tsheunglai

Likas district, 13th May, 2013

It is a first trial that I attempt to give a daily account of my trip in a foreign country which I can concentrate mainly on bird watching. The following is what I could see from the balcony on the thirteenth floor of a condominium facing the north side of the Borneo Island. On a clear day, I can see the peak part of the Kinabalu Mountain on the far right side which I will visit shortly.

It was towards late afternoon that I heard the calls of swifts - after waking up from an afternoon nap - and took up my binoculars and started observing birds.

Supposing to see Glossy swiftlets, it came as a minor surprise that I found my first three ot four Edible-nest swiftlets.Idendifying rapid flying swifts is hard work. Today's case was no exception. The rump was obviously pale or buffish and narrow; the upper wings are darkish brown; the tail quite square almost no fork shape; when dashing almost towards me the throat looked whitish in contrast to the dark head;rest of underbody again dark. After consulting Meyers I was confident that they were Edible-nests, the first three of my life.

The other two species were easy. Two pairs of Dusky munias were seen, one pair resting on a long branch of a plant on a pot that dangled out of a balcony while the other paris seemed visiting their nest which was built on top of a lamp shade - materials mainly of dry reeds and leaves - dark brown in body with lower mandible showing greyish. The other species were again two pairs, four Glossy starlings flying to the top of the unit second next to mine.

Slow birding but seeing well is one activity I find myself enjoy greatly, peaceful and affording almost whole-heart concentration. This is the main reason I come visiting my daughter again.

S L Taithirtennth

[ Last edited by tsheunglai at 14/05/2013 17:06 ]

tsheunglai

Morning visit of forested Signal Hill

14th May 2013
Birding at six-thirty four on a winter day in Hong Kong is certainly early, but lamentably late at Signal Hill, Likas District of Kota Kinabalu of Sabah, at least some thirty minutes late. The morning was all bright and hot.

It took me quite some time for to a quaranteed finding of my trip's first one Olive-backed Sunbird -an eclipse male -on the flowering tree of the car passageway before the entrance barrier. And it was on my return that I was able to put beyond doubt the a sunbird that had purplish brown throat and cheek was a male Brown-throated sunbird.

It was at the beginning walking up part that I found two -one well seen -Pied trillers that showed well its black and white head pattern and its prominent sideway white wingbar.

Walking up a busy road - for Jalan (road) Bukit (hill) Bendera has no pedestrian walk and at seven it was busy with traffic - some trucks lettig off black exhausted fumes that forced me to stop to let them spread away. But it was
on the upward part that I saw nearly a dozen of Blue-throated beeeaters last October. Today the best bird beofore I reached the top was a female Pink-necked green pigeon.

No Dollar bird this time to greet me while perching on a dead tree when I turned right to a side road that ran along the hill top. Usual stuff in the form of Zebra doves and a White-breasted waterhen were still there. But were the Orange-breasted flowerpeckers still be found? It was only when I retraced my steps that I found first a junvenile -with fleshy bill gape and resembling a female - and while I stayed and waited that a lovely male did make its appearance, a sure spot to find them again, for I thought that the scrubs and thickets that walled the house's wooded part behind was bearing dark berries that were found in May as well as last October - a span of some seven months - strongly suggesting a round-the-year flowering period.

White-breasted wood swallows -though there were only two today- were recognized with a glance - seemed to be year-round residents.

The morning was concluded with finding two Pied fantails, first personal record on Signal Hill.

S L Tai

[ Last edited by tsheunglai at 15/05/2013 19:20 ]

tsheunglai

Another morning visit of Signal Hill

15th May 2013

By walking up straight away rendered me the avoidance of most of exhaust fumes, and by the time the traffic became heaviest, I was on the descent part of the road and the cars emitting less in running downward.

From the beginning the birds were different from yesterday's. First of all,there was a Greater coucal which flew up across the road. Next was a Dollarbird which again flew across and to the upper slope. A raptor believed to be a Brahminy kite -colours were completely blinded against a bright sky - for its kite like flying manner and short square tail. Anyhow, I was able, with the aid of my binoculars, picked out an adult far across Likas Bay in the afternoon.

It was a glad thing to spot and see well a Black-winged shrike-flycatcher catching insects in the air, the first in my life. Thus I was able to increase my Likas list for this Msy to twenty-six, including a Collared kingfisher which perched on top of a tall dead tree and this time not Likas Flora below.

S L Tai

tsheunglai

Kota Kinabalu Wetland Centre

28th May 2013

The centre opens at 8 in the morning but I strolled around some minutes before the time and was not challenged.

Just ordinary birds, the best birds seen were two Little herons,called Little green herons in HK, a species new on my Borneo list. The other birds were Great and Little egrets, Collared kingfishers, Ashy tailobirds and Common ioras.

By the way, there seems to be Great billed herons, uncommon in Sabah, which were seen flying above the mangroves, the latter being more than twenty feet high, looking like seconary forest when seen afar from Bay Shore Condominiums.

I was told the centre was better during low tide.

S L Tsi

[ Last edited by tsheunglai at 28/05/2013 11:43 ]

tsheunglai

A Morning of Green Pigeons and Sea-front Birds

29th May 2013

Green imperial pigeons have been seen flying past during the birding trip proper but not perching near enough for plumage study. This morning was set aside to see those at Signal Hill if it would afford such an opportunity.

On top of the hill two were seen resting upon a leaf-scarce tree. Glossy green lesser coverts and mantle were observed as the birds moved. It was noted grey of the necks was pale direct upon light but a lot duller in the shade.

Upon descent, it was soon that Pink-necked green pigeons were found. Diligent study was applied to see how they were different from Little greens. They were also beady-eyed- a term learned from M Turnbull describing the eyes of Eurasian spoonbills in contrast with Black-faced ones- and green-necked. However, the thin pale-yellow fringe upon greater coverts made up a much thinner patch or almost a solid line before the folded primaries, quite a good point to note, for Little greens have this part wider and more extensive. It was also found that the tail was grey that contrasted well with the blackish terminal band instead of throughout darkish of the little greens. The two points were useful when no adult males were nearby as today.

Two Bold-striped tit babblers were seen, a good chance of refreshing one's memory. Visiting the same spot and after a short moment - a personal local favourite- two Orange-bellied flowerpeckers were found.

The sea-front was reached after more than half an hour of walking on busy roads before I managed to see some Pacific reef egrets - no white morph ones - and about five Whiskered terns, a lot less than last October as it
was said by Meyers that they stay until May.

S L Tai

[ Last edited by tsheunglai at 30/05/2013 10:04 ]

tsheunglai

A Garden Stroll and Likas Bay Lagoon

31 May 2013

Before being driven to Likas Bay Lagoon, I paid a brief visit to the small garden downstairs of Bay Shore Condominiums. The flowring trees still abounded in Brown-throated sunbirds, mostly juvniles which resembled females or immature males with incomplete face pattern.

But soon attention was paid to a cuckoo which likened more to Banded bay cuckoo than a female hepatic morph of Plaintive cuckoo, due largely to its face paler than the latter. Heowever, attempts to approach it to a shorter distance resulted in the bird flying further away and finally across the road towards the sloppy part of the area. It was at the moment when the cuckoo was out of sight when I spotted a second one, either a hepatic cuckoo or a Banded bay one, which followed suit of the first.

I was however rewarded  with a good bird in the form of a Sunda pygmy woodpecker which was no more larger than a small bulbul but larger in head and body, pecking soundlessly and moved up branching parts of a short tree and once overhanging with head downward, affording me plenty of time to see even the indistinctive narrow red patch along the bottom of dark brown crown well behind eye.

Likas Bay Lagoon was connected in several places to the sea just some two hundred metres away on the other side of a busy road. It was less productive than was expected, only about three Purple herons, a Pacific reef, a host of Greats on a day-time roosting tree and some Little egretson the shallow water. And I was given opportunity to get familarized with the calls of Common ioras as I walked along the road.

S. L Tai

tsheunglai

Another garden stroll and outskirts of KK Wetland Centre

1Jun 2013

Before I went downstairs I found five Dusky Munias visited the same apartment adjacent to where I stayed. Downstairs the sunbirds were the same species as usual. I went to the same patch of trees that I found the Sunda pygmy woodpecker and unidentified cuckoos but they were not there.

I went towards the wetland centre and on the way I had a clear sight of a resident Dollar bird. I walked around the outskirts but few birds were there. On the way back I spare some mements listening and identifying the calls of some adult and junvenile Ashy tailorbirds.

S L Tai

[ Last edited by tsheunglai at 1/06/2013 11:43 ]