Tai Po Kau Warbler Mania - Alstrom's Warbler & More

Tai Po Kau had been quite productive of late, with a good range of warblers on offer, the most notable being an Alstrom's Warbler, a species I have missed several times. On my second try at Tai Po Kau I finally connected with this bird, it was a ringed individual, ringed by HKBWS on 12th of November. It was actively calling, making its presense known. Seicercus warblers are notoriously difficult to ID, key features of Alstrom's includes less prominent crown pattern, complete eye-ring and no wing bars.

Alstrom's Warbler - a long awaited lifer

Other Phylloscopus warblers present includes numerous Yellow-browed, Pallas's, Two-barred and Eastern Crowned. At least two Sulphur-breasted Warblers were seen amongst the large bird wave, their completely yellow underparts can be mistaken for a Seicercus warbler at first glance. There were plenty of Hartert's Warblers, including many of race fokiensis with pale underparts. 

Sulphur-breasted Warbler

Hartert's Leaf Warbler - fokiensis

Other interesting birds present in the bird waves includes a female Verditer Flycatcher, this one was particularly confiding. Grey-headed Canary Flycatchers were in no short supply, there were often more than one in each bird wave. Black-winged Cuckooshrikes were also very noticable, as they are usually the biggest bird moving in the flock.

Verditer Flycatcher - female

Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher

Black-winged Cuckooshrike

I also tried my luck at Brides Pool one morning, and was fairly productive. I scanned the numerous Swinhoe's White-eyes hoping to get a Chestnut-flanked White-eye but with little luck. The resident Velvet-fronted Nuthatches were very photogenic, while Chestnut Bulbuls came down quite low to feed.

Swinhoe's White-eye

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

Chestnut Bulbul

I spotted a strange bird within the bird wave, turns out it was a Rufous-tailed Robin, it was strange to see this usually solitary ground dwelling bird following the bird waves in the trees. An Amur Paradise Flycatcher was a delightful surprise, as they are quite rare during winter months. Speckled Piculets were showing particularly well and came down to eyelevels.

Rufous-tailed Robin

Amur Paradise Flycatcher

Speckled Piculet

I spotted an interesting leaf warbler within the bird wave, it was obviously a Hartert's type that was not particularly pale on the underside, usually I would label this as a Goodson's and move on, but it did not 'nuthatch' like they usually do...Hartert's Leaf Warblers are well known for their nuthatch like behaviour, it is a trademark that I have observed time and time again, so this unusual behaviour baffled me. At that time other similar looking warblers went through my head...Kloss's, Claudia's, Emei etc...

Hartert's Leaf Warbler

After observing it for prolonged period of time, nothing other than behaviour was suggesting otherwise, plus the undertail pattern looked to be fairly typical of Hartert's. It wasn't a particularly vocal individual, I managed to pretty terrible recording, and after asking around it was most likely just a Hartert's Leaf Warbler just as I initially thought. The question is, why did this one behaved differently? I guess we will never really know, but it does show in warbler ID you can't often determine the true identity of a warbler with one single factor, it is usually combined factors that will lead you to the correct identification.

Hartert's Leaf Warbler

At Tai Mei Tuk Catchwater, not a huge amount of new birds were seen, I finally connected with a long staying male Black-naped Oriole, it was being quite elusive and didn't make it easy for photographs. It was seen following the large flock of Scarlet Minivets, where it blends in well with the female Minivets, although its bigger size does give it away. It was quite the stunner and probably the best looking Black-naped Oriole I have seen in Hong Kong for years. The Grey Bush Chats were still present, often show well if you give it a little time.

Black-naped Oriole - male

Scarlet Minivet - female

Grey Bush Chat - female

Returning to Tai Po Kau

After over a month of absent from one of my favourite forest site, I was finally feeling well enough to visit again. It is that time of the year again as Rhodoleia begins to bloom,  the tree just outside the public toilet was again filled with different birds feeding on the nectar, the most dominant bird being a male Orange-bellied Leafbird that chases away other Japanese White-eyes and tries to claim the tree as his own.

Despite the Leafbird's efforts, many birds were still visiting the tree for the nectar, including numerous Blue-winged Minlas. Fork-tailed Sunbirds were also one of the species which visits regularly, here a beautiful male posing at eye-levels, always a treat...Cinereous Tits are also quite active near the Rhodoleia trees, this one was particularly photogenic.

Mountain Bulbuls are known to feed on the nectar of the Rhodoleia tree as well, but they also feed on fruits of Red Psychotria, also known as Wild Coffee. This individual was feeding on the red berries before I disturbed it, it flew up and perched for a good photo before flying off.

Having been away from Tai Po Kau for a while, even the more regular residents were worth stopping for. A very confiding Pygmy Wren Babbler sang by the footpath, not at all bothered by my presence. Huet's Fulvettas were no doubt the staple of all the bird waves, often appearing in large numbers. While Grey-chinned Minivets are often a good sign, as they follow large bird waves, here a female eating a caterpillar.

Speckled Piculet numbers had increased dramatically last few years, they are now quite regular in bird waves at Tai Po Kau. I saw two individuals and heard another one somewhere near the car park. Although getting a good photo of this tiny woodpecker is still a challenge...

I was of course there for the warblers, there were plenty of interesting phylloscopus around other than the common Yellow-browed Warblers and Pallas's Leaf Warblers, including Two-barred Leaf Warblers and Eastern Crowned Warblers, both of which I did not manage a photo. Goodson's Leaf Warblers were in good numbers, some very pale ones are likely to be of race fokiensis. Their nuthatch like behaviour are often quite distinctive when scanning through a bird wave.

The slightly similar Sulphur-breasted Warbler is a rare species that sometimes winters in Hong Kong. Unlike Goodson's Leaf Warblers they don't climb tree trunks like nuthatches. They have completely yellow underparts and throat, with a very thick black brow.

A Chestnut-crowned Warbler was also amongst the bird waves, it was quite vocal as well. This is a scarce winter visitor to Hong Kong. Their greyish throat and breast are often distinct enough as diagnostic features when seen from below.

Last but not least, the White-spectacled Warbler. I saw up to two individuals, one with greyish crown which I managed a terrible record shot. The other with greenish crown which managed to dodged my camera...I've yet to get a good photo of this species, which is slightly annoying but a record shot is better than none. A Rufous-faced Warbler had also been reported lately, but it eluded me completely.

Ultramarine Flycatcher & Other Goodies

Ultramarine Flycatcher - 1st winter male

December started off with a loud bang, with a 1st winter male Ultramarine Flycatcher found by John Allcock at Shek Kong Catchment. This species had been recorded in the past, but all the previous records had been rejected as suspected escapes, we won't know what the status will be for this bird, but it looks to be in pretty good shape, it was also behaving rather normally - which means it was difficult to photograph. It was lightning fast, plus tiny! It also stayed up near the canopy half the time, so I was glad with just around an hour of effort I got a respectable record shot...Either way, a great bird to begin the month with! A Bull-headed Shrike passed through while we were waiting for the flycatcher.

Ultramarine Flycatcher - great start to December!

Bull-headed Shrike

I got yet another female Mugimaki Flycatcher at Wonderland Villas, this will be my 4th here this season. Although things seems to have quietened down slightly, most Thrushes were not as easy to see, although we did have a large influx of Pallas's Leaf Warblers. The local Blue Whistling Thrush is as friendly as ever, gave a great pose for a photo.

Mugimaki Flycatcher - female

Blue Whistling Thrush

I visited Bride's Pool where I have not been for a while. Things started off really well despite my late start, I got a good look at the pair of Indochinese Green Magpies early on, although they remained in dense foliages and did not allow any photos to be taken. This species seems to have taken root in the area in recent years, and slowly increasing in numbers, but by no means an easy bird to see...I include a shot I took in Hainan back in 2010, was just a little bit better then the views I got today.

Indochinese Green Magpie - from Hainan in 2010

A very confiding Goodson's Leaf Warbler gave eye level views as it foraged in a nuthatch like fashion. A very distant male Verditer Flycatcher is a first for me this winter. I was very happy that this one showed so well, a photo opportunity not to miss!

Goodson's Leaf Warbler

Verditer Flycatcher - male

At the main barbecue site I came across a very confiding Rufous-tailed Robin, although it had a bit of a strange looking cross bill. It looked healthy otherwise, foraging constantly and looking quite plump. If a Crossbill ever wants to crossbreed with a Rufous-tailed Robin, I am sure this won't be far off.

Rufous-tailed Robin - crossbill robin more like...

Keeping with the strange bill shape theme, I spotted an Asian Stubtail not far off, it looked normal when seen from the side, but once I got a head's on view it was clear that it's got a wonky bill, very much like the Wrybill from New Zealand! Not sure whether these deformities will affects it's ability to hunt, but by the looks of it the Stubtail was fine as well.

Asian Stubtail - wrybill warbler perhaps?

The reported 1st winter male Plumbeous Redstart was absent for the morning for some reason, so I tried my luck at the nearby Chung Mei where I got a confiding female. These water loving little birds are always a delight to see, although they are very common up in China, they have remained to be an uncommon winter visitor in Hong Kong, why that is I am not sure, as we have plenty of suitable breeding habitats for them. There were supposed to be a male around, but I couldn't be bothered to wait around and was happy to get the female as it was.

Plumbeous Redstart - female

I drove past Luk Keng afterwards just to check for any Divers...I ended up counting up to 18 Great Crested Grebes, a good number for this uncommon wintering species, I often see them at Deep Bay where they will be miles away, so I was glad to found a few of them not too far offshore. I do miss those days in the UK where you can get them really up close in the reservoir...

Great Crested Grebe