Rain and More Spring Migrants

April is easily one of the best time for birds in Hong Kong, and with a bit more rain in the past week or so there's definitely been an improvement in the quality of birds we are getting. I visited Ho Man Tin briefly one morning and got several key migrant flycatchers, including a couple of Narcissus Flycatchers and a very nice male Blue-and-White Flycatcher! A male Daurian Redstart was nice as this species is a lot less common comes April. A female Black-naped Monarch was a nice addition at this site. 

Narcissus Flycatcher - male

Blue-and-White Flycatcher - male

Daurian Redstart - male

Black-naped Monarch - female

Tai Po Kau on the other hand is not so great for migrants, but it is our best site for local forest species. Even common species are interesting, such as this Japanese Tit gathering nesting material, and a pair of Blue Whistling evidently nesting near the dam. Rufous-capped Babblers are always fun to see up close, as these curious little birds will come over if you imitate their call with whistles.

Japanese Tit

Blue Whistling Thrush

Rufous-capped Babbler

Several local species are easiest to find during spring, Chinese Barbets are now calling non-stop, although seeing them still require a bit of luck. Plain Flowerpeckers are now in song, and is the best time to see our smallest bird. White-rumped Shamas are also singing now, they certainly seem to be a fairly regular bird now at Tai Po Kau. Bay Woodpeckers are always a joy to see, especially when seen well, such as this lovely female that perched out in the open briefly!

Chinese Barbet

Plain Flowerpecker

White-rumped Shama

Bay Woodpecker - female

Ma Tso Lung had been quite productive, I enjoyed several good birds there lately, including a nice looking male Bluethroat, although it didn't stay long enough for me to get a photo. A cooperative Pied Kingfisher and the long staying Little Buntings were more than happy to pose for me. I had a good counts of Grey-faced Buzzards there plus a nice looking Black-winged Kite which perched briefly for me to get some record shot.

Pied Kingfisher

Little Bunting

Grey-faced Buzzard - just some of over 30!

Black-winged Kite

Fish ponds around Mai Po are some of the best birding spots in Hong Kong, mainly San Tin and Tai Sang Wai, San Tin especially had been quite productive lately, with a very nice looking but rather skittish Chestnut-eared Bunting. Numerous Red Collared Doves can be found here at the moment, with over 20 on the same wire at one point.

Chestnut-eared Bunting - male

Red Collared Dove - female

Common Snipe is a relatively common sight here, often found quietly sitting by the edge of fish ponds, while Black-winged Stilts are almost a permanent fixture here, some evidently is attempting to breed in the area, here is a nice looking adult with a black mask. Several Oriental Pratincoles were seen on the dried pond, a species we kind of expect to find at this kind of habitats during this time of the year. One of the best local bird for me there were a pair of Greater Painted Snipes, a species not easy to find outside of Long Valley. Temminck's Stints are also relatively common here, and you can often get quite close to them with the aid of the 'car hide'.

Common Snipe

Black-winged Stilt

Oriental Pratincole

Greater Painted Snipe - female

Temminck's Stint

Chinese Penduline Tits can be found here with relative ease, although I've observed that they prefer less windy days to perch up to the top of the reeds. Sand Martins are passing through in relatively good numbers at the moment, several were seen perched during a wet morning. While the long staying Pied Harrier seems to have finally departed, I found an Eastern Marsh Harrier at its usual spot.

Chinese Penduline Tit - female

Sand Martin

Eastern Marsh Harrier

An interesting observation was a female Ferruginous Duck on a fish pond towards Tam Kon Chau Road, around the same area there were lots of Little Grebes, many of them have started to breed, with a few pairs already rearing chicks. Tai Sang Wai on the other hand had been a bit disappointing of late, a relatively close Osprey was about the only worth noting bird there.

Ferruginous Duck - female

Little Grebe

Osprey

The best bird in the area was certainly a Ruff at San Tin! Ruff is by no means a common species in Hong Kong, and seems to be getting increasingly rarer in recent years. So, I was very pleased to see this one. Judging by the plumage I think this is an adult female. 

Ruff - female

Mai Po is of course an important stopover for many waders, many of our spring migrants are now showing well both on the scrape during high tide or out on the mudflat, many interesting species including Nordmann's Greenshank and Far Eastern Curlews can be found with relative ease, although those I saw were too far away to photograph. Amongst the many waders I found at least one Tibetan Sand Plover, the recently split species from Lesser Sand Plover, while I probably won't be able make a call on immature birds, breeding plumage birds seems straight forward enough with lack of white forehead. 

Assorted Waders...

Tibetan Sand Plover

Other notable spring migrants at Mai Po includes nearly 40 Oriental Pratincoles on the scrape, although these were outshined by just two Oriental Plovers found on one of the dried scrape. A few Ashy Minivets were seen near the larger trees at the entrance.

Oriental Pratincole

Oriental Plover - assuming breeding plumage

Ashy Minivet - male

Definitely a lot more happening now, hopefully we will get a rarity or two in the coming few weeks.