Of the many grassland specialist that lives on Tai Mo Shan, the Chinese Babax is perhaps one of the more mysterious species, having been formerly a locally uncommon species up there, records of this species is now extremely rare, my one and only encounter with this species was in the summer of 2011, where my dad and I saw a small flock on Tai Mo Shan. There were huge gaps in-between sightings, which adds to the mystery of the movements of these birds, but we simply have to believe they are out there away from the prying eyes!
Since my last encounter, they were sporadically recorded by lucky birders. Last week I heard from a few friends that someone had sighted a few on Tai Mo Shan. Since there are hardly any interesting birds around in July, I thought I may give it a go, although I wasn't particularly confident that I will find them. I met up with Captain and we worked our way towards the summit...To my surprise, we found a few of these energetic birds almost as soon as we arrived at the supposed spot, they were quite vocal, but remained in cover mostly, I saw at least 4 birds. They were only in view for around 10 minutes before they disappeared down the slope again, I only managed some half decent record shots, but I was quite pleased to have seen them.
Chinese Babax - one of the more mysterious species up on Tai Mo Shan
Other Tai Mo Shan speciality on show includes a few flocks of Vinous-throated Parrotbills, this one only popped out of the tall grass once the fog came in, some post production to increase the contrast helps...we also spotted two Chinese Grassbirds, first I have seen this year, although I haven't really been out looking for them as such, still a great bird to see everytime. Despite discovery of a few population in South East Asia, Hong Kong is still one of the world's best place to find them.
Vinous-throated Parrotbill
Chinese Grassbird
Lower down at Kap Lung Trail, Great Barbets were actively calling, some effort was required to get decent views of them. Despite not a particularly rare species, good views of this species are hard to come by. Fire-breasted Flowerpecker is presumed to be breeding in the area, as a very vocal male dominated a tree with lots of mistletoes growing out of it.
Great Barbet
Fire-breasted Flowerpecker
Hoiling and I also joined a snake safari run by William Sargent recently, he runs the 'Hong Kong Snake' facebook group and is one of the local snake catchers. It was extremely good fun and thanks to the expertise of William and co-guide Franco we spotted 6 snakes that evening! Here is a photo of William with a Mock Viper he spotted curled up in the tree. He also found a fairly large Red-necked Keelback sleeping in some vines, it obviously just had a big meal that day and was sleeping it off...
William with a Mock Viper
Red-necked Keelback
Along the mountain stream Franco spotted us the beautiful Mountain Water Snake, a species that is always a delight to see. Snake of the night for me was a stunning Futsing Wolf Snake, a species I have wanted to see for quite a while! They look superficially like the extremely venomous Many-banded Krait, but with more broken and less contrasty bands. A classic case of mimicry as they are completely harmless.
Mountain Water Snake
Futsing Wolf Snake
William also had a few tricks up his sleeves in-case we didn't see many snakes that night, as he often helps with relocating snakes near people's houses to safer locations. That evening he brought with him a beautiful Indochinese Rat Snake, one of the quickest snakes in Hong Kong. Another very exciting snake is a juvenile Chinese Cobra.
Indochinese Rat Snake
Chinese Cobra
During the snake tour we saw a Big-headed Frog along the stream, which is actually a new species for me despite not being particularly rare! Now I only need two more frogs to tick off all the species in Hong Kong...
Big-headed Frog
During a tour to Lung Fu Shan I also spotted two Rufous Burrowing Snakes, one adult and the other a tiny juvenile which must have just hatched recently. The Bamboo Pit Viper is perhaps the most commonly encountered snake at Lung Fu Shan, they are quite well camouflaged but the bright yellow underside often gives it away at night.
Rufous Burrowing Snake
Bamboo Pit Viper
Looking for frogs is a great way to spend a summer night, we have a total of 24 species of frogs in Hong Kong (1 locally extinct and 1 introduced), many are quite charismatic. The Green Cascade Frog is always fun to see, being quite large, you can often find them sitting on rocks or tree trunks next to forest streams. The Lesser Spiny Frog is hardly ever found far away from the stream, but they are quite widespread throughout Hong Kong.
Green Cascade Frog
Lesser Spiny Frog
The Short-legged Toad is common around Hong Kong Island but less common in New Territories and Lantau. Although not an endemic species, they were first discovered on Victoria Peak in Hong Kong. Another species that was first discovered in Hong Kong is the Hong Kong Whipping Frog, also more commonly known as the Brown Tree Frog.
Short-legged Toad
Hong Kong Whipping Frog
The Paddy Frog is perhaps the most common frog species in agricultural area, it is quite a variable species, with some individuals lacking the buffish line down the middle. Another frog often found in wet fields is the Marbled Pygmy Frog. One of prettiest frog species is perhaps the Spotted Narrow-mouthed Frog, fairly common and widespread throughout.
Paddy Frog
Marbled Pygmy Frog
Spotted Narrow-mouthed Frog
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