Franklin's Gull - the pair of American vagrant
First bird I saw was one of the now resident pair of Asian Barred Owlets along the access path past AFCD warden's post. It wasn't difficult to pick out and allowed quite good views. Not a bad start to the day at all!
Asian Barred Owlet - one of the most easily seen Owl species in Hong Kong
I was soon sitting at the new bird hide out at Deep Bay mud flat. Not a lot to see as the tide was still way out, so I took some time looking at fiddlers crabs and mud skippers; both staples for the numerous waders at here. They are themselves quite entertaining to watch, especially the mudskippers. They are quite territorial and will fight over good burrows, where you will see them "waving their flags" as a warning display to scare off any potential rivals. If the warning is ignored they will engage in mud wrestling.
Fiddlers Crab
Mudskippers
A few birds showed up later on, mostly common waders including Greater Sand Plovers, Grey Plovers, Whimbrels and Terek Sandpipers. They kept me well entertained. A few Grey-tailed Tattlers were also feeding close to the bird hide, this is a typical migrant wader here in Hong Kong, it's the right time to see them right now.
Greater Sand Plover
Grey Plover
Whimbrel
Terek Sandpiper
Grey-tailed Tattler
One of the most unusual sighting of the day, a Purple Heron flew out from the mangroves and landed right on the mud-flat. This species rarely ventures out from cover, so I wasn't too sure what this one was planning on doing, it certainly looked out of place. Gull-billed Terns were still in good numbers, a few show-off their aerobatic skills in front of the hide, snatching up food from the ground in mid-flight. There were still a few Caspian Terns around, but most have already moved on.
Purple Heron - an unusual setting for this species
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
A few Ruddy Turnstones came close to the bird hide, this is another passage migrant wader. A colourful species (waders standard), they certainly are eye-catching. They look for little snails in the mud and swallows them whole.
Ruddy Turnstone
A pair of Pied Kingfisher kept flying about, the male kept giving the female "gifts", so no doubt they are a breeding pair. This behaviour is not uncommon amongst birds, it's safe to say that birds do understand romance. It's a shame I missed the moment the male delivered the fish to the female, but as you can see, it was quite a big gift, it took the female a few tries to swallow it whole.
Pied Kingfisher
As the tide came closer, smaller waders became more visible. Curlew Sandpipers, which most have now transformed into their rufous breeding plumage are easy to pick out from the crowd. A few Long-toed Stints fed along the waterline. Red-necked Stints also gathered to feed along with Broad-billed Sandpipers. I picked up a single Sanderling amongst the group, it's very "white" compare to other small waders.
Curlew Sandpiper
Long-toed Stint
Red-necked Stint
Broad-billed Sandpipers
Flock of smaller waders
Sanderling
A Little Tern came by shortly. I have always liked this tiny tern, as with all terns they are quite elegant, yet they have this kind of playfulness to their character which makes them very likeable.
Little Tern
Finally, my main target of the day. The pair of Franklin's didn't disappoint, although staying quite far, this view was still much better then my last, and to see two at the same time was incredible! They are now moulting into their breeding plumage, so picking them out from the crowd was not that difficult. One of the Gull later took flight and circled around for quite some time, calling constantly. The pair soon flew off into the distance. I do wonder whether this pair will find their way home, even if they do stay, it's highly unlikely that they will find anywhere suitable for nesting here in Hong Kong...
Franklin's Gull - now assuming breeding plumage
Franklin's Gull - in flight
A strange looking large Gull was terrorising other birds, can't quite figure out what exactly it is but it seems to be some type of hybrid? It surely got a bad temper though as it chased the egrets around trying to snatch the fish out of one of the egret's beak. A big bully indeed. Other egrets and the remaining Spoonbills couldn't care less and was focusing on a feeding frenzy.
Hybrid Gull?
Black-faced Spoonbills & Egrets - feeding frenzy!
I headed back out to the scrapes, passing the Great Egret colony once again. They seems to be doing quite well, there seems to be a few chicks in the nests. I saw quite a few carrying nesting materials back to the colony as well. The displaying egrets are always fun to watch.
Great Egret - "surely you know you are not a peacock?"
The waders weren't particularly close at scrape 16/17, I did manage to spot a Nordmann's Greenshank but it was too far for any decent photographs. There were however quite a lot of Pale Martins feeding along the pond. As I was photographing the Martins I saw a small swift amongst the flock, a quick look reveal it to be a Himalayan Swiftlet! I have a much better look this time and even managed a few record shot of this quick species.
Pale Martin
Himalayan Swiftlet
The Pacific Golden Plovers at the scrape weren't particularly close, but their beautiful breeding plumage sure make them stand out from the crowd. There were a flock of Red-necked Stints there but was scared off by a Black Kite before I have time to scan through them for any possible Spoonbilled Sandpipers...Later on my way out I saw a pair of Little Grebes, a closer look reveals that it was a parent tending to it's young.
Pacific Golden Plover
Little Grebe - juvenile
On my way out at Mai Po Access Road, Whiskered Terns filled up the skies above the fish ponds. It's such a typical view this time of the year. I spotted one or two Little Terns along with them. And they provided a wonderful ending to such a fulfilling day.
Whiskered Tern
Little Tern
