September - Still HOT!

I swear if anyone tells me global warming doesn't exist I will be most tempted to throw them off a cliff. Mid-autumn festival just passed by, and we just had our hottest one ever since record began. You would expect the temperature to be dropping slightly now that it is officially autumn, but unfortunately it is still very hot during the day, with temperature exceeding 34°C on some days! That being said, more autumn migrants are coming through, even some winter visitors are now returning. Amur Stonechat is one of those winter visitors that always arrives quite early, Green Sandpipers as well are now returning. Red Collared Dove is also a migrant or winter visitor in Hong Kong, some are now returning to the fish ponds, this lovely looking male seen at San Tin.

Amur Stonechat - female

Green Sandpiper

Red Collared Dove - male

I haven't been out birding much myself other than when I am working, but there are signs of migrants around, such as various Arctic Warblers out and about, and a very pretty male Black-naped Oriole which only decided to show up briefly. 

Arctic Warbler

Black-naped Oriole - male

Whiskered Terns are now arriving in their hundreds at the fish ponds, although they are a common species I always enjoy seeing these marsh terns around. Here are some shots of them in the rain.

Whiskered Tern

Tai Po Kau's been slightly disappointing on my last visit, with no visible migrants around, I am sure there were some there I just didn't chance upon them. I did however got very lucky with an extremely bold male Bay Woodpecker, which stayed there for 10 minutes in full view! I have never experienced that in Hong Kong, and likely not going to have another like this for a long while. A single Speckled Piculet showed briefly, but never came close. Also present was a Lesser Shortwing which showed well, by the looks of it I am guessing its a female without the white eyebrows.

Bay Woodpecker - male

Speckled Piculet

Lesser Shortwing - female

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker and Fork-tailed Sunbirds are both tiny but colourful birds, at this time of the year they are not always easy to photograph, as there aren't many flowering trees, or fruiting mistletoes (at least not low down), luckily got two chances to photograph both species with guests, first a Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker that came down low, and a Fork-tailed Sunbird taking a bath on a small hole filled with water on a tree branch.

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker - male

Fork-tailed Sunbird - male

I have mentioned many times that the Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babbler is my favourite babbler species in Hong Kong, I just think they have so much character. While a common species, they are never easy to photograph well, so when opportunity arrises, I rarely say no.

Streak-breasted Scimiter-Babbler

I have been out herping a few times this month, there were plenty of instances I did not take any photographs (a Checkered Keelback, Mountain Water Snake, Anderson's Stream Snake...), here are a few that I did. The ever so fabulous looking Marbled Pygmy Frog, the Fujian Large-headed Frog, a Bamboo Pit-Viper posing nicely, and the ever so impressive looking Reeve's Tokay Gecko, with the door of an abandoned house.

Marbled Pygmy Frog

Fujian Large-headed Frog

Bamboo Pit Viper

Reeve's Tokay Gecko

And a few good butterflies, the Rounded Palm-redeye, locally more commonly known as the 'Banana Skipper', which is a banana specialist as their caterpillars feeds on banana leaves. The Fluffy Tit, with far more frequent records in recent years, I would not really consider it as a hugely rare butterfly anymore. And, the Malayan, another formerly very rare species, is now recorded regularly in recent years, but this was still a first sighting for me.

Rounded Palm-redeye

Fluffy Tit

Malayan

Hopefully, we will get some cooler weather next week...

Commencing Autumn Migration

 It really know it is autumn when you start seeing Yellow-rumped Flycatchers, they are one of our most typical autumn migrants passing through Hong Kong. Being a small and rather inconspicuous flycatcher, they can be difficult to locate in the forest, luckily for us, the urban gem of Ho Man Tin provides this perfect migrant trap and we get to see them there almost every year with relative ease. A male was spotted by my friends, but unfortunately I was about an hour too late, by the time I got there only the female showed. Funnily enough, I already got this species on my year list this year, as I found one at Jordan Valley in spring, still they are great birds to start the season with.

Yellow-rumped Flycatcher - female

I paid Tai Po Kau a visit, hoping to find an Amur Paradise Flycatcher or two, to my disappointment none showed for me. A good selection of resident birds were present, including a relatively friendly Bay Woodpecker which I suspect maybe the same ringed individual I got months ago. 

Bay Woodpecker - male

A very friendly Pygmy Cupwing made its rounds, this skulking species can sometimes be tough to see well, so to get one perched in the open for so long is always a treat. It took a while to locate any bird waves, I checked for Amur Paradise Flycatchers constantly but got nothing, only a few Yellow-cheeked Tits were friendly enough to allow for any decent photos.

Pygmy Cupwing

Yellow-cheeked Tit - female

Yellow-cheeked Tit - male

An immature Slaty-backed Forktail been seen along the stream at Tai Po Kau lately, its been well over 20 years since I last seen a Slaty-backed Forktail at this site, they used to be a regular visitor to the stream here, although they can still be regularly found and likely breeding at Shing Mun. My guess is that this young bird is an offspring of the Shing Mun birds and dispersing to suitable habitat, hopefully they will take root here again.

Slaty-backed Forktail - immature

An interesting non-bird observation of late was this Carrion Beetle, Diamesus osculans. It was found near a Burmese Python carcass, we took so e photos of it away from the carcass first, but what strikes me was its stench! The beetle itself smelled extremely unpleasant, with a strong odour of ammonia. It was later found feeding on the carcass on our way out. Carrion Beetles are not that common in Hong Kong, probably due to the fact that ants and flies are much more dominant in warmer climates, therefore relatively slow growing beetles probably have a harder time competing with them.

Diamesus osculans

Diamesus osculans feeding on Burmese Python carcass

Also took sometime to photograph an interesting species of plant, the Common Swamp Pitcher-plant, Nepenthes mirabilis. This is our only pitcher-plant species found in Hong Kong, and a relatively widespread species globally. They can be found along small stream or swampy areas with little shade. As a carnivorous plant, its modified leaf act as a trap with sweet scent lined along the opening to attract insects to it, once the insects fallen in there is no escape, and the digestive liquid within the pitcher will provide nutrients for the plant, allowing it to grow even in poor soil.

Common Swamp Pitcher-plant - Nepenthes mirabilis

Barred Cuckoo-dove continued...

Wu Kau Tang continues to be very birdy of late, with the now confirmed three Barred Cuckoo-dove staying on. It took me many more tries, but finally I had the shot that I wanted. I was walking down hill when I saw a large bird flew into a tree up ahead, I walked very slowly towards that tree and was soon greeted by one of the Cuckoo-dove perched out on a horizontal branch under the morning sun! I scrambled for my camera and was very fortunate that it stayed long enough for me to get some good photographs before the three of them flew off. It was only when I checked the photos back home that I realized I actually had two birds in view all along! But, I was so focused on the one out in the open that I completely ignored the one behind a few branches on its right hand side! The hard work definitely paid off and I was over the moon with these photos.

Barred Cuckoo-dove - one dove...

Barred Cuckoo-dove - two doves!

While the Fujian Niltava seems to have moved on somewhere, the male Small Niltava however stayed on, and showed well on one of my visit, as its now becoming more vocal as spring is closing in on us. A male Mugimaki Flycatcher was also seen in the area, but remained very shy.

Small Niltava - male

Though Red-flanked Bluetail numbers are on the lower side of the spectrum this year, there were at least one male and one female in the area, although both were not particularly bold.

Red-flanked Bluetail - female

Red-flanked Bluetail - male

There were quite a few warblers in the bird waves, most obvious of which were the Hartert's Leaf Warblers. I also seen Kloss's and Two-barred Warblers in the area, although none of them allowed any photos to be taken. The best one of all was a Chestnut-crowned Warbler, which quietly followed the flock of Swinhoe's White-eyes and other small birds, another very nice addition to the great list of birds at Wu Kau Tang.

Hartert's Leaf Warbler

Chestnut-crowned Warbler

Closer to the village, the numerous Little Buntings continued to show well, feeding on the side of the footpath. I also found a few Eyebrowed Thrush feeding next to the road, although as always they were quite shy. The area also host a good selection of resident species, and is now a stronghold for Speckled Piculet, which I almost see or hear everytime I visit.

Little Bunting

Eyebrowed Thrush

Speckled Piculet

I don't visit Tai Po Kau as often as I wish, but that is also partly because I've had so little luck there this winter, the bird waves been very scattered and difficult to locate. That being said, it can still provide some good birds on any visit, such as a very showy male Bay Woodpecker. With the coral tree now in bloom, a female Mrs. Gould's Sunbird took up position there, although it doesn't always go onto the flower as those were mainly dominated by the Fork-tailed Sunbirds.

Bay Woodpecker - male

Mrs. Gould's Sunbird - female

Fork-tailed Sunbird - male

Closer to home, the Cinnamon Bittern continue to occasionally show for lucky birders, the area also welcomed another guest in form of a lovely male Verditer Flycatcher, not shy at all in showing off its brilliant colours. It's been a very good year for Verditer Flycatcher, with reports of them from everywhere!

Verditer Flycatcher - male

I paid a visit to North District Park, a nice urban park in Sheung Shui area that I've never been to before. The most prominent bird there was a very bold Asian Brown Flycatcher, one of the most confiding individual I have ever seen.

Asian Brown Flycatcher

The park offered lots of more common birds that I so often neglect, but we should feel very fortunate to have such a good variety of common species in Hong Kong. Both Light-vented and Red-whiskered Bulbuls are hard to miss on any birding day.

Light-vented Bulbul

Red-whiskered Bulbul

Japanese Tits and Oriental Magpie Robins are a staple for urban birders, and provide endless entertainment. There were quite a few Giant Crepe-Myrtles planted in the park, and that attracted a few Oriental Greenfinches, although views were hard to compare to the Long Valley birds, they are nice birds to see nonetheless.

Japanese Tit

Oriental Magpie Robin - male

Oriental Greenfinch

But, the main reason for my visit to this very park was a long staying Pale Thrush. I found it residing in a quiet corner in the park, away from the crowd. Some years we can find them easily, but this winter's been particularly difficult to locate this species, so I was very glad to get this on my annual list.

Pale Thrush