Late Winter Birds - Scaly-sided Merganser revisited

Since my Vietnam trip I have been catching up on work mainly, therefore not that much time spent on birding myself except for tours. The only bird that I went back for again myself was the Scaly-sided Merganser at Tai Tong, it stayed on for a long while and provided brilliant views for almost anyone who cared to go. On my third try I finally got some closer views as it came to the rapids to feed, it is truly a special bird to see in Hong Kong, to see it up close was even more brilliant! On the day I visited I waited for 5 and a half hours until it came over to feed, but it was worth the wait.

Scaly-sided Merganser - female

Despite it having a broken lower mandible, the Merganser's been observed to be feeding fine, a Little Egret even learn to follow it around to try snatch the fish off. It was very entertaining to see it diving in and out of the rapids, I was completely mesmerised by its ability to dive through the quick flowing water, you can see that it was truly in its elements when it was fishing along this stretch of river.

Scaly-sided Merganser with its 'friend', a Little Egret

Truly in its elements

Occasionally it will rest around the quieter waters, even swimming very close to shore. You can clearly see how its tongue hangs out from the bottom of the lower mandible. Despite the injury I am glad this bird is doing well, hopefully it will soon depart to head back to its breeding grounds.

Scaly-sided Merganser - potentially one of the best bird of 2023!

Other notable birds at Tai Tong include a flock of very confiding Greater Necklaced Laughingthrushes, just feeding by the side of the road absolutely unbothered by anyone passing by. The same goes to numerous Tristram's Buntings along the road, which were simply a joy to photograph.

Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush

Tristram's Bunting - female

Over at Tai Po Kau, I only connected with most of the common species, with the exception of a Rufous-faced Warblers one day which left me with no photographs. Nonetheless, Tai Po Kau is always enjoyable and even seeing the common species can be a lot of fun.

Black-throated Laughingthrush

Yellow-cheeked Tit - female

Rufous-capped Babbler

Great Barbet - now calling constantly...

Grey-headed Canary Flycatchers seems fairly uncommon this winter, I've only seen one around. The flowering coral trees are now attracting a lot of birds, including the always splendid Greyish-crowned Leafbirds, plus the usual Fork-tailed Sunbirds.

Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher

Greyish-crowned Leafbird - male

Fork-tailed Sunbird - male & female

Over towards Mai Po, sights of Oriental Storks flying around seems to be a regular sight this winter, with at least a dozen staying around the reserve and nearby areas. It doesn't make them any less breathtaking to see, especially when they decide to soar right above your head.

Oriental Stork

Deep Bay area is probably one of the best place to see wintering raptors in Hong Kong, such as Greater Spotted Eagle and Eurasian Kestrel, both seen at San Tin. Eastern Marsh Harriers are of course easiest around Mai Po, while the female Pied Harrier is still present around San Tin area, although takes a bit of luck if you want to see it up close.

Greater Spotted Eagle

Eurasian Kestrel

Eastern Marsh Harrier

Pied Harrier - long staying female

Yellow-fronted Canary is a regular sight at Mai Po, especially along the access road, you can often hear them singing in the trees above you, but occasionally they will come down to feed. Prinias are now getting easier to see as spring approaches, here a Plain Prinia sitting out in the open. Little Buntings are fairly easy to locate around fish ponds such as Tai Sang Wai and Ma Tso Lung alike. Around the fish ponds it is not unusual to see Black-faced Spoonbills at close range.

Yellow-fronted Canary

Plain Prinia

Little Bunting

Black-faced Spoonbill

This is a good time to look at Wagtails and Pipits around the dried fish ponds, I found a few lugens White Wagtails amongst he many leucopsis and ocularis, you can see some dark patches on the shoulder and mantle. Eastern Yellow Wagtails almost always pose nicely for photos, but you may find a Citrine Wagtail amongst them if you are lucky, such as this one at Ma Tso Lung. Scanning Richard's Pipit is always a good habit, even though we usually don't end up with anything other than Richard's...

White Wagtail - lugens

Eastern Yellow Wagtail - taivana

Citrine Wagtail

Richard's Pipit

The male Bluethroat at Tai Sang Wai is still around, while several other can be seen in the same area, nothing quite as bold as this brilliant looking male. Another long staying bird is the drake Ferruginous Duck at San Tin, still lingering on with the small flock of Tufted Ducks.

Bluethroat - male

Ferruginous Duck - still around

Theres been an Olive-backed Sunbird around Shek Kong Airfield, I went past the flowering tree when it wasn't present, but wasn't too bothered by its absence. The nice looking male Red-flanked Bluetail is still around, while numerous Yellow-billed Grosbeaks can often be found along the gully. Crested Goshawks are also regulars in the area. THE best bird for me there was no doubt a Eurasian Jay, which flew over my head as I was leading a birding workshop! No photo for that one, but it was quite a nice view and a long awaited bird to add onto my Hong Kong list, which now stands at 503.

Red-flanked Bluetail - male

Yellow-billed Grosbeak - male

Crested Goshawk

Still not a lot of movements in terms of spring migrants, weather been way too dry and cool for spring, but I believe we should start seeing some movements in the coming week or two.

Upland Hike - Search for the Upland Pipit

Back in late 1990s to early 2000s, my dad and I often drove up to Kowloon Peak during the summer months to look for Upland Pipits and Chinese Francolins, you are almost guarantee to hear the 'dit-deeee, dit-deeee, dit-deeee' song of the Upland Pipit as soon as you get out of your car, where you will often see one singing from a rocky outcrop. Since 2014 this species had became more and more difficult to track down, where the pipit is seemingly missing from previously known strongholds such as Tai Mo Shan and Kowloon Peak. The reason for this is still unknown, but it is nowhere as widespread and easy to find as it used to be.

The global distribution of the Upland Pipit is slightly odd, as they are most commonly found along the foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal and India etc, but they are also patchily distributed in Central and South China, Hong Kong is one of the stronghold of this species in Guangdong, also the lowest elevation of its range.

Upland Pipit - in its natural habitat

Me being me, I haven't bothered to venture up Lantau Peak as yet to tick this bird off my annual list in the last couple of years, I kept trying in suitable habitats around Tai Mo Shan but with very little luck, I more often just find Richard's Pipit up there. That being said, this species had been at the back of my mind for a few years, as I have yet to get a good photo record of this species. After hearing Captain finally found one up on Wong Leng at Pat Sin Leng Country Park, I thought I should give it a try given how close I actually live from there...

I parked at Hok Tau and walked up from there, the walk to the reservoir was pretty easy and I saw some birds a long the way. Several Speckled Piculets were heard and later seen, this species had really taken off in Hong Kong and now I see them almost weekly, sometimes a few times each week! Indochinese Yuhinas are still present in small numbers. White-bellied Erpornis was also seen within the feeding flock.

Speckled Piculet

Indochinese Yuhina

White-bellied Erpornis

I heard a few Rufous-tailed Robins singing along the way, often perched on low branches just above the undergrowth. A handsome male Tristram's Bunting was seen feeding amongst the Olive-backed Pipits.

Rufous-tailed Robin

Tristram's Bunting - male

Second part of the hike after passing Hok Tau Reservoir was quite steep, with very high steps. It doesn't help to be carrying a camera and binoculars, as they weigh you down. Fortunately the climb was not that long, I made it up the stairs in just over half an hour with some rests in-between. Once you get to the top of the steps it eases off and the trail becomes easy again.

Looking towards Sha Tau Kok at Ping Fung Shan

It took me a total of 1 hour 30 minutes to get from Hok Tau camping grounds up to the top of Ping Fung Shan, including birding stops and breaks. Once I got to the top I started scanning the rocky outcrops for any pipits, the first bird I saw was however not a pipit but a female Blue Rock Thrush.

Habitat at Ping Fung Shan

Blue Rock Thrush - female

It wasn't long before I started hearing their distinctive song, but the sound came from further down the cliff and out of sight. I heard another individual calling from further towards Wong Leng, this time I was able to locate the calling bird, perched on a rock not too far away from the footpath. Upland Pipits are extremely distinctive looking as far as pipit goes, they are quite short-tailed with a big head, and beautifully marked down their crown and mantle. They can be fairly confiding birds given you approach them quietly, at one point one of them started doing their display flight and landed right in front of me, where I was able to get quite a decent photo.

Upland Pipit

For my morning effort I counted a total of three individuals, where I seen two and later heard another one much further away. While the exact reason for this species's disappearance from several of its previous stronghold in Hong Kong is not known, I do hope this charismatic species can continue to thrive in Hong Kong.