A rare clear day in
Hanoi, looking north from the edge of the North Wood towards the Red River and
airport bridge (photo taken on May 16th).
Site: Red River Island, Hanoi, Vietnam (Google Maps Location)
Visits/days: 43 visits covering 42 days, between March 5th and May 16th
Months (days) visited: March (15), April (18), May (10).
Species recorded: 176
General notes: At least 90% of my time was spent in the North Wood and surrounding farmland/grassland at the northern tip of the island, with infrequent visits to other areas. Almost all of my visits were between the hours of 7.00am and 12.00pm, with a typical duration of between 2 and 3 hours. I was usually alone, but sometimes joined by other birders – most often Hung Le and Joy Ghosh.
In the table below, the second column
indicates the number of visits on which the bird was recorded (out of 43).
The third column is the high count for that species. The fourth column contains
notes about a species’ status in the area, or other general comments. Thanks to
Dave Sargeant (North ThailandBirding) for inspiration about how to present this information!
Common Name
|
Number of Visits
|
High Count
|
Notes
|
Japanese Quail
|
3
|
1
|
Presumably a
regular migrant
|
Little Grebe
|
3
|
3
|
Single group
on pond along western edge
|
Asian Openbill
|
3
|
42
|
Occasional
flocks soaring high to the east
|
Yellow Bittern
|
1
|
1
|
|
Cinnamon
Bittern
|
2
|
1
|
|
Grey Heron
|
4
|
9
|
|
Purple Heron
|
2
|
1
|
|
Cattle Egret
|
3
|
2
|
|
Chinese Pond
Heron
|
21
|
10
|
|
Striated Heron
|
2
|
1
|
|
Black-crowned
Night Heron
|
1
|
11
|
Single flock
|
Black-shouldered
Kite
|
26
|
2
|
Resident pair
|
Oriental Honey
Buzzard
|
3
|
1
|
|
Jerdon’s Baza
|
2
|
3
|
Seen twice in
April, coinciding with heavy passage at Tam Dao
|
Black Baza
|
1
|
7
|
Single flock
|
Grey-faced
Buzzard
|
8
|
4
|
|
Pied Harrier
|
1
|
1
|
Male
|
Crested
Goshawk
|
1
|
1
|
|
Chinese
Sparrowhawk
|
1
|
1
|
Male
|
Japanese
Sparrowhawk
|
4
|
1
|
|
Black Kite
|
1
|
1
|
|
White-breasted
Waterhen
|
7
|
3
|
|
Ruddy-breasted
Crake
|
3
|
2
|
One seen, the
others heard only
|
Common Moorhen
|
3
|
2
|
|
Grey-headed
Lapwing
|
1
|
1
|
|
Red-wattled
Lapwing
|
1
|
1
|
|
Kentish Plover
|
1
|
1
|
|
Little Ringed
Plover
|
21
|
4
|
Presumably
attempts to breed in the area
|
Common
Sandpiper
|
10
|
2
|
|
Green
Sandpiper
|
7
|
2
|
Perhaps
overwinters
|
Common
Greenshank
|
3
|
11
|
|
Barred
Buttonquail
|
8
|
2
|
Scarce
resident
|
Oriental
Pratincole
|
1
|
1
|
|
Rock Dove
(feral)
|
12
|
5
|
|
Oriental
Turtle Dove
|
14
|
4
|
Regular
migrant
|
Red Collared
Dove
|
16
|
10
|
|
Spotted Dove
|
14
|
8
|
|
Wedge-tailed
Pigeon
|
4
|
2
|
Photos show
that these birds are all Wedge-tailed and not the perhaps more expected
White-bellied
|
Chestnut-winged
Cuckoo
|
3
|
1
|
|
Large Hawk
Cuckoo
|
3
|
1
|
|
Hodgson’s Hawk
Cuckoo
|
2
|
1
|
|
Indian Cuckoo
|
2
|
1
|
Heard only
|
Common Cuckoo
|
4
|
2
|
Other “cuculus
sp.” unidentified
|
Oriental
Cuckoo
|
4
|
1
|
Other “cuculus
sp.” unidentified
|
Plaintive
Cuckoo
|
40
|
6
|
Common and
vocal resident
|
Asian Koel
|
2
|
1
|
|
Greater Coucal
|
38
|
3
|
Common
resident
|
Lesser Coucal
|
9
|
2
|
Unclear
whether resident or migrant
|
Northern
Boobook
|
1
|
1
|
|
Grey Nightjar
|
3
|
1
|
Three singles
in North Wood
|
Large-tailed
Nightjar
|
1
|
1
|
|
Germain’s
Swiftlet
|
4
|
5
|
|
Asian Palm
Swift
|
3
|
2
|
|
Common
Kingfisher
|
7
|
2
|
|
White-throated
Kingfisher
|
1
|
1
|
|
Black-capped
Kingfisher
|
6
|
2
|
|
Pied
Kingfisher
|
21
|
5
|
Presumably
resident
|
Dollarbird
|
2
|
1
|
|
Eurasian
Wryneck
|
2
|
1
|
|
Eurasian
Kestrel
|
3
|
2
|
|
Eurasian Hobby
|
1
|
1
|
|
Peregrine
|
1
|
1
|
|
Red-breasted
Parakeet
|
3
|
1
|
Presumably
escapee(s)
|
Ashy
Woodswallow
|
1
|
2
|
|
Ashy Minivet
|
3
|
2
|
|
Rosy Minivet
|
2
|
4
|
Only in March
|
Black-winged
Cuckooshrike
|
6
|
2
|
|
Tiger Shrike
|
4
|
1
|
Only in May
|
Brown Shrike
|
18
|
10
|
Most numerous
in May
|
Burmese Shrike
|
21
|
10
|
Recorded
throughout the period
|
Long-tailed
Shrike
|
1
|
1
|
|
Black-naped
Oriole
|
14
|
10
|
Fairly common
migrant, often with drongos
|
Black Drongo
|
8
|
12
|
Many drongos
in banana plantations not specifically identified
|
Ashy Drongo
|
24
|
15
|
Common
migrant, some individuals of leucogenisand salangensis races
|
Crow-billed
Drongo
|
7
|
5
|
Late April
onwards. Presumably a regular late season migrant but difficult to tell from
other drongos at a distance
|
Hair-crested
Drongo
|
19
|
65
|
Common migrant
|
Greater
Racket-tailed Drongo
|
1
|
1
|
Recorded in
March, well before the start of other drongo passage
|
White-throated
Fantail
|
19
|
3
|
Resident in
the Hanoi area
|
Black-naped
Monarch
|
26
|
5
|
|
Amur
Paradise-Flycatcher
|
3
|
2
|
Scarce migrant
in late April/early May
|
Blyth’s
Paradise-Flycatcher
|
4
|
1
|
Passage at
same time as Amur
|
Red-billed
Blue Magpie
|
20
|
5
|
Resident in
the area, numbers apparently decreased from 5 to about 2 during the period
|
Racket-tailed
Treepie
|
1
|
1
|
|
Grey-throated
Martin
|
22
|
60
|
Fairly common
resident
|
Barn Swallow
|
30
|
12
|
Common migrant
|
Red-rumped
Swallow
|
13
|
15
|
Regular
migrant
|
Grey-headed
Canary Flycatcher
|
10
|
5
|
Late
March/early April
|
Japanese Tit
|
15
|
2
|
Resident
|
Chinese
Penduline Tit
|
1
|
2
|
Regularly
winters in area but hard to locate
|
Red-whiskered
Bulbul
|
18
|
12
|
|
Light-vented
Bulbul
|
21
|
15
|
|
Sooty-headed
Bulbul
|
27
|
10
|
|
Black Bulbul
|
1
|
1
|
White-headed
race, in early March
|
Pale-footed
Bush Warbler
|
4
|
3
|
Only located
when singing, so others perhaps overlooked
|
Asian Stubtail
|
12
|
3
|
Regular early
season migrant
|
Manchurian
Bush Warbler
|
4
|
1
|
Presumably
regular migrant
|
Brownish-flanked
Bush Warbler
|
1
|
1
|
Probably
overlooked due to very skulking habits
|
Dusky Warbler
|
38
|
15
|
Common migrant
|
Radde’s
Warbler
|
17
|
3
|
Regularly
seen, especially late in the season
|
Pallas’s Leaf
Warbler
|
1
|
1
|
|
Yellow-browed
Warbler
|
34
|
10
|
Commonly seen
until late April
|
Arctic Warbler
|
10
|
8
|
Not seen
before end of April
|
Pale-legged
Leaf Warbler
|
7
|
1
|
|
Eastern
Crowned Warbler
|
8
|
3
|
|
Claudia’s Leaf
Warbler
|
17
|
2
|
Common migrant
in small numbers in March and April
|
Sulphur-breasted
Warbler
|
4
|
1
|
Mainly in
March
|
Grey-crowned
Warbler
|
2
|
2
|
Many seicercus warblers didn’t call and therefore
remained unidentified
|
Bianchi’s
Warbler
|
2
|
1
|
Many seicercus warblers didn’t call and therefore
remained unidentified
|
Thick-billed
Warbler
|
18
|
12
|
Infrequently
seen until early May when it became very common
|
Oriental Reed
Warbler
|
5
|
1
|
|
Black-browed
Reed Warbler
|
25
|
12
|
Common migrant
|
Lanceolated
Warbler
|
2
|
1
|
Probably
overlooked due to very skulking habits
|
Baikal Bush
Warbler
|
1
|
1
|
|
Zitting
Cisticola
|
40
|
7
|
Very common
resident
|
Common
Tailorbird
|
40
|
5
|
Very common
resident
|
Yellow-bellied
Prinia
|
43
|
20
|
Abundant
resident
|
Plain Prinia
|
43
|
20
|
Abundant
resident
|
Chestnut-flanked
White-eye
|
2
|
2
|
Only in March
|
Japanese
White-eye
|
38
|
40
|
Migrant/resident
status unclear
|
Masked
Laughingthrush
|
19
|
4
|
Resident in
the area
|
White-crested
Laughingthrush
|
4
|
2
|
Presumably
escapees
|
Black-throated
Laughingthrush
|
2
|
1
|
Presumably
escapee(s)
|
Chinese Hwamei
|
3
|
2
|
Probably
escapees
|
Blue-winged
Minla
|
1
|
1
|
Presumably
escapee
|
Dark-sided
Flycatcher
|
11
|
3
|
|
Asian Brown
Flycatcher
|
19
|
8
|
|
Grey-streaked
Flycatcher
|
2
|
1
|
Individual for
a few days in May
|
Oriental
Magpie Robin
|
1
|
1
|
Surprisingly
rare
|
Hainan Blue
Flycatcher
|
12
|
4
|
Common early
season migrant
|
Hill Blue
Flycatcher
|
12
|
3
|
Common early
season migrant
|
Blue-and-White
Flycatcher
|
6
|
2
|
|
Rufous-tailed
Robin
|
1
|
1
|
Presumably
regular migrant but very skulking
|
Japanese Robin
|
1
|
1
|
|
Siberian Blue
Robin
|
4
|
2
|
Very skulking
here
|
Bluethroat
|
10
|
2
|
Presumably
winters
|
Siberian
Rubythroat
|
25
|
5
|
Common migrant
and probable winterer
|
Blue Whistling
Thrush
|
6
|
2
|
Both
yellow-billed and dark-billed races seen
|
Yellow-rumped
Flycatcher
|
13
|
3
|
Late April
onwards
|
Green-backed
Flycatcher
|
1
|
1
|
Male in April
|
Mugimaki
Flycatcher
|
14
|
4
|
|
Slaty-blue
Flycatcher
|
1
|
1
|
One individual
in March
|
Taiga
Flycatcher
|
31
|
10
|
One of the few
species that tolerates banana plantations
|
White-throated
Rock Thrush
|
4
|
1
|
Two
individuals (1m, 1f)
|
Siberian
Stonechat
|
36
|
15
|
Last recorded
at the beginning of May
|
Pied Bushchat
|
1
|
1
|
Male in March
|
Grey Bushchat
|
1
|
1
|
|
Siberian
Thrush
|
1
|
1
|
Adult male
|
Orange-headed
Thrush
|
2
|
1
|
Two
individuals
|
Grey-backed
Thrush
|
6
|
1
|
|
Black-breasted
Thrush
|
1
|
1
|
|
Japanese
Thrush
|
8
|
6
|
Regular in
March
|
Eyebrowed
Thrush
|
4
|
7
|
Not seen
outside of April
|
Daurian
Starling
|
1
|
1
|
Female in
March
|
Great Myna
|
1
|
2
|
|
Crested Myna
|
3
|
2
|
|
Olive-backed
Sunbird
|
2
|
2
|
|
Forest Wagtail
|
4
|
3
|
|
Eastern Yellow
Wagtail
|
2
|
2
|
|
Citrine
Wagtail
|
11
|
12
|
|
Grey Wagtail
|
4
|
1
|
|
White Wagtail
|
16
|
6
|
|
Richard’s
Pipit
|
27
|
6
|
Common migrant
|
Paddyfield
Pipit
|
34
|
8
|
Common
resident
|
Olive-backed
Pipit
|
19
|
13
|
One of the few
species that tolerates banana plantations
|
Red-throated
Pipit
|
12
|
7
|
|
Crested
Bunting
|
3
|
1
|
Two different
individuals seen
|
Tristram’s
Bunting
|
6
|
2
|
Fairly regular
in March but skulking
|
Little Bunting
|
12
|
10
|
|
Yellow-breasted
Bunting
|
6
|
7
|
Long-staying
flock in dead cornfield
|
Chestnut
Bunting
|
2
|
1
|
|
Black-faced
Bunting
|
13
|
4
|
Only in March
|
Common
Rosefinch
|
2
|
3
|
|
Oriental
Greenfinch
|
11
|
35
|
Erratic
|
Eurasian Tree
Sparrow
|
34
|
40
|
|
White-rumped
Munia
|
12
|
8
|
|
Scaly-breasted
Munia
|
37
|
40
|
The following additional species were among
those reported by other observers during the same period: Yellow-legged
Buttonquail, Short-eared Owl, Blue-throated Bee-eater, Swinhoe’s Minivet, and
Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher.
