kmike

a nice evening from 5:00 to 6:30 produced the following birds:

Yellow Bittern - 1
Pacific Golden Plover - 1
Swintail Snipe 3
Fantail Snipe - 2
Himalayan Swiftlet (with greyish rump and lower belly) a 20 second fly-by at the eastern end of LV
Dusky Warbler - 1
Oriental Reed Warbler - 2
Silky Starling - 4
Chinese Starling - 4
Daurian Starling - 1 male
Chestnut-cheeked Starling - 1 male

Both of the last two were in with the same flock as the Chinese Starlings and only showed for a couple of minutes

Cheers
Mike

kmike

A couple of pix of a rather buff-toned Citrine Wagtail (at least Dylan and I think it is!)

The features looked good -

• Supercilium extending around the dark ear coverts with a pale centre, and meeting on the forecrown
• Pale wing bars and tertial fringes
• White vent
• no hint of green on the grey back/mantle

I was initially concerned about how buff this bird was, but this is not unusual in late-moulting birds according to Johnsson.

I'd welcome any comments.

Cheers
Mike

kmike

It might not be right to attribute the presence of flyovers to HKBWS management in all cases, but flyovers should definitely be counted!

Since flyovers are counted on the HK list there is no reason not to count them at Long Valley.

Long Valley has some wonderful birds that are only flyover records. These include:

Dalmatian Pelican
Bean Goose (of however many taxa the Records Committee finally agree on)
Common Swift
Bonelli's Eagle
Black Vulture
Carrion Crow
Blue-tailed Bee-eater

Plus various species actively hunt over LV, including Peregrine Hobby, House Swift, Barn Swallow, Pale Martin, Asian House Martin, and in such instances there is a direct connection to the habitat through the food created either directly or indirectly at the site.


Cheers
Mike

kmike

Quote:

Original posted by Beetle at 9/11/2010 12:17
For your reference mike, The 5 blue-tailed Bee-eaters seen on 7 Nov seems didn't simply fly-over - they used trees near River Beas for a little rest, and probably some hunting when they circulate arou ...

Good news!  The only Blue-tailed Bee-eaters I've seen at LV were flyovers  - in 1994!

Cheers
Mike