Even though October is with us, the heat have been relentless, showing no sign of cooling down anytime soon. While I have not been enjoying the weather, migrants are coming through nonetheless. Some noticeable migrants includes Black-naped Orioles, which can be seen fairly often at this time of the year, a pair showed quite well for me near Mai Po. While this is a common resident species throughout much of South East Asia, race diffusus is a migratory race in East Asia down to Indochina.
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| Black-naped Oriole - female |
Tai Po Kau's been extremely poor and disappointing, probably one of the worst autumn in recent memory! A Pale-legged Leaf Warbler is perhaps the only notable migrant I managed. Black-winged Cuckooshrikes have also arrived. Both Crested Goshawks and Crested Serpent Eagles are now making their display flights over the forest, and can often be heard and seen circling above.
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| Pale-legged Leaf Warbler |
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| Black-winged Cuckooshrike |
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| Crested Goshawk |
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| Crested Serpent Eagle |
I have more luck with other wildlife at Tai Po Kau, including a very grumpy Mock Viper. A few Damselflies were still active around the forest, including Blue Forest Damsel and Black-kneed Featherlegs. The best find was probably a rare Blue-spotted Emperor laying eggs at the pond, a first for me!
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| Mock Viper |
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| Blue Forest Damsel - female |
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| Black-kneed Featherleg - male |
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| Blue-spotted Emperor - female |
Tai Lam have fared better, with a good cast of migrants, although I only visited once. I managed a male Black Paradise Flycatcher (formerly Japanese), but it was way too high for a photo. A fruiting fig tree attracted many Orange-headed Thrush, while not a rarity, this usually shy species are not always easy to come by, so to see so many in one morning was quite a treat.
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| Orange-headed Thrush - best looking male |
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| Orange-headed Thrush - slightly paler male |
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| Orange-headed Thrush - juvenile |
Other migrants to note were a few Eastern Crowned Warblers, some other birders had Hartert's and Sulphur-breasted Warblers, but I had no luck with those. Other resident species such as Yellow-cheeked Tits and Pygmy Cupwings always make a visit to Tai Lam worthwhile.
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| Eastern Crowned Warbler |
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| Yellow-cheeked Tit - female |
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| Pygmy Cupwing |
On Po Toi, there were the regular cast of migrants, including Arctic Warblers, Grey-streaked Flycatcher and Asian Brown Flycatcher, few of our typical autumn migrants.
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| Arctic Warbler |
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| Grey-streaked Flycatcher |
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| Asian Brown Flycatcher |
A single Oriental Dollarbird was surprisingly the only one we saw on the island, given how late September to early October should be the peak time for this species, I expected a few more around. Nonetheless, it is a wonderful migrant to see as always. There were also numerous Blue Rock Thrushes dotted around the island, sitting on exposed rocks as you would expect from this species.
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| Oriental Dollarbird - with White-throated Kingfisher hiding on the right |
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| Oriental Dollarbird |
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| Blue Rock Thrush |
The most surprising bird I got on the island is perhaps a male Golden-fronted Leafbird. No doubt an ex-captive individual, as this species is out of its natural range and is non-migratory. Po Toi is quite a strange place to find such a bird, but exotics turning up on the island is not unheard of. Although this bird didn't have any obvious cage damage, it may have been out of the cage long enough that it is already looking quite immaculate.
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| Golden-fronted Leafbird - male |
Some migrants around my survey site, couple of Whimbrels and a surprising Bluethroat sitting out in the open! Not what you would expect from a usually skulking species, certainly not how I imagined I would see my first one of the season.
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| Whimbrel |
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| Bluethroat - 1st year male |
