A MOBBING SCENE

Red-whiskered Bulbul by Yurie Ball

(October 20th HTT) Well, I take it all back, Huay Tung Tao has shot back into ascendency over Mae Hia. Of course there are always going to be ups and downs but today was certainly on the upswing for HTT. It was helped by a mobbing scene, I never got a look at the cause of this unruly behaviour but it was probably an Asian Barred Owlet. Some of the more interesting participants of the mob scene were the Yellow-vented Flowerpecker, Black-naped Monarch, Violet Cuckoo and Golden-fronted Leafbird. There were about another 10-12 more common species taking part, it was bedlam. The Red-whiskered Bulbul is usually the bird that alerts me to this blatant harassment of owls. He has a very distinctive mobbing call and is usually the first on the scene.

One returnee today and that was the Two-barred Warbler and on checking last years result it returned on the same day. Another migrant warbler that proved interesting today was the Dusky Warbler. It was singing. Usually it saves its voice for when it gets to its northern breeding ground but just sometimes it will sing just before leaving and for a short while on getting back. It’s a simple song but very pleasing to the ear. Otherwise it just has a monotonous tik-tik tik call varying in pitch and separation, a little softer than the Thick-billed Warbler’s call. Another familiar call to be heard around HTT is the call of the Lineated Barbet. It starts off with resounding bubbling notes and then will burst out into a loud repetitive koh-tob, always a pleasure to hear.

Some other birds seen today were the Eurasian Jay, Blue Magpie, Indian Roller, Crested Honey-Buzzard, Pompadour Pigeon, Black-capped Kingfisher, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Eurasian Wryneck and the Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker. Total count for the morning was 62 seen and 6 identified by call.