Long Staying Rarities and a few Passage Migrants

Weather lately have been quite the rollercoaster ride, a week of humid and warm weather followed by another week of dry and quite cool temperature. It does seem to have delayed some spring migrants and I certainly haven't heard that many of our usual spring songsters singing just yet, such as Plain Flowerpeckers and Chinese Barbets, both not really singing at all in Tai Po Kau. Some of our long staying rarities are still present, including the Glossy Ibis at Nam Sang Wai, its been rather neglected lately, I got wonderful views the other day of it feeding close the the road, seemingly pretty happy and doing well.

Glossy Ibis

The Rosy Starling at San Tin is still around, it is now moulting and have the faint patterns of an adult bird, but still a long way to go before it looks anything that resembles an adult.

Rosy Starling - still very scruffy looking...

On March 6th was when I last saw any Oriental Storks, I saw three birds which flew over and gave great views. I don't think they were reported since, likely moved on with the warmer weather.

Oriental Stork - probably last for this winter

Other long staying rare birds includes a male White-throated Rock Thrush and the female Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher at Tai Lam, both birds have been showing fairly well. These are not 'rare' birds per se, but certainly not a species you get to see that often in Hong Kong.

White-throated Rock Thrush - male

Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher - female

Over at Mai Po, a Japanese Quail showed very well for nearly a week at the new Kingfisher hide, these passage migrants are not particularly rare but often very hard to get good views of, as you can imagine them being extremely skulking, most of my views are often of flushed birds in flight, so it was nice to see one feeding out in the open for once!

Japanese Quail

Passage waders are definitely making their way through, there's been an increase in species seen on both the mudflat and the main scrape at Mai Po. I saw my first Nordmann's Greenshank and Oriental Pratincole this spring, but both were too far for any meaningful photos. Greater Sand Plovers and Siberian Sand Plovers now often seen feeding on the mudflat before the water comes in.

Greater Sand Plover

Siberian Sand Plover

March is a good time to scan for gulls out on the mudflat, although I haven't been able to find anything out of the ordinary. Lesser Black-backed Gull (heuglini) is our most common large gulls, typically with darker backs and yellow legs. We also get Mongolian Gulls and occasionally a few Vega Gulls, here is a 1st winter bird that I think is likely a Vega, having quite heavy blotches and streakings on the head, neck, and breast. Although as with these large gulls, its always tough to say for certain. Many Saunder's Gulls are now in full breeding plumage, none came close but a few gave relatively good fly-by views. We often get Caspian and Gull-billed Terns during migration, although I have only seen Gull-billed Terns lately on my last visits.

Lesser Black-backed Gull (heuglini)

Possibly 1st year Vega Gull?

Saunder's Gull - breeding plumage

Gull-billed Tern

Black-capped Kingfisher is now quite a tough bird to see, while they are still often seen out on the mudflat hide, they don't always perch out, the increase numbers of the invasive Mangrove Apples and growing grasses along the edge of the mangrove seems to have not done any good for the kingfishers.

Black-capped Kingfisher

Black-faced Spoonbills can often be seen at very close range out on the mudflat hide, and when better to see these amazing birds in full breeding plumage! They are simply exquisite with their long head plumes.

Black-faced Spoonbill - breeding plumage

Many ducks have now left Hong Kong, and what remains are most of the common species such as Northern Shovelers, Eurasian Teals and Eurasian Wigeons. The wintering Imperial and Greater Spotted Eagles seems to have gotten the hint and seems to have gone as well, as I have not seen them for the past week or two. An Eastern Marsh Harrier still patrols the mudflat, but definitely not many of them around at the moment.

Eurasian Wigeon

Eastern Marsh Harrier - female

Over at Tai Sang Wai, things have been relatively quiet. The pair of long staying Bluethroats are still present and now showing quite well. This is a species I always enjoying getting good views of.

Bluethroat - male

White-throated Kingfishers are very common in Hong Kong, it doesn't make them boring birds to look at though. This fairly confiding individual at the fish ponds gave excellent views, although I suspect many may start to make their way to the hill sides for breeding soon.

White-throated Kingfisher

While not an unusual bird, I rarely see Medium Egrets in full breeding plumage, this one is perhaps the first I have ever seen in Hong Kong in full breeding plumage, meaning the plumes on its back as well as a completely black bill!

Medium Egret - breeding plumage

Over at Lok Ma Chau, its been fairly birdy in the morning, as the flowering Bombax trees really attracts quite a lot of birds there. A flock of Yellow-billed Grosbeaks were nice to see, a species which on some years seems quite easy, this year was not one of those years. Eye-level views of Red-billed Blue Magpies are always welcoming, and a fairly confiding Besra was also a nice addition. A male Black-naped Monarch was seen there, although it was quite shy and stayed well within cover most of the time.

Yellow-billed Grosbeak - male

Red-billed Blue Magpie

Besra

Black-naped Monarch - male

Over at Ma Tso Lung, a Pheasant-tailed Jacana have been seen along a well vegetated pond, this is a fairly regular passage migrant in Hong Kong, and we expect to see more in the coming month. The best bird I managed there was actually a Pale-footed Bush Warbler, it was however extremely shy and left me with no photos, I got a pretty good recording though, this is the second time I have seen one in the area, which probably means they are more regular there than we think!

Pheasant-tailed Jacana - non-breeding

Back to Wu Kau Tang, a few Common Rosefinches remains until at least 10th of March. A Russet Bush Warbler showed fairly well near the village.

Common Rosefinch - female

Russet Bush Warbler

Finally, over at Shek Kong Catchwater, I managed two really good birds one morning in form of a Sulphur-breasted Warbler, which I have been looking for all winter long with no luck! This one was in song and gave fairly good views. The second good bird were a few Chestnut-flanked White-eyes, which were again found feeding amongst all the regular Swinhoe's White-eyes.

Sulphur-breasted Warbler

Chestnut-flanked White-eye

So, all in all a fairly productive month so far, hopefully more passage migrants will come through soon.

Lingering Winter Visitors

Spring is most definitely among us, with weather now becoming warmer and very humid. At the moment it is a bit early for spring migrants, and some of our wintering species are still lingering on. Over at Tai Po Kau, the White-spectacled Warbler is still present, but only very occasionally come close enough to the footpath to give good views. I was lucky to have encountered it twice recently, this year only this single individual of 'cognitus' morph seems to be present.

White-spectacled Warbler

Other less common wintering warblers present are Eastern Crowned Warbler, Hartert's Leaf Warblers and Hume's Warbler, the latter two I managed to get a photo of recently. Hume's Warbler is by no means a common species in Hong Kong, but we do get a few wintering here annually, usually picked up by their distinctively different call from Yellow-browed Warbler.

Hartert's Leaf Warbler

Hume's Warbler

I feel that there haven't been as many Grey-headed Canary-Flycatchers around this winter, not that many are present in Tai Po Kau, the majority of records seems to come from Shek Kong Catchwater this winter, where up to three individuals seems to be present and still showing well most of the time. I finally caught up with a few Chestnut-flanked White-eyes at Tai Po Kau, which is a scarce winter visitor to Hong Kong, although a species which is likely under detected due to difficulty in finding them amongst big flocks of Swinhoe's White-eye.

Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher

Chestnut-flanked White-eye

Rufous-tailed Robins are still around and you often hear their trilling song at this time of the year. A female Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher have been seen at Tai Lam all winter, but lately have become a bit of a 'star' for photographers, as it regularly comes out the the stakeout along the forest trail.

Rufous-tailed Robin

Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher

Black Bulbuls are also still present in many different forest sites around New Territories, although we do get small numbers breeding in Hong Kong, I think they are still predominantly a wintering species in Hong Kong. Chestnut Bulbul went through a similar process in Hong Kong, where they were formerly an eruptive wintering species, but slowly becoming a widespread and common resident species. Whereas the Mountain Bulbul, was actually the latest to arrive in Hong Kong, with first record only dating back to 2001, it is now a widespread and well establisehd forest species in Hong Kong.

Black Bulbul

Chestnut Bulbul

Mountain Bulbul

A species which used to be more of an eruptive winter visitor, Indochinese Yuhina is now also a breeding species in Hong Kong, with small numbers breeding around Tai Mo Shan, here is one I saw at Kadorie Farm carrying likely nesting materials.

Indochinese Yuhina

Mrs. Gould's Sunbird is now a regular wintering species in Hong Kong, although still scarce in most years, it is not unusual to have a few visiting their favourite flowering trees in various parts of Hong Kong, such as this stunning looking male visiting a Coral Tree at Kadorie Farm.

Mrs. Gould's Sunbird - male

Other than the wintering species, I welcome what was likely my first spring migrant of the season, with a lovely looking male Hainan Blue Flycatcher! While we do get them breeding in Hong Kong, many of them do past through during spring migration as well.

Hainan Blue Flycatcher - male

A visit to our forest sites may also give you a good range of fine forest species, one of the most sought after species is of course the Pygmy Cupwing, which is a tough bird to see as always, but with a bit of luck I do get good views on a regular basis.

Pygmy Cupwing

Speckled Piculet was once a rare sight in Hong Kong, is now becoming very widespread. Other than the regular forest sites, I have also seen them around places like Mai Po and Lok Ma Chau, even some urban parks!

Speckled Piculet

If you do manage to find a good feeding flock, the many resident forest species will likely keep you busy as well...Here are a selection of photos taken around various forest sites in New Territories.

Yellow-cheeked Tit - male

Grey-chinned Minivet - 

White-bellied Erpornis

Rufous-capped Babbler

Blue-winged Minla

Silver-eared Mesia - male

Black-throated Laughingthrush

Great Barbets have been extremely vocal lately, almost calling non-stop! The flowering Bombax Tree also seems to be attracting them to visit, allowing for some great viewings of this impressive looking species.

Great Barbet

Both Scarlet-backed and Fire-breasted Flowerpeckers are fairly common species in our forest areas, it doesn't make them particularly easy to see though, given how they mostly stay high up near the canopy. You do get lucky sometimes and is rewarded by good views down at eye-levels. Here is a male Scarlet-backed and a female Fire-breasted Flowerpecker.

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker - male

Fire-breasted Flowerpecker - female

I had a high count of at least 45 individuals of Common Rosefinch at Wu Kau Tang last week, which is likely to be one of the highest count for this species ever in Hong Kong. The majority of the birds were either females or juveniles, with only very few adult males.

Common Rosefinch - male

Common Rosefinch - female

The wintering Small Niltava was still present, although I only heard it calling and it never showed. The area around Wu Kau Tang is also well known for the Indochinese Green Magpies that are now regularly seen here, although still extremely difficult to get any good photos of as they are quick and usually quite shy. The other local specialty there are the Barred Cuckoo-Doves, which appears to now be a resident in the area, I counted up to five birds there at the same time, but only managed a record photos through all the dense vegetation.

Indochinese Green Magpie

Barred Cuckoo-Dove - becoming residents?

Nearby at Luk Keng, the wintering Great Crested Grebe is also a well known local specialty there. While the birds usually stay far out in the bay, they do occasionally come close enough for a decent look.

Great Crested Grebe

The House Sparrows at one of my survey site are still present, which have me suspecting these ones have taken up residence in the area. It will be interesting to see if they ever colonize Hong Kong.

House Sparrow - male

Along Kam Tin River, the wintering Grey-headed Lapwings are still present, although I only saw two individuals, their numbers seems to have dropped in the last few years, it will be a shame to lose this wintering population here if the trend continues this way.

Grey-headed Lapwing

Things have been fairly quiet over at Long Valley, with nothing particularly interesting seen recently. It is still a great site to visit, given how it is the best site to look for Greater Painted Snipe, here is a female I saw the other day. The only notable wintering birds there are the six Garganeys that are still present, the male still looking fabulous.

Greater Painted Snipe - female

Garganey - male

The fishponds faired slightly better, with a few good birds seen at Tai Sang Wai, including a Golden-headed Cisticola, two stunning looking male Bluethroats and a Cinnamon Bittern which flew by.

Golden-headed Cisticola

Bluethroat - male

Cinnamon Bittern

The long staying Rosy Starling is still present, although I still haven't been able to get a good photo, every time I see it close by, a car or someone will walk past before I can get into better position to get a better shot, and it would fly off into the distant trees.

Rosy Starling - juvenile

Great Cormorants are now changing into their breeding plumage, a sign that they will soon be leaving us for for their breeding grounds up north.

Great Cormorant

There are only a few large gulls when I went out to the mudflat, mostly Lesser Black-backed Gulls (heuglini) and possibly a 2nd year Mongolian Gull. The mudflat hide is probably still one of the best place to see Black-faced Spoonbills, as they often come up all the way to the front of the bird hide during the high tide.

Lesser Black-backed Gull (heuglini) & Mongolian Gull (?)

Black-faced Spoonbill

There were probably up to two Eurasian Wrynecks wintering in Mai Po, although they have been quite elusive and doesn't always show. I managed to catchup with one of them the other day.

Eurasian Wryneck

I felt there's not been that many Eastern Marsh Harriers around, at least when compared to previous years. I wonder if that have anything to do with the decreased numbers of ducks in Deep Bay area. Still, nice to catchup with this female which flew by quite closely.

Eastern Marsh Harrier