We're in

Well after what can only be described as a few days where the stress levels went off the scale we finally got in. Yesterday the rain cleared and I went for a walk up the hill. A nice selection of goodies. A Barking deer was foraging just off the main road - I had been told they were present but did not expect to see one first time out. Unfortunately it was too deep in the trees to take any photographs and it soon sensed my presence and crashed away. Then a smart, freshly painted Pallas's leaf warbler, Phylloscopus proregulus, followed by a female Red-flanked bluetail, Tarsiger cyanurus. This bird appears to be settled in this location as I have seen it here before. A Dusky warbler, Phylloscopus fuscatus, took me by surprise, although I don't know why. Its habitat is described in Viney, Phillipps and Lam as bushes, reeds, mangroves and open country but not woodland.

The bird shown above is the Black-throated laughingthrush, Garrulax chinensis. The light was going quickly when I took these and I was lucky I was using the 40D with an on-body flash (the pro model 1D mk III does not possess such a luxury). I pushed the ISO up to 800 then 1600 and got a couple of usable shots.

A few swifts flew overhead, very high. I always associate these with summer but these must be resident. The very short tail fork suggests these were House swifts, Apus nipalensis. A Large-billed crow, Corvus macrorhyncus, buzzed me a few times, unusually low overhead. As I descended I saw little more but today in the garden opposite I saw what I at first thought was going to be the common blackbird again, Turdus merula. A splash of flank colour immediately corrected this impression and the lightly speckled throat and pale underparts with a brown back made this a Pale thrush, Turdus pallidus. Aren't the latin names wonderful - what you see is what you get most of the time.

A couple of other species are obviously common here - Black-collared starling, Sturnus nigricollis, and Yellow-bellied prinia, Prinia flaviventris. Just listen for the cat like mewing.

The other photo I posted because I like it. No other reason. So the walk soothed the nerves a little and temporarily only. I seem to move house every 5 years. I aim to make it at least 10 this time. I can't take the strain. Technology is great. I am sitting on the terrace using my new Macbook Pro with WiFi but getting all the stuff to work has been challenging to say the least. The words "plug and play" ought to be banned under the Sale of Goods Act. No such thing. Two more days then back to work and so far no holiday despite being off for 15 days. All I wanted for Christmas was a smooth move (was the Sade?) but Santa missed me off the list. Bah. Humbug!

Happy new year to anybody who can be fagged to read this.

And here's one I prepared earlier...

Val Singleton and Chris Trace could never have produced anything as good as this. It is a Perixera decretarioides and it wended its way to Clearwater Bay last night.

Birds galore

The stress of the preparations for the move are beginning to show but each day I spend time at the house waiting for the next delivery / installation chaps (never a chap-ess in sight) to arrive and scan the garden in hope. The list is short but encouraging. Today a Crested goshawk flew past at close quarters (where is the camera when you need it?). A Fork-tailed sunbird was just across the path and a repeat of Monday's Olive-backed pipit flew over. Most pleasing was a Hwamei which is relatively common but I hadn't seen one on my current patch. At the new house one was hopping around on a scrubby tangle of branches in the communal garden. The usual suspects are present and Mrs.Ha found a Tree sparrow inside the dining room yesterday. The new turf had gone down, the doors were open, wall to wall, and Passer montanus clearly felt it was worth exploring. The raptor list is growing as I have also heard Crested serpent eagle calling. When we move in I shall be listening carefully for owls. Whether the plants will bring in any "extra" birds I don't know but at least now we have a bit of variety and colour. Our gardener (doesn't that sound posh!) told us the tree we bought as a Ham Siu is in fact a Ham siu grafted on to a Pak laan or laam trunk, the latter being a much faster grower so the nurseries turn them over much more quickly. I don't know if this is true but I have no reason to doubt it. Cunning eh!

As a tribute to the workers of HK so far all the sifu have been excellent. Only the rather shabby performance of NOW TV has let the side down. Despite having a name, rank and serial number they flatly denied knowledge of the order and appointment. Tusk, tusk.

The preparations continue and the birds bring relief.

Post script: Christmas Eve. I am a prophet. I did a late morning walk up the hill this morning whilst waiting for yet another delayed delivery and heard a hullabaloo in the canopy. Hmm, I thought. Sounds like small birds mobbing a bird of prey - and lo and behold, no wise men but a small owl sitting in the shade on a branch. I didn't get a good view as it flew as soon as it saw me but it was either a Collared scops owl or more likely from the shape of the head an Asian barred owlet. When we are settled I shall have to walk up at dusk and listen for the call.

Also 2 more Hwamei and 2 Bunting sp, possibly Tristram's. It was one of those days when you hear masses and see little. Old saying - you bird watch mainly with your ears!

And just to round the day off, a late afternoon (female) Blackbird in the garden across the path from the house.

A Shrike little poser

Let's go spy a kite

Black kites fly around our house every day but rarely perch. Where the shrike perched earlier, later the kite took up its lookout position. All 3 pics taken with an 800mm f5.6 lens and a 1.4x TC on a Canon 1D mkIII body. Enjoy.

Snapshot

Almost desperation shots here. They were taken from our patio and the closer of the two has burned the white throat, spoiling what otherwise would have been a nice portrait. The second is a distant shot cropped quite a lot. Very ordinary. Long-tailed shrike is a common but attractive bird and you can compare it with the Brown shrike from Sai Kung.

I am soooo tired. Woke up this morning and felt decidedly light headed so despite the gorgeous weather I decided to stay home. Four weeks of almost non stop travel across multiple timezones has left my body pumelled with exhaustion. Friday I start my block leave for 2 weeks and the move to Sai Kung will take place at the end of the break. The old adage is that the 3 most stressful things in life are bereavement, divorce and moving house. Well I have no experience of the middle one but I agree with the two others. This time though Mrs. Ha has truly done everything and all I have done is sign cheques. I am desperate to get into the new house and start recording the birds and moths from a new site. It is strange when you go house hunting and you have to explain to the agent that you need somewhere to run a moth trap. A 125w MV lamp is pretty bright so you need to be able to run it without disturbing the neighbours. I am lucky. The new house gives me opportunities front and back of the house. We went in yesterday, looked around and the builders are on time and budget. They are probably unique. Ask privately if you want to know who they are! The garden gets done this week too so we went out into the depths of the New Territories, got lost but eventually found the nursery we were looking for.




A very wide area stuffed full of goodies and we ended up buying a tree and a load of plants. The tree is called Ham siu fa or smiling flower (Michelia figo). It is common in HK. Most of the plants were untagged so I don't know the names but we certainly picked up what I recognize as marigolds. I have a feeling the gardner is going to tell me they won't grow in our garden but what the heck, its my garden and I'll plant if I want to as Lesley Gore famously didn't sing.

All I need to do now is survive four more days at work. Wish me luck. And by the way, Christmas is cancelled due to packing duties.