Newsletter No. 35

No35 October 1992 CUHK Newsletter Crested Bulbul, Magpie Robin and Japanese White-eye, which are all abundant in Hong Kong. In addition a number of birds with more specialized requirements, such as the nectardrinking Fork-tailed Sunbird, and the Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, which feeds only on certain berries, are more common on campus than in many other parts of Hong Kong. People are usually surprised to learn that several pairs of Collared Scops Owls, which take rodents and large insects, are also resident on campus. As far as I know, no one has yet published a list of campus birds. A plausible list would probably contain about 100 species, comp r i s i ng something like 35 resident species, 35 winter visitors, 15 spring or autumn migrants, and 12 summer visitors. In addition, there must be a further 30 or 40 species that have been irregularly recorded. With a large pond, a well-wooded stream and plenty of mature trees, Chung Chi provides the best habitat for birds on the campus. The area behind the chapel attracts migrants in autumn and spring, while the pond and the quiet road behind the canteen provide the best spots for birdwatching in winter. Before their destruction this summer, the trees beside the chapel also attracted both wintering and resident birds. On the other side of the campus, the hillside beside Residence Road and below Shaw College seems to hold a good number of summer visitors, with the six breeding species of cuckoos which arrive from mid-March to early June being especially vocal in this area. From the top of the campus at New Asia and United College, there are opportunities for raptor-watching, particularly in winter when up to 50 Black Kites which have spent the day in the Tolo Harbour area usually gather together in the last hour of daylight over this part of the campus to gain height before f l y i ng over Sha Tin to join the b i g k i te roost on Stonecutter's Island. There are maybe half a dozen students and three or four faculty members for whom bird- watching is an important activity. Not very many. Hopefully, this number will rapidly increase with the publication early next year of a Chinese edition of Birds of Hong Kong, Richard Lewthwaite, instructor in the English Language Teaching Unit, is an active member of the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society. He loves wildlife and started watching birds on the CUHK campus three years ago. Birds resting ontreetop-acommonsceneonthecampus. Nests of House Swifts under the eaves of the University Library. 5