ajohn

The gauntlet was thrown down by the Lam Tsuen boys and picked up by John H. So I'm also going to get in on the action and aim for regular updates at Kam Tin.
I was in the area this morning (8th Jan 2010). Unfortunately I didn't have much time, because of the need to get back to the office for work. The following were seen between 0730 and 0900 along the Main Drainage Channel, between the Buffalo Fields/Shui Tau and in the Sha Po area. As an introduction, this is the full list of species seen/heard (61 species).

Little Grebe
Great Cormorant
Grey Heron
Great Egret
Intermediate Egret x1
Little Egret
Chinese Pond Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron x1
Eurasian Wigeon x13
Common Teal x24
Common Buzzard
White-breasted Waterhen
Common Moorhen
Pheasant-tailed Jacana x1 (seems to be wintering here)
Black-winged Stilt x39
Pied Avocet x3
Little Ringed Plover x21
Common Greenshank x2
Green Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper x16
Common Sandpiper
Pintail/Swinhoe's Snipe x8
Common Snipe x25
Rock Dove
Spotted Dove
Common Koel x2
Lesser Coucal x1 (unusual in this area, especially in winter)
Pied Kingfisher (heard)
White-throated Kingfisher x2
Yellow Wagtail
White Wagtail (both leucopsis and ocularis)
Richard's Pipit
Olive-backed Pipit
Red-throated Pipit
Chinese Bulbul
Sooty-headed Bulbul
Long-tailed Shrike
Oriental Magpie Robin
Daurian Redstart x2
Common Stonechat
Common Blackbird x2
Grey-backed Thrush (heard)
Masked Laughingthrush
Zitting Cisticola
Yellow-bellied Prinia
Plain Prinia
Common Tailorbird
Dusky Warbler
Pallas's Leaf Warbler x2
Yellow-browed Warbler
Red-throated Flycatcher x1
Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker x1
Japanese White-eye
Scaly-breasted Munia
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Red-billed Starling
White-cheeked Starling
Black-collared Starling
Crested Myna
Common Magpie
Collared Crow

thinfor

Thanks very much, John, for your update.  Jacana and lesser coucal, very impressive indeed for just an 1.5hr birding!

ajohn

Another trip to Kam Tin on Saturday morning. A slightly longer walk, covering most of the area arpund the lowlands and up towards Fung Kat Heung/Lam Tsuen CP.
The higlight was a Dusky Thrush - a long-awaited first (for me) at Kam Tin, bringing my KT list to 208. Other highlights included:
Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike - 1 at Sha Po
Grey-headed Lapwing x25
Pheasant-tailed Jacana (same bird still present)
Common Teal x40
White-shouldered Starling x2
Bright-capped Cisticola x4
Daurian Redstart x4
Cattle Egret x9
Besra x1
Red-flanked Bluetail x1

It was also good to see a total of at least 62 Buffalo.
The bad news, however, is that the Buffalo Fields has now been almost totally lost for birds - probably now about 5% of the area that was present a year ago! There are enforcement notices from PlanD but it seems the people doing the filling no longer care, because they know the government will not take action against them.

sdavid

A quick trot around the 'Buffalo Fields' revealed a female Grey Bushchat today.

Others seen on the mosaic of buidling waste included:

Cattle Egret x 4
Wood Sandpiper x 2
Green Sandpipper x1
Richard's Pipit x 1
White Wagtatil x 4
Yellow Wagtail x2
Common Stonechat x1

A herd of 25 Buffalo (including at least 4 calves) were present in the southern end of the site.

I'm not really sure that Kam Tin now counts as a "Other hotspot" now, given the amount of filling that has taken place.