Japanese Paradise Flycatcher - Look at That Tail!

Of the many amazing looking spring migrants in Hong Kong, nothing quite compares to the Japanese Paradise Flycatcher in breeding plumage. Their long tail that cascades down their back gives them a very distinctive look when they hawk for insects in the forest, it is even harder to imagine this magnificent creature flying over oceans during migration from the Philippines back towards Japan! These incredible looking birds don't usually stay long, I was lucky to be tipped by Captain about one at Tai Po Kau late last month, fortunately enough for me the bad weather must have grounded the bird and it stayed long enough for me to relocate it within a bird wave.

Japanese Paradise Flycatcher - male

I have not seen one of these beautiful males since April 2007, so I was very please to see this one so well! It didn't stay long for me, I only had the bird in view for two minutes before it fluttered off back into the depth of the forest. The Japanese Paradise Flycatcher is now listed as Near Threatened due to habitat loss throughout much of its wintering range.

Japanese Paradise Flycatcher - male

Grey-streaked Flycatchers were still in good numbers near the end of April, but saw a decrease in numbers once the weather improved. There must have been over a dozen individuals along the Tai Mei Tuk Catchment. A Chestnut-winged Cuckoo have been frequenting the catchment, although being very shy as usual, despite much effort I ended up with only a record shot through the leaves.

Grey-streaked Flycatcher

Chestnut-winged Cuckoo

At Tai Tong, I encountered a very confiding female Chinese Goshawk, it remained perched even when I walked right up to it, they are a species I very much enjoy seeing every time. Around the reservoir I spotted a juvenile White-bellied Sea Eagle, which gave good flyby views before perching on a tall tree further away.

Chinese Goshawk - female

White-bellied Sea Eagle - juvenile

Other confiding birds at Tai Tong includes a mob of Red-billed Blue Magpies, a common species that I still love seeing up close, a few were feeding in a picnic area on the ground. A large flock of Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush were also unusually confiding, this species is not very often photogenic, but these were feeding just a few metres away from me.

Red-billed Blue Magpie

Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush

I didn't find anything new around my local patch, but a Two-barred Warbler at Tai Mei Tuk Family Walk was a nice bird to see, it however made a very Greenish like call which confused me to begin with, but overall plumage fits Two-barred more. It was seen actively feeding with a few Swinhoe's White-eyes and Rufous-capped Babblers, later it perched up to preen which allowed some decent photos to be taken. This is a fairly late individual which stayed till May, but latest date recorded in Hong Kong is 15th of May.

Two-barred Warbler