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Topic: Ma On Shan to Sai Kung (Read 766 times) |
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Koel_Ko
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Ma On Shan to Sai Kung
« on: Jan 3rd, 2004, 10:12pm » |
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We took the path through Mui Tze Lam way in from Fu On Gardens in Ma On Shan, through to the old house near Mao Ping and down the hills to Po Lo Che, meeting the following birds on the way.
1 Fire-breasted Flowerpecker feeding on some luscious berries
1 Grey-backed Thrush + lots of Turdus sp. heard
1 Blyth's Leaf Warbler on the ground
1 Kestrel
1 Blue Rock Thrush
2 Bonelli's Eagle
Cheers for Good Birding and Health in the New Year!
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| « Last Edit: Jan 3rd, 2004, 10:13pm by Koel_Ko » |
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Geoff Carey
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Re: Ma On Shan to Sai Kung
« Reply #1 on: Jan 10th, 2004, 8:47pm » |
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Koel
A to see a Blyth's Leaf Warbler would be highly unusual (though not impossible). What was the habitat around it?
It appears from the Winter Atlas surveys that Blyth's Leaf Warblers are highly restricted to areas of mature forest. I know that there is such forest along the route that you mention, as that is part of my winter atlas survey area.
Geoff Carey
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Koel_Ko
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Re: Ma On Shan to Sai Kung
« Reply #2 on: Jan 12th, 2004, 2:38am » |
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Dear Geoff,
I will give a more detailed account and description of the encounter as I have not a lot of experience on warbler ID, but am extremely interested.
It was about 10 in the morning around the deep forest along the Mao Ping old house route. There were a lot of Thrushes and White-eyes calling around, though these remained invisible. The Warbler was seen at a rocky cul-de-sac that deviated from the main path. Mossy boulders defined the end of the path and the Warbler was seen first circling a slanting branch, then dropped down to perch on top of a boulder about 2m from the ground, where it picked at the moss. After that it progressed along the thick bough of a tree nearby and gradually went out of sight, creeping along the branches of several trees. It was bright green with pale yellow triple stripes on the head, and two narrow wingbars, yellow, on the otherwise olive wing. The belly was silky-grey and the bill is bright orange under and dark on top. The carriage was horizontal and the bird was slender. My previous experiences with the bird were in China, TPK and The Peak.
By the way, I remembered that last winter you have recorded some russet bush warblers along that route. Could you give me some directions as to how this secretive little thing could be found?
Thanks a lot.
Koel
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Geoff Carey
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Re: Ma On Shan to Sai Kung
« Reply #3 on: Jan 13th, 2004, 3:49pm » |
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Firstly, Koel, I must apologise, as the message I posted was not complete. I must have deleted a part of it accidentally! What I intended to say was that it would be unusual to see a Blyth's Leaf ground-feeding.
Anyway, the details you provide confirm that it was, indeed, a Blyth's Leaf. In particular, the characteristic behaviour of foraging along the branches of trees is more or less diagnostic of this species, at least when it is done persistently. In addition, the lack of yellow on the underparts indicate that this was not of the taxon goodsoni (and was thus probably fohkiensis).
Please make sure you submit this record in an Excel file with your other bird observations at the end of the year. Include the notes you provided, just for confirmation.
As for the Russet Bush Warbler, I had this singing from the edge of the fung shui woodland behind Mui Tsz Lam village. The distinctive song, a slightly buzzing 'cree-ut, cree-ut, cree-ut' identified it, but I never saw it. This species is highly secretive.
Regards,
Geoff
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Koel_Ko
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Re: Ma On Shan to Sai Kung
« Reply #4 on: Jan 15th, 2004, 6:54am » |
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Dear Geoff,
I see I've a bit inaccurate on the ground-feeding part 
Actually the 2 birds I saw in China (S China, NE Guangdong)
were more yellow-vented, though this one was less so but with the vent tainted yellow. How do we separate goodsoni from fokiensis and is the former an equivalent of the Sulphur-breasted Warbler (or another closely-related species)? Are we talking about the concentration of yellow hue on the breast, the vent, or both?
Thanks.
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