Hanoi : spring passage still in progress

Hi all,

Below a list of some migrants seen last week (23th -> 28th April) during morning or noon strolls, at my 2 favorite patches: Lenin Park - LP and the Red River Island - RRI (not in the main wooded area but in a  ½ ha garden near farms - surprisingly very birdy).
Still a good spring passage. Much less flycatchers than 3-4 weeks ago but still good stuff. And new guests...

- Taiga Flycatcher (1 in RRI)
- Asian Brown Fly (2-3 RRI + 1 LP)
- Asian Paradise Fly (1 RRI + 1 LP)
- Dark-sided Fly (1 LP)
- Yellow-rumped Fly (2-3 LP + 1 RRI)
- Olive-backed Pipit (1 RRI, late migrant)
- Forest Wagtail (2 RRI)
- Oriental Reed Warbler (1 LP - Patch tick !)
- Spangled Drongo (1 LP + 2 RRI)
- Ashy Drongo (2-3 LP + 2 RRI)
- Siberian Blue Robin (LP + RRI, at least 1 each)
- Chestnut Bunting (1 RRI)
- Black-naped Oriole (1 RRI)
- Brown Shrike (4-5+ LP)
- Burmese Shrike (5+ LP)
- White-throated Rock Thrush (1 LP + 1 RRI, females).
- Eyebrowed Thrush (1 LP)
- Arctic Warbler (many : LP + RRI, including a number of singing males)
- Radde’s Warbler (2-3 LP)

But the show will be over soon ( 2 weeks more?). Let's enjoy it before the long birdless days :( of the summer! 

Sebastien

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Asian Paradise Flycatcher female

Forest Wagtail in a banana tree plantation - RRI

Brown Shrike

All the Brown S. I spotted recently belong to this ssp. (superciliosus ?)

Ashy Drongo ssp. leucogenis

White-vented Myna (LP, patch tick but probably escapee)

Eyebrowed Thrush female

Yellow-rumped Fly male

Yellow-rumped Fly female

Oriental Reed Warbler, a rather unexpected bird for the Lenin Park list!

This guy was singing in dense scrub

White-throated Rock Thrush female (28th April - LP)

Previous sightings :  2010 : 21th April LP, 22th April BG, 6th May RRI 

2011 : 24th + 28th April RRI

Dark-sided Flycatcher

 Arctic Warbler singing

Radde's Warbler

Greater Rufous-headed Parrotbill, Cuu Thac Tu Son

Hi all,

The star bird of today's trip to Cuu Thac Tu Son (Hoa Binh Province, 70 kms south-west of Hanoi) was without the shadow of a doubt,
1 Greater Rufous-headed Parrotbill.
Unfortunately Sebastién was too slow to take pictures :-) but John Parr and his family had good views, and so had I.
It was together with a flock of about 15 Collared Babblers and a small flock of Silver-eared Mesias who were more photogenic (they were closer, too).

Good habitat for Greater Rufous-headed Parrotbill, Collared Babbler and Spectacled Barwing which has been seen here on previous visits.
Other birds recorded during our time at this lovely place included, Mountain Tailorbird, Plain Flowerpecker, Great Barbet, Golden-fronted Barbet, White-crowned Forktail, Maroon Oriole, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, White-tailed Flycatcher, White-bellied Erpornis amongst others.

Collared Babbler ssp. luciae (southern China, northern Indochina) with rufescent nape and
a very prominent dark hindcrown/collar

Spectacled Barwing (ssp. yunnanensis with rufous crown) photographed 2 weeks ago in the same valley

A quick stopover at FIPI Hanoi just near the trainline down south revealed not too many exciting birds (apart from a Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, a male White-rumped Shama, a Little Heron and a White-breasted Waterhen) but the habitat looked excellent for migrants!

Cheers,
Sebastién, John Parr and family, Falk

Birding Fansipan - Part III

Here's another series of photos (Sébastien) :

Black-headed Greenfinch

Brown-breasted Bulbul

Black-throated Tit of the race talifuensis (north Myanmar, north Indochina) with rufescent crown

Male Rosy Minivet

Red-tailed Minla

Male Green-tailed Sunbird

The female Green-tailed Sunbird has a olive-green body that stands in sharp contrast with its male counterpart in iridescent blue and bright yellow tones! 

Chestnut-vented Nuthatch

White-tailed Nuthatch

Bar-throated Minla

Whiskered Yuhina

Stripe-Throated Yuhina

Male Sapphire Flycatcher singing high up in a tree

Hume's Treecreeper - split from Brown-throated T.

Blue-winged Minla (Siva)

Blyth's Leaf Warbler, the commonest Phyllos at this altitude

Ashy-throated Warbler, a strictly upper montane warbler also spotted many times

Distant shot of a Male Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush

Spot-breasted Parottbill

Golden Parrotbill

Female White-browed Bush-Robin

White-browed Bush-Robin (male) and its habitat : high-altitude tall bamboo forest (alt : 2,900m)

Black-faced Laughingthrush, in the same habitat

Scaly-bellied Wren-Babbler

Slender-billed Scimitar-Babbler

Yellow-cheeked Tit of the north Indochina race rex (blue-grey above, broad ventral stripe)

Rufous-bellied Niltava, easy to see around the first camp site at 2,200m

Rufous-winged Fulvetta

Rufous-winged Fulvetta has a peculiar habit of clinging briefly to vertical, moss-covered tree trunks.

White-browed Fulvetta photographied at the summit (3,143m), happy also to have conquered Fansipan! The Victory V with the wings!

White-browed Shortwing

Chestnut-headed Tesia