While I do quite a bit of bird guiding nowadays, it is usually for just a day or two, that is because most people only stop by Hong Kong briefly, or passing through Hong Kong for another birding destination elsewhere. It is also easy to do all the main birding spots in one or two days, decreasing the needs for a birding trip for more than two days. My good friend John Hansford who was kind enough to show me lots of good local birds around Somerset planned a week to Hong Kong in April, hoping to catchup on some spring migrants, as all his previous visits had been in late autumn and winter. I thought it would be a good time for me to catchup on some birds and visit a few areas that I don't normally go, or simply don't have time to visit. On John's previous visits in 2014, 2016 and 2019, he's always had quite a bit of luck with good birds, so I was very keen to see what we may turn up this time round!
19th - Day 1
I picked John up at the airport at around 4pm, after a quick run around the airport to finish off my survey, we drove straight home. Straight away after we got out of our car, I heard the Barred Cuckoo-Dove thats been calling recently near home, it soon stopped calling but was replaced by a Common Emerald Dove calling nearby. A Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker came in to give us a good look.
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| Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker - male |
That evening, we went out briefly to look for herps and possibly Collared Scops Owl. I didn't really bother taking photos of any of the frogs we saw, but we did saw quite a few of our common frog species out and about. A Slaty-legged Crake was calling nearby but of course never came into view. I heard some weird noises from up the tree, and with the aid of my infrared sensor, I picked up two birds up there, and sure enough we saw a Collared Scops Owl perched high up in the tree! I got the spotlight on the bird, but didn't have enough arms to take any photos, luckily John managed a record shot with his camera before it flew off. With that success, we went home for an early start tomorrow.
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| Record shot of Collared Scops Owl by John Hansford |
20th - Day 2
Weather forecast for the upcoming week was absolutely horrible, with heavy rain and thunder storms predicted all throughout the week! 20th was about the only day where forecast predicted a clear morning with no rain, so I though we should get the most difficult stuff out of the way first, and head up to Tai Mo Shan and try to get the Chinese Grassbird, a species I really wanted to show John. We started early and left home around 5:45am, and got to the car park around 6:15am. Conditions were less than favourable, as the summit was covered by a thick fog, and it was very windy! Making hearing any bird calls a challenge. We made our way to the first Grassbird area, there we had our first Russet Bush Warbler, calling away in a small bush just a few feet away from us, but the fog was so thick that even being that close you could not get a good photo.
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| Russet Bush Warbler |
We tried several spots for the Grassbird, but we didn't even hear a single call. Chinese Francolins were calling but again we could not see them through the thick mist. We got up to the summit afterwards and was awarded with good views of a Brown-flanked Bush Warbler.
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| Brown-flanked Bush Warbler |
Already quite tired, I asked John whether he was alright to carry on through towards Sze Fong Shan, and he agreed that we might as well try since we are up here already! We braved on and headed down towards the short bamboo thickets, here the mist lifted and the winds were not as strong. As soon as we got to the bottom of the big slope, I heard the distinctive and raspy call of the Chinese Grassbird! We immediately scanned the area and was rewarded with amazing views of this interesting looking babbler, calling away while sitting out in the open! After a minute or so, it jumped down and continued down the slope and out of view.
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| Chinese Grassbird! |
Having had amazing views of our top target of the day, the walk back up the hill just seems that much easier. Along the way we had good views of a Mountain Bulbul, which showed beautifully. Most of the way was pretty uneventful, I listened out for Vinous-throated Parrotbills but heard none! Back down by the building next to the car park, there were quite a few moths on the wall, which we stopped briefly to take a few photos.
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| Mountain Bulbul |
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| Eterusia aedea |
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| Cleora alienaria |
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| Pingasa ruginaria |
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| Neodrymonia filix |
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| Ambadra modesta |
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| Plutodes exquisita |
After Tai Mo Shan we headed downhill to Shek Kong Catchwater, where I just hope to find a few forest species. By that time it was near midday, so we did not really have much hopes in finding anything too interesting. At a flowering bush we had quite a few good butterflies, including a White Dragontail and a Five-bar Swordtail, both showed really well and allowed us to get a few photos. A Chestnut Bob was seen feeding on the Shepard's Needle. A distant Crested Serpent Eagle flew past for a brief view, I also saw a Crested Goshawk which John just missed.
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| White Dragontail |
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| Five-bar Swordtail |
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| Chestnut Bob |
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| Crested Serpent Eagle |
Near the toilet block, I heard the call of a Speckled Piculet, with a burst of playback the bird came in and gave phenomenal views for a few minutes! While this was not a lifer for John, our last sighting of this species together was nowhere as good as this!
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| Speckled Piculet - simply amazing views! |
Soon after, I had a pair of Blue-winged Minlas at close range, although John was photographing something else at the time, by the time he got there the birds were gone. After a nice curry lunch, we headed to Shek Kong Airfield where I hope to find the Asian Barred Owlet for John, we were in luck as we found one perched up in the tree, despite being obscurred by a few twigs we still got a decent look at the bird before it flew back into the dense bushes nearby, just in time as well before rain came in.
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| Blue-winged Minla |
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| Asian Barred Owlet |
We paid a visit to Ho Man Tin next, where I hope to see a few possible migrants. To my disappointment, the hills were quiet in general, this is not surprising given the continued southerly winds which probably don't help much in grounding the birds. The only migrant we added was a single Asian Brown Flycatcher which showed terribly. Here, we got good views of a Red-billed Blue Magpie, the most interesting find though was probably a Common Tailorbird nest, which you don't see everyday!
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| Red-billed Blue Magpie |
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| Common Tailorbird at nest |
Since we were already in Kowloon and John never seen an Alexandrine Parakeet, I thought we could stop briefly at Kowloon Park to look for those, as well as do a quick scan around for possible migrants. John was immediately captivated by the large amount of Black-crowned Night Herons nesting at the flamingo pond, a species that is often secretive in Europe but very well adapted to an urban lifestyle here in Hong Kong. We found a few Red-billed Starlings, which seems to be breeding in the park for a number of years now. Finally, we found a few Alexandrine Parakeets, which showed nicely. This larger parakeet seems to have completely taken over and pushed out the Rose-ringed Parakeets, I presume the Rose-ringed to now be extinct locally.
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| Black-crowned Night Heron |
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| Black-crowned Night Heron - juvenile |
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| Red-billed Starling |
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| Alexandrine Parakeet |
21st - Day 3
Po Toi Island is probably one of the best site in Hong Kong for migrants, although it is also a site that is rather hit or miss, as bird movements there mainly base on wind directions and weather. It just so happens that its been quite a poor spring in general, as continued southerly winds probably aided the migration of many birds away from us. We met with Kenneth and Benjamin at the Aberdeen pier in the morning, both of them knew John through the internet, and Kenneth have met John once on his previous visit in 2019. The White-bellied Sea Eagle was a target species for John, and we saw a pair sitting on the tree on the way to the island.
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| White-bellied Sea Eagle |
As soon as we landed, a Blue Rock Thrush was found not far from the pier. We walked all around the island but there were very few birds around. The only interesting bird we found was a Pale-legged Leaf Warbler in song, which gave fleeting views but not enough for a photo, I've never heard the song of this species, so it was quite an interesting experience. Heavy rain soon came in and all we could do was take shelter at the cafe! A Black Drongo kept coming back and forth hawking for the emerging termites.
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Blue Rock Thrush - male
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| Black Drongo |
We really were stuck on the island in the horrible weather, we tried scanning for seabirds near the pier but saw nothing out there. After hours of waiting, the only two remotely interesting birds that came in were a pair of Pacific Swifts.
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| Pacific Swift |
By 3pm, we decided this was enough for us and we headed back to the mainland. The weather was so bad that the ferry could not land at Stanley where it was suppose to, and dropped us all back at Aberdeen, which was probably the first bit of good news that day! There were just no birds on the island to make braving the rain worth while.
Having thought the day was lost, we got home and had a nice dinner. After dinner, we thought we could drive around to try for owls. We headed out towards Nam Chung, and scanned around the area. We didn't see anything at first, but just as we were about to head back to the car, I saw a large silhouette sitting on a dead tree, and what could it be other than a Brown Fish Owl! Although it wasn't great for photos, we got good views of the owl, before it took off. What an amazing bird to save our rather disappointing day!
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| Brown Fish Owl - a bird that saved an otherwise lost day! |
22nd - Day 4
The weather forecast wasn't great the next day, but as with all forecasts, they are not always right! Luckily, it went our way and we had brilliant weather in the morning. Hoiling joined in for our morning birding, we tried the fish ponds areas near Mai Po, mainly San Tin and Tai Sang Wai in the morning, hoping to find any migrants that may have dropped in with the rain yesterday. We first visited San Tin, Eastern Yellow Wagtails were never in short supply, while a big flock of Whiskered Terns have turned up, allowing some close views. As we watched the terns, a small raptor came through and flushed them, turns out it was a Besra, a new bird for John.
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| Eastern Yellow Wagtail - race taivana |
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| Whiskered Tern |
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| Besra |
A drained pond was rather disappointing, we only had a few Common Greenshanks there plus a few Long-toed Stints, although the Long-toed Stints were in lovely breeding plumage. Among the large flock of egrets we had a few Medium Egrets.
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| Common Greenshank |
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| Long-toed Stint |
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| Medium Egret |
A few confiding White-rumped Munia provided excellent photo opportunity, while a few Richard's Pipits were around and also gave good views.
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| White-rumped Munia |
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| Richard's Pipit |
The best sighting though was probably not a bird, but a Javan Mongoose that was seen just in front of our car, it was not particularly close but gave good views before it disappeared into the tall grass by the road.
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| Javan Mongoose |
Over at Tai Sang Wai, a drained pond attracted a few waders, mostly Marsh Sandpipers and Common Redshanks, a few Spotted Redshanks in breeding plumage were also there, a species that has seen such a huge drop in local numbers.
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| Marsh Sandpiper and Common Redshank |
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| Spotted Redshank |
At the same pond, two Black-faced Spoonbills were present, feeding in close range. Along the grassy bank, numerous Plain and Yellow-bellied Prinias can be seen, this one here obviously carrying food back to its nest.
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| Black-faced Spoonbill |
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| Plain Prinia |
Between the fish ponds of San Tin and here, we saw no less than 7 Yellow Bitterns! Most of them flying through. One finally perched up in the open for everyone to get a good look at Tai Sang Wai. The area was buzzing with Oriental Flower Chafers, many of these colourful beetles were flying around.
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| Yellow Bittern |
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| Oriental Flower Chafer |
I noticed a medium sized bunting flew past, too quick for me to identify, I thought it was most likely a Chestnut-eared Bunting or a Yellow-breasted Bunting. I started looking around in the area, and all of the sudden, a male Yellow-breasted Bunting dropped onto the road right in front of me! I immediately called John over and all three of us got good views of this beautiful bird before it took off!
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| Yellow-breasted Bunting - male |
Further on towards Lut Chau, another drained pond attracted more egrets and yet another Black-faced Spoonbill. Nearby, a flock of marsh terns were present, with a quick scan we spotted two White-winged Black Terns in amongst the many Whiskered Terns. Another drained pond had a few waders in it, mainly Wood Sandpipers, but I managed to find a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper hidden among them, another lifer for John!
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| Black-faced Spoonbill |
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| Whiskered and White-winged Black Tern |
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| Sharp-tailed Sandpiper |
As we drove along the track and saw a few Eurasian Tree Sparrows feeding on the ground, I noticed a slightly larger bird perched up on the wire fairly close to us. And what a bird it was! As I scrambled for my camera to try and get a photo of a male Yellow-breasted Bunting in focus! Everyone got onto the bird quickly and for the next 10 minutes or so we enjoyed amazing views of this immaculate bird up close. I have always wanted to take photos of a male in breeding plumage up close, and how glad I got this chance to share with my friend, an encounter we will both remember for a lifetime! Yellow-breasted Bunting despite being a critically endangered species, are still regularly sighted in Hong Kong, although we do get more of them in autumn, they are fairly regular in spring as well, the only problem being they often don't stay long enough for me to see them!
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| Yellow-breasted Bunting - male |
After that bit of excitement, we headed to lunch, along the way we got a very confiding Azure-winged Magpie next to our car.
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| Azure-winged Magpie |
The rain soon came in during lunchtime, but we thought we shouldn't waste time just sitting there, and drove to Lok Ma Chau and Ma Tso Lung area to have a look. We didn't see too much there, but I was glad we did, as we saw a Large Hawk Cuckoo flew in and perched right up in a Bombax Tree for us to get a good look. We saw very little around Ma Tso Lung, but a confiding White-throated Kingfisher was a welcoming sight in the wet.
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| Large Hawk Cuckoo |
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| White-throated Kingfisher |
Weather improved slightly, and I decided to head to Ha Pak Nai to have a look around. This is an area I don't visit too often, as it is slightly out of the way. We had plenty of Pacific Swifts up above us, as we got out of our car. Chinese Francolin was heard but stayed out of view. There were not as many waders on the mudflat as I've hoped for, the only species of interest were three Grey-tailed Tattlers, another new bird for John. The most surprising find though was probably a Great Bittern that got flushed by us, a bird I never expected to see here!
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| Pacific Swift |
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| Grey-tailed Tattler |
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| Great Bittern - a real surprising find! |
23rd - Day 5
Forecast for the day was again not great, it was fairly dry still when we woke up, so we thought we should make the most of it while it lasted and headed up to Tai Po Kau. It was very dark and misty as we walked up the hill, where we were greeted by the resident Crested Serpent Eagle. We didn't mange to get much birding in before it absolutely poured down with rain, and amber rain warning was issued as we took shelter at the picnic area. We did see a few Scarlet Minivets and bulbuls flew out to hawk for emerging termites, other than that we didn't really get to see much in this weather. We decided it was best to get back to the car when we got a break in weather, as radar showed more rain will follow after that! As we got back to the car, I noticed a dot in a distant tree, turns out it was a Chinese Sparrowhawk! It must have gotten grounded by the heavy rain, so the morning was not entirely wasted!
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| Crested Serpent Eagle |
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| Chinese Sparrowhawk |
The weather improved later in the afternoon, so we headed out once more hoping to salvage the day. We started off well with a Plain Flowerpecker that showed very well near Wu Kau Tang, however the area was generally very quiet as it has been all winter, the only bird of interest was a Pale-legged Leaf Warbler. A Fork-tailed Sunbird came in for us to get a good look.
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| Plain Flowerpecker |
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| Fork-tailed Sunbird - male |
We headed towards Luk Keng area, I was hoping for a Lesser Coucal to perch out after the rain, but no luck. John spotted a bird perched up on the bamboo, which turned out to be our only Dollarbird of the trip! This usually common migrant have been anything but common this spring, with very few records!
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| Dollarbird - pitifully few this spring |
With no Chestnut-winged Cuckoos in sight, I decided to head back towards Tai Mei Tuk Catchwater for a brief stroll before dusk. A distant Great Barbet briefly made an appearance, another lifer for John. A very confiding Black Kite perched above a house.
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| Great Barbet |
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| Black Kite |
I was relieved when we finally heard a call of the Chestnut-winged Cuckoos, and two birds came out for us to get a good look in the end. They showed exceptionally well, even perched up in the tree briefly for us to take some photos! It was certainly a good note to end the day with.
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| Chestnut-winged Cuckoo - stunning as always |
24th - Day 6
John booked a permit to Mai Po for the day, and weather forecast was not too bad for a change! So, we thought we should give Tai Po Kau a second try before we head over to Mai Po. We woke up early and got to Tai Po Kau around 6:30am. On the way up we added two confiding Black-throated Laughingthrushes and a few common species. The Crested Serpent Eagle was present once again, but without the mist it took off almost immediately after it spotted us.
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| Black-throated Laughingthrush |
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| Crested Serpent Eagle |
As we arrived at the first picnic area, I heard a Two-barred Warbler singing, with a bit of effort we located the bird and it showed fairly well, this was also a lifer for John, and one I was glad we connected with. Further along the track, I heard the song of Hainan Blue Flycatcher, and it didn't take too long before we were looking at a nice male in song, the female also came out to greet us briefly.
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| Two-barred Warbler |
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| Hainan Blue Flycatcher - male |
We arrived at picnic area two and immediately heard the Chinese Barbet calling away, but it was just out of view. Other small birds came through for us to get a good view, including Blue-winged Minla, Siliver-eared Mesia, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Huet's Fulvetta and Grey-chinned Minivets. It took a while but a Chinese Barbet finally perched up on the tree top and gave fairly good views, despite being a bit far, nailing us the final target of the morning!
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| Blue-winged Minla |
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| Chinese Barbet |
On the way out, we stumbled across a Hong Kong Stream Crab crossing the footpath, and a few Rhesus Macaque at the dam. By 8:05am we were back down at the car park, making it a very productive morning!
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| Hong Kong Stream Crab |
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| Rhesus Macaque |
We got some sandwiches and headed to Mai Po to get the permit for John, we were on our way into the reserve before 9am. The first new bird we saw along the footpath was a juvenile Purple Heron. As John was photographing some other birds, I went ahead and saw a bird sitting on a low branch under a tree, I looked through my binoculars and saw two yellow eyes staring straight back at me! I immediately called John over to tell him that I found another Asian Barred Owlet! We had excellent views of the bird until it got flushed by a Red-billed Blue Magpie.
Near the Education Centre we had a very confiding female Common Kingfisher, even though they are very common in Hong Kong, it is not always easy to get close views. At the reedbed we heard an unusual song that we knew was from a Reed Warbler, but it didn't sound right for Black-browed Reed Warbler. We soon figured out that it was from a Manchurian Reed Warbler! We had brief views of it hopping up onto the top for half a second, it stayed inside the reed the entire time. A Black-browed Reed Warbler did call not too far away, allowing us to compare the different song.
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| Common Kingfisher - female |
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| Black-browed Reed Warbler |
We continued on towards the scrape, along the way we had a few more Black-faced Spoonbills. On the scrape, most of the birds were already roosting there from the early high tide. I scanned the waders, the most obvious being Black-tailed Godwits feeding in front of the bird hide. With a bit of effort I located three Asian Dowitchers, another target for John.
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Black-faced Spoonbill
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| Black-tailed Godwit |
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| Asian Dowitcher with Black-tailed Godwit |
I continued to scan through all the waders, but I failed to locate a Nordmann's Greenshank anywhere. We did however get a good range of species, including Red-necked Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Greater Sand Plover, Siberian Sand Plover, Terek Sandpiper, Whimbrels and Great Knot. A pair of Ospreys also came through close to the bird hide, allowing great flight views!
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| Assorted Waders... |
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| Osprey |
Outside the bird hide, I spotted an Oriental Cuckoo, it flew into the tree and stayed out of view, I told John we would probably flush it when we go ahead, and surely it did flew off to the left side! I told John to follow me and this time I flushed it and got great views as it flew past me, I thought John would have seen it next to me, only to look over to find him not there! Turns out he was trying to look through the trees and missed the bird coming out! We could not relocate it afterwards, but we did get an Indian Cuckoo that flew past for a good view. A Long-tailed Skink also showed itself by the footpath. Along the fence we even heard a Thick-billed Warbler in song! But it never showed itself.
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| Indian Cuckoo |
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| Long-tailed Skink |
We got out to the mudflat hide for the out going tide, there we were greeted by a Vega Gull mongolicus with very worned out plumage, it was later joined by another that I also believe to be the same species, but very bleached. Gull-billed Terns were the first birds to return back out to the mudflat.
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| Vega Gull - 1st individual |
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| Vega Gull - 2nd individual |
An assortment of waders followed, mainly Red-necked Stints and Curlew Sandpipers, but most of those were too far away for photos. A Terek Sandpiper came in pleasantly close to the bird hide, as did a few Greater Sand Plovers and a single Grey-tailed Tattler. There were also quite a few Gull-billed Terns around.
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| Terek Sandpiper |
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| Greater Sand Plover |
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| Grey-tailed Tattler |
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| Gull-Billed Tern |
A distant Sharp-tailed Sandpiper was spotted as we lost hope for the Chinese Egret, but just before we were about to give up, I spotted one way out along the tide line! Despite how far it was, we could make out all the diagnostic feature of this lifer for John.
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Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
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| Chinese Egret |
The returning journey back was not particularly productive, we only added an Asian Brown Flycatcher and numerous Asian Koels calling nearby, of which we finally got a good one for a photo.
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| Asian Brown Flycatcher |
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| Asian Koel - male |
Back at the car park, I noticed the bulbuls were having a go at something, I looked up and was surprise to find yet another Asian Barred Owlet sitting near the top of the tree! How amazing to have two in one day! It stayed so long that we even managed to tell the WWF staffs about it and they had a good look as well. No wonder people call John the 'Owl whisperer' back at home!
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| Asian Barred Owlet |
We went back to the fish ponds around San Tin and Tai Sang Wai after Mai Po, but produced very little birds of interest, we did have a very nice looking macronyx Eastern Yellow Wagtail that came very close though.
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| Eastern Yellow Wagtail - macronyx |
25th - Day 7
For our last day, we didn't think we could get too much birding looking at the forecast. I saw that we have a slight window with no rain early in the morning, so John and I gave Sha Lo Tung a try, as it was close to home, and its an area that I so seldomly go despite how close I live. The first animal of interest we found there as we arrived was not a bird, but a Chinese Waterside Skink that I found under a leaf! While not a rare species, it is not a species you see everyday!
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| Chinese Waterside Skink |
Not long into our walk, I heard the call of a Bay Woodpecker! One of John's major target! Having missed them at Tai Po Kau, I wasn't sure we were gonna see it. We were rewarded with good flyby views, and on a few occasions it perched very close to us! Although always with a few branches in the way, but I managed a decent record shot of the male! We also added a Hodgson's Hawk Cuckoo that gave us a flyby view, this elusive species is always hard to see well. John also added the Grey Treepie to his life list when we finally caught sight of one flying past us in the rain, but all the diagnostic features seen perfectly. The only other addition to our trip list were a few Sooty-headed Bulbuls.
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| Bay Woodpecker - male |
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| Sooty-headed Bulbul |
Heavy rain soon came in and we were glad to be home. I thought that was the last of our birding given the weather, but fortunately for us, weather cleared up after lunch! Having gotten news that someone got Oriental Pratincoles, a species that I was hoping to find John, we headed back out to the fish ponds areas to try our luck. To our pleasant surprise, the first bird we saw was actually a male Citrine Wagtail! A species that John has always wanted to see, but never seemed to be lucky in connecting! And what better way to end that streak with his bogey bird than a fine looking male! We only had brief views before the bird took off and never returned.
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| Citrine Wagtail - male |
At San Tin, we saw a White-breasted Waterhen tending to her fledged youngs, although I wasn't quick enough to get a photo of those cute black fuzzy balls of fur. A Black Drongo perched closely for a nice photo, and we had a few more confiding macronyx Eastern Yellow Wagtail. I found John his first ever Brown Shrike, but it was so skittish that it flew off without a trace soon after we relocated it, leaving us without a photo. A nice find was a lovely big Common Rat Snake that was slithering across the road, I manage to get a hold of it before it slithered off so John can get a good look at this awesome snake, it was around 1.5m long, definitely a beauty!
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| White-breasted Waterhen |
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| Black Drongo |
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| Eastern Yellow Wagtail - macronyx |
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| Common Rat Snake |
Over at Tai Sang Wai, what I believe to be the same flock of terns were still present, including the two White-winged Black Terns. The drained pond was slightly disappointing, with very few migrant species. A few Pied Avocets gave close views, while a single Terek was spotted among the Wood Sandpipers. At one point I found an Oriental Pratincole on a drained pond, I thought I could take my time in getting the scope out for John, but when I was ready the bird mysteriously disappeared! We did not see it fly off, so I was completely baffled in where it went...That will be a bird John will have to get on his next visit.
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| Whiskered and White-winged Black Tern |
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| Pied Avocet |
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| Wood Sandpipers and one Terek Sandpiper |
One of our final bird was a Black-faced Spoonbill flying past, which gave us amazing views! And John finally got a few good photos of a Long-tailed Shrike that he was happy with. And with that, it was the end of our 7 days of birding around Hong Kong! We had a lovely dinner and dropped John off at the airport for his late night flight home.
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| Black-faced Spoonbill |
Given how challenging the weather was half of the time, and the lack of proper migrants anywhere in those 7 days, I would say we did quite well. As with any migratory season, there are going to be some unpredictability, adding to the continued southerly winds that might have been aiding the birds to move north much quicker, there were quite a few usually common migrants I hoped to connect to but didn't, simply because they were not really around. That being said, despite the challenges we still ended up with 170 species, over 30 of those were lifers for John, and a lot of laughs and good meals together, so all in all it was a nice time with some great birds thrown in!
With a bit more rain and some easterly winds finally, it seems to have brought in a few more birds...hopefully that trend can continue for a few more weeks into May.
| Species | Note |
| 1 | Northern Shoveler | |
| 2 | Eurasian Wigeon | |
| 3 | Eurasian/Green-winged Teal | |
| 4 | Chinese Francolin | Heard on Tai Mo Shan and Ha Pak Nai |
| 5 | Little Grebe | |
| 6 | Rock Dove | |
| 7 | Rufous Turtle Dove | |
| 8 | Eurasian Collared Dove | |
| 9 | Red Collared Dove | |
| 10 | Spotted Dove | |
| 11 | Barred Cuckoo-Dove | Heard at Ting Kok |
| 12 | Asian Emerald Dove | |
| 13 | Greater Coucal | |
| 14 | Chestnut-winged Cuckoo | 2 at Tai Mei Tuk Catchwater |
| 15 | Asian Koel | |
| 16 | Plaintive Cuckoo | |
| 17 | Large Hawk-Cuckoo | |
| 18 | Hodgson's Hawk-Cuckoo | 1 seen at Sha Lo Tung |
| 19 | Indian Cuckoo | |
| 20 | Oriental Cuckoo | 1 seen at Mai Po |
| 21 | Pacific Swift | 2 seen on Po Toi, numerous at Ha Pak Nai |
| 22 | House Swift | |
| 23 | Common Moorhen | |
| 24 | White-breasted Waterhen | |
| 25 | Slaty-legged Crake | 1 heard at Tai Mei Tuk Catchwater |
| 26 | Black-winged Stilt | |
| 27 | Pied Avocet | |
| 28 | Grey Plover | |
| 29 | Little Ringed Plover | |
| 30 | Siberian Sand Plover | |
| 31 | Greater Sand Plover | |
| 32 | Whimbrel | |
| 33 | Eurasian Curlew | |
| 34 | Bar-tailed Godwit | |
| 35 | Black-tailed Godwit | |
| 36 | Asian Dowitcher | 3 seen at Mai Po |
| 37 | Common Snipe | |
| 38 | Pintailed / Swinhoe's Snipe | 1 seen at Mai Po |
| 39 | Terek Sandpiper | |
| 40 | Common Sandpiper | |
| 41 | Green Sandpiper | |
| 42 | Grey-tailed Tattler | 3 seen at Ha Pak Nai, 1 at Mai Po |
| 43 | Marsh Sandpiper | |
| 44 | Wood Sandpiper | |
| 45 | Common Redshank | |
| 46 | Spotted Redshank | |
| 47 | Common Greenshank | |
| 48 | Great Knot | |
| 49 | Broad-billed Sandpiper | |
| 50 | Sharp-tailed Sandpiper | 1 at Tai Sang Wai, 1 at Mai Po |
| 51 | Curlew Sandpiper | |
| 52 | Long-toed Stint | |
| 53 | Red-necked Stint | |
| 54 | Oriental Pratincole | |
| 55 | Black-headed Gull | |
| 56 | Vega Gull | |
| 57 | Gull-billed Tern | |
| 58 | Whiskered Tern | |
| 59 | White-winged Black Tern | |
| 60 | Great Bittern | 1 at Ha Pak Nai |
| 61 | Yellow Bittern | |
| 62 | Black-crowned Night Heron | |
| 63 | Pacific Reef-Heron | |
| 64 | Chinese Egret | 1 at Mai Po |
| 65 | Little Egret | |
| 66 | Striated Heron | |
| 67 | Chinese Pond Heron | |
| 68 | Eastern Cattle Egret | |
| 69 | Great White Egret | |
| 70 | Medium Egret | |
| 71 | Grey Heron | |
| 72 | Purple Heron | |
| 73 | Black-faced Spoonbill | |
| 74 | Osprey | |
| 75 | Crested Serpent-Eagle | |
| 76 | Crested Goshawk | |
| 77 | Chinese Sparrowhawk | 1 at Tai Po Kau |
| 78 | Besra | |
| 79 | Black Kite | |
| 80 | White-bellied Sea-Eagle | |
| 81 | Collared Scops Owl | 1 at Tai Mei Tuk Catchwater |
| 82 | Brown Fish-Owl | 1 at Nam Chung |
| 83 | Asian Barred Owlet | 1 at Shek Kong Airfield, 2 at Mai Po |
| 84 | Common Kingfisher | |
| 85 | White-throated Kingfisher | |
| 86 | Pied Kingfisher | |
| 87 | Dollarbird | 1 at Nam Chung |
| 88 | Great Barbet | |
| 89 | Chinese Barbet | 1 seen at Tai Po Kau |
| 90 | Speckled Piculet | |
| 91 | Bay Woodpecker | 2 seen at Sha Lo Tung |
| 92 | Peregrine Falcon | |
| 93 | Yellow-crested Cockatoo | |
| 94 | Alexandrine Parakeet | |
| 95 | Grey-chinned Minivet | |
| 96 | Scarlet Minivet | |
| 97 | White-bellied Erpornis | |
| 98 | Black Drongo | |
| 99 | Hair-crested Drongo | |
| 100 | Brown Shrike | 1 at San Tin |
| 101 | Long-tailed Shrike | |
| 102 | Azure-winged Magpie | |
| 103 | Indochinese Green-Magpie | Heard at Sha Lo Tung |
| 104 | Red-billed Blue-Magpie | |
| 105 | Grey Treepie | 2 at Sha Lo Tung |
| 106 | Oriental Magpie | |
| 107 | Large-billed Crow | |
| 108 | Collared Crow | |
| 109 | Japanese Tit | |
| 110 | Yellow-cheeked Tit | |
| 111 | Chinese Penduline Tit | 1 flew over at Mai Po |
| 112 | Common Tailorbird | |
| 113 | Yellow-bellied Prinia | |
| 114 | Plain Prinia | |
| 115 | Thick-billed Warbler | 1 heard along fence at Mai Po |
| 116 | Black-browed Reed Warbler | |
| 117 | Manchurian Reed Warbler | 1 heard and seen briefly at Mai Po |
| 118 | Oriental Reed Warbler | |
| 119 | Russet Bush Warbler | Numerous on Tai Mo Shan |
| 120 | Barn Swallow | |
| 121 | Chestnut Bulbul | |
| 122 | Mountain Bulbul | |
| 123 | Black Bulbul | 1 at Shek Kong Catchwater |
| 124 | Light-vented Bulbul | |
| 125 | Red-whiskered Bulbul | |
| 126 | Sooty-headed Bulbul | |
| 127 | Dusky Warbler | |
| 128 | Two-barred Warbler | 1 at Tai Po Kau |
| 129 | Pale-legged Leaf Warbler | 1 on Po Toi, another at Wu Kau Tang |
| 130 | Mountain Tailorbird | |
| 131 | Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler | |
| 132 | Swinhoe's White-eye | |
| 133 | Rufous-capped Babbler | |
| 134 | Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babbler | |
| 135 | Chinese Grassbird | 1 on Tai Mo Shan |
| 136 | Huet's Fulvetta | |
| 137 | Blue-winged Minla | |
| 138 | Red-billed Leiothrix | |
| 139 | Silver-eared Mesia | |
| 140 | Chinese Hwamei | |
| 141 | Black-throated Laughingthrush | |
| 142 | Masked Laughingthrush | |
| 143 | Velvet-fronted Nuthatch | |
| 144 | Black-collared Starling | |
| 145 | White-shouldered Starling | |
| 146 | Red-billed Starling | Several seen at Kowloon Park |
| 147 | Common Myna | |
| 148 | Crested Myna | |
| 149 | Great Myna | |
| 150 | Eyebrowed Thrush | 1 flew over at Tai Mo Shan |
| 151 | Asian Brown Flycatcher | |
| 152 | Oriental Magpie-Robin | |
| 153 | Hainan Blue Flycatcher | A pair seen at Tai Po Kau |
| 154 | Lesser Shortwing | |
| 155 | Blue Whistling-Thrush | |
| 156 | Amur Stonechat | |
| 157 | Plain Flowerpecker | 1 seen well at Wu Kau Tang |
| 158 | Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker | |
| 159 | Fork-tailed Sunbird | |
| 160 | Scaly-breasted Munia | |
| 161 | White-rumped Munia | |
| 162 | Eurasian Tree Sparrow | |
| 163 | Grey Wagtail | |
| 164 | Eastern Yellow Wagtail | |
| 165 | Citrine Wagtail | 1 at Mai Po fish ponds |
| 166 | White Wagtail | |
| 167 | Richard's Pipit | |
| 168 | Olive-backed Pipit | |
| 169 | Yellow-breasted Bunting | Perhaps 2 at Tai Sang Wai |
| 170 | Black-faced Bunting | |
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