Taiwan Dec2016

Spent a short, but enjoyable week in my home country finding the familiar Asian bird species. Some are even the same individuals that I've seen several times in the past years.

Dec 27, 2016
Chiayi County

A few bee farms in southern Taiwan have been putting out bee combs for the honey-buzzards so they visit daily.

Oriental Honey-Buzzard

Honey-Buzzards are highly variable depending on their morphs. The females have light-colored irises like the two individuals photographed.

The head is small especially when viewed from below.

 Dark morph

 light morph

Dec 28

Taipei Botanical Garden

Black-crowned Night-Heron

 Malayan Night-Heron

strangely this common bird in Taiwan is seen much more rarely in Malaysia. Couldn't find a single Malayan Night-Heron during my 4 trips to Sabah, 1trip to Sarawak, and 1 trip to Peninsular Malaysia.

Little Egret

 Common Moorhens

on a water fountain

 White-breasted Waterhen

 Oriental Turtle-Dove

 Vinous-throated Parrotbill

 Nutmeg Mannikin / Scaly-breasted Munia

 Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Dec 29

Taipei Botanical Garden

Collared Scops-Owl

These small owls have been breeding here for years, and they are almost always in the same trees. This is a first-year juvenile.

 Grey Wagtail

wagging its tail on a lilly pad

Dec 30

Yilan County

Tufted Duck

Black-faced Spoonbill

The Black-faced Spoonbill with a population of less than 3000 is listed as endangered by the IUCN. The mass majority of them winter in southwestern Taiwan, but about 20 of them choose to go to the Northeast county of Yilan. This year I counted 18, with 2 banded birds known to come to the same general area every year. Both K69 and S26 were banded in South Korea

K69 has been here every year since at least the end of 2010.

S26 is also a yearly visitor for many years now 

 Great Egrets and Black-faced Spoonbill

 Great Egret

 egrets (Intermediate and Great)

 Black-winged Stilt

 Common Sandpiper and Eurasian Coot

 Common Snipe

 Kentish Plover

same species as the Snowy Plover

 Little Ringed Plover

 Long-toed Stint

A lifer for me

 Marsh Sandpiper and Common Greenshank

 Wood Sandpiper

 White Wagtail

 Grey Wagtail

 Plaintive Cuckoo

This rare migrant only stood on the wire for a few seconds while I was looking at the spoonbills so I only got this blurry photo through the windshield. Its call is a distinctive 8 syllable song often heard in Southeast Asian rainforests but it is not easily seen.

This one was photographed in Sarawak, Malaysia in 2013