Site: Red River Island, Hanoi, Vietnam (Google Maps location)
Visits/days: 43 visits covering 42 days, between March 5th and May 16th
Months (days) visited: March (15), April (18), May (10).
Species recorded: 176
General notes: At least 90% of my time was spent in the North Wood and surrounding farmland/grassland at the northern tip of the island, with infrequent visits to other areas. Almost all of my visits were between the hours of 7.00am and 12.00pm, with a typical duration of between 2 and 3 hours. I was usually alone, but sometimes joined by other birders – most often Hung Le and Joy Ghosh.
In the table below, the second column indicates the number of visits on which the bird was recorded (out of 43). The third column is the high count for that species. The fourth column contains notes about a species’ status in the area, or other general comments. Thanks to Dave Sargeant (North Thailand Birding) for inspiration about how to present this information!
| Common Name | Number of Visits | High Count | Notes |
| Japanese Quail | 3 | 1 | Presumably a regular migrant |
| Little Grebe | 3 | 3 | Single group on pond along western edge |
| Asian Openbill | 3 | 42 | Occasional flocks soaring high to the east |
| Yellow Bittern | 1 | 1 | |
| Cinnamon Bittern | 2 | 1 | |
| Grey Heron | 4 | 9 | |
| Purple Heron | 2 | 1 | |
| Cattle Egret | 3 | 2 | |
| Chinese Pond Heron | 21 | 10 | |
| Striated Heron | 2 | 1 | |
| Black-crowned Night Heron | 1 | 11 | Single flock |
| Black-shouldered Kite | 26 | 2 | Resident pair |
| Oriental Honey Buzzard | 3 | 1 | |
| Jerdon’s Baza | 2 | 3 | Seen twice in April, coinciding with heavy passage at Tam Dao |
| Black Baza | 1 | 7 | Single flock |
| Grey-faced Buzzard | 8 | 4 | |
| Pied Harrier | 1 | 1 | Male |
| Crested Goshawk | 1 | 1 | |
| Chinese Sparrowhawk | 1 | 1 | Male |
| Japanese Sparrowhawk | 4 | 1 | |
| Black Kite | 1 | 1 | |
| White-breasted Waterhen | 7 | 3 | |
| Ruddy-breasted Crake | 3 | 2 | One seen, the others heard only |
| Common Moorhen | 3 | 2 | |
| Grey-headed Lapwing | 1 | 1 | |
| Red-wattled Lapwing | 1 | 1 | |
| Kentish Plover | 1 | 1 | |
| Little Ringed Plover | 21 | 4 | Presumably attempts to breed in the area |
| Common Sandpiper | 10 | 2 | |
| Green Sandpiper | 7 | 2 | Perhaps overwinters |
| Common Greenshank | 3 | 11 | |
| Barred Buttonquail | 8 | 2 | Scarce resident |
| Oriental Pratincole | 1 | 1 | |
| Rock Dove (feral) | 12 | 5 | |
| Oriental Turtle Dove | 14 | 4 | Regular migrant |
| Red Collared Dove | 16 | 10 | |
| Spotted Dove | 14 | 8 | |
| Wedge-tailed Pigeon | 4 | 2 | Photos show that these birds are all Wedge-tailed and not the perhaps more expected White-bellied |
| Chestnut-winged Cuckoo | 3 | 1 | |
| Large Hawk Cuckoo | 3 | 1 | |
| Hodgson’s Hawk Cuckoo | 2 | 1 | |
| Indian Cuckoo | 2 | 1 | Heard only |
| Common Cuckoo | 4 | 2 | Other “cuculus sp.” unidentified |
| Oriental Cuckoo | 4 | 1 | Other “cuculus sp.” unidentified |
| Plaintive Cuckoo | 40 | 6 | Common and vocal resident |
| Asian Koel | 2 | 1 | |
| Greater Coucal | 38 | 3 | Common resident |
| Lesser Coucal | 9 | 2 | Unclear whether resident or migrant |
| Northern Boobook | 1 | 1 | |
| Grey Nightjar | 3 | 1 | Three singles in North Wood |
| Large-tailed Nightjar | 1 | 1 | |
| Germain’s Swiftlet | 4 | 5 | |
| Asian Palm Swift | 3 | 2 | |
| Common Kingfisher | 7 | 2 | |
| White-throated Kingfisher | 1 | 1 | |
| Black-capped Kingfisher | 6 | 2 | |
| Pied Kingfisher | 21 | 5 | Presumably resident |
| Dollarbird | 2 | 1 | |
| Eurasian Wryneck | 2 | 1 | |
| Eurasian Kestrel | 3 | 2 | |
| Eurasian Hobby | 1 | 1 | |
| Peregrine | 1 | 1 | |
| Red-breasted Parakeet | 3 | 1 | Presumably escapee(s) |
| Ashy Woodswallow | 1 | 2 | |
| Ashy Minivet | 3 | 2 | |
| Rosy Minivet | 2 | 4 | Only in March |
| Black-winged Cuckooshrike | 6 | 2 | |
| Tiger Shrike | 4 | 1 | Only in May |
| Brown Shrike | 18 | 10 | Most numerous in May |
| Burmese Shrike | 21 | 10 | Recorded throughout the period |
| Long-tailed Shrike | 1 | 1 | |
| Black-naped Oriole | 14 | 10 | Fairly common migrant, often with drongos |
| Black Drongo | 8 | 12 | Many drongos in banana plantations not specifically identified |
| Ashy Drongo | 24 | 15 | Common migrant, some individuals of leucogenis and salangensis races |
| Crow-billed Drongo | 7 | 5 | Late April onwards. Presumably a regular late season migrant but difficult to tell from other drongos at a distance |
| Hair-crested Drongo | 19 | 65 | Common migrant |
| Greater Racket-tailed Drongo | 1 | 1 | Recorded in March, well before the start of other drongo passage |
| White-throated Fantail | 19 | 3 | Resident in the Hanoi area |
| Black-naped Monarch | 26 | 5 | |
| Amur Paradise-Flycatcher | 3 | 2 | Scarce migrant in late April/early May |
| Blyth’s Paradise-Flycatcher | 4 | 1 | Passage at same time as Amur |
| Red-billed Blue Magpie | 20 | 5 | Resident in the area, numbers apparently decreased from 5 to about 2 during the period |
| Racket-tailed Treepie | 1 | 1 | |
| Grey-throated Martin | 22 | 60 | Fairly common resident |
| Barn Swallow | 30 | 12 | Common migrant |
| Red-rumped Swallow | 13 | 15 | Regular migrant |
| Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher | 10 | 5 | Late March/early April |
| Japanese Tit | 15 | 2 | Resident |
| Chinese Penduline Tit | 1 | 2 | Regularly winters in area but hard to locate |
| Red-whiskered Bulbul | 18 | 12 | |
| Light-vented Bulbul | 21 | 15 | |
| Sooty-headed Bulbul | 27 | 10 | |
| Black Bulbul | 1 | 1 | White-headed race, in early March |
| Pale-footed Bush Warbler | 4 | 3 | Only located when singing, so others perhaps overlooked |
| Asian Stubtail | 12 | 3 | Regular early season migrant |
| Manchurian Bush Warbler | 4 | 1 | Presumably regular migrant |
| Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler | 1 | 1 | Probably overlooked due to very skulking habits |
| Dusky Warbler | 38 | 15 | Common migrant |
| Radde’s Warbler | 17 | 3 | Regularly seen, especially late in the season |
| Pallas’s Leaf Warbler | 1 | 1 | |
| Yellow-browed Warbler | 34 | 10 | Commonly seen until late April |
| Arctic Warbler | 10 | 8 | Not seen before end of April |
| Pale-legged Leaf Warbler | 7 | 1 | |
| Eastern Crowned Warbler | 8 | 3 | |
| Claudia’s Leaf Warbler | 17 | 2 | Common migrant in small numbers in March and April |
| Sulphur-breasted Warbler | 4 | 1 | Mainly in March |
| Grey-crowned Warbler | 2 | 2 | Many seicercus warblers didn’t call and therefore remained unidentified |
| Bianchi’s Warbler | 2 | 1 | Many seicercus warblers didn’t call and therefore remained unidentified |
| Thick-billed Warbler | 18 | 12 | Infrequently seen until early May when it became very common |
| Oriental Reed Warbler | 5 | 1 | |
| Black-browed Reed Warbler | 25 | 12 | Common migrant |
| Lanceolated Warbler | 2 | 1 | Probably overlooked due to very skulking habits |
| Baikal Bush Warbler | 1 | 1 | |
| Zitting Cisticola | 40 | 7 | Very common resident |
| Common Tailorbird | 40 | 5 | Very common resident |
| Yellow-bellied Prinia | 43 | 20 | Abundant resident |
| Plain Prinia | 43 | 20 | Abundant resident |
| Chestnut-flanked White-eye | 2 | 2 | Only in March |
| Japanese White-eye | 38 | 40 | Migrant/resident status unclear |
| Masked Laughingthrush | 19 | 4 | Resident in the area |
| White-crested Laughingthrush | 4 | 2 | Presumably escapees |
| Black-throated Laughingthrush | 2 | 1 | Presumably escapee(s) |
| Chinese Hwamei | 3 | 2 | Probably escapees |
| Blue-winged Minla | 1 | 1 | Presumably escapee |
| Dark-sided Flycatcher | 11 | 3 | |
| Asian Brown Flycatcher | 19 | 8 | |
| Grey-streaked Flycatcher | 2 | 1 | Individual for a few days in May |
| Oriental Magpie Robin | 1 | 1 | Surprisingly rare |
| Hainan Blue Flycatcher | 12 | 4 | Common early season migrant |
| Hill Blue Flycatcher | 12 | 3 | Common early season migrant |
| Blue-and-White Flycatcher | 6 | 2 | |
| Rufous-tailed Robin | 1 | 1 | Presumably regular migrant but very skulking |
| Japanese Robin | 1 | 1 | |
| Siberian Blue Robin | 4 | 2 | Very skulking here |
| Bluethroat | 10 | 2 | Presumably winters |
| Siberian Rubythroat | 25 | 5 | Common migrant and probable winterer |
| Blue Whistling Thrush | 6 | 2 | Both yellow-billed and dark-billed races seen |
| Yellow-rumped Flycatcher | 13 | 3 | Late April onwards |
| Green-backed Flycatcher | 1 | 1 | Male in April |
| Mugimaki Flycatcher | 14 | 4 | |
| Slaty-blue Flycatcher | 1 | 1 | One individual in March |
| Taiga Flycatcher | 31 | 10 | One of the few species that tolerates banana plantations |
| White-throated Rock Thrush | 4 | 1 | Two individuals (1m, 1f) |
| Siberian Stonechat | 36 | 15 | Last recorded at the beginning of May |
| Pied Bushchat | 1 | 1 | Male in March |
| Grey Bushchat | 1 | 1 | |
| Siberian Thrush | 1 | 1 | Adult male |
| Orange-headed Thrush | 2 | 1 | Two individuals |
| Grey-backed Thrush | 6 | 1 | |
| Black-breasted Thrush | 1 | 1 | |
| Japanese Thrush | 8 | 6 | Regular in March |
| Eyebrowed Thrush | 4 | 7 | Not seen outside of April |
| Daurian Starling | 1 | 1 | Female in March |
| Great Myna | 1 | 2 | |
| Crested Myna | 3 | 2 | |
| Olive-backed Sunbird | 2 | 2 | |
| Forest Wagtail | 4 | 3 | |
| Eastern Yellow Wagtail | 2 | 2 | |
| Citrine Wagtail | 11 | 12 | |
| Grey Wagtail | 4 | 1 | |
| White Wagtail | 16 | 6 | |
| Richard’s Pipit | 27 | 6 | Common migrant |
| Paddyfield Pipit | 34 | 8 | Common resident |
| Olive-backed Pipit | 19 | 13 | One of the few species that tolerates banana plantations |
| Red-throated Pipit | 12 | 7 | |
| Crested Bunting | 3 | 1 | Two different individuals seen |
| Tristram’s Bunting | 6 | 2 | Fairly regular in March but skulking |
| Little Bunting | 12 | 10 | |
| Yellow-breasted Bunting | 6 | 7 | Long-staying flock in dead cornfield |
| Chestnut Bunting | 2 | 1 | |
| Black-faced Bunting | 13 | 4 | Only in March |
| Common Rosefinch | 2 | 3 | |
| Oriental Greenfinch | 11 | 35 | Erratic |
| Eurasian Tree Sparrow | 34 | 40 | |
| White-rumped Munia | 12 | 8 | |
| Scaly-breasted Munia | 37 | 40 |
The following additional species were among those reported by other observers during the same period: Yellow-legged Buttonquail, Short-eared Owl, Blue-throated Bee-eater, Swinhoe’s Minivet, and Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher.
Dom the Birder 