Hi all,
A very pleasant Sunday was spent birding in a semi-montaneous area, 70kms south-west of Hanoi.
A very pleasant Sunday was spent birding in a semi-montaneous area, 70kms south-west of Hanoi.
This site (google map here) definitely has some potential, as there's an interesting mix of vegetation, including bamboo. Not much of a primary forest is left though.
We birded along the one trail, that is leading up to a few waterfalls. Some very nice species were seen. Amongst them the more notable were,
- Crested Serpent Eagle
- Blue Whistling Thrush
- White-capped Water Redstart
- Plumbeous Water Redstart
- at least 1 very late Mugimaki Flycatcher
- at least 1 nice male Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher
- lots of Verditer Flycatchers
- 1 smart 1st winter male Blue-and-White Flycatcher
- 1 splendid male Fujian Niltava
- White-crowned Forktail
- Slaty-backed Forktail
- Yellow-bellied Warbler
- Buff-breasted Babbler
- Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler
- Golden Babbler
- Spectacled Barwing
- Blue-winged Minla (Siva)
- Collared Babbler
- Silver-eared Mesia
- Black-throated Sunbird
A surprisingly good list for a totally unprotected site - it was actually better than Tam Dao most of the times! On the other hand, Tam Dao is not really protected either...
Cheers,
Jan de Groot, Wayne Hodgkinson (pictures), Falk Wicker
Crested Serpent Eagle
Blue Whistling Thrush
Blue-winged Minla
Fujian Niltava
