Barred Cuckoo-dove continued...

Wu Kau Tang continues to be very birdy of late, with the now confirmed three Barred Cuckoo-dove staying on. It took me many more tries, but finally I had the shot that I wanted. I was walking down hill when I saw a large bird flew into a tree up ahead, I walked very slowly towards that tree and was soon greeted by one of the Cuckoo-dove perched out on a horizontal branch under the morning sun! I scrambled for my camera and was very fortunate that it stayed long enough for me to get some good photographs before the three of them flew off. It was only when I checked the photos back home that I realized I actually had two birds in view all along! But, I was so focused on the one out in the open that I completely ignored the one behind a few branches on its right hand side! The hard work definitely paid off and I was over the moon with these photos.

Barred Cuckoo-dove - one dove...

Barred Cuckoo-dove - two doves!

While the Fujian Niltava seems to have moved on somewhere, the male Small Niltava however stayed on, and showed well on one of my visit, as its now becoming more vocal as spring is closing in on us. A male Mugimaki Flycatcher was also seen in the area, but remained very shy.

Small Niltava - male

Though Red-flanked Bluetail numbers are on the lower side of the spectrum this year, there were at least one male and one female in the area, although both were not particularly bold.

Red-flanked Bluetail - female

Red-flanked Bluetail - male

There were quite a few warblers in the bird waves, most obvious of which were the Hartert's Leaf Warblers. I also seen Kloss's and Two-barred Warblers in the area, although none of them allowed any photos to be taken. The best one of all was a Chestnut-crowned Warbler, which quietly followed the flock of Swinhoe's White-eyes and other small birds, another very nice addition to the great list of birds at Wu Kau Tang.

Hartert's Leaf Warbler

Chestnut-crowned Warbler

Closer to the village, the numerous Little Buntings continued to show well, feeding on the side of the footpath. I also found a few Eyebrowed Thrush feeding next to the road, although as always they were quite shy. The area also host a good selection of resident species, and is now a stronghold for Speckled Piculet, which I almost see or hear everytime I visit.

Little Bunting

Eyebrowed Thrush

Speckled Piculet

I don't visit Tai Po Kau as often as I wish, but that is also partly because I've had so little luck there this winter, the bird waves been very scattered and difficult to locate. That being said, it can still provide some good birds on any visit, such as a very showy male Bay Woodpecker. With the coral tree now in bloom, a female Mrs. Gould's Sunbird took up position there, although it doesn't always go onto the flower as those were mainly dominated by the Fork-tailed Sunbirds.

Bay Woodpecker - male

Mrs. Gould's Sunbird - female

Fork-tailed Sunbird - male

Closer to home, the Cinnamon Bittern continue to occasionally show for lucky birders, the area also welcomed another guest in form of a lovely male Verditer Flycatcher, not shy at all in showing off its brilliant colours. It's been a very good year for Verditer Flycatcher, with reports of them from everywhere!

Verditer Flycatcher - male

I paid a visit to North District Park, a nice urban park in Sheung Shui area that I've never been to before. The most prominent bird there was a very bold Asian Brown Flycatcher, one of the most confiding individual I have ever seen.

Asian Brown Flycatcher

The park offered lots of more common birds that I so often neglect, but we should feel very fortunate to have such a good variety of common species in Hong Kong. Both Light-vented and Red-whiskered Bulbuls are hard to miss on any birding day.

Light-vented Bulbul

Red-whiskered Bulbul

Japanese Tits and Oriental Magpie Robins are a staple for urban birders, and provide endless entertainment. There were quite a few Giant Crepe-Myrtles planted in the park, and that attracted a few Oriental Greenfinches, although views were hard to compare to the Long Valley birds, they are nice birds to see nonetheless.

Japanese Tit

Oriental Magpie Robin - male

Oriental Greenfinch

But, the main reason for my visit to this very park was a long staying Pale Thrush. I found it residing in a quiet corner in the park, away from the crowd. Some years we can find them easily, but this winter's been particularly difficult to locate this species, so I was very glad to get this on my annual list.

Pale Thrush