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European Roller

a European Roller found at tuen mun pillar point station

Directions: go past the turn off to Black Point Power Station, the road starts to go up hill through a large cutting, the bird is about 150 m past the turn off, perching on lamp post and hunting.

It is a first year bird, and quite stunning!  I have poor records shots (taken with a Canon G10!) which I will postf need be, but hopefully the photographers will get something a little better.

Well found David Stanton - I owe him a beer!!!

The attached plan shows the location of the European Roller, for those who are interested in looking for it.

You need to arrive from the south, through Lung Kwu Tan. Continue beyond Black Point Power Station to the top of the hill passing through a cutting (artificial slopes on both sides).

The bird has been perching in the open on lamp-posts or fences, and is still present at 3.30 with several observers keeping a watch and getting photos.

An amazing record - congratulations to the finder! and thank you for the detailed directions

Cheers
Mike

Bird was present until at least 5.30pm.  Was very settled on the power lines- flew down to the grass once to nab a large grasshopper and across the road a couple of times.  A fantastic find- well done!  Hopefully the rain will hold it here for a day or two.

Dylan

[[i] Last edited by subbuteo at 5/10/2010 20:24 [/i]]

[img]http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r254/pwmk_photos/Eurasian-Roller-1-5Oct10.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r254/pwmk_photos/European-Roller-5-5Oct10.jpg[/img]

Amazing record! Thank you David & all who help today.

Big Cheers
PWMK

[[i] Last edited by wleepoin at 6/10/2010 21:52 [/i]]

European Roller at Black Point

Some shots of today's bird.

Many Thanks to Dave Stanton for finding it and John Allcock for helping to get the word out.

[[i] Last edited by John Holmes at 5/10/2010 21:38 [/i]]

Thanks to David!

[img]http://images4.fotop.net/albums2/yinming/Birds/image_5133.jpg[/img]

[img]http://images4.fotop.net/albums2/yinming/Birds/image_4968.jpg[/img]

3551873d93aa445 Thanks to David,Oldcar & kinni. long time no tick la!
[img]http://images4.fotop.net/albums2/pippenho/European_Roller/IMG_2571a.jpg[/img]

Thank you for the hard work of all the photographers for bringing such a stunning bird in front of us.

Very much echoing kmike's thoughts: great bird in its natural range and out of it, and just shows the potential for continued additions to the HK List.

All the same, keep looking for those wheatears!!

Mike Turnbull

Having just said the above I assume the upper mandible shape can be considered normal.

It looks consistently a bit [u]ab[/u]normal in all the shots.

Mike Turnbull

Thank you David & all who help today.

[IMG]http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r302/pwyue/DSC_2832.jpg[/IMG]

多謝各位通知我的鳥友~~Thank you very much

[img]http://www.pbase.com/kinni/image/129156564.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.pbase.com/kinni/image/129156516.jpg[/img]

Hard to decide whether it is an escaped bird!  With heavy post juvenile moult, it would be easy to suspect cage damage.

HF Cheung

[[i] Last edited by HFCheung at 7/10/2010 19:54 [/i]]

For those of us who haven't seen it, can anyone report whether the Roller was seen today?

I don't see any problem with the bill. Rollers can show a slight hook to the tip of the bill, as on this bird. See for example:
[url]http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?p=4&Bird_ID=372&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1[/url]
[url]http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?p=8&Bird_ID=372&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1[/url]
[url]http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?p=12&Bird_ID=372&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1[/url]
This is perhaps most likely in juvenile/first winter birds, as the bill may become more worn with age.
I watched the bird carefully for some time yesterday. There is some wear on the old (juvenile) feathers, which would probably be expected at this time of year. Otherwise I couldn't see any evidence of damage to the wings or tail to suggest a captive origin. I don't remember ever seeing European Roller in a cage (although I realise that some Roller species are kept).
There is precendent for birds that breed in Xinjiang and winter in Africa to turn up in Hong Kong in October (e.g. Red-backed Shrike, Lesser Whitethroat), the weather has been good for migrants over the last two days, and there is a supporting cast that includes Blyth's Reed Warbler, [i]maurus[/i] Siberian Stonechat and Rosy Starling.
And look at the origin of the air stream from Monday (4th): direct from Xinjiang! [url]http://www.hko.gov.hk/wxinfo/trajectory/trajectory_e.shtml[/url]
The chances of a wild origin seem very good indeed!

Brendan, I heard that unfortunately the bird was not relocated this morning but I have no further details from the day - maybe it has just moved elsewhere.

[[i] Last edited by ajohn at 6/10/2010 19:47 [/i]]

Thanks Johns for the update.  Since I would imagine the level of interest in this bird is quite high, I would encourage people to please post updates either positive or negative if you do go looking for it.

Not by 8am this morning and presumed gone

Cheers
Mike

For those who voiced concerns about the plumage condition and bill hook, the following photo is of interest:

[url]http://www.netfugl.dk/pictures.php?id=showpicture&picture_id=35335[/url]

But were the origins of this extra-limital traced?

We need the isotope evidence, the stuff they used with the Marbled Teals ;-)


Mike Turnbull

I think you should be careful what you wish for Mike. I believe the former Category B species are all up for reassessment. That includes a certain extralimital Central Asian bunting species, recorded (surprisingly) in spring...

No problem, John. I was informed of the development and no objection from me was raised.

It's their role to divine these things, and ensure some kind of consistency, not mine.

Still, if that isotope information had been available in that case...

Mike Turnbull

Don't really see how stable isotope analysis would make any difference.  These are presumably all originally wild birds.  My understanding is that stable isotope analysis helps when you are addressing the feral and/or escape captive bred bird vs wild migratory bird question.  As Mike states, a recent example of this was a UK Marbled Teal which was, as I recall, shown to have originated in western Europe, conversely a Dutch Baikal Teal was found to have originated from central Siberia.

If based on stable isotope analysis it could be demonstated that the Roller originated from Xinjiang, that would not help demonstrate that it had arrived in HK naturally.

Paul is right of course. Although it is frequently said that this procedure can be used "track" migratory birds (and bats, and butterflies, and maybe other migratory creatures for all I know), it really just allows the origins of the bird etc to be identified, not everywhere it has been in the days leading up to its discovery. It can't thus be used to tell whether a vagrant passerine for example has been assisted on its journey, either through capture or through hitching a ride on a ship.

And I certainly don't think this bird was ship-assisted!

In fact I really wish I'd been able to get out to see it - it's a species I've seen in Asia (certainly in Turkey, and maybe Kashmir, along with things like Little Bittern, European Bee-eater and Golden Oriole) but not in China, nor HK, obviously.

There must be a lot more possible additions to come out of the far west of China/Central Asia, and October seems to be the month they're going to turn up in.

Mike Turnbull