tsheunglai

Wednesday morning of Nov 24, 2010

Adhering to my veteran predecessors' practice like former secretary Mr Ian Tyzzer (apology
to him if spelling's wrong) I started birding again from Pineapple Dam at 6:35 am.

The surroudings seemed quiet. The first five species were all heard (certainly nor to the liking of photographers). The sixth, which was also heard first, was an Ashy drongo. Knowing it situating at or near tree tops, I searched in the direction of
its call (though already stopped) and found it. It flew away the moment I located it. Experience
counts in this case for success.

Interesting calls (calls which I fail to identify) were heard at least twice this morning which
explains why good birders find forest birds challenging and enigmatic. It was at Picnic Site No. 6
near the stony public toilet that I found a White's thrush (first thrush species of the morning). I deliberately went to the open space at the fringe of the largest secondary forest of Shing Mun on the right side of the toilet. I was in search of a Red-throated flycatcher, robins and thrushes possible there. Quite a surprise, the White's jumped within my sight. Once aware of my presence it quickly turned and flew away, showing me well its tail pattern, (the white corners at tail end being crucial).

It was uneventful before I reached Picnic Site No. 9 which was about a hundred metres from the
diversion to Tso Shan/Aboretum area and twenty minutes' walk away from the top. The best local bird
was a White-bellied yuhina and no flycatcher
at all, not even a Gray-headed, neither seen nor heard. At PS 9 I located my second
thrush of the morning, a Blackbird which was
common everywhere in recent years this time of the year. It was found feeding on treetop. It
hit upon me that there might be other thrush species. I stood, waited and was not denied. A
thrush flew within sight and perched. It was a male Eyebrowed (3rd thrush sp of the morning), narrow black eyestripe pointed at both ends, bordered by fine white pointed eyebrow above and striking white stripe below eye.

Could there be more? When the Eyebrowed flew out of sight I decided to leave the location for a
while and went to the diversion point before I returned. I found a seat and finished my remaining
half of sandwhiches. Thrushes seemed to be around then. Surely first a handsome male Japanese (fourth thrush sp of the morning), followed by a
female one were seen. The male Eye-browed was seen again. The thrush had a puffed up body and was seen giving up a black berry from its beak. The thrushes must be belly-filled which explained why they
perched still and even pluming. Another thrush was spotted facing away from me, obviously resting
after a good breakfast. It never turned around while it was there. I approached it ten steps by ten steps until I was able to count the outer ones of its upper tail coverts. The head colour and pattern, together with its finely streaked whitish throat, were enough to tell me it was a female Pale thrush, rounding up my morning's thrush specise to five.

Five thrushes species in one morning was a personal record, an experience that would last for a long time in  my memory. It also explained why I started
the winter section of Shing Mun/Lead Mine Pass, 2010 today.

S L Tai

tsheunglai

The birds seemed to be inactive at 6:35, but still I insisted to bird at such early hour. For there are
no AFCD and other cars and trucks to disturb me and the ground birds before eight. And no one stops
at the picnic sites to disturb my birds (a dream for such a favourite place for trekking and morning
exercise as Shing Mun). I hate the exhaust fume from the modern monsters, useful and yet so disgusting
with its smell.

My stubborness was in no small part rewarded. I saw the White's thrush which I saw last week again. It was at
the beginning part of Picnic Site No. 9. It showed its alertness by flying up to the rough half-a-man's
height stonewall -beyond which the great patch of secondary forest began - when I approached the spot
at a distance of about twenty metres. Typically behaved, it stood still in the hope to avoid my further
attention and posing it threat of safety. I obliged and stood still. Satisfied with its identification
I moved a few steps further on at equal distance from it so that I could get a better sideview of it.
Clearly moulting for winter as the breast looked smeared, and the greater wing-coverts had a very clear dotted wing bar probably indicating it to be a first-winter bird - any comments from my readers are welcome.

When it flew away I moved on. When I returned about two hours later it was not there. Plenty of reasons
for that, I thought. At least I was releived it was still somewhere, for a domesticated cat which has turned ferral - an expert hunter of birds - had been found nearby last week, probably a disowned pet. Poor creature.

Total number of species heard and/or seen is 23. All ordinary but some usual wintering birds were there -
OBP (guess its full name - no prize but answer will be given next time), Red-flanked bluetail,Gray wagtail and Daurian redstart, but no Gray-headed flycatcher yet.

S L Tai  

NB: Thanks for all readers who continue to read my reports. Don't expect great birds yet, for rarities
are for rare occasions. I just want to show what a serious bird-watcher wishes to find, including all
kinds of bird calls and behaviour.

[ Last edited by tsheunglai at 1/12/2010 22:08 ]

tsheunglai

Dear Eric

Thanks for your suggestive and informative answer. I will dig into bird books about thrushes and White's in particular to enrich myself shortly.

S L Tai

tsheunglai

It was lateness upon lateness that I arrived at Pineapple Dam at 9:25. Lack of warmup exercise, my fingers
soon felt numbed, rendering my binoculars handling slow and clumsy. It was quite quiet. And the wind kept blowing.

It was near Picnic Site No. 5 that I suddenly discovered that I was just a short distance from a ground
bird (on cold winter days even flycatchers feed on the ground and I call them ground birds) which was a
Forest wagtail, my first for the year (it is a second record for Dec-Jan period since 95-96, according to Avifauna of HK). It waved its tail sideways arousing in me some good feeling of deja vu. I went on and met two individualAsian brown flycatchers (quite usual when there is strong cold front) on the road, breast puffed up to provide more warmth, I supposed. Typically they flew a short distance and landed on the ground again when I was a bit too near.

I searched for the White's thrush and male Japanese thrush I saw last Wednesday but they seemed to have all gone. No thrushes today, I wondered.

It was at Picnic Site No. 9 I dropped everything to do some warmup exercise. A few minutes later, I
got some good control of my fingers back and returned. Soon I got my first White's thrush of the day, followed by a second some moment later. While the wind was still blowing I got sight of a Striated yuhinas clearly. Yuhinas are gregarious lots so I directed my lenses to where there was the most bird noises and was able to count some twenty of them. A Gray-backed thrush was the last thrush I saw for the morning.

No Gray-headed flycatcher yet and no Red-tailed robin. The former case was a disappointment but the latter
was yet to be found as my first personal record for the area.

NB: OBP is an abbreviation for Olive-backed pipit. During BBCs held by WWFHK we team-mates used to say an OBP when we saw one.

tsheunglai

Following the daybreak time of the sun I started from home at 6:30 (1/2 h later than I used to)
and was ready to bird at 7:15.

The only uncommon bird from Shing Mun (not seen so far the whole autumn) I saw was a Blue magpie (sure I heard some more nearby) in whose call I was interested. It seemed to my ear that its single note call was a loud short low-pitched 'pi'. A three note call was also heard which was a flutty pi pi pi:, quick and rising sharply at the last one. A Crested goshawk was soon also heard which I could only say a kind of chuckle (abliet
quite menacing to other birds) of 8 to 9 notes.

Scarlet-backed flowpecker was solid 'duc (like u in us), duc, duc...' and also very high pitched 'zit (with the t sound silent) which I judge to be unique and therefore diagnostic among the three flowerpeckers found in HK. In my opinion the frequency of the call 'duc, duc, duc...' is also important. If one's ear was keen enough one can differentiate among the three (at least from buff-bellied). For Yellow-cheeked tit today was a three note call of 'yi:,yi:,yo' in a rising tone from low of the first, pitched at the second and drop abruptly at the last. One half of my morning was spent in this way, mimicking and recording bird calls in English, international phonetics and Cantonese sounds.

The other half of the morning if not walking was sitting on a stone, observing a White's thrush
as how it behaved on the approaching of walkers, talking walkers, walkers with radios, or an appraoching
vehicle. It was interesting to note that the White would freeze on the spot when it was on the alert.
More than once (today and previous days) it would jump on top of a stone, facing away from the source of
danger (visual or audio) and stand still. A glimpse of another White (90% sure) which for some time
was uttering loud calling notes (for what purpose I don't know). At the same place (Picnic Site No. 6)
there was a female Japanese thrush which was quite shy, showing only briefly, but sufficent for me to
see its main features.

Good birds or no good birds, I find it dosen't matter. What matters is (and I am quite proud of) my
strong sense of curiosity which surprisingly has been accompanying me for more than half of a century
and still rendering me great service in the pursuit of knowledge and the meaning of life.

S L Tai

NB: Merry X'mas and Happy New Year for all who bother and have been patient enough to follow my reports thus far.

[ Last edited by tsheunglai at 24/12/2010 18:27 ]

tsheunglai

The morning started with light rain and mist so I switched my Shing Mun/Lead Mine Pass trip to the
afternoon. Overall speaking I wasn't disappointed.

I walked up to the Butterfly Garden (the upper entrance of which just facing the beginning part of Lung Mun Country Trail) from below and the lawn looked empty of birds. It was when I had got across and was about to climb up the stairs to the road that I literally bumped into the Forest wagtail that I saw previously. It was just a foot or two before me, leisurely walking and feeding, totally unconcerned about my presence. While I lingered on, a pair of Red-flanked bluetails and a Gray-backed thrush appeared almost together.

Gray-backed thrushes and Blue-tails went on making their appearance in turn when I arrived at the first
road bridge about a hundred metres beyond Picnic Site No. 6. It was here that I heard single-note call
similar to Violet whistling-thrush twice. The calls were weaker and shorter than VWT and the source came under the bridge. One purpose of birding late was that there would be few passers-by and definitely void of photographers who would have chased my target bird - a Slaty-backed forktail reported to have been photoed and chased out of the stream-head about a week ago. Apparently the timid bird (as all forktails are) got notice of me but which way it was going to fly away - to the inner part or towards the head of the stream - I was at a loss. The moment I waited undecidedly it appeared on my left and perched on a boulder ten metres away from me. In a moment as brief as a few seconds I was able to raise my binoculars, focused upon it and confirmed I saw the first Slaty-backed forktail of Shing Mun (as far as I know) sharp and clear.

Not far away I met a Rufous-tailed robin (again my first for SM/LMP) which allowed me to examine while jumping and foraging on some low grassy slope. I stopped at Picnic Site No. 8 and turned back.

Gray-backed, Pale and a White's thrushes almost turned up alternatively while I walked with dusk gathering around me, the relative abundance of each also in that order.

S L Tai

[ Last edited by tsheunglai at 13/01/2011 17:55 ]

tsheunglai

Even starting at about nine in the morning the Reservoir walk had few hikers.

Notable among birds seen, a pair of Ashy drongo of the subspecies salangensis was heard and seen together.
It was interesting to witness them uttering the typical call of a Crested goshawk in turn. They were
obviously of darker grey in underbody and no whitish face mask of another subspecies leucogenis.
A third of the former was seen some distance on. A fourth was heard at LMP, making a total of four for the morning. It was clear a bulk addition to SM/LMP had come in since the last cold front from South China somewhat at the same time with widespread appearance of Black bulbuls whose typical call of cat-type mewing heard twice while I walked along.

Thrushes were still fairly easy to find from old locations, a White's at Butterfly Garden, a Pale (fomerly two) at open ground adjacent to the Pulbic Toilet, and a male GB and Japanese all at Picnic Site No.6 at quite short distance.

On my return lap from Picnic Site No. 8 I caught sight of some fifteen of Striated yuhinas sallying round the treetops and made sudden disappearance to the distance, leaving one in disappointment if not quick enough to spot one clearly.

S L Tai

[ Last edited by tsheunglai at 6/02/2011 12:10 ]

tsheunglai

It was such a long time that I went birdwatching on a chilly rainy morning.

The common winter forest birds were there, a dozen of Gray-backed thrushes and several Pale thrushes
and nearly matching number of Red-flanked bluetails were seen just along the road/forest track (the latter name favoured by AFCD). When my head was just above the top-step of the stairs that led up to the second Butterfly garden I failed to see clearly my friend Mr/Ms White's which was just one or two metres too near me. I neither saw my friend Mr Japanese (previously seen twice) at Picnic Site No. 6. My hat found it hard not to get drenched and I resorted to an open umbrella. I prodded on. A patient search of the big stream head yieled no sign of the Slaty-backed forktail.

I ritually reached Picnic Site No. 8 before I returned. I got my lot of 15 Striated yuhinas again. Some
were busy pecking tree bark for tiny insect eggs. A detour to Picnic Site No. 7 got me just a
female Daurian redstart near Pum-han Pavillion.

Just a pair of half-wet shoes and backpack being the reward? Not exactly, a morning of cold but fresh air the basic goodness was still there, though AFCD's slope repair contractors were bothering me with quite a lot with their lorries to and fro the whole morning. Even once was bad enough but this morning half a dozen times!!

S L Tai

tsheunglai

I didn't have any Gray-headed and Verditer's flycatchers seen at SM/LMP which made me curious about
if there were some at this small site during the current prolonged cold winter period. My experience was that it had often be the case, the most supportive evidence being the winter of 2008, there being a Verditer, one or two Asian Brown, a Fujian niltava, a Red-throated and a HK-first Slaty-backed flycatcher found at the same location around second week of February 2008.

Nevertheless, I found the forest patch at the back of the government sapling growing site rather quiet
before Chinese New Year. Would it be different if I paid it a second visit? It turned out I was paid
out with good dividends.

A totally of 26 species were seen or heard, a Common sandpiper (a regular winter visitor), three Little
egrets, a Blackbird, a Grey-backed and two Violet Whistling thrushes included.

But what surprised me was that I had a brief yet identifable sight (the black loral patch and its
overall coloration) of my first year-2011 Verditer. Not long afterwards I got the quick soft chatter-like calling notes (not the melodious 4-note one) of a Gray-headed flycatcher behind me. I turned and waited. It yielded to my insistence of patience. In a moment it was within sight, swaying its body sideways, flying a short distance and perching and swayed again.

S L Tai

NB It is a bit non-sensible to open a new topic for Chao Kung Tam which I do not go regularly and therefore permit me to narrate my personal account of my hour's visit of this small site here.

[ Last edited by tsheunglai at 18/02/2011 15:26 ]

tsheunglai

The clock alarm set off at half-past five and I just managed to catch the 7:20 bus. See how inertnessmust has had cost! However, I got my usual set of sandwiches and a banana, and my cat was well cared for and had a short lying-on-my-lap before I left home.

The local birds were largely heard during the first half of the trip, and I met my 15 old pals of
Striated yuhinas, uttering their noisy yet soft chatter rousing me up to their presence.

It was on my return from Picnic Site No. 8 on Lead Mine Pass and stayed at Picnic Site No. 12 (Pun
Han Pavillion) that I found a first-winter Gray-backed Thrush. It flew away on the approach of some passers-by. Next on the other side of the pavillion I caught sight of 4 OBPs foraging on a patch of grass, and unknown when it came was a White's in their company. I spent some time wondering at the perfection their plumages blended with the surroudings, green, yellow, brown,...just like a Monet's dots and patches. When two morning-walkers strolled near, the White's took flight with a flash of regret on my part for not with readiness to get trained on its typical Zoothera underwing.Course I caught the whitishness, but not the mid-black band!

I still maintain that a Striated heron gets gray/grayish upperwings and not greenishness as its old name of Little green heron implies. I hurried for my record book when one flew below from me across the reservoir for I did not have one for every trip (last record being in Nov/Dec as best remembered)!

S L Tai

[ Last edited by tsheunglai at 1/03/2011 21:19 ]

tsheunglai

It was three hours of slowing walking and birding that led me to the top of Lead Mine Pass
where hopefully might provide me a chance of witnessing spring migration of forest birds. I was
not disappointed.

The Lesser shortwing's nice singing was heard again at the inner more wooded side of the open campsite. It was so regular that I was led to the conclusion that this resident species was one of the most sedentary birds of all. A little further up on the side of the public toilet a flock of Pallas's leaf warblers were singing noisily. Its song was heard for weeks but I dared not attribute to this species until this morning. First of all the song began with its usual single-note call, and there were all birds of its kind. In a cluster of half dozen of trees a number no fewer than a dozen of them were there. But I must admit that only one was comfortably identified by sight. Such concentration of number at the top of a hill pass allowed me to claim them as passage migrants.

On my return, quite contrary to my uphill walk, birds were more seen than heard. A pair of Mountain
bulbuls chasing after each other (a behaviour preceding to pairing for breeding?), my favourite bird
a White-bellied yuhina, first heard, then well seen, comforting me that I had lost none of my birding
skills which were constantly monitored if they were decling with age.

A minor bird wave was encountered back at Shing Mun a short distance after the Reservoir Walk turned
to the left. Again good evidence of Pallas's leaf warblers, a lot more of them than previous winter days.
With the presence of them the spring curtain was pulled up for 2011.

[ Last edited by tsheunglai at 26/03/2011 22:01 ]

tsheunglai

Wherever there's suitable habitat, there's ample evidence of bird migration. This assumuption certainly
holds true for Shing Mun CP with its adjacent hilly lands, notably Lead Mine Pass. In early May on a cloudy day foreshadowing unstable weather in the southern coastal areas of China, I must add.

A Sunday morning trip around Shing Mun needs the accomodation of noisy walkers chattering about family
matters, in my case in straight interference with my catching hold of sudden bird calls, nearly, for instance, the diagnostic summer call/song of Chestnut-winged cuckoo coming in from a long distance, a bird I have yet to have a full view of.

Along the Reservoir Walk I caught a sizable gathering of egrets whose main make-up being Cattle egrets, some eighty strong, intermingled on the fringe with a few Great egrets (comparative size and length of leg protrusion beyond tail) and Little egrets (whose yellow toes had to be seen with a little effort when they circulated back through obscuring trees).

Picnic Site No. 6 near the public toilet offered me no opportunity of sighting a flycatcher, but supplying clearly the day's first singing evidence of Hainan blue flycatchers. I began to count them. There was no chance of miscounting since the flycatchers, all males I believe, are new arrivals which are singing for the dual purpose of holding territory and attracting coming female potential mates.

For each of the singing birds I allocated at least five minutes whenever I found the source was near enough. But evidently it was not my day. Though I counted nine within a distance of no more than I reckoned one and a half kilometres, sometimes two within hearing distance of each other, they did not favoured me with their attractive handsome look. But I was confirmed again with the fact that Lead Mine Pass doubtless attracts in each early summer the most intensive concentration of Hainan blue flycatchers, a fact marvelous enough to enchant me making more trips to their place in the coming week, to the presence of both sexes of their kind.

S L Tai