Autumn migration is now in full swing, having hurt my ankle I haven't been out as much as I should, but I am hoping a bit more rest will allow my ankle to heal a bit better. That being said, I have been out a few times, mainly work related. During my monthly survey up to eight Oriental Plovers turned up to my delight, this is by no means an easy bird to see in Hong Kong, so I am happy to connect with them during work.
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| Oriental Plover - juvenile |
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| Oriental Plover - non-breeding female (I think) |
The breeding White-faced Plover seems to have done its job and moved on, I last saw them around late August, the chick was already capable of flying a short distance, I did not see them again on my last visit, so my guess is that they have now moved on.
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| White-faced Plover - female |
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| White-faced Plover - juvenile |
Other noticeable movement of birds are hundreds of Eastern Yellow Wagtails on the move, as well as increase of Wood Sandpipers. Black-winged Stilts also seems to be on the move, with some people reported them out at sea.
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| Eastern Yellow Wagtail |
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| Wood Sandpiper |
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| Black-winged Stilt |
Many 'Swintail' Snipes are passing through Hong Kong at the moment, at Long Valley I saw at least two confirmed Pin-tailed Snipes, as you can see the tail spread in the photo, but also many 'Swintail' Snipe which I was unable to nail the ID. Greater Painted Snipes were also present as always, although after a long summer they seem a bit shy at the moment.
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| Pin-tailed Snipe |
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| 'Swintail' Snipe |
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| Greater Painted Snipe - male |
Also present at Long Valley was a young Besra which seems to be terrorising the munias there at the moment, I managed to find it perched on the wire between it hunting. Other notable migrant there were a few Pallas's Grasshopper Warblers, all of which gave flying views only, but I managed to capture this one in flight as I flushed it.
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| Besra |
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| Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler |
A brief visit to San Tin didn't yield much for me, although there were many Great Mynas juvenile present, a species which is yet to be on the HK official list, but is now showing signs of breeding and self sustaining population, so perhaps it is time to review their status in Hong Kong. A few Oriental Turtle Doves were also seen, the first for me this autumn.
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| Great Myna - juvenile (Crested Myna to the back) |
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| Oriental Turtle Dove |
Despite my injuries, I made the effort to try for the Javan Pond Heron at the Deep Bay mudflat, my 6 hours of waiting disappointingly ended in failure. It is never fun when you put extra effort in only to not be rewarded. A Striated Heron was perhaps the only remotely interesting bird out there.
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| Striated Heron - juvenile |
A visit to Po Toi Island which was not really for birding rewarded me with my first Asian Brown and Yellow-rumped Flycatchers of the season, they stayed very high up on a large banyan tree, making it impossible to get any good photos of them.
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| Asian Brown Flycatcher |
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| Yellow-rumped Flycatcher - juvenile |
