brendank

4 March 2012

From the seawatch
44 Black-tailed Gull
39 Heuglin's Gull
6 Red-necked Phalarope

From the ferry another flock of 20 Black-tailed Gulls was near Stanley.

Birds on the island were basically the same wintering birds, Japanese Thrush, Bluetail and Rufous-tailed Robin.

brendank

11 March 2012

Quite rainy today but luckily the rain let up from about 1500-1700 enough to get to the South Peninsula for seabirds. Best was a Black-legged Kittiwake. Unfortunately, the wheel on my 7D was knocked in to the wrong position and most of the shots were a waste. By the time I fixed it, the bird was considerably further out. Also 1 first-winter Vega Gull, 136 Heuglin's Gulls, 16 Black-tailed Gulls and 5 Red-necked Phalarope. The Black-tailed Gulls seem to be decreasing in number and I guess the migration is ending.

On the inland it was quite quiet except for 1 Oriental Greenfinch.

kittiwake.JPG (53.43 KB)

11/03/2012 22:25

[ Last edited by brendank at 11/03/2012 22:26 ]

brendank

With regard to Vega Gull. I don't if others would agree with me but at Mai Po it seems a fair number of first-winter birds show some Vega characteristics specifically a clear yellow base to the bill and pale inner primaries. At Po Toi there seem to be more than one hundreds of Heuglin's Gulls in the channel so I would expect a some of birds exhibiting Vega characteristics. However, this has been the only bird I have yet observed there which clearly fit Vega Gull i.e. pale base of the bill and pale inner primaries. And despite there being usually one or two around at MP I have yet to see any gull at Po Toi remotely looking like a Mongolian Gull. Some of this may simply due to the distance of birds at Po Toi making it difficult to scrutinize individuals but perhaps some is due to migration patterns.

brendank

25 March 2012

1 Northern Boobok (seen briefly by the helipad)
1 Ferruginous Flycatcher
1 ocularis White Wagtail

bhowl.jpg (78.01 KB)

25/03/2012 18:15

flycatcher.JPG (49.91 KB)

25/03/2012 18:15

[ Last edited by brendank at 25/03/2012 18:23 ]

brendank

I beleive the subspecies that occurs in Philippines of Brown-backed Needletail is giganteus which has no white loral spot. The bird on Po Toi would have been indicus which is resident from India to SE Asia. Red-crested Pochard winters in Myanmar and then migrates north at least East to Lake Baikal. Both of these birds must have been pushed East in much the same manner that the Black Redstart was last year.

brendank

1 April 2012

Very quiet on the island. A Red-flanked Bluetail and some Manchurian Bush Warblers and Rufous-tailed Robins remain.

At sea today it was a bit more exciting. Two 1st winter Black-tailed Gulls passed by at 1455. Then an early adult White-winged Tern at 1610 and a group of 10 skuas which I believe to be Arctic at 1630. At 1640 this tern passed which after looking at the photos seems to be an early (except for the one Geoff saw last week) Aleutian Tern.

tern1.JPG (37.7 KB)

1/04/2012 21:20

tern2.JPG (50.91 KB)

1/04/2012 21:20

[ Last edited by brendank at 1/04/2012 21:23 ]