Unexpected Rarity(?) - Black-chinned Fruit-Dove

Fruit-Doves are generally considered a fairly exotic genera of birds, mainly found in the Philippines, Malaysian Peninsular, Indonesia and all the way down to Australia. As their name suggests, they are mainly frugivores, favouring fruits such as figs, therefore they are fairly nomadic within their range. We have our range of exotic looking Columbidae in Hong Kong in form of various species of Green Pigeons which occasionally turn up in Hong Kong, but never have we gotten a Fruit-Dove before...until recently! A friend of mine Charles Cheng sent me a photo one early morning of a green dove, which I immediately replied was a Black-chinned Fruit-Dove, I thought he was on a trip down towards the Philippines, therefore I asked him where he took the photo, and to my surprise he said "Lai Chi Kok Park"! Having gotten the gps coordinates to where he took the photo, I went over straight away. 

By the time I got there it was just around 9:30am, light was harsh and getting very hot, the fruiting fig tree was filled with Asian Koels busy feeding, but no Fruit-Dove in sight. It took Hoiling and I 10 minutes before out of nowhere, a green dove climbed up from the branches below to the fruiting tree. And there it was! In full glory, a Black-chinned Fruit-Dove feeding on the figs right before our eyes.

Black-chinned Fruit-Dove - female / immature male

I am not entirely sure whether this is a female or an immature male, as they can be tricky to tell apart, both have been suggested. Eitherway, there is very little debate as in what species this is. However, I noticed 2 broken terials on its right wing, which is certainly odd, considering the rest of the bird looks immaculate. Whether this 1st record is accepted onto the Hong Kong list remains to be seen, but certainly an interesting and very exciting bird to see in Hong Kong.

Black-chinned Fruit-Dove - broken tertails on the right

For the next few days, the dove showed fairly regularly in the early hours of the day, attracting hundreds of twitchers and photographers. I went once more before I had work one morning, but it only perched high up in the tree and didn't move around. Apparently that was the last day it appeared, and it was not found again the next day.

Black-chinned Fruit-Dove - one last look...

I've not had too much luck with much of the forest migrants, except for Amur Paradise Flycatchers. Theres been quite a few Yellow-rumped Flycatchers seen at Ho Man Tin, I just haven't bothered to head over there...Over at Tai Po Kau, it was much the same with a few Amur Paradise Flycatchers still around, plus other common resident species, otherwise it was fairly quiet.

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

Crested Goshawk

Black-throated Laughingthrush

Silver-eared Mesia

There are certainly birds moving through, such as Oriental Pratincoles, which included a few juveniles. Richard's Pipits are now returning in small numbers, no doubt will soon see many more of this species. Over at Tai Sang Wai I had a single White-winged Tern, plus a drained pond with quite a few waders on it, including a pair of Red-necked Phalaropes.

Oriental Pratincole

Richard's Pipit

White-winged Tern

Red-necked Phalarope

I finally had a bit more luck with some snakes, including a Diamond-backed Water Snake that was sleeping on a branch above the stream. I find this to be one of our prettier snake, with lovely patterns on its back, while not really a rare snake, I haven't gotten much chance to photograph this one up close before.

Diamond-backed Water Snake - Trimerodytes aequifasciatus

A nice encounter with a baby Checkered Keelback was nice, I find juveniles to have much nicer patterns than adults. Adults are known to be quite bitey when handled, but this juvenile was fairly docile and calm.

Checkered / Yellow-spotted Keelback - Fowlea flavipunctata

Finally, two adults Many-Banded Kraits, seen on the same evening. The bigger of the two individual was seen cruising along a rice paddy, probably looking for Long-tailed Skinks I presume. The second smaller individual was seen coming out of the pond, it immediately coiled up to take the classic Krait 'defensive' pose, and soon cruised off back into the water and out of sight. Even though they are common, I still find them to be an exciting species to encounter.

1st Many-Banded Krait - Bungarus multicinctus

2nd Many-Banded Krait - Bungarus multicinctus