The observation was made along the main road from the northern main gate between 8h15 and 15h15 on 15 Feb 2015. We (myself and another birder) took taxi from the Lowu Station (RMB 45-50 each way, depending on the traffic). The highest pt was 650 m (Little Wutong). The horizontal distance of this trip was about 600 m. It was quite misty between 500-650 m asl). We took the footpath to “tarzan stream” on the way back. No food was available at the kiosk at Little Wutong. A total of 50 bird species were seen. Don’t expect any new tick but just to take a look of a secondary forest so close to HK. The 2001 survey by KFBG can be made reference (available at google search).
In general, birds were evenly seen and particular rich at secondary forest between 400 and 650 m asl. No bird wave was encountered. We heard one type of barbet calls. As Black-browed Barbet was recorded at Tai Po Kau 2014, it is suspected that these calls may be this species. A broad brush comparison with Tai Po Kau shows that leaf warblers (in particular Yellow-browed Warbler) are not very common at Wutongshan. In fact, we did not hear any calls of Yellow-browed Warbler. No velvet-fronted nuthatch and Yellow-cheeked Tit (both are captive origin) were recorded. Also, the abundance of Blue-winged Minla (also exotic) was also low at Wutongshan. However, the Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush was very common (and also tame). It appears that the bird community between Tai Po Kau and Wutongshan is different.
1 65 Chinese Pond Heron+ 池鷺 Ardeola bacchus near the reservoir
2 81 Great Cormorant 普通鸕鷀 Phalacrocorax carbo on the way
3 87 Black Kite 黑鳶 Milvus migrans near the reservoir
4 91 Crested Serpent Eagle 蛇鵰 Spilornis cheela Heard one at about 400 m
5 223 Spotted Dove+ 珠頸斑鳩 Spilopelia chinensis The entrance
6 261 House Swift+ 小白腰雨燕 Apus nipalensis
7 268 Common Kingfisher+ 普通翠鳥 Alcedo atthis At the reservoir
8 270 Pied Kingfisher 斑魚狗 Ceryle rudis near the reservior
9 274 Great Barbet+ 大擬啄木鳥 Megalaima virens Heard and seen
10 Black-browed Barbet? Heard only at about 400 m asl. Not 100% sure about the identification, but definitely heard calls of another barbet species
11 287 Grey-chinned Minivet+ 灰喉山椒鳥 Pericrocotus solaris
12 288 Scarlet Minivet+ 赤紅山椒鳥 Pericrocotus speciosus
13 298 Hair-crested Drongo 髮冠卷尾 Dicrurus hottentottus
14 305 Grey Treepie+ 灰樹鵲 Dendrocitta formosae
15 311 Large-billed Crow+ 大嘴烏鴉 Corvus macrorhynchos
16 317 Cinereous Tit+ 蒼背山雀 Parus cinereous Quite seen them in pairs and feeding over the road
17 323 Red-whiskered Bulbul+ 紅耳鵯 Pycnonotus jocosus
18 324 Chinese Bulbul+ 白頭鵯 Pycnonotus sinensis
19 326 Mountain Bulbul+ 綠翅短腳鵯 Ixos mcclellandii
20 327 Chestnut Bulbul+ 栗背短腳鵯 Hemixos castanonotus
21 328 Black Bulbul 黑短腳鵯 Hypsipetes leucocephalus
22 335 Pygmy Wren-babbler 小鷦鶥 Pnoepyga pusilla Heard only. Not recorded in the 2001 survey
23 337 Mountain Tailorbird+ 金頭縫葉鶯 Phyllergates cuculatus
24 339 Manchurian Bush Warbler 遠東樹鶯 Horornis borealis
25 340 Brown-flanked Bush Warbler 強腳樹鶯 Horornis fortipes Heard only at Tarzan Stream
26 341 Asian Stubtail 鱗頭樹鶯 Urosphena squameiceps
27 350 Pallas's Leaf Warbler 黃腰柳鶯 Phylloscopus proregulus
28 385 Yellow-bellied Prinia+ 黃腹鷦鶯 Prinia flaviventris
29 386 Plain Prinia 純色鷦鶯 Prinia inornata
30 387 Common Tailorbird+ 長尾縫葉鶯 Orthotomus sutorius
31 389 Rufous-capped Babbler 紅頭穗鶥 Stachyridopsis ruficeps
32 393 Chinese Hwamei+ 畫眉 Garrulax canorus
33 394 Masked Laughingthrush 黑臉噪鶥 Garrulax perspicillatus
34 395 Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush+ 黑領噪鶥 Garrulax pectoralis Very common. Quite tame.
35 396 Black-throated Laughingthrush+ 黑喉噪鶥 Garrulax chinensis
36 398 Blue-winged Minla 藍翅希鶥 Minla cyanouroptera Not too many individuals were seen compared with the population at Tai Po Kau. Surprisingly, this bird was not recorded in the 2001 survey.
37 400 Red-billed Leiothrix+ 紅嘴相思鳥 Leiothrix lutea
38 405 Japanese White-eye+ 暗綠繡眼鳥 Zosterops japonicus
39 418 Blue Whistling Thrush 紫嘯鶇 Myophonus caeruleus
40 422 Grey-backed Thrush 灰背鶇 Turdus hortulorum More than 5 birds at the lower part, esp near the entrance.
41 423 Japanese Thrush 烏灰鶇 Turdus cardis A pair was seen at about 500 m asl.
42 439 Oriental Magpie Robin 鵲鴝 Copsychus saularis
43 442 Daurian Redstart 北紅尾鴝 Phoenicurus auroreus Rest area at Little Wutong.
44 466 Verditer Flycatcher 銅藍鶲 Eumyias thalassinus One individual. At Tarzan stream
45 473 Fire-breasted Flowerpecker+ 紅胸啄花鳥 Dicaeum ignipectus
46 476 Fork-tailed Sunbird+ 叉尾太陽鳥 Aethopyga christinae
47 477 Eurasian Tree Sparrow+ 樹麻雀 Passer montanus
48 479 White-rumped Munia 白腰文鳥 Lonchura striata
49 485 Grey Wagtail+ 灰鶺鴒 Motacilla cinerea
50 489 Olive-backed Pipit 樹鷚 Anthus hodgsoni
+: recorded at the 2001 survey in May
[ Last edited by wcaptain at 16/02/2015 16:24 ] Author: wcaptain Time: 16/02/2015 16:04
講真，指示一般，例如沒有中途指示及行步距離，很多時不知自己身在何處 The signage. Not much information is shown. It is better to put info about distance (or even a scaled map) in the the signages.
"Tarzan Stream" 泰山澗
Secondary woodland 路邊次生林
Author: ajohn Time: 16/02/2015 18:41
Do you have more details or a description of the barbet call you heard? It would be very interesting if Chinese Barbet was present at Wutongshan (and for me would make it surprising that it was not reported in HK until this winter). Other barbets have been reported free-flying in HK (e.g. I have seen and heard Blue-throated) so it may be useful to be sure that it was not one of those other species. Author: wcaptain Time: 17/02/2015 09:39
Sorry, the calls were a bit far away. Our smart phones are not powerful enough to record them down.
I have heard similar barbet calls in Vietnam and Thailand. But can't tell the species. It is something like "glock glock". No up and down, and very plain.
Maybe other birders can search them. Author: kmatthew Time: 17/02/2015 22:11
A link to a Chinese barbet call comparison if anyone's interested. Spring is coming and I would think if there are any Chinese Barbets in TPK or anywhere in HK they might call.
28 bird species. 1nteresting records
1. Silver-eared Mesia (probably the 3rd Guangdong record)
2. Japanese Paradise Flycatcher (in the same bird wave together with SP)
3. Speckled Piculet (in the same bird wave together with JPF)
4. Striated Yuhina (a flock of 30 birds)
5. Velvet fronted Nuthatch (heard only, not very common at Wutongshan) Author: kmatthew Time: 30/09/2015 11:29
