A skulkers day

Below some shots of 3 fine skulkers taken Saturday, March 28, in good ol' Hanoi.

Pale-footed Bush Warbler, a shy and rarely seen inhabitant of thickest scrub

I finally managed to get some (poor quality...) shots of one individual attracted by playback (with  songs recently recorded in the same area), which unfortunately remained in thick cover. A master skulker!

As I wrote in my last post, I found 1,5 week ago several songsters along the Red River, in dense scrubs and tall rank grasslands with scattered scrub in clearings and edges of a small wooded patch.

Today, a "tape-and-wait" session led to the discovery of 4-5 individuals along a 200m section. As I never recorded the Pale-footed Bush Warbler in Hanoi in winter, it would be reasonable to consider them as passage migrants. But I strongly believe that this species is also present in winter. Skulking and silent birds are elusive and easily overlooked. Only singing males reveal their presence.

Asian Stubtail 

Striking supercilium with dark eye-stripe as Pale-footed Bush Warbler, but obvious structural differences

Siberian Blue Robin (m) 

Not a cryptically colored bird, but secretive and quite difficult to see well

Spring passerine migration has started!

12th March 2015 - This Hainan Blue Flycatcher made a stopover at Hanoi during its northward journey

Low-light conditions- I snapped away, the camera set to 3200 ISO and I was still only getting shutter speed at about 1/100 ! Seventy photos taken, most of which were blurry, very blurry... except two LOL!

15th March - Asian Stubtail. A species I usually spotted on autumn passage.
Hopped around, rarely fully in view, before flying a short way... Heard at the same place (a 1ha open wooded area with dense undergrowth) a singing Pale-footed Bush Warbler - a very good bird for the city (altitudinal migrant I think).

So that's it - passerine migration has begun. Interesting times ahead in the few remaining Hanoi's wooded patches!

Red River Island, 23-10-2011

Hi all,

After Sebastien had some nice raptors yesterday, I had to be satisfied with 1 male Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk sp.
Other birds (most of them in or around the woodland) were more noteworthy, including:

- 5 Northern Pintails (eastern banks of the island)
- 1 Oriental/Eurasian Cuckoo
- 4 Blue-throated Bee-eaters
- 8 Temminck's Stints, a few Green and Common Sandpipers, Little Ringed Plovers (near the small ferry)
- 2 Ashy or Swinhoe's Minivets (too far away)
- a couple of Black-naped Monarchs, Asian Brown Flycatchers, Grey-headed Canary Flycatchers
- at least 2 Siberian Rubythroats (1 nice male)
- 1 Siberian Stonechat
- 1 distant Martin (Riparia-type)
- at least 3 Asian Stubtails
- 1 Manchurian Bush Warbler
- 2 Bush Warblers sp. (Bradypterus)
- at least 5 Thick-billed Warblers

Cheers,
Falk

Hanoi birding patches - 18/19-10-2011

Hi all,

Short birding strolls at the local "hot spots" (Lenin Park (1), Botanical garden (2), wooded area of the Red River Island (3), new patch at Gia Lam (4)) produced the following, among others :

Asian Stubtail exploring rubble full of rubbish. The challenge was how to take a photo of this guy without plastic bags around. Lenin Park/Toilet area.
Good video (October 2010, exactly at the same place) here.

- 1 Manchurian Bush-warbler (3), good views (during 15 seconds. With a such mega-skulker I can consider it was a good observation ! But not enough - not yet !- for a photo)
- 1 Ashy Minivet, 1 Verditer Fly (3)
- 2 Asian Stubtails (1, 2), both behind the WC
- 1 female Orange-headed Thrush (4)
- 2 Grey Bushchats (1), male and female together
- some Asian Brown Fly (1, 2, 3, 4)
- 2 Taiga Fly (4)
- some Dusky Warblers (1, 3, 4)
- some Grey-headed Canary Fly (1, 2, 3, 4)
- some Black Drongos (1, 3)

Sébastien Delonglée

A Flycatcher and its friend enjoying the morning sun/Lenin Park

A gorgeous female Orange-headed Thrush

The famous Toilet area of the Lenin Park that the World envies us !

Flycatchers list for memory : Dark-sided Flycatcher, Asian Brown Fly, Brown-breasted Fly, Brown-chested Jungle Fly, Ferruginous Fly, Verditer Fly, Yellow-rumped Fly, Green-backed Fly, Mugimaki Fly, Taiga Fly, Snowy-browed Fly, Blue-and-White Fly, Fujian Niltava, Hainan Blue Fly, Chinese/Hill Blue Fly, Grey-headed Canary Fly, Black-naped Monarch, Asian Paradise Fly - among many other good birds - have been spotted here !

Lenin Park scenery

Lenin Park, 3rd November, Rufous-tailed Robin

Hi all,

a quick morning stroll proved to be less productive than anticipated.
Best birds were:

1 Rufous-tailed Robin
1 Asian Stubtail
1 Blue-and-White Flycatcher (still the female, looks somewhat bristly - maybe escaped after being caught?)

Sebastien saw a Thick-billed Warbler as well.

Cheers,
Falk

Lenin Park, Hanoi

Hi all,

a walk around the known areas in Lenin Park today (24th) produced only some good birds.

1 Asian Stubtail (finally!!!)
1 Ashy Minivet
2 Orange-headed Thrushes
1 Seicercus sp.(most likely to be Grey-crowned but not calling)
1 Olive-backed Pipit
1 male Brown Shrike
3 White Wagtails
Tons of Yellow-browed Warblers all over the place.

Cheers,
Falk, Florian

Rainy morning in Botanical Garden

1 Asian Stubtail, 2 Orange-headed Thrush, 1 female Siberian Blue Robin, 1 White-breasted Waterhen, 1 Verditer Flycatcher, all around that big Rattan near the Toilets...
Further a couple of Spangled Drongos, 2 Black or Ashy Drongos, 1 lucionensis Brown Shrike.
Sebastien, Florian

Lenin Park / 6-10th October

Hi all,

Everyday noon/morning strolls at the Lenin Park, from 6th to 10th October, produced the following, amongst others (of course the numbers of birds seen are the maxi for 1 stroll) :

Nota : I focused on 3 mozzies areas : behind the toilets (A), scrubs around the vegetable garden (B) and the disused orchid garden (C).

Ashy Drongo
Spangled Drongo : 3-4
Orange-headed Thrush : 3+ (A, B, C)
Hill Blue Fly : at least 1 male, some females
Hainan Blue Fly : at least 1 male
Verditer Fly : 2 (male & female)
Asian Brown Fly
Taiga Fly : 1
Grey Headed Canary Fly : 1
Black-naped Monarch : 1
Seicercus Warbler (at least 1 everyday)
Siberian Blue Robin : (seen every day, at least 2 at the same time, B)
Grey Bushchat : 1 (C)
Siberian Rubythroat : 1 male (B)
White-tailed Robin : 1 male the 4th (B), 1 female the 9-10th (B)
Thick-billed Warbler : 1 (B)
Dusky Warbler : 1
Pale-legged Warbler : 1
Asian Stubtail : 1 (A)
Blue Whistling Thrush : probably 2 (A, B, C)
Black-naped Oriole : 2
Accipiter sp : 1
Black-capped Kingfisher : 1
Brown Shrike : 2-3
Grey Wagtail : 1

White-tailed Robin

Asian Stubtail

Grey Bushchat

Dusky Warbler

Blue Whistling Thrush (seen every day, shy, feeding in the vegetable garden early in the morning, with Orange-headed Thrushes)

Thick-billed Warbler

Siberian Blue Robin

Verditer Fly

Hainan Blue Fly

Spangled Drongo

Hill Blue Fly

Black-naped Monarch

Orange-headed Thrush (best place : the muddy thickets around the vegetable garden). Not so shy I thought. Secretive but confident bird. Many close-ups.

Video of the Asian Stubtail