More Summer Wildlife

Hot and stuffy summer months are not the easiest to get through for birders in Hong Kong, carrying around heavy gear in the intense heat is no fun. Although it does have its charm as the forest is truly alive at this time of the year, with many insects, reptiles and all sorts of other critters you may find if you look closely. A few rare breeding birds may also be present, one of them is the Malayan Night Heron, which have been regularly breeding in Hong Kong since last decade, they are now quite a widespread breeder but is by no means common. I was lucky to encounter this one in Western New Territories, strutting along a grassy lawn, feeding on earthworms.

Malayan Night Heron - rare breeding species in Hong Kong

Most cuckoos have seized calling by now, having found their victims to deal with their troublesome young...although I found a Chestnut-winged Cuckoo still calling near Lok Ma Chau, was able to get some good looks before it flew off into the distance. They are such an attractive species that I can hardly get bored of.

Chestnut-winged Cuckoo

Most birds are still busy rearing their young in June, forest birds in particular can become quite quiet during this time. By late June most birds have reared at least one clutch and some on their second, thats when you start seeing juvenile birds following their parents around. A walk around Tai Po Kau at this time of the year will often see familiar species engaging in breeding activities such as carrying food. Here a Chestnut Bulbul carrying an insect back to its nest, while two Mountain Bulbuls eyed me closely from above, likely having a nest nearby. You may also find juvenile Velvet-fronted Nuthatch with black bills, learning how to forage.

Chestnut Bulbul

Mountain Bulbul

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch - juvenile

We don't have any flying foxes in hong Kong, but we do have the Short-nosed Fruit Bat, a species that helps disperse the seeds of our local trees. You often find them resting under the leafs of Fan Palms during the day, which shelters them from the sunlight and rain.

Short-nosed Fruitbat

As birding is slow during summer months, it is a good time to put some effort in identifying all the damselflies and dragonflies around us. Here is a collection of some beautiful damsels and dragonflies I encountered recently. Nothing really rare but they are fascinating to look at.

Ceriagrion auranticum ryukyuanum

Agriocnemis pygmaea

Onychargia atrocyana

Agriocnemis femina oryzae

Neurothemis tullia tullia

Zygonyx iris insignis

Moth of the month no doubt goes to a Clelea sapphirina, a small but extremely beautiful little gem, as its name suggests, it looks as if someone embedded many sapphire on its wings.

Clelea sapphirina

Summer is also a great time to see some impressive looking Beetles, such as the very beautiful Euselates magna, Hong Kong is not known for having too many impressive looking stag beetles, but we do have a fair share of species, such as this Prosopocoilus oweni.

Euselates magna

Prosopocoilus oweni

Spiders are my newest obsession, and summer is a great time to look for these eight legged creatures. As little as they are studied in Hong Kong, we do have a good range of species. Like many Argiope species, the Argiope vietnamensis create a white 'X' on their web, supposedly to lure in insects. The Cyrtarachne inaequalis which is also known as 'Bird Dropping Spider' mimics a bird dropping on a leaf. The very colourful Thwaitesia glabicauda is not uncommon and often found hiding under leafs. Jumping Spiders are probably the most attractive of all spiders, here we have the Harmochirus brachiatus, Carrhotus sannio and Rhene flavigera.

Argiope vietnamensis

Cyrtarachne inaequalis

Thwaitesia glabicauda

Harmochirus brachiatus

Carrhotus sannio

Rhene flavigera

Finally, we just had a solar eclipse on 21st of June, it was only a partial eclipse, but with a coverage of 90%. It would be another 50 years before we see another eclipse of this coverage in Hong Kong.

Partial Solar Eclipse

2016 Birding Review

Another year gone, time for yet another annual review! 2016 been an interesting year for birds, probably the most American species I have seen here in a year, plus we received quite a few species that had been extremely high on my HK wish list! Many of them I've missed years ago, and finally ticking them off this year was truly amazing. Here is a list of some of my most memorable birds from 2016.

1. Siberian Crane - lifer & HK tick

This one is a no brainer, THE most exciting and indeed most spectacular bird of the year. This was especially special for me because I missed the bird in 2002 whereas my dad was one of the lucky few who saw the bird flew off into the distant and never return! The adult was with the juvenile for the first few days before the juvenile disappearing somewhere, the adult though had stayed on till the day of writing!

2. Red-throated Diver - HK tick

Another one that my dad had and I haven't, a long awaited tick for Hong Kong, this one at Lamma Island created quite a buzz in the birding community and a big twitch for everyone. The bird stayed for quite a while and was even later spotted near Aberdeen pier.

3. Chinese Barbet - HK tick

This increasingly common bird from Guangdong is making their first baby step in colonising Hong Kong, one that I will welcome with both arms stretched out! Stunning view of this calling barbet in spring had me feeling extremely sorry for this lonesome bird, being the first in Hong Kong you will have to work extra hard to find a mate.

4. Japanese Yellow Bunting

An incredible streak with this rare species, where I saw a pair at Long Valley on 25th of March and later on 28th of March at Mai Po! Usually seeing one was unusual enough, but seeing this many in a few days time was just over the top crazy.

5. Northern House Martin - HK tick

A new tick for me at the beginning of the year and I saw some more near the end of the year. Seems their numbers had increased significantly in recent years, wonder why...

6. American Wigeon - Lifer & HK tick

Quite an exciting dabbling duck to find in Hong Kong! This drake was well away out of it's natural range. A new tick for me and I hope it enjoyed it's vacation at Mai Po.

7. Franklin's Gulls

A strange year with this species, we first received our first one in November 2015, then suddenly two bird turned up at Deep Bay in April! Had some incredibly good views of the pair of American gulls one afternoon. Maybe next year they will come in flocks...

8. Plain Flowerpecker

Quite an interesting find for me, as according to many they have not been recorded in Hong Kong for many years. I heard their song in Taiwan during my January 2016 trip and recognised the call in Tai Po Kau, later I found that you can hear their calls throughout the forest! Clearly they have been under recorded as many birders were simply not familiar with their songs and calls. They became a bit of a local twitch for a while!

9. Russet Bush Warbler

Not exactly a rarity, but this species had been a bit elusive to me until this year. I could never get any decent view of this species before, you could be less then 3m away from the bird and you still won't see it! This year though I got more views then I could ever dream of, resulting in some pretty good photos as well!

10. Malayan Night Heron - HK tick

Another species I needed on my Hong Kong list badly, my dad had got this bird years ago already while they eluded. Finally, a juvenile was spotted at Yuen Long back in September and gave me this much needed tick.

11. Greater White-fronted Geese

We have been getting a lot of geese in recent years, and four Greater White-fronted Geese in one day were simply more then we asked for! Three of them stayed on and are still around San Tin!

12. Slender-billed Gull

This rare gull was not a lifer for me, but one that I've always wanted to see again as I never had the chance to get any record photos of it. This one at Deep Bay exceeded all expectations!

13. Amur Falcon - male

I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Amur Falcons, simply my favourite raptor in Hong Kong! I've never seen one perched until this fine male! Simply breathtaking!

14. Buff-breasted Sandpiper - Lifer & HK tick

My last lifer of 2016, a great Christmas present for all birders in Hong Kong, this amazing vagrant was only the second Hong Kong record. The bird had stuck around until 2017!

15. Lesser Cuckoo - HK tick

A new tick for me this year, this was one of my better findings on Tai Mo Shan this year. This scarce cuckoo was not easy to see and I was lucky to find one perched on a distant tree, not the best of views but I am not complaining!

Honorable Mention:

Great Barbet

A commonly heard species in Hong Kong but very seldom seen, I've only seen them on a few occasions in the past. So, discovering a fruiting ficus tree that managed to attract seven at the same time was simply mind blowing for me. This finding had again led to a local twitch by many birders, seems like the mysterious air of this species had finally lifted!

Looking forward to more exciting birds this coming year!

Early Morning Dash - Malayan Night Heron

September had been extremely busy for me, I have not been able to do much birding since my return from South Africa. It's a shame really as the migration season is well underway and hearing all the birds zipping past us while I was stuck in office was a bit of a torture. I nearly fell off my office chair when I saw a photo of an Eurasian Eagle Owl spotted at the entrance of Yuen Tsuen Ancient Trail a few days ago! Worst still, taken with a mobile phone! News of a juvenile Malayan Night Heron at Tai Tong also surfaced on the same day, which had me completely itching to just grab my camera and leave work behind. It was of course impossible in reality, so I accepted my fate that these birds will have to wait.

Malayan Night Heron - a rare breeder and migrant in Hong Kong

Monday night, my Father and I got around to talk about all the birds that's been around all over the place. We planned to go birding on Friday; the day after Mid-Autumn Festival which is a public holiday, however a typhoon is schedule to hit on Thursday night, which pretty much ruins our plan. We figured that our only chance this week was early Tuesday morning before work, and the only bird that seemed "birdable" with such short time seemed to be the juvenile Malayan Night Heron. Although I have seen this species in Taiwan before, I have yet to tick this off my Hong Kong list, therefore we decided to go for it!

I woke up at 5:45am and we soon headed out in the car. We arrived at Tai Tong car park just around 7am. I heard that it was active around the barbecue sites, so we spent 10 minutes strolling the lawns but without much luck.

Tai Tong Barbecue Area

I suggested that we head back up to the car park and try our luck there, just as we turned the corner we found the bird pecking away at a toad on the footpath! Merely a few metres away! The toad certainly put on a fight, bloating up it's lungs to stop the heron from swallowing it whole. The young heron however showed the toad where it belongs in the food chain, we heard a small "pop" as the heron punctured the toad's lungs with a few forceful peck and the poor toad laid there deflated and motionless, soon after swallowed whole by the heron.

Malayan Night Heron - a big breakfast

After the entertaining session of toad swallowing, the bird strolled around the lawns casually. This poor bird however was missing part of it's upper mandible, which was very apparent when seen from the side. The tear looks too far back for it to grow back, although the bird looked pretty healthy and judging by it's hunting abilities it seems to be doing fine. It's difficult to judge how the wound may affect the bird on a long run, but my main concern is that the wound may get infected, I just hope the wound will soon heal itself and it can live on as a happy heron with a slightly shorter upper mandible.

Broken upper mandible very obvious

As if to clear our worries, the bird even flew up a tree and roosted there for some time, it certainly had to trouble flying! It took little notice of the cleaners working below it, obviously afraid of people at all. It's behaviour is similar to the Malayan Night Herons I have seen in Taiwan, fearlessness is no doubt in their blood. We had one last look before leaving Tai Tong at approximately 7:30am.

All in all a fairly efficient outing, I even arrived at the office earlier then usual...maybe I should take up these types of early morning birding runs more often!

The bird up in the tree in relation to the cleaning lady

Malayan Night Heron - Bird of the month for me no doubt!