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Total species seen 173 -- 137 lifers
A few of these have questionable status at present
Species heard only -- 2
SHOREBIRDS SPECIES 43 -- 27 lifers
4 full days and 2 half days birding
Total cost for 10 day trip -- $1,550, what a bargain!
Before I get into a few of the details of the trip, I must thank the many people on BirdChat that gave me so much information and helped in making this a very easy trip to plan. All the little details and suggestions filled in all the doubts and voids. I cannot begin to write the kind of report that Gail Mackiernan wrote for BirdChat, which whet my appetite for this trip. If you are entertaining the idea of going, her report is a must and will probably push you over the edge if you are the least bit hesitant. It can be accessed on the net.
Next I would like to say how impressed I was with the work being done in education at Mai Po, Peter Scott Center. There is a constant stream of youngsters coming through various programs and helping in the on going research at these facilities. I spent some time with the Reserve Manager, Lew Young discussing their goals and problems. The history of Mai Po and the World Wildlife Fund extends back to 1983 when WWF took the responsibility of developing and managing it for conservation and education. Mai Po consists of 380 ha divided into mangrove, Gei wais (traditional shrimp ponds) and fish ponds. It is a very important habitat for resident and migrating birds totaling over 325 species. They have a beautiful education center and are now visited by over 40,000 people a year. In 1995 an area of wetland around Mai Po and Inner Deep Bay, totaling over 1,500 ha, was designated as a "Wetland of International Importance" under the Ramsar Convention. My first look at the thousands of shorebirds in the first pool that we came to told me this place was special.
It was a great trip to a place that each day faces new challenges to its existence. The World Wildlife Fund is in a battle against great odds in this small corner of the world. I am giving them my support so that when I return at least some of this unique habitat will still be there. The development along the Sham Chun River is causing accelerated siltation and threatens the mud flats and mangroves that these birds depend upon for rest and sustenance. If you find yourself with a little pocket change, put to a good cause, send it earmarked for The Mai Po Reserve at World Wildlife Fund for Nature Hong Kong, 1 Tramway Path, Central H.K. / G.P.O. Box 12721. They were running their Big Day Race for birds to raise funds the last day I was there.
Now for the rest of the story...
Joe Guinn and I left Memphis at 8:40 am on time and in fine weather. It seems that the weather went downhill for most of you while we were gone. The flight from Minneapolis to Hong Kong was long, some 15 1/2 hours air time. The pothole country and coastal mountains of America gave away to the most unusual terrain I had ever seen, Northern Russia past below. The mountains marched; all uniform in height and in single file, as far as the eye could see, row upon row. Those Russians can surely keep everything in line with no one better or taller than the other. As we swung in over Hong Kong harbor and settled to the runway the first bird I saw was a Reef Heron sitting at the water's edge, the only one I would see on the trip. The next was also a one-timer, a very unexpected Eastern Marsh Harrier patrolling the grassway. Two new birds in the first five minutes. The third was a Black-eared Kite sailing above the high rise buildings surrounding the airport.
We collected our bags, went through customs without a hitch and then changed some money. It was 6:30 pm on Friday the day after our departure, we would not catch up on that lost day until our return flight. A short cab ride to the KCR train station, and soon we were on our way to Sheung Shui. The train was full with evening commuters, and the thing that struck us right away was the number of people using cellular phones. We were to find out that there are more cellular phones per capita here than anywhere else in the world. I later saw a man working a paddy with an ox, and on his belt was a phone. At the train station we used David Diskin's book, which has a list of places in English with the Chinese characters underneath, to direct the cab to Mai Po. This birding guide to Hong Kong is a must, making getting around quite easy. Just about everywhere you will find many very helpful English speaking Chinese. At Mai Po the front door was locked but shortly the housekeeper appeared; she spoke no English, and everyone was away for the holiday. I could see an envelope in the gift shop with my name on it, and soon we had our keys and were in our air-conditioned room. She showed us the bathroom and where the showers were and how to operate the hot water. At this time our bodies were tired but our minds were saying it was time to get up. We met a couple of Brits that were all that was left of the canceled Wildwings tour. They had decided to come on their own and had been around for 4 days. No Spoonbill Sandpiper was the word, also a lot of the migrants had passed through early, and the later ones were late. A stagnant weather pattern had hung over the area, what we needed was rain.
All we could do was lie under the netting and stare at the ceiling for the rest of the night. At about 4:30 we were startled by a strange call, an almost monkey like "mooop, mooop, mooop" outside our window. I could stand it no longer. I dressed and went out into the parking lot. A pre-dawn chorus had started, all different, all new. One song coming from a tree at the roadside was one we would hear everywhere we would go. In the light of the street lamp I could see my first songbird of the trip: singing his heart out was the male Magpie Robin. Later in the morning I would see the blue sheen about the black head, but this view would do for starters. Joe joined me, and before 8:30 we had seen some 30-odd species around the Peter Scott Center. The egrets and herons streamed over, heading to and from favorite feeding and roosting areas. A male Koel put on a great show in the scope as he called from a nearby tree. His carmine red eye and the scarlet lining of the green bill were startling in the morning light. The mystery call of the morning was solved when a Greater Coucal started calling and displaying from an open perch behind the Center. New bird after new bird appeared. Joe found our first new shorebird, a Common Sandpiper sitting on a float in one of the fishponds. The tail-snapping of the tiny Plain and Yellow-Bellied Prinias as they danced in the grass just a few feet away was a surprise.
We had hired a university student to help us, and Samson arrived on time as he would every day, and we began our first day at Mai Po. We had both of the necessary passes needed for birding the area, and now I wanted some shorebirds. After passing the guard house we came upon a Gei Wais that held "my" birds, and I quickly knocked off, Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwit, Common Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Common Greenshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, all new, plus Curlew and Sharp-tail Sandpiper. Hundreds and hundreds of shorebirds were spread before me now with many in glorious breeding plumage. I had made it to Heaven.
We worked our way out toward the floating hides, collecting great looks at many new species, but my mind always drifting to the thought of the Spoonbill Sandpiper that had to be somewhere among the throngs. Through the forbidding gate of the frontier fence and a long walk among the mangroves on the floating walk took us to the fabled hides, and we were not disappointed. Before us lay a beautiful array of shorebirds, Pied Avocets by the hundreds, later to be joined by the Black-winged Stilts, Little Ringed Plovers, Kentish Plovers, Greater Sand Plovers, Lesser Sand Plovers (Mongolian), Grey Plovers, Ruddy Turnstones, Eurasian Curlew, Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwits, Green Sandpipers, Terek Sandpipers, Common Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Common Greenshank (a Nordmann's had just flown away), Marsh Sandpipers, Red Knots, Curlew Sandpipers, Sanderling (the only ones to be seen on the trip), Dunlin (also left that afternoon), Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Broad-Billed Sandpiper and Red-necked Stint. A total of 24 species, and 14 were new. WOW!!!
The tide receded, and the shorebirds went farther and farther out. The old hands left but I could not get up to leave, I had to think about this super show, it was like being at a once-in-a-lifetime performance by a great actor. Meanwhile a dozen Gull-billed Terns and 2 Caspian coursed the area, and Chinese Pond Herons, Great Egrets, Little Egrets, and one Swinhoe's Egret danced about the mud along with thousands of Mudskippers. Shimmering in the background were the shining new buildings of the new economic and industrial center of Shenzhen. It looked harmless and far away but it looms as one of the biggest threats to this quiet resting-place of the Wind Birds.
We heard footsteps coming down the walk to the hide, and a head popped in the door, and the words rang through every fiber of my body. A Spoon-billed Sandpiper was resting in the scrape in front of hide number 6. We gathered all of our equipment and hurried back through the mangroves and the "Fence", then took a right and went pell-mell down the path toward The Place. There must have been thirty faces that turned grinning at us as we came through the door. We were the last to get there, and everyone motioned at once for us to look through the many scopes lined up and focused on one spot in a large group of shorebirds just 150' away. I shared the bird with Clive Harris, another Birdchatter who had sent word back to us. There it was, its head bowed in sleep but the bill was not tucked, a basic-plumaged Spooner!!! I forgot that I had had little or no sleep in the previous 46 hours. We also had great looks at Long-toed Stints and many Pacific Golden-Plovers in various plumages. Everyone kept shifting back to look at the Spoon-billed and as it shuffled about, we got to see the bill from every angle, what a piece of work. Finally the birds took flight, and someone announced that a few Temminck's Stints were just a few ponds away, and we started in that direction. Suddenly the adrenaline rush was over, and it felt like a ton of bricks were in my pack. I felt the heat and humidity, and for the first time I turned away from a life bird and headed toward the barn. I knew it wasn't wise to push it anymore that day. At the Center a cold shower did much to lift my sagging reserves, and we went to town for groceries and dinner.
We returned from a great dinner feeling pretty perky considering we needed a lot of sleep. We had all the groceries we needed, cereals, milk, lunch fixings and fruit. The stores were really stocked and up-to-date. We finally laid down at 9, and I was soon dreaming of Spoon-bills. At 11 I awoke realizing Joe was walking around the room. When I asked what was wrong he said he had a pain; just then I saw him pass in front of the window, and I recognized the walk for I had been there 3 times myself. I said "Joe you've got a kidney stone!!!" I knew it by the way he was walking. He had never had any pain like that before, and I knew chances were it was going to get worse. My first stone I took to the hospital, my last 2 I toughed out at home. I told Joe to start drinking water, and we went outside and started walking. Thirty minutes later it got worse, and another Chinese guest that I woke up offered a ride to the hospital at Yeun Long. The people at the desk spoke English, and soon he was in the emergency room. Of course they would not give him a pain shot until they were sure, so an X-ray and examination followed, and the shot an hour later was none too soon. At that point we were told they could not treat him there anymore, and we were soon in an ambulance on the way to the Tuen Mun hospital on the coast. We went back through all the procedures, and finally Joe was resting in ward 4-D.
At 7 am I called Samson and told him where we were, and he arrived at 8:15. We were informed that the holiday extended till Tuesday and the urologist would not be back till then. At about 3:30 pm Samson looked at me and said "Jeff you look bad." It all caught up to me then, so I told Joe I would go back and pack his gear and see him in the morning. The long taxi ride back was through new territory, as we had only seen it at night. I could not go to sleep so I took a walk around the "fence" and picked up 22 Black-faced Spoonbills, an endangered species of which 1/4 of the world population winters at Mai Po. In the flock was one European Spoonbill, a nice comparison. After less than 4 hours' sleep in 3 days I zonked out and woke up at 3 am, packed up Joe's gear and got another 2 hours' sleep in before dawn. Another walk around the area produced some more good birds. Really good looks at the Little Grebe, and then a Yellow Bittern perched on the frontier fence, along with a beautiful Purple Heron in the morning sun. Then back to the hospital where Joe was feeling much better, and we got him out and into a gorgeous hotel on the coast. Joe was to get in touch with his doctor, and Samson put him on the plane the next day after a short tour of Hong Kong and Aberdeen. At home now the doctor's report is fine, just don't get dehydrated...
The remaining days were daylight-to-dark birding. The shortened time meant that some good areas we had intended to bird would have to be left off. I knew one thing I was going to spend a lot of time was studying the shorebird species here and burning their actions and forms into my mind. Sharp-tailed, Curlew Sandpiper, Red-necked, Little Stint, and Ruff had wandered into my scope back home in Tennessee, why not be ready for one of these. The following places were selected for a few target birds and habitat: Long Valley, Starling Inlet, Hong Kong Is., Lamma Is., Tai Po Ka, and the Tolo Harbor.
A wonderful group of Great Knots fell in one day for my pleasure, their mosaic plumage different from all the other shorebirds. Oriental Pratincoles were seen in the air a few times, and one settled in the scrape where I finally found the 4 Temminck's Stints. Later that same day the first Grey-tailed Tattler for the season showed up at hide 6, followed the next afternoon by 3 more. Twelve of the most richly and deeply colored breeding plumaged Asiatic Dowitchers paraded around one of our Long-billed Dowitchers (a rarity in Hong Kong) making it look pretty puny both in plumage and size.
At Long Valley we walked the paddies and came up with: Fantail (Common) Snipe, Pintail Snipe, and the much searched for and colorful, female PAINTED SNIPE. A possible Swinhoe's flushed over a bank and into a stream bed not to be found again. We also found Richard's, Olive-backed and Red-throated Pipits with Yellow, Grey and White Wagtails. While looking for the snipe we flushed Siberian Stonechat, Siberian Rubythroat (m & f), Bluethroat, Fantail Warbler (Zitting Cisticola), Rufous-backed Shrike (wonderfully colored for a shrike), Large Hawk-Cuckoo, Japanese Quail, Wood Sandpiper, Spotted Munia, and Black-tailed Hawfinch. They are planning to run a railway through this area in the near future, what a loss; it is such a peaceful and pastoral setting. Land prices rule. While we were there a piece of land, just under 10 acres, brought a record 3 billion Hong Kong dollars; I believe that is something around 35 million an acre in US dollars.
Starling Inlet is the best place to see kingfishers, we saw Common, Pied, Black-capped, and White-breasted all in good numbers and close. The largest fresh water marsh is near Luk Keng, and a rookery in the bay can be viewed from the road. We also found our first Black Drongos there, and after that they were everywhere, a lot of birds moved in that day on a storm front.
I was to meet Samson at the Tai Po Ka Nature Reserve one morning, and it was pouring rain when I left. The driver put me out at the wrong car park, and I had to walk back down to the entrance, getting soaking wet by the time I got to the shelter. I was early, and when the rain stopped the trees filled with birds. Everyone had said the park had been dead all week. We found these birds at the entrance: Silver-eared Mesia (a brilliant bird in feather and song), Yellow-bellied and Yellow-cheeked Tits, the unbelievable Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Fork-tailed Sunbird (m & f), Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker (m & f), Common Tailorbird, with Scarlet and Grey-throated Minivet. The Hainan Blue Flycatcher (stunning male singing), Violet Whistling-Thrush (great looks in the sunlight -- a deep midnight blue with stars, this bird is easily seen around the University on Hong Kong Is.), and Great Barbets harassing a Crested Goshawk, were seen on the trails.
One day we walked from the tram station at the peak on Hong Kong Is. down to the University and then took a boat to Lamma Is. The walk down gave us Eye-browed Thrush, Black Thrush, Black-throated Laughing-Thrush, Blue Magpie, Yellow-crested Cockatoo, Hill and Common Myna. The trip to Lamma produced 2 White-bellied Sea Eagles, Kestrels, Chestnut Bulbul, and Blue Rock Thrush.
On the last trip to the floating hides, I sat with Paul Lau, a photographer with a couple of books to his credit, one on the butterflies of Hong Kong. We had the blind to ourselves and passed the time watching the tide slowly moving in and saying little, not wanting to disturb the peaceful panorama. Three Curlews, which fell in for a few minutes of sleep, turned out to be 2 Eurasian and one Australian (it was much larger, different colored and cleaner on the breast). . At last a Saunders's Gull in ratty immature plumage followed the tide just as it is supposed to do, hunting the edge as it crept toward us; it was to be the only gull I saw on the trip. At the great hide #6 four Nordmann's Greenshanks sat looking dumpy but sparkling white next to the numerous Common Greenshanks. An adult Ruff was found sleeping in the crowds
Other birds seen around Mai Po were: Intermediate Egret, Shelduck, Falcated Teal, Yellow-Nib Duck, Tufted Duck, Common and Baer's Pochard, Chinese Goshawk (migrating in groups), Spotted Dove, Rufous and Red Turtle Dove, Oriental, Plaintive, and Indian Cuckoo, Pacific and House Swift (also one evening 2 small all-dark swifts flew around the ponds), Crested, Chinese and Red-vented Bulbul, Black-browed, Oriental Reed Warblers, Chinese Bush Warbler, Dusky Warbler, Yellow Browed Warbler, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Red-throated Flycatcher (m & f), Japanese White-eye, Collared Crow, Jungle Crow, Silky Starling, Chinese Starling, Black-necked Starling, Yellow-fronted Canary, Masked, Little, Tristram's, Yellow-breasted and Reed Bunting, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Baya Weaver and White-backed Munia.
There are many details that I didn't have time to write in but if anyone would like to get in touch, I'll give you what I know. I'll be going back next year and will have some friends along. Get in touch at OLCOOT1@aol.com or (901) 388-6482. Don't try on weekends as I bird EVERY weekend...
Sites visited: Mai Po - Long Valley - Starling Inlet - Hong Kong Is. - Lamma Is. - Tai Po Ka - Tolo Harbor
Total species seen -- 173, a few of which have questionable status at present
Species heard only -- 2
SHOREBIRDS species seen -- 43
Not too bad for 4 full days and 2 half days birding
GREBES
Little Grebe -- Tachybaptus ruficollis
HERONS, EGRETS and BITTERNS
Purple Heron -- Ardea purpurea
Grey Heron -- A. cinerea
Chinese Pond Heron -- Ardeola bacchus
Night Heron -- Nycticorax nycticorax
Little Green Heron -- Butorides striatus
Little Egret -- Egretta garzetta
Cattle Egret -- Bubulcus ibis
Great Egret -- Egretta alba
Swinhoe's Egret -- E. eulophotes
Intermediate Egret -- E. intermedia
Reef Egret -- E. sacra
Yellow Bittern -- Ixobrychus sinensis
SPOONBILLS
European Spoonbill -- Platalea leucorodia
Black-faced Spoonbill -- P. minor
DUCKS
Shelduck -- Tadorna tadorna
Falcated Teal -- Anas falcata
Mallard -- A. platyrhynchos
Yellow-Nib Duck -- A. poecilorhyncha
No. Pintail -- A. acuta
No. Shoveler -- A. clypeata
Gadwall -- A. strepera
Eurasian Wigeon -- A. penelope
Eurasian Teal -- A. crecca
Garganey -- A. querquedula
Mandarin -- Aix galericulata
Tufted Duck -- Aythya fuligula
Common Pochard -- A. ferina
Baer's Pochard -- A. baeri
EAGLES and HAWKS
Black-Eared Kite -- Milvus lineatus
White-Bellied Sea-Eagle -- Haliaeetus leucogaster
Eastern Marsh Harrier -- Circus spilonotus
Osprey -- Pandion haliaetus
Crested Goshawk -- Accipiter trivirgatus
Chinese Goshawk -- A. soloensis
Kestrel -- Falco tinnunculus
QUAIL
Japanese Quail -- Coturnix japonica
RAILS and COOTS
White-Breasted Waterhen -- Amaurornis phoenicurus
Moorhen -- Gallinula chloropus
Coot (Eurasian) -- Fulica atra
Ruddy Crake -- Porzana fusca
SHOREBIRDS
Pied Avocet -- Recurvirostra avosetta
Black-Winged Stilt -- Himantopus himantopus
Little Ringed Plover -- Charadrius dubius
Kentish Plover -- C. alexandrinus
Greater Sand Plover -- C. leschenaultii
Lesser Sand Plover (Mongolian Plover) -- C. mongolus
Pacific Golden-Plover -- Pluvialis fulva
Grey Plover -- P. squatarola
Oriental Pratincole -- Glareola maldivarum
Ruddy Turnstone -- Arenaria interpres
Fantail Snipe (Common) -- Gallinago gallinago
Pintail Snipe -- G. stenura
Painted Snipe -- Rostratula benghalensis
Curlew (Eurasian) -- Numenius arquata orientalis
Australian Curlew -- N. madagascariensis
Whimbrel -- Numenius phaeopus
Black-Tailed Godwit -- Limosa limosa
Bar-Tailed Godwit -- L. lapponica
Asiatic Dowitcher -- Limnodromus semipalmatus
Common Sandpiper -- Actitis hypoleucos
Wood Sandpiper -- Tringa glareola
Green Sandpiper -- T. ochropus
Grey-Tailed Tattler -- T. brevipes
Ruff -- Philomachus pugnax
Terek Sandpiper -- Xenus cinereus
Common Redshank -- T. totanus
Spotted Redshank -- T. erythropus
Common Greenshank -- T. nebularia
Nordmann's Greenshank -- T. guttifer
Marsh Sandpiper -- T. stagnatilis
Great Knot -- Calidris tenuirostis
Red Knot -- C. canutus
Curlew Sandpiper -- C. ferruginea
Sanderling -- C. alba
Dunlin -- C. alpina
Long-Billed Dowitcher -- Limnodromus scolopaceus
Sharp-Tailed Sandpiper -- Calidris acuminata
Pectoral Sandpiper -- C. melanotus
Broad- Billed Sandpiper -- Limicola falcinellus
Red-Necked Stint -- Calidris ruficollis
Temminck's Stint -- C. temminckii
Long-Toed Stint -- C. subminuta
Spoon-Billed Sandpiper -- Eurynorhynchus pygmaeus
GULLS and TERNS
Saunders's' Gull -- Larus saundersi
Gull-Billed Tern -- Sterna nilotica
Caspian Tern -- S. caspia
PIGEONS and DOVES
Spotted Dove -- Streptopelia chinensis
Rufous Turtle-Dove -- S. orientalis
Red Turtle Dove -- S. tranquebarica
Feral Pigeon -- Columba livia
CUCKOOS and COUCALS
Oriental Cuckoo -- Cuculus saturatus
Large Hawk-Cuckoo -- C. sparverioides
Plaintive Cuckoo -- Cacomantis merulinus
Koel -- Eudynamis scolopacea
Indian Cuckoo -- Cuculus micropterus
Greater Coucal -- Centropus sinensis
BARBETS and PARROTS
Great Barbet -- Megalaima virens
Rose-Ringed Parakeet -- Psittacula karmeri
Yellow-Crested Cockatoo -- Cacatua sulphurea
KINGFISHERS
Pied Kingfisher -- Ceryle rudis
Common Kingfisher -- Alcedo atthis
Black-Capped Kingfisher -- Halcyon pileata
White-Breasted Kingfisher -- H. smyrnensis
SWIFTS and SWALLOWS
Pacific Swift -- Apus pacificus
House Swift -- A. nipalensis
Barn Swallow -- Hirundo rustica
Sand Martin -- Riparia riparia
SPARROWS
Eurasian Tree Sparrow -- Passer montanus
Baya Weaver -- Ploceus philippinus
PIPITS
Richard's Pipit -- Anthus richardi
Olive-Backed Pipit -- A. hodgsoni
Red-Throated Pipit -- A. cervinus
WAGTAILS
Yellow Wagtail -- Motacilla flava
(Green-backed, Blue-headed and Grey-headed races)
Grey Wagtail -- M. cinerea
White Wagtail -- M. alba
(Streak-eyed and White-faced races)
MINIVETS
Scarlet Minivet -- Pericrocotus flammeus
Grey-Throated Minivet -- P. solaris
BULBULS
Crested Bulbul -- Pycnonotus jocosus
Chinese Bulbul -- P. sinensis
Red-Vented Bulbul -- P. aurigaster
Chestnut Bulbul -- Hypsipetes castanonotus
THRUSHES
Magpie Robin -- Copsychus saularis
Siberian Stonechat -- Saxicola maura
Siberian Rubythroat -- Luscinia calliope
Bluethroat -- Luscinia svecica
Blue Rock-Thrush -- Monticola solitarius
Eye-browed Thrush -- Turdus obscurus
Violet Whistling Thrush -- Myiophoneus caeruleus
Blackbird -- Turdus merula
CISTICOLAS and PRINIAS
Fantail Warbler (Zitting Cisticola) -- Cisticola juncidis
Yellow-Bellied Prinia -- Prinia flaviventris
Plain Prinia -- P. inornata
OLD WORLD WARBLERS
Black-Browed Reed Warbler -- Acrocephalus bistrigiceps
Oriental Reed Warbler -- A. orientalis
Chinese Bush Warbler -- Cettia canturians
Dusky warbler -- Phylloscopus fuscatus
PHYLLOSCOPUS WARBLERS
Yellow-Browed Warbler -- P. inornatus
Common Tailorbird -- Orthotomus sutorius
FLYCATCHERS
Asian Brown Flycatcher -- Muscicapa daurica
Red-Throated Flycatcher -- Ficedula parva
Hainan Blue Flycatcher -- Cyornis hainana
BABBLERS
Silver-Eared Mesia -- Leiothrix argentauris
Black-Faced Laughing-Thrush -- Garrulax perspicillatus
Black-throated Laughing-Thrush -- G. chinensis
Hwamei -- G. canorus HEARD ONLY
TITS and NUTHATCHES
Great Tit -- Parus major
Yellow-Bellied Tit -- P. venustulus
Yellow-Cheeked Tit -- P. spilonotus
Velvet-Fronted Nuthatch -- Sitta frontalis
SUNBIRDS
Fork-Tailed Sunbird -- Aethopyga christinae
Scarlet-Backed Flowerpecker -- Dicaeum cruentatum
WHITE-EYES
Japanese White-Eye -- Zosterops japonica
SHRIKES
Rufous-Backed Shrike -- Lanius schach
(Also the Dusky Shrike, a melanistic variety of the above)
DRONGOS
Black Drongo -- Dicrurus macrocercus
CROWS
Grey Treepie -- Dendrocitta formosae HEARD ONLY
Magpie -- Pica pica
Blue Magpie -- Urocissa erythrorhyncha
Collared Crow -- Corvus torquatus