If you’d told me when I moved to Hanoi at the end of February that I would find myself living just a 10-minute cycle ride away from one of the best birding spots I have ever experienced, I wouldn’t have believed you.

The Red River is a major migratory flyway which passes through the heart of this noisy, polluted, crowded city. There isn’t much space for birds here – urban development is rife, and most of the land that hasn’t yet been built upon has been given over to high-intensity agricultural fields and banana plantations, neither of which are very good for birds.

However, on the “Red River Island” (which is actually only an island in the wet season), a few small pockets of undisturbed habitat remain. Foremost among these is a small wood, only about two hectares in size, which offers practically the only decent cover for migrant birds for many miles around. Combined with nearby patches of remnant tall grassland, this area is an oasis in the urban sprawl for tired migrants as they follow the course of the river.

I’ve been visiting the area since early March, with a running total of 11 visits spread over 20 days, and have so far recorded an impressive 104 bird species. The best area by far is the small wood, but I’ve visited other parts of the island too, and depending on time I quite often check out an area of swampy ponds halfway along the western edge as well as the wood.

I’ll start with some of the “silly” birds I’ve seen in the wood. The other day, there were two Wedge-tailed Green Pigeons in there – quite what they were doing so far away from their preferred habitat of montane forest is anyone’s guess. This morning, I flushed a Grey Nightjar on two occasions, even managing to get a very poor photo of it perched in a bush. A small flock of Red-billed Blue Magpies is resident, they usually fly in from the north-west and pass through the wood before disappearing – where do they go? – it seems remarkable that they can survive here. Equally baffling, a small flock of Masked Laughingthrushes have been regularly seen for at least a year, and have reportedly even bred – given the amount of bird poaching and trapping that occurs in Vietnam, it’s amazing that they are still alive. The local Red-breasted Parakeet could have hopped out of a cage, but the fairly frequent Blue Whistling Thrushes – of both the yellow-billed and dark-billed races – may well be genuine wanderers.

The birds here can make you feel like you’re in some remote montane forest a long way from the city. Bianchi’s Warbler, Claudia’s Leaf Warbler, Sulphur-breasted Warbler, White-throated Fantail, Black-naped Monarch, Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher, Rosy Minivet, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo and Chestnut-flanked White-eye are just some of the forest birds that I’ve encountered in the wood so far.

Other species are perhaps a little more expected as migrants here. I hear thrushes on every visit, but they are invariably very wary, and masters of melting away into the treetops. The majority of those I have seen have turned out to be Japanese Thrushes, but I have also notched up several very smart Grey-backed Thrushes and one Black-breasted Thrush. Judging by past reports, flycatchers are something of a specialty here – these start to appear in mid-March, with several beautiful Blue-and-White Flycatchers during my last couple of visits as well as long-staying male Hainan Blue and Hill Blue Flycatchers. I’m looking forward to the prospect of encountering a wide variety of spring-plumaged flycatchers during the peak month of April.

No trip to the wood would be complete without spending a while trying to track down some skulkers. You get the feeling that almost anything could be lurking in the quite dense undergrowth under the trees, with “tick”, “tack”, “tseep” and “churr” calls often heard deep within the thickets. Some of the easier birds to find – with patience! – include Dusky Warbler, Asian Stubtail and Siberian Rubythroat, while others I have been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of include Rufous-tailed Robin, Manchurian Bush-Warbler, Brownish-Flanked Bush Warbler, and fairly regular Tristram’s Bunting.

Yellow-bellied Prinias and Common Tailorbirds are annoyingly common in the undergrowth – the usual rule of thumb seems to be that if you can actually see it, it’s probably going to turn out to be one of these two!

Outside the wood, towards the northern end of the island, a few patches of tall grassland remain, although this is being rapidly encroached by agricultural land. A few days ago, I saw two Chinese Penduline Tits here – this species has overwintered in the Red River area in previous years, but its official status is rare vagrant to the south-east Asia region. I’ve also seen Crested Bunting in this area twice in the past week, apparently two different individuals. There is a small pond here which occasionally has a lingering Pied Kingfisher or Green Sandpiper. On one occasion, I was very surprised when a Baikal Bush Warbler popped out of the grass right at my feet, even allowing me to take a photo – a rare opportunity indeed, as this locustella is known to be a master skulker!

I have marked the location of the wood on this Google Maps link .

Another worthwhile spot for those with the time is an area of grassland and ponds along the western edge of the island. Citrine Wagtail, Red-throated Pipit and Bluethroat always seem to be hanging around, and I’ve also had crippling views of Lanceolated Warbler, Common Rosefinch, and Little Bunting among other goodies. The general area on Google Maps is here.

One fly in the ointment of the Red River Island is – predictably in Vietnam – the activities of bird poachers here. Bird traps and mist nets are commonly encountered, especially near the ponds along the western edge, and I’ve also come across poachers mist-netting in the small wood. Their main targets appear to be munias (in the traps) and white-eyes (in the nets), but surprisingly there are still plenty of Scaly-breasted Munias and Japanese White-eyes on the island despite the extensive trapping.

I hope this short account of the wonders of the Red River Island will encourage other birders to visit this spring. If you come, do let me know what you see! (and submit your sightings on eBird).

Full List of Birds Seen at Red River Island, Hanoi, March 5th-25th 2016:

1. Grey Heron
2. Chinese Pond Heron
3. Black-shouldered Kite
4. Grey-faced Buzzard
5. Crested Goshawk
6. Black Kite
7. Peregrine
8. White-breasted Waterhen
9. Ruddy-breasted Crake (heard only)
10. Eurasian Moorhen
11. Red-wattled Lapwing
12. Little Ringed Plover
13. Common Sandpiper
14. Green Sandpiper
15. Barred Buttonquail
16. Feral Pigeon
17. Oriental Turtle Dove
18. Spotted Dove
19. Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon
20. Plaintive Cuckoo
21. Asian Koel
22. Greater Coucal
23. Lesser Coucal
24. Grey Nightjar
25. Common Kingfisher
26. Pied Kingfisher
27. Red-breasted Parakeet
28. Rosy Minivet
29. Brown Shrike
30. Burmese Shrike
31. Long-tailed Shrike
32. Black Drongo
33. Ashy Drongo
34. Greater Racket-tailed Drongo
35. White-throated Fantail
36. Black-naped Monarch
37. Red-billed Blue Magpie
38. Grey-throated Martin
39. Barn Swallow
40. Red-rumped Swallow
41. Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher
42. Japanese Tit
43. Chinese Penduline Tit
44. Red-whiskered Bulbul
45. Sooty-headed Bulbul
46. Light-vented Bulbul
47. Black Bulbul
48. Asian Stubtail
49. Manchurian Bush-Warbler
50. Brownish-flanked Bush-Warbler
51. Dusky Warbler
52. Radde’s Warbler
53. Pallas’s Warbler
54. Yellow-browed Warbler
55. Claudia’s Leaf Warbler
56. Sulphur-breasted Warbler
57. Bianchi’s Warbler
58. Thick-billed Warbler
59. Oriental Reed Warbler
60. Black-browed Reed Warbler
61. Lanceolated Warbler
62. Baikal Bush-Warbler
63. Zitting Cisticola
64. Common Tailorbird
65. Yellow-bellied Prinia
66. Plain Prinia
67. Japanese White-eye
68. Chestnut-flanked White-eye
69. Masked Laughingthrush
70. Hainan Blue Flycatcher
71. Hill Blue Flycatcher
72. Blue-and-White Flycatcher
73. Taiga Flycatcher
74. Rufous-tailed Robin
75. Bluethroat
76. Siberian Rubythroat
77. Siberian Stonechat
78. Pied Bushchat
79. Grey Bushchat
80. Blue Whistling Thrush
81. Japanese Thrush
82. Black-breasted Thrush
83. Grey-backed Thrush
84. Daurian Starling
85. Crested Myna
86. Great Myna
87. Olive-backed Sunbird
88. Citrine Wagtail
89. Manchurian Yellow Wagtail
90. White Wagtail
91. Grey Wagtail
92. Richard’s Pipit
93. Paddyfield Pipit
94. Red-throated Pipit
95. Olive-backed Pipit
96. Crested Bunting
97. Tristram’s Bunting
98. Little Bunting
99. Black-faced Bunting
100. Common Rosefinch
101. Oriental Greenfinch
102. Eurasian Tree Sparrow
103. Scaly-breasted Munia
104. White-rumped Munia