Two Full Days Birding Tour - Quality End of the Year Birds

Since I started this blog, I've always been passionate about showing people the natural side of Hong Kong, and birding tour is just one way to show people our surprising diversity of birds. Just had two full days birding tour with two different guests, both days with some success in finding our targets plus a few surprises along the way. 

For the first day we started at Tai Po Kau, our prime forest birding site rarely disappoints. We hit our first large bird wave at picnic area 1, with a few Hartert's Leaf Warblers and Sulphur-breasted Warblers. Common species like Huet's Fulvettas showed well, I especially like this photo with the bird facing straight towards me. Further on we had a very confiding Blue Whistling Thrush.

Hartert's Leaf Warbler

Sulphur-breasted Warbler

Huet's Fulvetta

Blue Whistling Thrush

The Japanese Robin showed well, although not as easy to photograph as before, but with a bit of patience we got good views of several individuals throughout the walk. I still can't quite believe what an extraordinary year this had been for this species, there seems to be more of them compared to the usually common Rufous-tailed Robins! Of which we only saw two shy individuals!

Japanese Robin - male

An Asian Stubtail feeding by the side of the footpath provided excellent views, we followed it for a few minutes, this skulking species is never easy to photograph, so I was pleased we connected with this relatively 'showy' individual.

Asian Stubtail

Best bird at Tai Po Kau came in form of TWO White-spectacled Warblers in one large bird wave, we know clearly there are two because I photographed one with greyish crown and the other with greenish crown! This species been tricky to locate at Tai Po Kau, as the location of the bird waves seems to shift on each of my visits, but I am glad to catchup with these beautiful warblers in the end. We looked for the Rufous-faced Warblers but they were nowhere to be seen.

White-spectacled Warbler - greyish crown

White-spectacled Warbler - greenish crown

After Tai Po Kau we headed to Lions Nature Education Centre, where numerous thrushes been seen lately. There we added a nice looking male Red-flanked Bluetail, a female White-rumped Shama and a Taiga Flycatcher. 

Red-flanked Bluetail - male

White-rumped Shama - female

Taiga Flycatcher

The large numbers of thrushes can clearly be felt here, there were quite a lot of thrushes everywhere, many hiding in various corners within the centre, some photographers also tried putting out fruits to lure the thrushes into view just behind the car park. Most numerous being Grey-backed Thrush, where I counted no less than at least 5 to 6 individuals dotted around the place, with at least a pair going to the 'photo booth'. 

Grey-backed Thrush - male

Grey-backed Thrush - female

A female Japanese Thrush also lured to the 'photo booth' by the fruits, at first glance they look quite similar to female Grey-backed Thrushes, but often darker backed, the most obvious difference are the heavily marked flank.

Japanese Thrush - female

The main attraction being a very friendly White's Thrush, walking around the lawn oblivious to the people around it. Other than the fruits offered by the photographers, I also observed it feeding on the fruits of a Turn-in-the-wind (Mallotus paniculatus) nearby.

White's Thrush

A shrike had been frequenting the farmland in the middle of the centre, of which I believe is a 1st winter Grey-backed Shrike. It is not dissimilar to the one that turned up at my local patch last year, with brownish ear coverts, buffish underparts with extensive barring on breast, belly and rump, as well as the lack of barring on the wing coverts all seems to be good indicators that this is most likely a Grey-backed and not a Brown Shrike. Separation of 1st winters of the two species remains extremely tricky and hopefully more sightings will result in us being better at identifying them.

Grey-backed Shrike - 1st winter

We gave Yan Yee Road a try in the afternoon, while it was mostly quiet we did find a pair of Rufous-faced Warblers! A complete surprise for us all, I am glad we found this pair after missing those at Tai Po Kau. The pair foraged mostly in silent on their own, we watched them for a good ten minutes before they disappeared. Before we left we found a very confiding 1st winter male Japanese Thrush feeding by the side of the road.

Rufous-faced Warbler

Japanese Thrush - 1st winter male

Since the guest for the second full day tour was staying near Sai Kung, I thought we should start at Yan Yee Road again, where I hope to find the Rufous-faced Warblers again. Unfortunately, we didn't see the two warblers again, but we got a good cast of common forest dwelling species, including a good look at a Speckled Piculet near the end of the walk.

Speckled Piculet

Our next stop was Mai Po, where we were greeted by a Taiga Flycatcher near the entrance. It didn't take long for us to find our first of many Chinese Penduline Tit. I managed to find a Vinous-throated Parrotbill, which gave brief views, this was the first time I ever seen a Vinous-throated Parrotbill in Mai Po. Other than the regular Black-faced Buntings, a single Little Bunting decided to drop in right in front of us for a good long look before it took off again.

Taiga Flycatcher - light made it look like a Red-breasted...

Chinese Penduline Tit

Little Bunting

Since the tide was very low, we decided against going out to Deep Bay, we scanned the various ponds and added more waterbirds to our day's list. We saw plenty of Black-faced Spoonbills, along with Eurasian Spoonbills. There were plenty of ducks around, although most of them were common species that is not particularly exciting for a birder from the UK, we did see some Eastern Spot-billed Ducks which added to the variety.

Eurasian and Black-faced Spoonbill

Eastern Spot-billed Duck

It took a while but I finally found three Yellow-billed Grosbeaks, they were relatively confiding and allowed us to get quite close, we enjoyed excellent views for over five minutes before they took off.

Yellow-billed Grosbeak - female

Yellow-billed Grosbeak - male

We decided that we probably got most of the birds we could in the reserve, as we were about to head back out to the park entrance, I noticed two large birds gliding high above, the first being an Imperial Eagle, the second bird was about the same size as the eagle but had a long neck. "Black Stork!" I shouted, and we watched the two glided together to the east and soon out of sight! Theres been at least two Black Storks reported in recent weeks, but none of them decided to stop over at Mai Po, so it was pure luck that we chanced upon this individual gliding past! And what a fine addition to my year list before the end of the year.

Black Stork & Imperial Eagle

Since we still had some time, I decided a short trip to Tai Sang Wai would probably allow us to add a few more species to our day's list. We first added a very showy male Bluethroat, later we added three more female Bluethroats, while a Siberian Rubythroat only gave us a very brief look. We ended our day at Tai Sang Wai with a Golden-headed Cisticola, which was first heard, and finally seen well after some effort.

Bluethroat - male

Golden-headed Cisticola

145 species in total recorded in two days, with 118 species on the second day alone, which is not bad for a relatively relaxed itinerary. And what a great way to end the year with two really high quality birding days.

Spring Migration - Slow but Steady

Spring migration have been fairly slow to start off with, but throughout the week we have been getting a few more interesting birds, although I missed the most interesting of all (the Owston's Flycatcher at KFBG...). Waders at Mai Po had been a little disappointing, at least during my visit. The best bird on scrape was no doubt a lovely looking Oriental Plover in breeding plumage, despite being quite far away from the hide it was still a nice bird to see. Oriental Pratincoles are also a key species of spring migrant which completes the 'springy' feel for birders in Hong Kong.

Oriental Plover

Oriental Pratincole

Intermediate Egrets are often very territorial and aggressive to each other during this time of the year and engages in epic aerial battles. Here, two of them fighting it out, jabbing at one another with their beak.

Intermediate Egret

For some reason, there were no small waders around the mudflat or on scrape, I barely had any Red-necked Stints which should be abundant at this time of the year. It is always a good idea to scan for Far Eastern Curlews amongst the Eurasian Curlews at this time of the year, which rarely disappoints. Black-tailed Godwits and Common Redshanks were amongst the most numerous waders on the scrape.

Far Eastern Curlew

Black-tailed Godwit

Common Redshank

Some Black-faced Spoonbills still remain, occasionally can be seen at very close range in front of the hide on the mudflat. Gull-billed Terns occasionally fly right in front of the hide as well, swooping down to snatch mudskippers off the mudflat.

Black-faced Spoonbill

Gull-billed Tern

Most adult large gulls are already on their way back to their breeding grounds, with the exception for a few adult Heuglin's Gulls, which finally moulted into their breeding plumage with all white head.

Heuglin's Gull - adult breeding

Heuglin's Gull

Many 2nd year birds remain, including mainly Heuglin's and a few Vega Gulls, as well as numerous I didn't bother to identify...

Presumed Heuglin's Gull 2nd year bird

Presumed Vega Gull 2nd year bird

Peregrine Falcons regularly come through the mudflat, looking for any waders caught off guard. This Peregrine came through without much success, the egrets were not at all pleased by its presence...

Peregrine Falcon

A drained pond at Tai Sang Wai produced more small waders, the best of which was a Little Stint feeding amongst the numerous Long-toed Stints. A Sharp-tailed Sandpiper also came by, it was wearing an orange flag on its right leg, which indicate it was banded in Victoria Australia. A single Red-necked Phalarope was feeding on the water.

Little Stint

Long-toed Stint

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

Red-necked Phalarope

Other than waders, there were plenty of wagtails to scan through on the pond, including a nice looking Citrine Wagtail, numerous Eastern Yellow Wagtail and a few ocularis White Wagtails. 

Citrine Wagtail

Eastern Yellow Wagtail - taivana

White Wagtail - ocularis

I also caught up with the long staying male Bluethroat finally, where photographers have been offering it mealworms, although most photographers already moved on to other targets by now, there were only a three other people present at dusk and the bird was actively coming in and out of the tall grass.

Bluethroat - male

It is the time of the year when Cuckoos are calling non-stop, the 'Brain-Fever' song echoes through the forest night and day, although they are as difficult to photograph as always...I also met my first Chestnut-winged Cuckoo the other day, a welcoming sight of this brilliant looking species. 

Large Hawk Cuckoo

Chestnut-winged Cuckoo

My local patch had been fairly disappointing so far, with the exception of a single Narcissus Flycatcher and a flock of 40 Ashy Minivets over head, both left me without any photos. At Wu Kau Tang things were equally quiet, with the exception of a single Radde's Warbler, a rare sight in spring.

Radde's Warbler

Without much migrants around, local residents such as these Rufous-capped Babblers kept me entertained. Other local birds that provided me fairly good photographic opportunities of late includes a very confiding Mountain Bulbul and some friendly White-bellied Erpornis. 

Rufous-capped Babbler

Mountain Bulbul

White-bellied Erpornis

Two Chinese Barbets were calling constantly at Tai Po Kau, they are never easy bird to see but if they are close enough you can often find them by following their calls. White-rumped Shama seems to have established itself at Tai Po Kau as well, you can hear their bubbly call along the forest trail, of which I am slightly worry about whether they will chase off other breeding birds like Hainan Blue Flycatchers...

Chinese Barbet

White-rumped Shama - female

Hainan Blue Flycatcher - male