Early September Migrants

Four twitch for various reported male Yellow-rumped Flycatchers ended in extreme frustration, I missed the bird by mere an hour in both locations I went to. I tried Ho Man Tin three times and ended up with more females...The best bird I managed was a Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher, which I found sitting on a branch motionlessly at first, it was later chased off by the local Oriental Magpie Robins, luckily I managed a few decent photos before it flew into deep cover.

An Amur Paradise Flycatcher was not quite enough to make up for the losses of the male Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, but it was nice to see one up close. This species is usually the earliest migrant to come through and is one of our staple migrant seen in Hong Kong.

Also present were numerous Asian Brown Flycatchers and Hainan Blue Flycatchers, both regular migrants at Ho Man Tin. There were also a few Arctic Warblers and Pale-legged Leaf Warblers around, although none provided any good chance for photographs.

On my final try at Ho Man Tin I gave up by mid morning (proved the right decision as no male Yellow-rumped Flycatchers were seen since), I ended up taking a stroll along Kowloon Hill Fitness Trail, a site I rarely visit nowadays, and seems to have become not so popular amongst birders in recent years. It was already well past 11am, I almost lost all hope until I heard the call of Black-throated Bushtits, and sure enough I saw three of these tiny birds right above my head. I have seen this species at this site many years ago, so its nice to see them again here. Also present were Black-throated Laughingthrush, which is kind of a specialty at Kowloon Hill.

An early walk along trail at Tai Lam proved to be a good call, with up to three Siberian Blue Robins seen along a short stretch of forest trail. One immature male was particularly showy, feeding on the trail at times. This seems to be a great year for this species, with numerous reported almost everywhere.

A short walk a Shing Mun Reservoir also yielded some migrants, most notably a pair of Amur Paradise Flycatcher in a single bird wave. Asian Brown Flycatchers were also noted.

Nothing hugely exciting yet, but good number of birds passing through at the moment, still hopeful for a rarity or two...

Slight Improvement - Late September Urban Migrants

Having stayed mainly in the 'countryside' for most of autumn migration and not having much luck, I finally decided to visit some of our urban birding hotspots. First being the now famous Telford Gardens, its became a bit of a regular birding spot to look for Grasshopper Warblers. I was not disappointed while I was there, on the two days I visited I had at least two Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler, a single Lanceolated Warbler plus a Black-browed Reed Warbler. All of which were extremely elusive and terribly photo shy, maybe another week before they get used to people. Here are two horrible record shots I took, that being said it is still a wonderful experience to see these migrants in action, I was lucky enough to actually see this Lanceolated Warbler coming down from above and landing right into the flowerbed.

Lanceolated Warbler

Black-browed Reed Warbler

I felt luck haven't been on my side lately, turning up very little interesting birds despite some effort. Luckily for me, I struck some luck on my first visit to Ho Man Tin this year with this Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher. It was actively foraging in the dense thickets of what we call the 'Pitta spot', named after the two appearances of Fairy Pittas in the past. The Flycatcher 'performed' fairly well for me while I was there, although it wasn't particularly photogenic, it was still a very nice bird to see. This species is now listed as vulnerable due to ongoing habitat loss throughout its range.

Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher

In the same area were two female Hainan Blue Flycatchers, which seemed to be getting along with the Jungle Flycatcher, these were evidently migrating through and decidedly to stop in this urban oasis. Another species that we regularly see at Ho Man Tin during passage is the Orange-headed Thrush, this one was not particularly photogenic but showed a few times while I was there.

Hainan Blue Flycatcher - female

Orange-headed Thrush - male

There were plenty of Arctic Warblers present, although none were photographable. A vocal Sakhalin Leaf Warbler was however a little more cooperative. This species and the closely related Pale-legged Leaf Warbler are almost unidentifiable in the field, the only way to confidently identify them is by their call, where Sakhalin's pitch is lower than that of Pale-legged Leaf Warblers.

Sakhalin Leaf Warbler

It's not quite the end of autumn migration yet, still plenty of room for improvement!

Finally...Migrants! Flycatchers and More Flycatchers.

Yellow-rumped Flycatcher

 The long awaited autumn migration has begun! My local patch started it off with a brilliant Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, a classic autumn migrant in Hong Kong. While we get most Narcissus Flycatchers during spring migration, more Yellow-rumped Flycatchers passes through in autumn. For some reason, we get more male Narcissus but less adult male Yellow-rumped. While this is clearly not an adult male, I highly suspect this as a juvenile male...Either way it was a nice bird to start the autumn with, the bird only stayed for one day and was not seen again.

Yellow-rumped Flycatcher - female or juvenile male?

Along the catch water I also saw a few Hainan Blue Flycatchers, including one male and a juvenile. The juvenile clearly indicates they were breeding in the area.

Hainan Blue Flycatcher - male

Hainan Blue Flycatcher - juvenile

Nearby at Wu Kau Tang I also found a Dark-sided Flycatcher, another species we often see in autumn. Other than that, Wu Kau Tang been awfully quiet of late.

Dark-sided Flycatcher

One of the more exciting migrant was this Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher at Ho Man Tin, we usually only get a few recorded annually, this young bird stayed long enough for me to catch up on. Like other times I encountered this species, this individual preferred to stay lower down and occasionally catching prey on the ground. Due to habitat loss, this species is now listed as vulnerable.

Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher

Other sightings back at my local patch, a few White and Grey Wagtails have been frequenting the catch water now that there is actually some water in there. Crested Goshawks were observed on two occasions, none stayed long enough for a photo. The local Indochinese Green Magpies had been very active, although none of them were willing to have a photo taken, they frequently gave inflight views over the road or catch water.

White Wagtail

The Streak-breasted Scimitar Babblers in the area were far more friendly, a few were seen foraging by the side of the road, no matter how many times I see them, they are as good looking as ever! I was also quite lucky to find a very vocal Common Emerald Dove singing one afternoon, I rarely get to see this shy dove well in Hong Kong, but this beautiful individual certainly was my best encounter with this species.

Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler

Common Emerald Dove

Finally, a walk around Brides Pool yielded no migrants of any sort, I was however rewarded with good views of a pair of Speckled Piculet, found amongst a small feeding flock of Japanese Tits and White-bellied Erpornis. It is remarkable to think that the Piculet was not too long ago a rarity in Hong Kong, now we get to see them regularly, doesn't make them any less interesting though.

Speckled Piculet

Valentine's Day Birding

Parks are romantic, or so they are in movies. Parks are also good for birds, so they seem in real life. Spent most of today in different parks in Hong Kong, experiencing some of Hong Kong's finest city bird species.

Started my day off at Fa Sam Hang, a hill side village in Shatin, main reason for visiting was for a Verditer Flycatcher that's been frequenting the area. However, waited for over 2 hours with little luck. Saw only common birds including this Magpie Robin and two Crested Serpent Eagle. An interesting species to note were two Little Buntings.

Magpie Robin (female)

Crested Serpent Eagle

Decided to move on to Central Kwai Chung Park, a park right next to the industrial estates of Kwai Chung. This place was made known few years back by the local speciality; Emerald Doves. There are some nice trees in the park which manages to hold quite a few species.

Looking towards Kwai Chung industrial estates

As soon as I entered the park entrance I saw a pair of Scarlet Minivets, a male and a female. They gave great views, but not so great for photographing.

Scarlet Minivets male & female

Further up in the park I encountered common species such as Red-whiskered Bulbuls, Japanese White-eyes, Yellow-browed Warblers, Pallas's Leaf Warblers...a few Grey-backed Thrush were seen but in very dense foliage, a good species was an Ashy Drongo amongst a few bulbuls. This is a regular winter species in Hong Kong, not especially rare but can be quite local.

Ashy Drongo

Yet even further up the hill towards Castle Peak Road, a little bird wave with a bunch of White-eyes brought along a female Black-naped Monarch! A very pleasant surprise indeed to see this wintering species in such urban landscape. Just as the Monarch flew away, a great shadow flew past me and landed right in front of me on a branch. A Crested Goshawk. It was way too close to me, so I couldn't manage a full body shot, but to see such magnificent bird so up close is always a treat.

Black-naped Monarch

Crested Goshawk

Near to the children's playground, a small bird hopped in the low hedges. I looked through my bins and saw a reddish cocked up tail, and what else could it be but a Rufous-tailed Robin. Another pleasant little surprise, this species are more regularly seen in forested areas like Tai Po Kau, I think this was the first time I have seen one in a park. I did saw two Emerald Doves, but they were quite shy and didn't manage to get a shot. Other birds of interest were a pair of Black-throated Laughingthrush, a flock of Silver-eared Mesia and an Asian Stubtail Warbler; which I heard only.

Rufous-tailed Robin

The afternoon I spent a few hours taking a few kids from the Project Care Small Group Home to visit Woh Chai Shan. The main objective was to show them that urban parks such as this can hold quite a few birds too. We wanted to show them birds such as Greater-necklaced Laughingthrush and Brown-chested Jungle-flycatcher; which we saw both with great success, the Flycatcher was particularly cooperative today and perched for nearly 10 minutes allowing amazing scope views. They also enjoyed a bit of free time running about the grassy parkland at the top of the hill.

Greater-necklaced Laughingthrush

Brown-chested Jungle-flycatcher