While Summers are considered the quieter months for birds in Hong Kong, it is by no means boring, we have many breeding species and summer is a great time for wildlife in general. By now most of our migrants are gone, but a few remains, especially some very late waders and waterbirds. White-winged and Whiskered Terns were still seen late last month, these marsh terns grace the fish ponds with their elegance, White-winged Terns in full breeding plumage are especially easy on the eye.
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| White-winged Tern - breeding plumage |
A few waders can still be found at this time of the year, late May saw quite a few Red-necked Stints and a single Grey-tailed Tattler in the fish ponds of Tai Sang Wai. A male Greater Painted Snipe was also seen with two chicks around a clump of reed there, first time I have seen them actually breeding at Tai Sang Wai.
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| Red-necked Stint - breeding plumage |
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| Grey-tailed Tattler |
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| Greater Painted Snipe - male with chick |
While things are slightly quieter for our wetland birds generally, our forest is still teeming with life, as the much needed rain seemed to have done the forest some good, but it is still much drier than average. Where there are forest, you will most certainly get at least a few Hainan Blue Flycatchers, and there is no better time to see them than now. No matter how many times I photograph these beauties, they are just so much fun to look at, especially when you find a bold male that sings out in the open! Females are generally more reclusive and shy, here is one found listening out to a displaying male nearby.
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| Hainan Blue Flycatcher - male |
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| Hainan Blue Flycatcher - female |
Many forest birds have already finished rearing their first brood, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch always seems to do quite well and you often see up to three juveniles following the two parents around, learning how to be a nuthatch generally! fledged juveniles already look like their parents, but are duller and their bills are often black or washed out red.
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| Velvet-fronted Nuthatch - juvenile |
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| Velvet-fronted Nuthatch - adult |
Speckled Piculets surely breeds in Hong Kong nowadays, but I have yet to be able to find a proper nest. We do hear their high pitched call and drumming quite often in the past month or so.
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| Speckled Piculet |
Hair-crested Drongo is also a breeding species in Hong Kong, although they do prefer open woodlands compare to other forest species. Whereas the Scarlet Minivet can adapt to a good variety of habitats, while they can nest quite deep in the forest, we also see Scarlet Minivets nesting in open woodlands as well as urban parks! Here is a displaying male that perched quite low down for a photo.
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| Hair-crested Drongo |
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| Scarlet Minivet - male |
At Tai Po Kau, there is always something going on there. Other than most of our common forest species, I did see a singing Orange-headed Thrush lately, but didn't have my camera with me at the time. Silver-eared Mesias are everywhere, though common, its still a challenging species to get a good photo of. Although the Plain Flowerpeckers is a resident species, I often associate it with springs and summers, as that's when we hear their song echoes through the forest. Blue Whistling Thrush prefers wooded streams, but this species can also tolerate urban parks to a certain degree, although I prefer seeing them in their most natural state, perched on mossy rocks along the stream. A Crested Serpent Eagle was spotted drying its wings after an evening of heavy rain.
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| Silver-eared Mesia - male |
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| Plain Flowerpecker |
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| Blue Whistling Thrush |
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| Crested Serpent Eagle |
Black Bulbul is becoming increasingly common, and certainly we are seeing more birds breeding, their numbers seems to be catching up to the Mountain Bulbuls in some areas! At Tai Po Kau, both can be seen with relative ease. A fruiting fig tree near Tai Po Kau Park have been attracting a few Great Barbets to feed there.
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| Black Bulbul |
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| Mountain Bulbul |
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| Great Barbet |
I haven't had much time to visit the Pale Blue Flycatcher site on my own, many birders have reported Lesser and Square-tailed Drongo Cuckoos there, but I simply haven't had the time to do that on my own. I took two visiting birders there for the Pale Blue Flycatcher which have been showing well still, but a huge surprise for me was a female Mrs. Gould's Sunbird which suddenly came in with a flock of small birds! They are considered mainly a wintering species here in Hong Kong, therefore seeing one so out of season was highly unusual, although they do breed in northern Guangdong, so I won't be surprise if we get one or two pairs that may attempt to breed here.
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| Pale Blue Flycatcher - very long staying individual |
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| Mrs. Gould's Sunbird - female |
The majority of Chinese Blackbird in Hong Kong are winter visitors, some do breed in Hong Kong, primarily around various parts of New Territories. I found a nesting pair at Yuen Long Park, with at least three chicks in the nest. As with other Turdus they feed their chicks mostly with earthworms, which is in no short supply around the well watered lawns of the park.
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| Chinese Blackbird - on nest |
The birds at Yuen Long Park are incredibly bold, and quite often will hop right in front of you if you stay quite still. Both parents looked extremely knackered, signs of truly devoted parents!
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| Chinese Blackbird - devoted parents... |
Black Baza is perhaps now one of our rarest breeding species in Hong Kong, this species used to be an uncommon passage migrant, with a few breeding in Hong Kong. Their migratory route seems to have shifted and nowadays they rarely come through Hong Kong, with even less staying here to breed. It is perhaps a bit of a mystery, given there are certainly many suitable habitats around for them. A huge shame given what a charismatic species this is.
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| Black Baza |
Summer is once again the time for night walks, and a great time to observe other wildlife. Last month saw an emergence of the Lumpy-necked Flasher, an endemic species of firefly that have extremely restricted distribution. It was quite an incredible experience to see them dancing around the forest, the males often take flight and fly across the middle storey or just below the canopy.
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| Lumpy-necked Flasher |
Despite the lack of rain, many frogs are out and about. Spotted Narrow-mouthed Frog is amongst my favourite, they are pleasantly common around cultivated areas. Lesser Spiny Frog favours wood streams, while Brown Tree Frogs is perhaps one of our most widespread species, found almost anywhere with trees and shrubs.
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| Spotted Narrow-mouthed Frog |
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| Lesser Spiny Frog |
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| Brown Tree Frog |
Geckos are often neglected by people, but they can too be fascinating. Chinese Gecko is perhaps our most common gecko species in the forest, unlike many species they are not as dependent on manmade buildings. Same goes with the Hong Kong Slender Gecko, an endemic species to Hong Kong with limited distribution, making it a Near Threaten species.
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| Chinese Gecko |
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| Hong Kong Slender Gecko |
With a little bit more rain lately in this relatively dry spring, this is perhaps the best time to look for snakes. I encountered a few lately, including a massive Burmese Python that I found lying on in the middle of the road, it was at least 3m long, an impressive animal to see in the wild. A Chinese Cobra also added a bit of excitement, they are notorious species and much feared by many, but in reality they are fairly docile and simply wants to get away from you once confronted. The extremely docile and gentle White-spotted Slug Snake is always a joy to see despite how common they are, their only method of defence is to curl up into a ball, whats not to like!
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| Burmese Python |
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| Chinese Cobra |
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| White-spotted Slug Snake |
It's been a while since I last seen a Masked Palm Civet, I saw a big fruiting Ficus variegata and thought to myself "this is perfect for Masked Palm Civet", as soon as I looked up I saw a Masked Palm Civet munching away on the figs! They are an absolute joy to see and we had a good long look at this particular one, which seemed completely unbothered by our presence.
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| Masked Palm Civet |
