but I then had no migrants at all until coming back to the same spot, where a Pale-legged/Sakhalin Leaf Warbler was calling.

However I did see a Mountain Bulbul near the lower falls.

As I passed through the village I was astonished that my first flycatcher of the autumn was a juvenile Red-throated Flycatcher, with a fine buff wing bar. It was perched on a cane in the top corner of the flower field to the left of the village hall. One minute later it had gone, but was replaced - at exactly the same spot - with a Grey-streaked Flycatcher!

As I walked back down to Ping Long I flushed a female Blue Rock Thrush off the path and had another Arctic Warbler crossing the stream a little lower down.

Almost forgot - first thing this morning I heard a single call from a Grey Treepie fro the fung shui wood opposite my place.

Cheers
Mike

ddavid

She Shan/Ha Tin Liu Ha - 1/10/10 - p.m.

Cattle Egret 1
Red-rumped Swallow 1
Richard's Pipit 1
Grey Wagtail 2
Siberian Stonechat 3
Bright-capped Cisticola 1
Zitting Cisticola 1
Hair-crested Drongo 2

dave

subbuteo

Very quiet walk up to Tai Om Shan.  The path is still impassable to the upper areas- I've given up on pushing through, the vegetation pushes back!  Only bird of interest was an Oriental Honey Buzzard.

Dylan

kmike

A quiet day for me too, with a solitary female Siberian Stonechat being my only reward for an early start.

However I did also see a Javan Mongoose (just my second in Lam Tsuen) and a juvenile King Cobra on my way home.

Cheers
Mike

subbuteo

Mike omitted to mention the king cobra was nearly on my door-step and was later evicted!  Beautiful but not welcome to set up home.

[ Last edited by subbuteo at 2/10/2010 22:05 ]

brendank

Mike and Dylan, can you comment on how rare King Cobra are in HK?  I was under the impression that they were quite rare indeed.

[ Last edited by brendank at 3/10/2010 21:58 ]

subbuteo

First one I had seen.  I asked Paul at Kadoorie Farm:

King Cobras  are few and far between in Hong Kong but this may not represent any sort of  ecological imbalance. As an apex predator in the snake world  that feeds almost exclusively upon other snakes they should naturally be in much smaller numbers than other snake species. (The narrow top of the pyramid).  The KFBG snake rescue program receives in the region of  500 snakes per year of which only 2 to 3 are  King Cobra.   As a primarily forest species a lot of Hong Kong’s scrubby hillsides may not provide appropriate habitat.

Paul Crow
Senior Conservation Officer

[ Last edited by subbuteo at 10/10/2010 13:28 ]

subbuteo

This is from a while ago:

http://www.hku.hk/ecology/porcupine/por20/wildlife.htm

brendank

Very interesting. I assume the picture of snake in blue bucket was when it was being evicted.

subbuteo

Yes, bucket was only just big enough, snake was about two feet long.  Paul also said this was probably a year old snake- this year's hatchlings would be significantly smaller.  I moved it (very cautiously with snake tongs) about 200m from home and released it well away from other houses.  They can move very fast!

brendank

Seems that life in the Lam Tsuen Valley is more exciting than on HK island. Don't think too many people would have snake tongs handy here.

subbuteo

We've had enough snakes at the house to warrant their purchase- Chinese Cobra, Bamboo Pit Viper(x2), red-necked keelback and the king cobra in the last couple of months.  The king cobra was the first time I used the tongs and they are definitely better than a brush and dust pan!

kmike

Love the pix of the King Cobra in the bucket - perfectly sets off the fine colours!

King Cobra is doing OK in Lam Tsuen:

An adult at least 8-feet long stood up to say hello on the path above Ng Tung Chai a few years ago!

I also know of two other live records - Roger Kendrick watched one kill a large Copperhead Racer at KARC a few years ago, and Charlotte in the Flora Dept at KFBG photographed an adult from a car about 2 years ago.

I also found one road-killed youngster on the road to Ng Tung Chai in 2002.

Cheers
Mike K

bkenneth

I also saw one (my first ever) just above the end of the Fo Tan nullah on Saturday evening at dusk. It was only a baby (about 8 inches long) but it still raised its head and its hood! Quite scary actually, as I believe they are venomous from the day that they hatch.

Ken

subbuteo

Lunchtime update!

Quite quiet recently, hoping that the cooler weather and time to explore at the weekend will be productive.  Also Cheung Yeung next week should mean paths being opened up.

Dollarbirds have been around Pak Tin Kong for the last couple of mornings.  Dawn is getting later so my early dog walks have been coinciding with the birds waking up- large numbers of bulbuls fly out from the flanks of the valley and fung shui woods were they roost, gather on the powerlines and then disperse for the day.  By far Crested is the most common, occasional Chinese and Sooty Headed.  There are more skulking birds in the swamp/grassland.  I suspect there have been reed warblers but now Cisticolas have arrived back.  A Greater Coucal refused to fly away from me yesterday and I worked out why after he took off and sat above me in a branch muttering- he had a sizeable Changeable Lizard which was putting up a stout defence.  The coucal seemed to have struck a mortal blow so I left it to be dinner.

Still haven't seen a stonechat!

Dylan

[ Last edited by subbuteo at 7/10/2010 14:53 ]

kmike

Classic fall conditions this morning - heavily overcast with drizzle on and off and moderate NE winds, and it turned out to be pretty good.

I was on my roof from 0630 to 0730, and during that time I had a Dollarbird making a couple of languid circuits, including one right overhead, five Black Drongos, three Hair-crested Drongos and my first Ashy Drongo of the winter.

Even better were the first Yellow-breasted Bunting (a flyover) and a female Black-winged Cuckooshrike, which had a swift dogfight with the Ashy Drongo.

After breakfast I thoroughly covered the She Shan area and had good numbers of regular migrants, including the following:

Green Sandpiper - 2
Dollarbird - 1
Common Kingfisher - 1
Richard's Pipit - 9
Olive-backed Pipit - 2
Yellow Wagtail - 1
Grey Wagtail - 8
Siberian Stonechat 10
Dusky Warbler 19
Asian Brown Flycatcher - 4
Taiga Flycatcher - 2
Black Drongo - 5

The Taigas were great - chasing each other and one of the Brown Flycatchers round the tree nursery that has been newly established on the filled land.

However the biggest news was that yesterday Dylan pished out the valley's first Pallas' Grasshopper Warbler.

Cheers
Mike K

kmike

Classic fall conditions this morning - heavily overcast with drizzle on and off and moderate NE winds, and it turned out to be pretty good.

I was on my roof from 0630 to 0730, and during that time I had a Dollarbird making a couple of languid circuits, including one right overhead, five Black Drongos, three Hair-crested Drongos and my first Ashy Drongo of the winter.

Even better were the first Yellow-breasted Bunting (a flyover) and a female Black-winged Cuckooshrike, which had a swift dogfight with the Ashy Drongo.

After breakfast I thoroughly covered the She Shan area and had good numbers of regular migrants, including the following:

Green Sandpiper - 2
Dollarbird - 1
Common Kingfisher - 1
Richard's Pipit - 9
Olive-backed Pipit - 2
Yellow Wagtail - 1
Grey Wagtail - 8
Siberian Stonechat 10
Dusky Warbler 19
Asian Brown Flycatcher - 4
Taiga Flycatcher - 2
Black Drongo - 5

The Taigas were great - chasing each other and one of the Brown Flycatchers round the tree nursery that has been newly established on the filled land. I'd welcome any thoughts on this plumage - not sure I've sen such a strong breast band before.

However the biggest news was that yesterday Dylan pished out the valley's first Pallas' Grasshopper Warbler.

Cheers
Mike K

[ Last edited by kmike at 10/10/2010 17:17 ]