3.7.2010: Cutia and Crocias in Ta Nung, 4:0 in Cape Town

First thanks a lot to Simon and John for the idea and setting this up!

I (Florian) was on passage in Dalat and had a short morning visit to Ta Nung at 3.7.2010. Luyen and his monster-lens also joined in a little later in the morning. No extraordinary sightings, but really good and prolonged views of 2 of my favorite Dalat regulars:

Two pairs of Grey-crowned Crocias were doing some chattering, preening and funny bowing things during quite a while right in front of me in the pines along the track leading down to the valley, and a family of at least four Vietnamese Cutias were very active around the field, with the young sitting and calling in the bean plantation and the parents flying back and forth from the surrounding trees to the field. Wonderful views in the morning sun, pity that Luyen was too lazy to get up early and get some nice shots.

Otherwise a very typical, means pleasant morning in Ta Nung Valley. Warm and sunny, bird calls from everywhere, including Orange-breasted Laugingthrush singing and Black-hooded Laugingthrushes laughing close by. Did not try to stalk them but invested quite some work to get good views of a Pygmy-Wren Babbler and glimpses of Lesser Shortwing.

A good start for a day that was to end much better than one can even dream of, at least if one is German and not Argentinian...

(other birds seen: Black-browed Barbet, Black-headed Sibia, Mountain Fulvetta, White-bellied Yuhina, White-browed Shrike-Babbler, White-cheeked Laughingthrush, Black, Gray-eyed and Mountain Bulbul, Gray-bellied Tesia (heard), Mountain and Common Tailorbird, Hill Prinia, Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Ashy Drongo, Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo, Gray-headed Canary-Flycatcher, Asian Fairy-bluebird, White-throated Fantail, Mountain Imperial-Pigeon, Slaty-backed Forktail, Verditer Flycatcher, Tree Sparrow, Black-collared Starling, Black-throated Sunbird, Gould's Sunbird, House Swift (corrected), White-rumped Munia, Bay Woodpecker, Grey-cheecked Warbler, Burmese Shrike)