Late September - Comme ci comme ça

Its been a fairly boring September for me in terms of birding, and I can only blame myself for the lack of enthusiasm in visiting hotspot like Ho Man Tin, where they have been getting the autumn goodies, I have been hoping to get something interesting closer to home, unfortunately that hope never materialised, resulting in a rather lacklustre autumn so far. Overall it's been so so, but, I am keeping faith that something will turn up, eventually!

I had a mediocre day at Lau Shui Heung, with a cast of common migrants, the Amur Paradise Flycatcher failed to perform and only gave fleeting views yet again! An Asian Brown Flycatcher was more obliging to pose for a photo. The only other sort of interesting bird was a female Black-naped Monarch, which showed very briefly.

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Black-naped Monarch - female

More warblers are now coming through, other than the few heard only Pale-legged Leaf Warblers, a few Arctic Warblers and Two-barred Warblers were present. I also connected with a single Eastern Crowned Warbler.

Two-barred Warbler

Eastern Crowned Warbler

I have been neglecting Tai Mei Tuk Catchment a little of late, due to the fact that it was under performing mostly since spring. The best bird was a single Taiga Flycatcher, while a Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike followed the local Minivets around. Speckled Piculet is now a staple around here, and quite often you get good views of a singing bird, like this little guy.

Taiga Flycatcher

Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike

Speckled Piculet

Over at Tai Po Kau, the usual Brown Shrike was back at its old spot along the access road. Adults of race lucionensis shows greyish crow.

Brown Shrike - race lucionensis

I was again granted brief views of an Amur Paradise Flycatcher on the day I visited, but it flew off before I could even hold my camera up. Other local residents were more friendly, such as the Huet's Fulvetta and often hard to photogrpah Blue-winged Minla. A little bit of excitement was provided by a very vocal Bay Woodpecker which gave fairly good views.

Huet's Fulvetta

Blue-winged Minla

Bay Woodpecker - male

I have been far more successful with my evening ventures, including an evening with a Brown Fish Owl, perched quite high up but still an enjoyable encounter. 

Brown Fish Owl

I finally caught up with one of my last two species of frogs I have yet seen in Hong Kong, the Three-striped Grass Frog, a small species that inhabits lowland wetlands. It took us a while to find this one, but thanks to Hoiling who found this little guy sitting on a fern! My final target is the South China Cascade Frog, hopefully I can find it next year.

Three-striped Grass Frog

Another frog that is new for me locally is the Rough-skinned Floating Frog, also known as Green Puddle Frogs. While Hoiling and I encountered more than two dozens on the day we visited this wetland site, this species was locally extinct since 1995. Not until recently was this species seen again, and base on my personal observation there were easily over 70 individuals there. A species as recognisable as this is unlikely going to be overlooked, my guess is that these were released, either through religious purpose or otherwise. Whether this 'reintroduction' is successful remains to be seen, but mean while these guys seemed happy enough here.

Rough-skinned Floating Frog

Other frog species worthy of note was the Chinese Bull Frog, a species that was far more common years ago, being a popular food item doesn't help and their preferred habitat also been much reduced.

Chinese Bull Frog

Another species that I finally caught up with was the Plumbeous Water Snake, this is also a lowland wetland species, while not a particularly rare snake in Hong Kong, I have for some reason not seen one before. I found this one sitting in a puddle right by the footpath, where it soon retreated back into the mud as soon as I took a few photos.

Plumbeous Water Snake