Buntings Galore at Long Valley

Buntings are still coming through in good numbers, with Long Valley being THE place to be to see them, although with so many paddies to choose from and the fact that they don't harvest the rice anymore, it becomes much harder to see these most wanted birds. Still, with a bit of patience you get to see them in their full glory. Yellow-breasted Bunting is still by far the most 'common' bunting there, to the delight of most visiting birders.

Yellow-breasted Bunting - male

Yellow-breasted Bunting - female

A supporting cast of Little, Chestnut-eared and Black-headed Buntings also frequent the paddies, with there being at least two Black-headed Buntings. There's been a few rarer buntings turning up on few occasions, but I never saw any of those.

Little Bunting

Chestnut-eared Bunting

Black-headed Bunting - 1st individual

Black-headed Bunting - 2nd individual

The female Common Rosefinch occasionally shows up, it can fake all it want but it is never becoming a bunting.

Common Rosefinch - female

Red-throated Pipits are now back in good numbers. A few Eurasian Skylarks have been frequenting the dry fields, being a relatively less common bird than the pipits, they certainly draw more interest then the pipits.

Red-throated Pipit - female

Eurasian Skylark

Not a rare bird by any means, but a rather interesting looking Spotted Dove caught my interest, no doubt a leucistic bird that gives it this odd creamy colour.

Spotted Dove - leucisitic

Here are a couple of most commonly seen waders at Long Valley, the humble looking Wood Sandpiper, the rather elegant Marsh Sandpiper and numerous Common Snipes.

Wood Sandpiper

Marsh Sandpiper

Common Snipe

The White-throated Kingfisher is probably the most common species of kingfisher at Long Valley, though a very common species I do try my best to stop and appreciate them each time.

White-throated Kingfisher

I've noticed a slight resurgence of Oriental Magpies around New Territories, they really are under appreciated by many, freshly cut fields at Long Valley attracts them to come and forage.

Oriental Magpie

Amur Stonechat is another highly under appreciated species, their constant presence in the winter months makes birding more enjoyable.

Amur Stonechat - female

Over at Ma Tso Lung, other than the common Long-tailed Shrike, a long staying adult Brown Shrike have also been showing well, although keeping its distance with people.

Long-tailed Shrike

Brown Shrike

At San Tin, a Black-winged Kite can often be seen patrolling the area, this small raptor have become quite a species I see almost every time I go out in recent years. Eastern Buzzards can now be seen in fairly good numbers.

Black-winged Kite

Eastern Buzzard

Flocks of White-cheeked, Red-billed and White-shouldered Starlings now frequent the fish ponds, sometimes in decent size flocks. Red Collared Doves are also easily seen around the fish ponds during the winter months. A Siberian Pipit was spotted feeding on one of the dried pond, although it didn't stay very long.

White-cheeked Starling

Red Collared Dove - male

Siberian Pipit

Over at Mai Po, ducks numbers are up, including many Eastern Spot-billed Ducks. Chinese Penduline Tits are finally back after a long wait, they were quite late this year, but it was nice to finally see them back at their usual spot. A Great Bittern flew by the tower hide while I was enjoying a nice flock of Black-faced Spoonbills with two guests, a pleasant sight to see this usually secretive bird back wintering here again.

Eastern Spot-billed Duck

Chinese Penduline Tit - female

Great Bittern

November is also a great time to look for Manchurian Reed Warblers, usually a few amongst the dozens of Black-browed Reed Warblers at Fung Lok Wai. I counted at least four birds in one morning, they are not the easiest to pick out from the Black-browed Reed Warblers, but their seemingly larger bill, and brighter colour on the back, rump and tail often gives it away.

Black-browed Reed Warbler

Manchurian Reed Warbler

Fung Lok Wai is also a great place to look for Buntings, I had a few Yellow-breasted along with a few Little and Black-faced Buntings, although only a Yellow-breasted Bunting allowed for a closer inspection. The reeds here are also frequented by Yellow Bitterns, which can often be seen perched on the side of the pond for any birders care to scan through the reeds.

Yellow-breasted Bunting - female

Yellow Bittern

Tai Po Kau Returning to Form and Northern Boobook at Ho Man Tin

Tai Po Kau's been somewhat disappointing throughout this autumn, with very few migrants around and even the residents were tough at times. More migrants seems to finally be passing through, as I saw an Amur Paradise Flycatcher one day, and a few days later a pair of Black Paradise Flycatchers.

Black Paradise Flycatcher

More warblers have returned, including Hartert's Leaf Warblers and Sulphur-breasted Warblers, a Hume's Warbler was also heard, I even saw a warbler of the Golden-spectacled complex, none of which I was able to get a photo, a few Eastern Crowned Warblers were more cooperative.

Eastern Crowned Warbler

A male White-rumped Shama showed briefly, other good resident species includes Speckled Piculet and Black Bulbuls.

White-rumped Shama - male

Speckled Piculet

Black Bulbul

I had two encounters with the Pygmy Cupwings, one dark morph and one pale morph, both showed very well and allowed great views!

Pygmy Cupwing - dark morph

Pygmy Cupwing - pale morph

Down at Tai Po Kau Park I even had two Swinhoe's Minivets one morning, not a species I see here very often!

Swinhoe's Minivet

A Flycatcher at picnic area two caught me off guard, it was seen very high up in the trees, and did not call. The wing bars had me thinking it could be an Ultramarine Flycatcher at first, I didn't get a good view as it was very far away, and light was terrible. Only when I edit the photos in the computer that it was clearly not an Ultramarine Flycatcher, but more likely a Taiga Flycatcher. It was honestly a bit of an odd place to see it, as I usually see them lower down and not so high up.

Taiga Flycatcher

Other common residents and wintering birds often make a visit to Tai Po Kau worth while, especially if you can get good views of them. Here are a good selection of the birds that showed well lately.

Blue-winged Minla

Black-throated Laughingthrush

Besra

Blue Whistling Thrush

Great Barbet

Grey-chinned Minivet - male

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker - male

Fire-breasted Flowerpecker - male

Fire-breasted Flowerpecker - female

Fork-tailed Sunbird - male

Ashy Drongo - race leucogensis

Yellow-cheeked Tit - male

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

White-bellied Erpornis

Over at Shek Kong Catchwater, you get a similar set of birds, but the Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher here never seems to disappoint, and two are already back here and likely will be staying for the winter.

Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher

Another good bird returning to Shek Kong Catchwater are Eurasian Siskins, this species seems to return here annually, although most of the time views are distant, like this time.

Eurasian Siskins

Amur Falcons are still migrating through currently, its been such a good year for them that they almost seem common on some days, although good close views was still by no means guarantee anywhere. I had a few at my survey site, and they provided fairly good views. A few juveniles were seen on the ground, and an adult male was seen perched.

Amur Falcon - juvenile

Amur Falcon - male

A long staying Northern Boobook at Ho Man Tin created quite the excitement amongst birders and photographers alike. I didn't have time to visit it before, but finally had a few hours free one day and decided to pay it a visit. It's been a long time since I last seen one in Hong Kong, and it would be a shame if I missed this one. In the short hour I was there, it provided a few of fun moments in-between its slumber. Some reported photographers playing call and shaking trees trying to get it to open its eyes, I was glad that none of that happened while I was there, everyone was well behaved and kept relatively quiet most of the time.

Northern Boobook

I had a few final night walks before the season end, and each yielded a certain degree of success. The Heller's Red-necked Keelback was not seen during a night walk, but during a birding tour, seen feeding on a Brown Tree Frog, which was still alive!

Heller's Red-necked Keelback swallowing Brown Tree Frog

Two other notable snakes seen were a friendly Greater Green Snake plus a Large-spotted Cat Snake, the latter a species I seldomly see! This tiny juvenile was quite the character and provided a wonderful encounter.

Greater Green Snake

Large-spotted Cat Snake

A species I did not expect to see during this season was a Romer's Tree Frog, usually difficult to find outside of their breeding season, as they are not vocal, this one was just found along the footpath! For anyone who doesn't know, Romer's Tree Frog is our only endemic species of frog in Hong Kong.

Romer's Tree Frog

Seeing Tokay Gecko is always fun, and we saw quite a few that evening, these large colourful geckos are full of character and quite a shock for people seeing them the first time, as they really are massive!

Tokay Gecko

Finally, another one not from the night walks, a Burmese Python found swallowing a Grey Heron at Mai Po! Not something you see everyday!

Burmese Python swallowing Grey Heron