kmike

A few birds have clearly arrived with the cold front, although most were moving through.  With just a couple of hours to spare I concentrated on the grassland areas at Ping Long and She Shan:

Common Teal - 1 (same female)

Red Turtle Dove  - 1 ( new for me in Lam Tsuen. In the afternoon tail feathers were found, suggesting this bird may have been caught by a predator)

Black-winged Cuckooshrike - 2 (maybe 3)

Daurian Redstart - 2f
Common Blackbird - 21

Manchurian Bush Warbler -2

Silky Starling - 65
White-cheeked Starling - 2 (new for me in Lam Tsuen)

Yellow-breasted Bunting - 4

Cheers
Mike K

kmike

Wonderful shot Kwan!

I'll try to go for these in the next day or so.

Also today:

Common Buzzard ( I had others today at the Aberdeen Tunnel - (Aberdeen side), and one flying between the buildings on Leighton Rd in Causeway Bay!)
Daurian Redstart (3 chasing each  other around the veggie patch)
Red-throated Flycatcher - 1

Cheers
Mike K

kmike

A good range of birds on Sunday morning and late evening - 56 species

Chinese Pond Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron (in the stream by the roundabout in pitch dark)
Little Egret
Common Teal
Black Kite
White-breasted Waterhen
Green Sandpiper
Woodcock (my first of the winter)
Plaintive Cuckoo
Greater Coucal
Spotted Dove
Oriental Turtle Dove
Richard's Pipit
Olive-backed Pipit
Amur Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Red-rumped Swallow - 2 (new for me in the valley, but seen by Dylan last weekend)
Scarlet Minivet
Ashy Drongo
Hair-crested Drongo
Chinese Bulbul
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Chestnut Bulbul
Sooty-headed Bulbul
Siberian Stonechat
Magpie Robin
Siberian Rubythroat ( a fine male)
Daurian Redstart
Red-flanked Bluetail (my first of the winter in the valley)
Chinese Blackbird
Grey-backed Thrush (my first of the winter in the valley)
Plain Prinia
Yellow-bellied Prinia
Zitting Cisticola - (first one sen from the house)
Bright-capped Cisticola
Common Tailorbird
Mountain Tailorbird
Manchurian Bush Warbler
Dusky Warbler
Yellow-browed Warbler
Pallas' Leaf Warbler
Red-throated Flycatcher
White-cheeked Laughingthrush
Black-throated Laughingthrush
Masked Laughingthrush
Great Tit
Japanese White-eye
Fork-tailed Sunbird
Black-necked Starling
Silky Starling
Crested Mynah
Large-billed Crow
Magpie
Tree Sparrow
Black-faced Bunting
Chinese Grosbeak

kmike

Saturday I visited Ng Tung Chai and this morning Tai Om Shan, which is the valley just to tthe northeast, which can be accessed from Tai Om village. Tai Om was surprisingly more productive, as usually NTC's larger size and better forest holds the better birds. The birds listed were seen at both sites unless stated.

Chinese Pond Heron
Besra - NTC
Common Buzzard - Ping Long
Black Kite - NTC
White-breasted Waterhen
Spotted Dove
Oriental Turtle Dove 4 - NTC
Emerald Dove - seen by others in Ping Long on Saturday evening
Common Kingfisher - 2 NTC and one in Ping Long village  om Saturday  (a new high count for Lam Tsuen)
Scarlet Minivet
Grey-chinned Minivet - 4 TOS
Black-winged Cuckooshrike
Long-tailed Shrike
Ashy Drongo - 1 TOS
Hair-crested Drongo - 12 Ping Long
Chinese Bulbul
Chestnut Bulbul
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Olive-backed Pipit
White Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Siberian Stonechat - Ping Long
Red-flanked Bluetail - 3 TOS, 3 NTC
Siberian Rubythroat - 1TOS
Magpie Robin
Chinese Blackbird
Grey-backed Thrush
Blue Whistling Thrush - 1h NTC
Lesser Shortwing 4 h NTC, 1 h TOS
Russet Bush Warbler - 1 TOS
Brown Bush Warbler - 1 TOS ( both these birds seen very well, including undertai coverts, which are pale-tipped on Russet and uniform on Brown)
Manchurian Bush Warbler - 1 TOS
Asian Stubtail - 4-5 at each site
Pallas' Leaf Warbler - 15 NTC
Yellow-browed Warber - 1 at each site
Goodson's Leaf Warbler - 1 at each site
Mountain Tailorbird
Common Tailorbird
Plain Prinia TOS
Yellow-bellied Prinia TOS
Black-naped Monarch -1f TOS
Pygmy Wren Babbler
Rufous-capped Babbler
White-bellied Yuhina - TOS
Black-throated Laughingthrush - 2 NTC
Masked Laughingthrush
Hwamei
Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babbler - h NTC
Blue-winged Minla
Silver-eared Mesia _ TOS
Great Tit
Velvet-fronted Nuthatch - Chai Kek on the way to NTC
Fork-tailed Sunbird
Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker - Ping Long
Tristram's Bunting - 5 at NTC, 3 at TOS (my first of the winter)
Little Bunting - 7 NTC
Black-faced Bunting -2  Ping Long Friday AM
Tree Sparrow
Spotted Munia
Black-collared Starling
Crested Mynah
Silky Starling
Large-billed Crow
Magpie

Cheers
Mike K

[ Last edited by kmike at 6/12/2009 23:25 ]

kmike

Pintail is a new Lam Tsuen record - great stuff!

Striated Heron winters around the lower end of the valley just above the Hong Lok Yuen roundabout every year, and Collared Crow has been seen  in this area too over the last few years.

Cheers
Mike

kmike

Dipped on the Grey Bushchat, but did get my first Peregrine in Lam Tsuen circling over the valley at about 10am.

I believe the Peregrine is a first record for the Valley (please let me know if you have seen or know of others). I'd also be interested to know of other Bushchat records - Dylan found a record of 4 by Geoffrey Herklots in 1940!

Other good birds included a fine male Verditer, Grey-headed Flycatcher, Greenish Warbler, and Emerald Dove in the Golden Triangle, and two Red-throated Flycatchers calling in other parts of the valley.

Also, the Pintail was still on the Lam Tsuen River near the Hong Lok Yuen Roundabout on Friday morning, and there ws a Birdline message about a Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush at Kadoorie Farm.

Cheers

Mike K

kmike

This morning both Russet and Brown Bush Warblers showed well at Tai Om Sham at close range - in fact the Russet Bush Warbler was so close my bins could not focus.  Once again it was a bird in cover that announced its presence with a very sharp "takk" - louder and cleaner that Dusky Warbler, and then stayed around almost within touching distance for several minutes.

The Brown Bush Warbler showed in the same spot as last weekend - up to Tai Om Shan , over the stream, and first left just up the hill at the shrine under the canopy.  It came into the vegetation at the edge of the clearing after persistent pishing, calling repeatedly.

Other good birds included a male Verditer Flycatcher, a Red-throated Flycatcher, a rather long-billed  Greenish Warbler that pished in superbly and give its distinctive sparow-like three-note call, a female Red-flanked Bluetail and my first White's Thrush of the winter in the valley.  In Tai Om Village a pair  of both Scarlet and Grey-chinned Minivets came out of the big trees above the playground, while Asian Stubtail was by the stream at Tai Om Shan, and a Japanese Bush Wabler called from a creeper-covered cable back in Tai Om village.

Cheers
Mike

kmike

Dipped on Dylan's Rosefinches, but had some compensation in the form of a female Bull-headed Shrike on the path up to Tai Om Shan (badly digiscoped through my hand-held bins and brand new p6000), a fine male Hainan Blue Flycatcher, and a couple of Grey-backed Thrushes further up the path, and earlier this morning a lovely male Black-naped Monarch.  

Cheers
Mike K

[ Last edited by kmike at 20/12/2009 23:46 ]

kmike

A tough morning in Lam Tsuen with visiting birder Jeff Hopkins on Monday - the highlight being a pir of Collared Crows flying down the valley, a Manchurian Bush Warbler and an Asian Brown Flycatcher.

Wednesday morning was a little better - I finally caught up with the male Plumbeous Redstarton the river channel underneath the road bridge at the roundabout atthe bottom of the valley. This turned out to be a good five minutes -there was another Collared Crow, Common and White-throated Kingfisher, a Common Sandpiper, Grey Wagtail, Chinese Blackbird, White-breasted Waterhen(2), Dusky Warbler, Great Egret, Little Egret, and Chinese Pond Heron.

The same afternoon there were a couple of Daurian Redstarts and an Emerald Dove around the veggie patch, but none came in range of my fumbling efforts at digiscoping with the new camera.In the evening a Collared Scops Owl called nearby.

Cheers
Mike K

kmike

A good day for Warblers at Tai Om Shan - Brown Bush Warbler and Greenish Warbler I've seen already this winter, but the Goodson's Leaf Warbler was my first for the winter in Lam Tsuen. It was rather quiet except for these, although I did see or hear nine other warbler species.

Cheers
Mike K

kmike

Looks like you did well Bond!

Where were the Wryneck and the Bull-headed Shrike?

This morning I went to Ng Tung Chai hoping for some winter magic. I walked to the landslide valley next to the top falls. The best birds were a couple of Mountain Bulbuls and a Tristram's Bunting near the temple, and three Grey-backed Thrushes and a White's Thrush feeding on fruiting trees. I also had 3 Red-flanked Bluetails, a Greenish Warbler, a poorly-seen Rubythroat and at least 4 Asian Stubtails. There were also about 15 Pallas' Leaf Warblers and Blue Whistling Thrush.

Cheers

Mike K

kmike

After 8 years in Lam Tsuen I finally tried birding on the northern side of the road, especially along the river.

I worked pretty hard and  got a few birds between 0900 and 1430

Crested Serpent Eagle - 1
Green Sandpiper - 2
Common Sandpiper - 5
Common Kingfisher - 5
Plaintive Cuckoo - 3
"Ocularis" White Wagtail - first Lam Tsuen record at Mui She Hang park
Grey Wagtail - 6
Siberian Stonechat - 1
Daurian Redstart - 1 veggie patch
Plumbeous Redstart - 1 male and maybe also a female @Hong Lok Yuen  Roundabout
Grey-backed Thrush - 1 female, veggie patch
Unidentified thrush - 1
Blue Whistling Thrush - 1
Greater-necklaced Laughingthrush - 8
Pale-legged Leaf Warbler - 1  a green-backed one
Goodson's Leaf Warbler -1
Blyth's Leaf Warbler - 1
Asian Stubtail - 1h
Grey-headed Flycatcher - 1
Red-throated Flycatcher - 1 Mui She Hang Park
Verditer - 1 Mui She Hang Park
Black-faced Bunting - 1
Collared Crow - 1 HLY Roundabout

Like John I also had a Hong Kong Newt (and they're easier to photograph than birds!)

Cheers
Mike K

kmike

Yesterday I walked all along the northern boundary of Lam Tsuen, starting opposite Kadoorie Farm and climbing Tai To Yan and walking all the way long the ridge-top and down the Ngau Kwu Leng Hiking Trail. This is a great trail for exactly covering the whole norther catchment of Lam Tsuen.

Initially I intended to go to Kadoorie Farm to look for the Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush but got distracted down the trail on the other side, followed the Pak Ngau Shek Trail, whih doesn't lead to Pak Nagu Shek and then decided what the heck and started climbing.  However the lower areas were OK. Asian Brown and Grey-headed Flycatchers were in the trees near the stream, the first of three Grey-backed Thrushes showed OK and a flock of about ten Pallas' Leaf Warblers kept me searching for something a bit more special.

A couple of fruiting trees on the PNS trail should have held more than bulbuls, but didn't with the exception of a briefly seen Goodson's Leaf Warbler.  It was quieter on top and my earnest pishing was not a huge success until I pulled in a Black-faced Bunting and a Rufous-rumped Grassbird in the grassland right on the top. Interestingly there were burned out bush stems in the grass, and It's safe to say that the grassbird is one of very few species (the others are Chinese Francolin, Bright-capped Cisticola and Upland Pipit) that actively benefit from hillfires maintain areas of grassland on our hills.  The only other birds on top were a calling Rubythroat that wouldn't come out and a female Blue Rock Thrush.


Things got better as I started my descent. An area of twisted black-trunked trees interspersed with slender bamboos held Mountain Bush Warbler and Tristram's Bunting, and a chat that chucked, but didn't show. As I turned down the NKL hiking trail I found a couple of Red-flanked Bluetails in a very beautiful and promising-looking area (for those brave enough for the 2,600m climb from the Lam Tsuen River!) but had o rush back home in time for lunch so didn't stay here as long as I would have liked.

Cheers

Mike K

I am thinking of planning a morning to try to cover as many of the parts of Lam Tsuen as possible in a single day with different peple covering different spots. I would like to do this in one of the last two weekends in January. We will need to cover KFBG, Ng Tung Chai, Tai Om Shan, Tai To Yan, Pak Tin Kong, She Shan,  the Golden Triangle  and the Hong Lok Yuen Roundabout. Please send me a PM if you are interested to take part.

kmike

Brief notes today

Crested Goshawk - 2 (1 displaying)
Besra - 2
Crested Serpent Eagle - 1
Emerald Dove - 1 in veggie patch  (seen from my roof)
Black Bulbul - 12 just my second record of this species in Lam Tsuen/Ng Tung Chai
Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike - 2 one very short-tailed bird in veggie ptch
Japanese Thrush - 1 male (my first this winter)
Rufous-tailed Robin - 1(my first this winter)
Tristram's Bunting - 3
Ashy Drongo - 1

Cheers
Mike K

kmike

An excellent follow-up morning at Kadoorie Farm:

I went looking for the Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush reported a few weeks ago, and after scanning the terraces between the helipad and the Main office for about 90 minutes I found it - a superb male Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush, perched high on a bare branch rich blue upperparts almost shining in the sunlight - fantastic!  A little later I found it again - this time on the road eating a short-bodied, but long-legged cricket.

While I was searching I was distracted by three Black Kits chasing a smaller raptor. I assumed it was a Besra, but I was blown away to discover it was a Black-shouldered Kite!  This is the first ever in Lam Tsuen and my 200th Lam Tsuen bird!

Other good birds included first a male and then a female Pale Thrush in the fruiting trees at the bottom corner of the fern walk, a wonderful male Orange-bellied Leafbird that washed itself in a stream by divig off a branch bout 3 feet above the level of the stream like a kingfisher, and then flying back up tot the branch for a wiggle and shake to dry itself off.  It did the at least 5 times within a couple of minutes.

I also had 4 Red-flanked Bluetails, a female Daurian Redstart, a female Grey-backed Thrush, two Blue Whistling Thrushes

Cheers
Mike K

[ Last edited by kmike at 10/01/2010 23:41 ]

kmike

A good morning in Lam Tsuen, but its late so just the highlights:

Great Cormorant - 26 new Lam Tsuen record flying over Hong Lok Yuen roundabout at dusk
Wryneck - 2 one bird calling and one heard responding in the grassland near Ping Long - just my second ever record in Lam Tsuen
Brown Shrike -  1 adult lucionensis near Siu Om Shan (rare in Lam Tsuen)

Black-winged Cuckooshrike - 2
Bright-capped Cisticola - 2
Ashy Drongo - 1
Hair-crested Drongo - 2
Crested Goshawk - 2, one displaying

Red-flanked Bluetail - 2
Daurian Redstart - 3

Cheers
Mike K

kmike

A few birds on a very foggy morning at Tai Om Shan and Pak Tin Kong with visiting birder Simon:

Besra  - 2
Crested Goshawk - 2

Oriental Turtle Dove - 10

Black Bulbul - 18

White Wagtail - ocularis - 1 (first one in Long Valley)
Scarlet Minivet - 2
Grey-throated Minivet - 30

Red-flanked Bluetail - 1
Siberian Rubythroat - 1
Daurian Redstart - 1
White's Thrush - 1
Grey-backed Thrush - 3

Russet Bush Warbler - 1 h
Bright-capped Cisticola - 2
Asian Stubtail - 1
Pallas' Leaf Warbler - 6

Taiga Flycatcher - 2

White-browed Laughingthrush - 4
Pygmy Wren Babbler - 1

Little Bunting - 1
Black-faced Bunting - 1

Lesser Coucal - 1
Ashy Drongo - 1
Hair-crested Drongo - 3

Cheers
Mike K

kmike

A quieter time for me than for Dylan this morning:

Green Sandpiper - 1
Common Sandpiper - 2

Ashy Drongo - 1
Black-winged Cuckooshrike - 3

Siberian Stonechat - 2
Daurian Redstart  - 2
Plumbeous Redstart - 1 m (different from Dylan's - mine was at Hong Lok Yuen Rdbt, Dylan's near Tai Yeung Che)
Grey-backed Thrush - 1

Mountain Bush Warbler - 1
Manchurian Bush Warbler - 1
Asian Stubtail - 1
Russet Bush Warbler - 1

Taiga Flycatcher - 1

Cheers

Mike K

kmike

A very good Lam Tsuen record!

Cheers
Mike

kmike

There were two Bull-headed Shrikes in Lam Tsuen this morning! Both were females.

One was at Tai Yeung Che, just in front of the row of three old houses. The other, a brighter and cleaner bird, was in the flower fields near the path that goes south from the left hand side of the She Shan Road.

Other good birds today, which was spent mostly in the open field areas because it was so dark included a Blue Rock Thrush in Tai Yeung Che, a Magpie on a nest  above the abandoned school, five Fantail Warblers together near She Shan, and a Bright-capped Cisticola nearby, five Little Buntings near the pond where Common Teal, now showing the plumage of a breeding male continues to hide. Over 30 Hair Crested Drongos may have included some newly arriving birds.

It was good to see a flock of five White-browed Laughingthrushes, having missed them completely in the bird race, and to have 6 or 7 Dusky Warblers - I thought they'd thinned out over the last couple of months.  Apart from that there were the usual winter regulars, but 4 Greater Coucals was a good count, and I enjoyed the Common Buzzard perched in the tree in front of my house and the distinctive zree-but.zree-but.zree-but song of a Russet Bush Warbler from the same area at dawn, and a Black-winged Cuckooshrike with delusions of grandeur hanging on the coattails of a couple Hair-crested Drongos.

Altogether I had 52 species, and missed the Plumbeous Redstart Dylan saw at Tai Yeung Che!

Cheers

Mike K

kmike

A quick visit to day to Tai Yeung Che and finally saw the Plumbeous Redstart on the river  between the Lam Kam Road and the bridge.

This is an interesting bird - a first winter male - which is starting to grow the red tail feathers of the adult plumage and the back is more uniform than a female I saw yesterday at Bride's Pool (below the beautiful waterfall on Mirror Pool).

I also saw the Bull-headed Shrike - again in front of the row of stone houses with the large fung shui trees behind.

Cheers
Mike

kmike

The Bull-headed Shrike and Plumbeous Redstart at Tai Yeung Che showed well again today, But the light on the shrike was much better than on the Redstart.

However you can still the beginnings of red in the tail, as mentioned yesterday

Cheers

Mike K

[ Last edited by kmike at 16/02/2010 00:09 ]

kmike

Checking back at the photo of the first Bull-headed Shrike it is of course a male (black mask), which mans that there have now been at least 3 individuals in Lam Tsuen this winter.

Cheers
Mike K

kmike

Hi Alan

I thin this is the same bird that is  at Tai Yeung Che - the two villages are close-by,  The most distinctive feature of male I photographed was a black mask through the eye.  Your bird has the uniformly orange brown head of a female.

Cheers

Mike

kmike

The Bull-headed Shrike was again at Tai Yeung Che this morning, but there was no sign of the Plumbeous Redstarts by the bridge.

Other birds there included a Red-flanked Bluetail, Dusky and Yellow-browed Warblers, a Common Kingfisher  and a Green Sandpiper.

Cheers
Mike

kmike

Today I went up to Ng Tung Chai for what turned out to be a rather quiet morning's walk. The highlights were 5 Red-flanked Bluetails, a female Black-naped Monarch, cracking male Siberian Rubythroat and a male Tristram's Bunting. Apart from that the major interest was that the Pallas' Leaf Warblers have started singing - in bold defiance of the coldest day of the year!

I also found a bundle of quills where a porcupine met its end, but by what predator I'm not clear. Answers on a postcard.

While waiting for the bus I had terrific views of a male Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker in a tree just below the road.

The Eurasian Buzzard which had disappeared for a couple of weeks is now back in residence on the trees around the marshy grassland at Ping Long and the female Daurian Redstart is back on the veggie patch.

Cheers

Mike K

kmike

I had a great start to the morning with two female Bull-headed Shrikes chasing each other around the car park at Tai Yeung Che.  

I hard a harsh chattering call I didn't recognize from a small bush and just as I was thinking "I wonder if that's the Bull-headed Shrike".  Immediately one popped out of the bush and landed on a nearby frame, but no sooner had it landed when another came screaming after it, and chased it up into the tall trees along the Lam Kam Road, before returning across the river.

My best guess is that the bird from the other side wandered into the territory of the Tai Yeung Che bird, and was chased away by the furious territory-holder.  About an hour later I saw one of them in the cherry orchard at the Ping Long  bus stop (Yuen Long direction).

Other good birds in the Tai Yeung Che area included a calling Blue Magpie, an Emerald Dove, and a Mountain Bush Warbler. The Crested Bulbul was on a convenient perch near the path.

The day before a Grey-backed Thrush sat up long enough for this record shot.

Cheers
Mike K

[ Last edited by kmike at 20/02/2010 20:45 ]

kmike

A swift hour between 0800 and 0900 this morning near Siu Om Shan and Pak Tin Kong:

Brown Wood Owl - heard by Dylan Saturday night around 19:20pm

Black-winged Cuckooshrike - 2
Scarlet Minivet 4

Daurian Redstart - 1f
Siberian Rubythroat - 2 heard

Common Blackbird - 3
Grey-backed Thrush - 1f

Taiga Flycatcher - 1
Verditer - 1f

White-browed Laughingthrush - 3

Hair-crested Drongo - 2


Cheers
Mike K

kmike

Savannah Nightjar was calling again last night; and today a swift 90 minutes on the patch paid off with a Black Kite chasing a Crested Honey Buzzard above Tai Om, while I was trying to photograph the Blue Whistling Thrush, and the Bull-headed Shrike is still at Tai Yeung Che despite the rise in temperatures.

A little later there were also a couple of Pacific Swifts in with a flock of 40-50 House Swifts and Barn Swallows obviously taking advantage of a hatch of winged insects over Tai Om woods.

More signs of spring . . . and this will be the last posting of the winter - March is definitely spring!


Cheers

Mike K