The past week or so had been a slight improvement in terms of rarer autumn migrants coming through, most notably a pair of long staying Pechora Pipits thats been showing well at Tai Sang Wai, I've never seen Pechora Pipits this well, they are usually quite shy and go into cover as soon as you see them. This pair was however more than happy to stroll along the side of the road, picking off insects in the long grass. For a pipit they certainly are quite smart looking birds, with well defined mantle markings that is quite distinctive.
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| Pechora Pipit - second bird in the background |
Other notable migrants present at Tai Sang Wai includes a distant Pheasant-tailed Jacana, numerous White-winged Terns foraged around the fish ponds for small fish and prawns. I also saw Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler along the road but they gave 'typical' views, that is flying away and dropping into the tall grass.
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| Pheasant-tailed Jacana |
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| White-winged Tern |
Great Cormorants are now returning, soon they will fill our sky and trees. Black Drongos are passing through in good numbers, easily find 10 of them around the fish ponds.
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| Great Cormorant |
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| Black Drongo |
No luck with Oriental Scops Owl just yet, but good views of our local Collared Scops Owl is more than welcomed. I am sure some Collared Scops Owl migrate through as well, as they have been spotted on Po Toi Island before.
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| Collared Scops Owl |
Around Tai Mei Tuk area, I had a great view of a pair of Swinhoe's Minivet, shame I did not have my camera with me at the time! By the time I went back with my camera they were long gone. I often see Crested Serpent Eagles perched during my morning walks, I love a good photo of these lovely looking raptors whenever I get the chance! Grey Treepies were far more friendly than our local Indochinese Green Magpies, which I see regularly now but are almost impossible to photograph.
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| Crested Serpent Eagle |
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| Grey Treepie |
Two rarities turned up at Tai Mei Tuk Catchment, both were seen on the 16th. First a Greenish Warbler which first picked up on the call, later found it flitting about near the top of the tree, I was unable to get a good photograph of it but had a pretty good look of all the diagnostic features; single wing-bar, pale lower mandible and dark legs. The second rarity on the day came in form of a Grey-backed Shrike, of which I had terrible views of it on the top of a tree, I first noted it as a Brown Shrike, but the heavily marked breast had a Grey-backed Shrike jiz to it. Unfortunately for me, I never got a good view of the back of its tail or a proper view of its mantle in good light, so I was unable to confirm my speculations. The next day I saw a photo of the same bird by Roman, who went after the Greenish Warbler the same afternoon. His photos were much better and showed all the right features for a first year Grey-backed Shrike. Weather now much cooler, and hopefully this will bring in more birds in coming weeks!
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| Greenish Warbler - terrible photo... |
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| Grey-backed Shrike - 1st year bird |
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