Northern Goshawk - At Long Last!

There are a few raptors that eluded my Hong Kong list for years, they are Cinereous Vulture, Mountain Hawk Eagle, Hen Harrier, Brahminy Kite and the Northern Goshawk (Cinereous Vulture being the only one here that I have never seen in my life). 2021 was an exceptional year for Northern Goshawk, and a long staying juvenile at Mai Po been seen by many. I looked for this bird many times and believe me I tried very hard, though with little success. I finally decided to spend one full day at Mai Po to try and locate this elusive raptor.

I got to Mai Po early, as its been said that the Goshawk occasionally fly past the buffalo field near the Education Centre. I stationed myself at a good vantage point and scanned the sky constantly but without success. A very friendly Long-tailed Shrike was there to keep me company. At least two Daurian Redstarts were seen along that stretch of footpath.

Long-tailed Shrike

Daurian Redstart - male

After a no show at the buffalo field, I moved on to the scrape. Along the way I heard the call of Taiga Flycatcher, a common winter visitor to Hong Kong. Only 10 metres further down the road was the long staying Red-breasted Flycatcher I found back in December. Though the two species look very similar, their calls are very different and should be a good clue for birders in the field. Also along the footpath were many Olive-backed Pipits.

Taiga Flycatcher

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Olive-backed Pipit

Numerous ducks were seen on the scrape, other than the common species, up to 14 Falcated Ducks were seen, with no less than five males. The long staying Common Shelduck was still around and obviously doing quite well. Both Greater Spotted and Imperial Eagles were seen flying past the scrape, only the Greater Spotted Eagle flew close enough for a record shot.

Falcated Duck

Common Shelduck & Eurasian Wigeon

Greater Spotted Eagle

After having no luck on the scrape, I headed over to pond 8b along the border fence where the Northern Goshawk's been frequently seen as well. After over two hours I only managed a juvenile Peregrine Falcon. This was also where four Gadwalls were found, a less common wintering duck species in Hong Kong.

Peregrine Falcon

Gadwall

One of the better bird along the fence was a single Eurasian Wryneck, this one was not particularly shy and showed very well before disappearing behind the fence. I scanned for other crows near pond 22 but only found Collared Crows present.

Eurasian Wryneck

Collared Crow

At around 4pm, I was on the brink of giving up. I decided to head back towards the buffalo fields to wait around. As I walked past blind no.2, I noticed a large bird hopped on a distant tree, in a manner almost Koel like. I looked through my bins and what do you know! A juvenile Northern Goshawk perched on that tree! It was perched behind several twigs and branch, but it was very clear what it was. After a few minutes it flew out from the tree towards the fence and out of sight.

Northern Goshawk - juvenile, likely a 1st year bird

Other than the Northern Goshawk, theres been a few other good birds around. One of them being a male Bull-headed Shrike in some farmland near Fanling. I see females more often, so it was nice to have a male for a change.

Bull-headed Shrike - male

I haven't been to Shek Kong Catchment for a while, although it produced some good birds in the past, this site was slightly disappointing this winter, producing mainly common wintering and local species. Speckled Piculet is now a staple forest species in Hong Kong, you will find at least one among bird waves more often than you don't. Indochinese Yuhinas were in good numbers there, with at least three to four different flocks. A flowering Rhodoleia attracted Fork-tailed Sunbirds to visit. Up to two Asian Brown Flycatchers were also seen along the catchment.

Speckled Piculet

Indochinese Yuhina

Fork-tailed Sunbird

Asian Brown Flycatcher

I went past Tseung Kwan O the other day and spent a little time looking for Blue Rock Thrush along the sea wall, and sure enough I found a friendly female along there, although the male was nowhere to be seen. Also present was a Pacific Reef Egret.

Blue Rock Thrush - female

Pacific Reef Egret

Its been a rather disappointing winter at Brides Pool so far, I tried my luck again hoping that things may have improved over the last month. Although there were still relatively little wintering birds around, I managed to locate a Swinhoe's Minivet in amongst the Grey-chinned and Scarlet Minivets! A complete surprise for me, as this is only the 2nd winter record in Hong Kong.

Swinhoe's Minivet