Hanoi - Spring Migration

Recent short strolls on my favorite wooded and scrubby patches along the Red River produced some nice photo opportunities of some fine examples of different migrants/winter visitors.

Interesting birds included, among other, Grey-backed and Japanese Thrushes, some Hainan Blue Flycatchers, one flock of Swinhoe’s  Minivets with a lone Rosy Minivet inside, 1 Rufous-tailed Robin, dozens of "Blyth’s Leaf Warbler" cf P. claudiae and some Sulphur-breasted Warblers, Pale-footed Bush Warbler (heard), Siberian Rubythroats, Bluethroat, Citrine Wagtail, Black-browed Reed Warbler, Asian Stubtail, Blue Whistling Thrush, Black-naped Monarch, Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher, Manchurian Bush Warbler, Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler, ….

An old corn field produced Little and Yellow-breasted Buntings (thanks Tom!), and 1 Chinese Bush Warbler.

For more sighting records about the 2016 spring migration in Hanoi, I invite you to follow the blog of the very active travelling birder Dominic Le Croissette, here.

Below are some photos taken on 26-27th March.

male Swinhoe's Minivet

male Rosy Minivet

male Yellow-breasted Bunting

Yellow-breasted buntings have since 2013 been classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as an “endangered” species due to rapid population decline from trapping outside their breeding grounds. 

female type Yellow-breasted Bunting

Little Bunting

Chinese Bush Warbler Locustella (previously Bradypterus) tacsanowskia 

 Identification based on proportions and markings: throat not speckled, longish tail, pattern of undertail covert (broad whitish tips but not sharply demarcated from the darker feather centres/ bases)

ID confirmed by Phil Round, many thanks to him!