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 ]

kmike

Good to know - Many thanks Dave

Cheers
Mike

kmike

Hi Brendan  

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

Cheers
Mike K

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 ]

kmike

There was a Black-naped Oriole and another Black Drongo near Ping Long this morning.

Cheers
Mike

kmike

. . . and a Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike dropped out of sky around 7:30 am this morning

Cheers
Mike

kmike

A quiet afternoon with few migrants, but one good one - my first Pallas' Grasshopper Warbler in the near total dark at Pak Tin Kong, while Dylan again heard the Brown wood Owl and saw a Dollarbird.

Cheers
Mike

kmike

A Wryneck which zipped straight in to a tree as I pished and a couple of Dollarbirds showing very well on the wires at Pak Tin Kong were the highlights of a swift hour this morning. Other birds included a Hair-creseted Drongo, an Ashy Drongo, a couple of Stonechats and a Dusky Warbler.

Cheers,

Mike K

kmike

Chinese Blackbird, Black-faced Bunting, Commmon Buzzard and 5 Silky Starlings this morning were all first autumn records for me around Ping Long and She Shan this morning.

I also had very nice views of a Crested Serpent Eagle  above She Shan and brief views of 2 Green Sandpipers and an Ashy Drongo.

Cheers
Mike

kmike

adding to Dylan's very good list I had an Ashy Drongo, a Greenish Warbler and a Radde's Warbler at Tai Om Shan, and again had the baicalensis White Wagtail on the fields between the river and fung shui wood at She Shan.

Also newly arrived was a fine male Daurian Redstart in the She Shan tree nursery with the long-staying Asian Brown Flycatcher.

Cheers,
Mike

kmike

Brambling is a first for Lam Tsuen !

I had a less exciting morning - with just a Black-winged Cuckoo Shrike, a male Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, and a very chatty pair of White-cheeked Laughingthrushes just above the graves were my first in Tai Om.

Cheers
Mike

kmike

On Monday morning I had a Chestnut-eared Bunting and a fine male Yellow-breasted Bunting in the grassland just next to the veggie patch. This was my first Chestnut-eared Bunting in the valley - has anyone else had one previously?

I also had my first Daurian Redstart of the winter from the house - a very noisy female, and this mornign there was a fine male by the bus stop

Cheers
Mike

kmike

I remember now - thanks Dave!

Mike

kmike

Sounds like Brambling, but Arctic Redpoll is also possible based on this description!

kmike

A good mid-day period in Lam Tsuen was headlined by a briefly-seen female Yellow-browed Bunting in Pak Tin Kong and a range of decent winter birds. These included:

Wryneck
Black-winged Cuckooshrike - 3
Ashy Drongo
Siberian Rubythroat (2 heard,  1 male seen)
Daurian Redstart - 2
Black-faced Bunting - 5
Baicalensis White Wagtail
Collared Crow - 2
Green Sandpiper
Yellow-browed Warbler (my first of the autumn!)

Cheers
Mike K

kmike

A much quieter day, with no sign of the Yellow-browed Bunting. The highlights were a single Grey Treepie, four Grosbeak sp. (presumably Chinese), two Black-winged Cuckooshrikes, an Ashy Drongo, a female Rubythroat, a newly arrived ocularis White Wagtail and yesterday's Wryneck.

As I write a Collared Scops Owl is calling

Cheers
Mike

kmike

A very dull and overcast weekend in the valley

Chinese Blackbird - 51coming out of a roost near Tai Yeung Che
Hair-crested Dongo - 29 going to roost above She Shan

Ashy Drongo - 1

Taivana Yellow Wagtail - a rare species in Lam Tsuen
Ocularis White Wagtail - just the second record - on the same field as 2 weeks ago

Oriental Turtle Dove - 6

Daurian Redstart - 3

Verditer - Dylan had one at Pak Tin Kong
Pallas' Leaf Warbler - Dylan had one at Pak Tin Kong

Besra - 1
Common Buzzard - 1

White -browed Laughingthrush - see Youtube clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VyC63CgrSo


Cheers
Mike

kmike

A very dull and overcast weekend in the valley

Chinese Blackbird - 51coming out of a roost near Tai Yeung Che
Hair-crested Dongo - 29 going to roost above She Shan

Ashy Drongo - 1

Taivana Yellow Wagtail - a rare species in Lam Tsuen
Ocularis White Wagtail - just the second record - on the same field as 2 weeks ago

Oriental Turtle Dove - 6

Daurian Redstart - 3

Verditer - Dylan had one at Pak Tin Kong
Pallas' Leaf Warbler - Dylan had one at Pak Tin Kong

Besra - 1
Common Buzzard - 1

White -browed Laughingthrush - see Youtube clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VyC63CgrSo


Cheers
Mike

kmike

There is a dog by the temple that chases but is not serious.
Brendan I agree with you. . .  up to  point. A King Cobra stood up to say hello to me on the main trail at Ng Tung Chai a few years - way scarier than any dog!

Cheers
Mike