A what Lark now?

A full day tour with two guests ended on an interesting bird, interesting in that I had almost no clue what it was when I first got my eyes on it! We were looking at a few Red-throated Pipit at Long Valley, the sun was setting and we've just had excellent views of a few Greater Painted Snipes. Just as we were about to call it a day, I noticed a small bird feeding along the edge of a muddy field. It was clearly a lark, but I was not entirely sure what kind of lark it was. Traditionally, Eurasian Skylark is our default lark species, while Oriental Skylarks are rare, along with other larks. Although I have never seen one before, this bird struck me as a good candidate for a Short-toed Lark of some kind. I scrambled for some photos, hoping to get as many details of the bird as I possibly could. We had it in good view for over 15 minutes, before it flew off to another field and disappeared. Ultimately, I narrowed it down to either an Asian or Mongolian Short-toed Lark, given the lack of primary projection, it seems more likely to be the latter. Geoff Carey later sent the photos to Per Alstrom for his comments, and he also think it is a Mongolian Short-toed Lark. If accepted, this will likely be the forth record in Hong Kong, a great way to start spring migration with a lifer in Hong Kong! Sadly the bird was never refound the next day, so I felt blessed to have been able to see this rarity!

Mongolian Short-toed Lark - a real surprise and short staying rarity

Oriental Pratincoles are also a typical spring migrant, I saw a few at my survey site, but many have reported upward of a few dozens in various fish pond areas. Its always lovely to see them glide around gracefully.

Oriental Pratincole

There wasn't anything 'new' around Mai Po, so I didn't really take any photos. The best bird was perhaps the long staying Brown-headed Gull, which i managed to see one day out on the mudflat, but it was too far for any photos. An Eastern Buzzard perched at close range provided good photo opportunity of this common raptor. A Eurasian Kestrel came through Lok Ma Chau village one afternoon and perched on the houses nearby, before getting mobbed by a few starlings and flew off.

Eastern Buzzard

Eurasian Kestrel

Otherwise, Tai Po Kau have been my 'go to' place lately. It is conveniently close for me, and the range of species on show have been quite good of late. The star bird of course being the White-spectacled Warblers, here are two different individuals, first an intermediate morph with slight greyish tint to the crown, and a full green crown morph for comparison. I have not been able to get any good photos of the proper grey-crowned morph despite having seen it a few times in the last few months.

White-spectacled Warbler - intermediate morph

White-spectacled Warbler - green crowned morph

The Hume's Warbler around picnic area two never showed very well, often staying too high up to get a proper view. It came down a bit lower one day for me to at least grab a record shot, while Hume's Warbler looks very similar to Yellow-browed in general, the call is often easy enough to identify, and often the safest way to separate between the two species.

Hume's Warbler

Chinese Barbets have been calling almost constantly of late, although seeing it remains a real challenge, got lucky with one calling near the top of the red walk, where trees are slightly lower, it still took us nearly 15 minutes to locate it, once located it showed amazingly well for as long as we wanted.

Chinese Barbet - a real treat to get good looks at

Its been an absolutely terrible winter for thrushes, there were not many around and those that were around never showed very well. Both Grey-backed and Japanese Thrushes can be found around Tai Po Kau, although without a fruiting tree chances of seeing them well is low. Other remaining winter visitors such as Rufous-tailed Robin and Verditer Flycatchers are perhaps slightly easier to see, with some of the robins now in song as their departure approaches.

Grey-backed Thrush

Japanese Thrush

Black-winged Cuckooshrikes, Grey-headed Canary-Flycatchers, Verditer Flycatcher and Rufous-tailed Robins are all regular winter visitors, with spring fast approaching I believe some of them will depart Hong Kong soon enough, with some of the robins now in song as their departure approaches.

Black-winged Cuckooshrike

Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher

Verditer Flycatcher - male

Rufous-tailed Robin

Rhodolea blooms are coming to an end, with just a few flowers remaining. Flowering Bombax now takes over, and those around Tai Po Kau Park attracts a good variety of birds to visit, including a Black Bulbul.

Orange-bellied Leafbird - male

Black Bulbul

The "standard" cast of local birds are always great fun to watch, and challenging at the same time to get good views of each of them. But, the sense of relieve and accomplishment is hard to compare when you finally get a good look at these forest dwellers. Funny how things have changed and Speckled Piculet is now part of the regular birds in Hong Kong.

Mountain Bulbul

Silver-eared Mesia

Huet's Fulvetta

Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babbler

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

Black-throated Laughingthrush

Pygmy Cupwing

Grey-chinned Minivet - female

Asian Tit & Grey-chinned Minivet

White-bellied Erpornis

Speckled Piculet

Finally, a singing Chinese Hwamei in full view, certainly a common species that I don't get to see that often. These songsters do become more active in spring, their melodious song can be heard around shrubby hillsides, at Tai Po Kau I only really see them around the lower reaches and bushes near the park.

Chinese Hwamei

Sad Ending for a Rail and a rare Gull

A Slaty-breasted Rail was reported outside of Kowloon Bay Sports Centre, being a species I have seen numerous times but never been able to photograph, I went to give it a try. I didn't have to wait long until the bird came out, it was exceedingly friendly at times, and actively foraging around the flowerbeds! It ate a few African Giant Snails right in front of me and seems to be doing quite well. Unfortunately, less than a week later it was seen doing poorly and sent to Kadorie Farm where it unfortunately passed away soon after, looking at other photographer's photos before it was taken away, there seemed to be some sort of head injury, whether it crashed into something or a cat got to it we will not know for sure. A reminder that not all birds get a happy ending.

Slaty-breasted Rail - sad demise of this wonderful bird in the end

Over at Mai Po, rarer gulls usually start turning up around January and February, this time two Relict Gull and a Black-legged Kittiwake turned up, I only caught up with the former, with distant views. But it is a nice bird to see, and certainly one we don't see very often in Hong Kong.

Relict Gull

Other goodies around Mai Po includes continuing Oriental Storks, a pair gave great close views one day on the scrape. I always love to see them side by side with Grey Herons, it really put into perspective how massive they really are!

Oriental Stork

A single Eurasian Hoopoe was perhaps one of the better bird around the reserve, they are always interesting to see. Falcated Ducks have been showing fairly well, with a few lovely looking males showing off nicely, occasionally swimming close enough for a half decent photo. A few Red-billed Starlings have been seen around the reserve, I have found starling numbers in Hong Kong to have dropped, as I never see very large flocks of these starlings anymore. Greater Spotted Eagle and Eastern Marsh Harriers are regularly seen around the reserve.

Eurasian Hoopoe

Falcated Duck - male

Red-billed Starling

Black Kites with Greater Spotted Eagle

Eastern Marsh Harrier

The blooming Rhodolea at Tai Po Kau Park continues to attract Orange-bellied Leafbirds and Hair-crested Drongos, I just don't get bored of looking at these lovely birds.

Orange-bellied Leafbird - male

Hair-crested Drongo

The Scarlet Dombeya also provides plenty of nectar for birds, with Fork-tailed Sunbirds and Blue-winged Minlas all flocking to these trees. Who can resist such great looks at these common but beautiful birds! While I haven't had much luck getting much good photos of the birds in the feeding flock around Tai Po Kau, a Pygmy Cupwing which put on a bit of a show was certainly worth mentioning.

Fork-tailed Sunbird - male

Blue-winged Minla

Pygmy Cupwing

Over at Shek Kong Catchwater, two perched Crested Goshawks in the morning was certainly a treat to see, plus a confiding flock of Indochinese Yuhinas.

Crested Goshawk - staring at 'lunch'

Indochinese Yuhina

Over at Long Valley, there's not been anything overly exciting, but the cast of usual birds are enough to make it an interesting visit anytime, I especially enjoy seeing Greater Painted Snipes walking right out in the open. Amur Stonechats are in good numbers there, with several lovely looking males. There were also no short supply of Little Buntings.

Greater Painted Snipe - juvenile female

Amur Stonechat - male

Little Bunting

You can count on Long Valley's Garganeys to be very stable, they are almost always on the same ponds. The resident Besra still makes its round around the fields, trying to catch the Scaly-breasted Munias. Black-winged Stilts and Little Ringed Plovers are also permanent fixture of the nature park. 

Garganey - eclipse male

Besra

Black-winged Stilt

Little Ringed Plover - male

The resident Alexandrine Parakeets are most entertaining if you get to see them up close, a flock of these noisy and colourful parrots were seen feeding happily on a Fan Palm, on both the palm nuts and the stem of the leaf.

Alexandrine Parakeet

Our other species of 'local' parrot can be found around the city parks on Hong Kong Island, the critically endangered Yellow-crested Cockatoos are not difficult to spot, you can often find them by following their loud calls.

Yellow-crested Cockatoo

Other urban dwellers includes Oriental Magpie Robins and Blue Whistling Thrush, both can be found in urban parks. Sooty-headed Bulbul is perhaps one of the less seen of our common bulbuls, but you may see them in certain urban parks, as they are more associated with scrublands, parks are a good alternative habitat for them. Eastern Buzzards do make their way into the city, this one for example flew through the wrong part of town and got harassed by numerous Large-billed Crows.

Oriental Magpie Robin - female

Blue Whistling Thrush

Sooty-headed Bulbul

Eastern Buzzard with Large-billed Crow

Finally, a rather nice looking female Black-naped Monarch, an uncommon winter visitor that utilizes a wide range of habitats, from parks, scrublands to forest.

Black-naped Monarch - female