Autumn Migration in the Heat

Even though October is with us, the heat have been relentless, showing no sign of cooling down anytime soon. While I have not been enjoying the weather, migrants are coming through nonetheless. Some noticeable migrants includes Black-naped Orioles, which can be seen fairly often at this time of the year, a pair showed quite well for me near Mai Po. While this is a common resident species throughout much of South East Asia, race diffusus is a migratory race in East Asia down to Indochina.

Black-naped Oriole - female

Tai Po Kau's been extremely poor and disappointing, probably one of the worst autumn in recent memory! A Pale-legged Leaf Warbler is perhaps the only notable migrant I managed. Black-winged Cuckooshrikes have also arrived. Both Crested Goshawks and Crested Serpent Eagles are now making their display flights over the forest, and can often be heard and seen circling above.

Pale-legged Leaf Warbler

Black-winged Cuckooshrike

Crested Goshawk

Crested Serpent Eagle

I have more luck with other wildlife at Tai Po Kau, including a very grumpy Mock Viper. A few Damselflies were still active around the forest, including Blue Forest Damsel and Black-kneed Featherlegs. The best find was probably a rare Blue-spotted Emperor laying eggs at the pond, a first for me!

Mock Viper

Blue Forest Damsel - female

Black-kneed Featherleg - male

Blue-spotted Emperor - female

Tai Lam have fared better, with a good cast of migrants, although I only visited once. I managed a male Black Paradise Flycatcher (formerly Japanese), but it was way too high for a photo. A fruiting fig tree attracted many Orange-headed Thrush, while not a rarity, this usually shy species are not always easy to come by, so to see so many in one morning was quite a treat.

Orange-headed Thrush - best looking male

Orange-headed Thrush - slightly paler male

Orange-headed Thrush - juvenile

Other migrants to note were a few Eastern Crowned Warblers, some other birders had Hartert's and Sulphur-breasted Warblers, but I had no luck with those. Other resident species such as Yellow-cheeked Tits and Pygmy Cupwings always make a visit to Tai Lam worthwhile.

Eastern Crowned Warbler

Yellow-cheeked Tit - female

Pygmy Cupwing

On Po Toi, there were the regular cast of migrants, including Arctic Warblers, Grey-streaked Flycatcher and Asian Brown Flycatcher, few of our typical autumn migrants.

Arctic Warbler

Grey-streaked Flycatcher

Asian Brown Flycatcher

A single Oriental Dollarbird was surprisingly the only one we saw on the island, given how late September to early October should be the peak time for this species, I expected a few more around. Nonetheless, it is a wonderful migrant to see as always. There were also numerous Blue Rock Thrushes dotted around the island, sitting on exposed rocks as you would expect from this species.

Oriental Dollarbird - with White-throated Kingfisher hiding on the right

Oriental Dollarbird

Blue Rock Thrush

The most surprising bird I got on the island is perhaps a male Golden-fronted Leafbird. No doubt an ex-captive individual, as this species is out of its natural range and is non-migratory. Po Toi is quite a strange place to find such a bird, but exotics turning up on the island is not unheard of. Although this bird didn't have any obvious cage damage, it may have been out of the cage long enough that it is already looking quite immaculate. 

Golden-fronted Leafbird - male

Some migrants around my survey site, couple of Whimbrels and a surprising Bluethroat sitting out in the open! Not what you would expect from a usually skulking species, certainly not how I imagined I would see my first one of the season.

Whimbrel

Bluethroat - 1st year male

Autumn Rarities - Emei Leaf Warbler & Chinese Grey Shrike

Weather is finally cooling down somewhat, it was a very pleasant 25°C a few days ago. The cooler weather definitely brought in more birds, one of the most notable rarity being an Emei Leaf Warbler at Tai Lam. Kenneth and I went there the next morning, we saw the warbler soon after we got to the 'magic valley', its appearance was definitely 'Blyth's-type', with double wing bars, crown stripe and a completely orange lower mandible. Luckily for us the warbler was very vocal, making it easier for us to ID. Its song is a resonant trill that is very different from all the other similar looking warblers. The bird came down briefly to feed, allowing us to take some half decent photos, before going higher up again to feed with other warblers in the bird wave.

Emei Leaf Warbler - Only my second lifer for 2022

There were plenty of warblers around, other than the most common species such as Yellow-browed and Two-barred, plenty of Hartert's were around, including both race fukiensis and goodsoni. We counted at least four Sulphur-breasted Warblers throughout the trail, this species is definitely becoming much easier to find in Hong Kong. Eastern Crowned Warbler were in very good numbers, seems like we are getting an influx of them this year.

Hartert's Leaf Warbler - goodsoni

Sulphur-breasted Warbler

Eastern Crowned Warbler

Other than warblers, a Japanese Paradise Flycatcher was seen within the bird wave, feeding frantically within the flock of birds. Many Grey-chinned Minivets and other common forest species also made their rounds along magic valley.

Japanese Paradise Flycatcher

Grey-chinned Minivet - female

One of the most exciting find for me was a male White-throated Rock Thrush first spotted by Peter Wong within the bird wave! It's been many years since I last seen one of these handsome birds! It showed briefly and soon flew down the valley and out of sight. As if that wasn't brilliant enough, Kenneth and I later found TWO more females along the trail! Truly an incredible experience to see three of these rare migrants in one day!

White-throated Rock Thrush - male

White-throated Rock Thrush - female

The cherry on top was the Green-backed Flycatcher which decided to return to where I initially found it, its not been seen by any other birders since my last encounter until the day I returned to Tai Lam (relocated in the morning by John Clough)! While views were slightly more distant, I was happy to get a photo of its 'green-backed' this time round.

Green-backed Flycatcher

My local patch is also turning up some good birds, including this rather confiding Yellow-browed Warbler feeding on the lawn. This is a new species for me at Ting Kok, in the same area I also found a Yellow-breasted Bunting.

Yellow-browed Bunting

Other more common migrants in the area includes a Black-winged Cuckooshrike and a Asian Brown Flycatcher both feeding near the mangroves. Up to two Brown Shrikes were found near the BBQ sites. A Japanese Sparrowhawk also been seen terrorising the birds in the area, but it always swooped in quick and low, making it almost impossible to photograph.

Black-winged Cuckooshrike

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Brown Shrike

The most incredible bird though was no doubt a Chinese Grey Shrike! Found by Eric and Marco, I immediately rushed over after I got the news, and sure enough found this incredible looking shrike feeding on the lawns at close range! There's only ever been two accepted Chinese Grey Shrike record in Hong Kong that I know of, so this is only the 3rd record for Hong Kong (I think).

Chinese Grey Shrike

It successfully caught a few grasshoppers, often using the little hut by the mangroves as a vantage point. it was an incredibly confiding bird, often flying straight towards me and land just a few feet from me to catch insects before flying back up to the trees or the little hut to feed. After 20 minutes of it showing really well, the bird suddenly decided to fly straight out to sea and towards Yeung Chau, landing on a small yacht just off the island. 

Chinese Grey Shrike

I presume the bird left...but I decided to check again the next morning anyway. Sadly, the shrike was found dead by the road. It did not have any visible injuries, therefore it seems highly unlikely it was attacked by a cat. There were also no windows near the area it was found at, making it an unlikely victim of window strike. Therefore, I presume it could have just died of exhaustion from flying all the way down to Hong Kong. An incredibly sad end for this rarity, but I guess this is just the harsh reality that these migratory birds have to face, I just feel incredibly lucky to be able to see this beautiful bird at its best.

Chinese Grey Shrike - deceased...

It is almost the end of snake season, despite that night walks can still be productive. A walk at Lung Fu Shan provided us stellar views of a group of Malayan Porcupines feeding by the road, also two different Masked Palm Civets from two different locations, one feeding on; you guess it, Ficus variegata! Hoiling spotted a male Bamboo Pit Viper, this one photographed in-situ. 

Malayan Porcupine

Masked Palm Civet

Bamboo Pit Viper