Birdielog - 24/250307

Some really interesting sightings these two days......it seems like there is always something new every day. This is a good thing!

The Roster :

Range : Richmond Town, Richmond Park
Time : 0745 - 0930 (on 25th, 0730 - 0830)

"The Cold Reading"

Sighted for sure:

• Spotted Dove
• Eurasian Golden Oriole (only 25th)
• Black Drongo (only 24th)
• Rosy Starling (flock)
• Oriental Magpie-Robin
• Great Tit (Only on 24th - this is the best treat of them all. This beauty was around for hardly a minute but it was a great minute in my life as a birdwatcher. It is one of life's joys to watch these fascinating birds!)
• Purple-rumped Sunbird
• Oriental White-eye (my suspicions for so many years actually, confirmed now by a bonafide sighting)
• Tickell's Flowerpecker (could have also been a Plain Flowerpecker)

Heard for sure:

• Common Tailorbird
• Blyth's Reed Warbler or Booted Warbler (this is one mystery still to be solved; it is very possible both are around, because I heard two distinct calls)

Suspected:

Red-whiskered Bulbul

The high points of the day, of course, were the Great Tit, the White-eye and the Tickell's Flowerpecker (in that order). Watching a great tit is a fascinating experience because the bird is so active, so vocal, and so dextrous - up to something all the time. The whole experience is one of unfettered joy.

The white-eye were always suspected...for many years. But because they are so tiny and expert at keeping out of sight (a lot of arboreal birds are), and also because of their really feeble, difficult-to-pin-down jingling call, they are extremely difficult to sight. Of course, the best way to identify a white-eye is to look for that white ring round the eyes - a dead giveaway.

The Tickell's flowerpecker is such a tiny bird, only about 8 centimetres long. It is also extremely active, whizzing around all the time, "chit"ting excitedly. Look for a clump of parasitic plants on a branch....and you can be sure the flowerpecker has been there.

Other Incidental Sightings:

Eurasian Golden Oriole, on 24th March, at around 4:45 P.M., on Museum Road. Tree-felling is going on on a greedy scale out there, but this chap was chasing away some other bigger bird that I could not see too well.