I have pretty much given up on the Hen Harrier around Deep Bay, its been so elusive and hard to track down, unless you are willing (or have time) to wait around for it to glide past occasionally, it wasn't a bird you could just track down. However, sometimes you just need luck on your side, as I was out guiding, we arrived at the Osprey Hide at Mai Po at just the right time, as my friends at the hide told us that they have just seen the Hen Harrier flew past a few times. We waited for a little bit, and sure enough the bird flew by again! We had great flying views of this distinctive looking female, however the local Black Kites were not all that welcoming.
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| Hen Harrier - female |
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| Hern Harrier female with Black Kite |
Funnily enough, on our way out of the reserve, the Hen Harrier swooped past and tried to take some Scaly-breasted Munias from the tall grass, although it failed to do so, but it did perch down on the ground briefly for us to get a good long look!
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| Hen Harrier - female |
Another surprising find at Mai Po was a Short-eared Owl which was found flying high up with the Black Kites, a rare migrant, I have only ever seen one Short-eared Owl in Hong Kong previously, which makes this sighting quite the unusual one! Although it was very high up when I spotted it, there was no doubt what it was, a very long-winged owl with the most distinctive shape!
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| Short-eared Owl |
Area around Mai Po's been otherwise decent with a few interesting birds around, although nothing hugely exciting. Here are a selection of birds seen around there lately, including the continuing Ferruginous Ducks at Tam Kon Chau, several Mallards, Eastern Imperial Eagles and Chinese Penduline Tits.
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| Ferruginous Duck - male |
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| Mallard |
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| Eastern Imperial Eagle |
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| Chinese Penduline Tit |
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| Black-faced Spoonbill |
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| Purple Heron |
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| Common Kingfisher - male |
Long Valley's been rather quiet of late, although it is always worth visiting during the day for Greater Painted Snipes, some other friendly birds such as Daurian Redstart and Eastern Yellow Wagtails rarely disappoint.
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| Greater Painted Snipe - male |
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| Daurian Redstart - male |
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| Eastern Yellow Wagtail - race taivana |
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| Black-collared Starling & Crested Myna |
While Tai Po Kau's been generally good, finding those big feeding flock is still rather hit and miss, some days you find them at the bottom of the hill, some days you can't seem to find them anywhere. It is still great when you do find the flock and you are rewarded with great views of many species. The Emei Leaf Warbler is still present and showed rather well one day, while Sulphur-breasted Warblers gave multiple good views.
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| Emei Leaf Warbler |
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| Sulphur-breasted Warbler |
I found a rather confiding Two-barred Warbler at Tai Po Kau Park, which gave great views. This is a relatively uncommon wintering warbler for us, much less common than Yellow-browed. The completely pale lower mandible and lack of white edges to the tertiaries are key to differentiate with Yellow-browed Warblers, while the call is by far the most reliable diagnostic of this species.
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| Two-barred Warbler |
Asian Stubtails are now in rather good numbers, and one showed very well, posing perfectly for a photo before it hopped off to continue on foraging along the forest track.
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