February have been a tough month for birding for me, after countless birdless outings and failed twitches, I half gave up looking for particular bird and just looked at whatever came my way. Quite a few rarities been spotted by other birders, just not been able to connect with most of them...Grey Bushchats at my local patch stayed on early in the month, but nothing else interesting of note nearby.
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| Grey Bushchat - female |
Tai Po Kau had not been particularly kind to me, only common birds were seen on my previous visit. Rufous-capped Babbler is always a challenge for photographs, as they jump endlessly around the undergrowth. The flowering coral trees attracted plenty of Fork-tailed Sunbirds, but no Mrs. Gould's Sunbird visited the flowers this year, although a few had been seen elsewhere. Asian Stubtail continues to skulk around the undergrowth in most forested sites.
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| Rufous-capped Babbler |
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| Fork-tailed Sunbird |
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| Asian Stubtail |
My only visit to Mai Po earlier in the month was not particular note worthy, although it was still a pleasant few hours spent around the reserve. Black-faced Spoonbills rare disappoints, as this one foraged quite close to me.
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| Black-faced Spoonbill |
I had a very poor outing out at Deep Bay hide, despite being a good tide, many birds did not come in, including most of the gulls and ducks that I was interested about...Great Cormorants were by far the most numerous out there, taking up most of the roosting space. Only common wader species were seen.
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| Only a handful of waders with thousands of Cormorants in the back... |
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| Deep Bay |
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| Common Redshank |
Wu Kau Tang was a little more interesting, with a high count of over 40 Common Rosefinches! Here is a photo of 21 Rosefinches in a single tree, where another flock was out of sight to my back.
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| Common Rosefinch - 21 birds here! |
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| Common Rosefinch - male |
A Crested Goshawk seen at close range at Sai Kung was about the only interesting thing I saw at Yan Yee Road, no luck with any other birds there.
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| Crested Goshawk |
A very elusive Japanese Grosbeak had been seen sparingly at Yuen Long Park, it was a no show for me with only a single Yellow-billed Grosbeak came in. Asian Koels are now in full song, truly a sign that spring is here.
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| Yellow-billed Grosbeak - female |
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| Asian Koel |
I was lucky to find two Chestnut-flanked White-eyes at Tai Lam, where they were feeding with a flock of Swinhoe's White-eyes, making this my second sighting this year. A fairly showy Pygmy Cupwing was seen singing in the undergrowth, its been a while since I've gotten a good view of this species.
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| Chestnut-flanked White-eye |
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| Pygmy Cupwing |
San Tin produced a Buff-bellied Pipit, although it was quite skittish, whereas a Red-throated Pipit posed nicely for a photo, now moulting into breeding plumage. I found two Whiskered Tern amongst the flock of Black-headed Gulls, which seems to be a regular sight now around the fishponds of Tai Sang Wai and San Tin.
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| Buff-bellied Pipit |
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| Red-throated Pipit |
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| Whiskered Tern with Black-headed Gulls |
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| Whiskered Tern |
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| Black-headed Gull |
Black-faced Spoonbills are often found around the fishponds at San Tin, you can often get very close views from the car, a single Eurasian Spoonbill was spotted.
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| Black-faced Spoonbill |
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| Eurasian Spoonbill |
My last visit to Shing Mun was not particularly birdy, even the Slaty-backed Forktail was no show, it was mostly just common birds along the forest track. The only notable bird was the long staying Alstrom's Warbler which FINALLY showed for me, after hearing it several times, it finally gave decent views for me, although I did miss the perfect shot, this record shot is what I have to live with for now.
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| Huet's Fulvetta |
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| Alstrom's Warbler |
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