Autumn Rarities - Emei Leaf Warbler & Chinese Grey Shrike

Weather is finally cooling down somewhat, it was a very pleasant 25°C a few days ago. The cooler weather definitely brought in more birds, one of the most notable rarity being an Emei Leaf Warbler at Tai Lam. Kenneth and I went there the next morning, we saw the warbler soon after we got to the 'magic valley', its appearance was definitely 'Blyth's-type', with double wing bars, crown stripe and a completely orange lower mandible. Luckily for us the warbler was very vocal, making it easier for us to ID. Its song is a resonant trill that is very different from all the other similar looking warblers. The bird came down briefly to feed, allowing us to take some half decent photos, before going higher up again to feed with other warblers in the bird wave.

Emei Leaf Warbler - Only my second lifer for 2022

There were plenty of warblers around, other than the most common species such as Yellow-browed and Two-barred, plenty of Hartert's were around, including both race fukiensis and goodsoni. We counted at least four Sulphur-breasted Warblers throughout the trail, this species is definitely becoming much easier to find in Hong Kong. Eastern Crowned Warbler were in very good numbers, seems like we are getting an influx of them this year.

Hartert's Leaf Warbler - goodsoni

Sulphur-breasted Warbler

Eastern Crowned Warbler

Other than warblers, a Japanese Paradise Flycatcher was seen within the bird wave, feeding frantically within the flock of birds. Many Grey-chinned Minivets and other common forest species also made their rounds along magic valley.

Japanese Paradise Flycatcher

Grey-chinned Minivet - female

One of the most exciting find for me was a male White-throated Rock Thrush first spotted by Peter Wong within the bird wave! It's been many years since I last seen one of these handsome birds! It showed briefly and soon flew down the valley and out of sight. As if that wasn't brilliant enough, Kenneth and I later found TWO more females along the trail! Truly an incredible experience to see three of these rare migrants in one day!

White-throated Rock Thrush - male

White-throated Rock Thrush - female

The cherry on top was the Green-backed Flycatcher which decided to return to where I initially found it, its not been seen by any other birders since my last encounter until the day I returned to Tai Lam (relocated in the morning by John Clough)! While views were slightly more distant, I was happy to get a photo of its 'green-backed' this time round.

Green-backed Flycatcher

My local patch is also turning up some good birds, including this rather confiding Yellow-browed Warbler feeding on the lawn. This is a new species for me at Ting Kok, in the same area I also found a Yellow-breasted Bunting.

Yellow-browed Bunting

Other more common migrants in the area includes a Black-winged Cuckooshrike and a Asian Brown Flycatcher both feeding near the mangroves. Up to two Brown Shrikes were found near the BBQ sites. A Japanese Sparrowhawk also been seen terrorising the birds in the area, but it always swooped in quick and low, making it almost impossible to photograph.

Black-winged Cuckooshrike

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Brown Shrike

The most incredible bird though was no doubt a Chinese Grey Shrike! Found by Eric and Marco, I immediately rushed over after I got the news, and sure enough found this incredible looking shrike feeding on the lawns at close range! There's only ever been two accepted Chinese Grey Shrike record in Hong Kong that I know of, so this is only the 3rd record for Hong Kong (I think).

Chinese Grey Shrike

It successfully caught a few grasshoppers, often using the little hut by the mangroves as a vantage point. it was an incredibly confiding bird, often flying straight towards me and land just a few feet from me to catch insects before flying back up to the trees or the little hut to feed. After 20 minutes of it showing really well, the bird suddenly decided to fly straight out to sea and towards Yeung Chau, landing on a small yacht just off the island. 

Chinese Grey Shrike

I presume the bird left...but I decided to check again the next morning anyway. Sadly, the shrike was found dead by the road. It did not have any visible injuries, therefore it seems highly unlikely it was attacked by a cat. There were also no windows near the area it was found at, making it an unlikely victim of window strike. Therefore, I presume it could have just died of exhaustion from flying all the way down to Hong Kong. An incredibly sad end for this rarity, but I guess this is just the harsh reality that these migratory birds have to face, I just feel incredibly lucky to be able to see this beautiful bird at its best.

Chinese Grey Shrike - deceased...

It is almost the end of snake season, despite that night walks can still be productive. A walk at Lung Fu Shan provided us stellar views of a group of Malayan Porcupines feeding by the road, also two different Masked Palm Civets from two different locations, one feeding on; you guess it, Ficus variegata! Hoiling spotted a male Bamboo Pit Viper, this one photographed in-situ. 

Malayan Porcupine

Masked Palm Civet

Bamboo Pit Viper

Double Rarities - Chinese Grey Shrike & Water Pipit

After a really busy week, I was finally able to catchup on a few rarities that had appeared last week. Including a very handsome Chinese Grey Shrike at Tam Kon Chau Road, if accepted this will be the 1st record for Hong Kong. This species had been recorded in the past, however all of them had been treated as escaped caged birds. This individual was in very good condition and overall behaved very naturally, keeping a good distance away from people.

Chinese Grey Shrike - possibly 1st record for Hong Kong

The main diagnostic feature of Chinese Grey Shrike with Great Grey is more white on the wing and having no white rump. Both features can be seen when the bird is in flight.

Chinese Grey Shrike - showing large white wing patch in flight

A female Ferruginous Duck was also present in a fish pond nearby, it stayed with a female Tufted Duck. I caught only a glimpse of the male Ferruginous Duck last month, so it was nice to be able to get good views of this one early morning. While at the drained pond next to Tam Kon Chau Road I spotted a few Temmink's Stints.

Ferruginous Duck (right) with Tufted Duck (left)

Temmink's Stint

Rice fields at Long Valley have ripened, attracting dozens of Buntings. The most numerous were Yellow-breasted Buntings, which in one day I counted over 15 individuals! A brilliant count for this critically endangered species.

Yellow-breasted Bunting - male

Yellow-breasted Bunting - female

Another bunting species we used to get as a rarity and now regularly visiting Long Valley is the Black-headed Bunting, it's large size usually give it away in amongst the smaller Yellow-breasted Buntings. I managed to photograph it while it rested on the banana trees nearby.

Black-headed Bunting

Other buntings includes the common Black-faced Bunting, which prefers low scrubs to the paddy fields. There were plenty of Little Buntings feeding around the fields. I also found a single Chestnut-eared Bunting which showed briefly.

Black-faced Bunting

Little Bunting

Chestnut-eared Bunting

Common Snipe numbers had increased steadily, here is one preening, showing off the diagnostic tail. A fly-over Grey-headed Lapwing is a good record for Long Valley. Dusky Warblers are now everywhere, it's impossible not to hear one calling nearby. There are also more ocularis White Wagtails around at this time of the year. Other than the eye-stripe, I also find them to be slightly larger than our local leucopsis White Wagtails.

Common Snipe

Grey-headed Lapwing

Dusky Warbler

White Wagtail - ocularis

I received news of a Water Pipit at Long Valley on Sunday morning (the weird angle of the photos on the whatsapp group nearly had me thinking it was a Richard's Pipit, oops!). I didn't have time on Sunday so I waited till Monday and visited with Hoiling, the bird showed exceedingly well at the same location, in the field there was little question of it's identity, a long-billed, quite small, faintly marked breast and faint eye-brows were all good features, dark legs is also a good feature to look for when identifying Water Pipit. The call was also very different from all the other pipit we usually get in Hong Kong, a very sharp and short flight call that even resembles that of a Bunting!

Water Pipit - second rarity within one week!

Other than the Water Pipit, there were plenty of other pipits in the area for comparison. The most similar looking pipit was the Buff-bellied Pipit, it was overall slightly darker with more heavily marked breast and darker malar stripe. I couldn't manage a better photo before it flew off.

Buff-bellied Pipit

Red-throated Pipits were everywhere, a few retained some red on the throat. While the largest of the pipits are Richard's Pipit, a very long-legged species that usually prefers drier fields.

Red-throated Pipit

Richard's Pipit

Birding elsewhere, having now moved to Tai Po area, it opens up a good selection of sites near home for exploring. We visited Robin's Nest at night in hope to see Oriental Scops Owl, unfortunately the owl was not found, but we did have a single Eurasian Woodcock on the road. While Brides Pool area is likely to get better in the upcoming winter months, I only managed a few birds late in the afternoon, but a beautiful male Fire-breasted Flowerpecker at close range can brighten up any birders day no matter how many years you have been birding!

Eurasian Woodcock

Fire-breasted Flowerpecker - brilliant looking male