Fung Lok Wai - Booted Warbler

An interesting looking warbler was spotted by a birder at Fung Lok Wai, initial photos gave impression of Blunt-winged Warbler, some suggested Paddyfield, Booted and Sykes's were later suggested as well...Given all those species are rarity in Hong Kong, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at it myself! The bird showed extremely well from the moment I arrived on site, immediately it gave an impression of an iduna warbler, the only member of this genus that I have seen is the Booted Warbler, and somehow this one didn't quite give me the impression of a Booted. It's bill seemed long and supercelium was quite short, which suggested Sykes's.

Booted Warbler

Even after looking at it for over an hour and very good photos taken, I am still not entirely sure what I was looking at. Head shape was perhaps leaning more towards Booted, with a more rounded head instead of a sloping forehead of Sykes's. Some suggested the dark tipped lower mandible is a feature of Booted, but after searching through hundreds of photos of both species, it seems there is some overlapping in this feature...

Booted Warbler

Thanks to Koel Ko who let me use his excellent photo of the Booted Warbler seen at San Tin back in 2017, it clearly shows that the bill on this bird is clearly longer. Some also suggested there is some overlapping of this feature in both species. The general verdict for this bird seems to be Booted Warbler, though the bill length for this bird may well be on the long end of the spectrum for Booted. Either way, it was still an interesting bird to study and hopefully to shed more light on future identification for both species.

Booted Warbler - above (2017) & below (present)

Although I didn't spend to much time birding around Fung Lok Wai, there were evidently quite a lot of birds around. An Eastern Marsh Harrier drifted past, while at least two Black-winged Kites patrolled the area repeatedly.

Eastern Marsh Harrier

Black-winged Kite

Closer to home at Tai Mei Tuk Catchment, the Grey-backed Shrike was spotted again, although it remains a slightly elusive bird, only turning up sparingly. I got lucky and found it hunting at the same location as last time, hopefully it will stay over winter and perhaps even moult to adult plumage!

Grey-backed Shrike

Other species returning again for winter include a single female Grey Bushchat, after two wintering here last year it seems this location is a favourable spot for this species. Although this one was less friendly then the one seen last year. Daurian Redstarts are also back, a sign that we are now truly in the winter months!

Grey Bushchat - female

Daurian Redstart - female

Dark-sided Flycatchers can still be found in small numbers, I got a fairly confiding one which gave brilliant views. Amongst the three Muscicapa flycatchers found in Hong Kong, this is by far my favourite. Crested Serpent Eagle is a resident in my area, and quite often I find them perched in early morning.

Dark-sided Flycatcher

Crested Serpent Eagle

Down towards the coast of Ting Kok East, a Brown Shrike took up post near the farm. While a single Oriental Turtle Dove was found feeding on the lawn, I suspect this maybe a recent arrival as it was unusually confiding.

Brown Shrike

Oriental Turtle Dove

The best find was however a Chinese Egret amongst the numerous Little Egrets feeding along the mudflat, this is apparently the latest autumn record to date by 11 days!

Chinese Egret

Early November is a good time for night birding, my main goal is the Oriental Scops Owl which I have seen but not yet got a photo of. Finally after numerous tries, we got lucky and found one feeding by the road one evening. While a regular migrant in Hong Kong, Oriental Scops Owls remain quite scarce in Hong Kong.

Oriental Scops Owl

February - Quiet Month So Far...

February have been a tough month for birding for me, after countless birdless outings and failed twitches, I half gave up looking for particular bird and just looked at whatever came my way. Quite a few rarities been spotted by other birders, just not been able to connect with most of them...Grey Bushchats at my local patch stayed on early in the month, but nothing else interesting of note nearby.

Grey Bushchat - female

Tai Po Kau had not been particularly kind to me, only common birds were seen on my previous visit. Rufous-capped Babbler is always a challenge for photographs, as they jump endlessly around the undergrowth. The flowering coral trees attracted plenty of Fork-tailed Sunbirds, but no Mrs. Gould's Sunbird visited the flowers this year, although a few had been seen elsewhere. Asian Stubtail continues to skulk around the undergrowth in most forested sites.

Rufous-capped Babbler

Fork-tailed Sunbird

Asian Stubtail

My only visit to Mai Po earlier in the month was not particular note worthy, although it was still a pleasant few hours spent around the reserve. Black-faced Spoonbills rare disappoints, as this one foraged quite close to me.

Black-faced Spoonbill

I had a very poor outing out at Deep Bay hide, despite being a good tide, many birds did not come in, including most of the gulls and ducks that I was interested about...Great Cormorants were by far the most numerous out there, taking up most of the roosting space. Only common wader species were seen.

Only a handful of waders with thousands of Cormorants in the back...

Deep Bay

Common Redshank

Wu Kau Tang was a little more interesting, with a high count of over 40 Common Rosefinches! Here is a photo of 21 Rosefinches in a single tree, where another flock was out of sight to my back. 

Common Rosefinch - 21 birds here!

Common Rosefinch - male

A Crested Goshawk seen at close range at Sai Kung was about the only interesting thing I saw at Yan Yee Road, no luck with any other birds there.

Crested Goshawk

A very elusive Japanese Grosbeak had been seen sparingly at Yuen Long Park, it was a no show for me with only a single Yellow-billed Grosbeak came in. Asian Koels are now in full song, truly a sign that spring is here.

Yellow-billed Grosbeak - female

Asian Koel

I was lucky to find two Chestnut-flanked White-eyes at Tai Lam, where they were feeding with a flock of Swinhoe's White-eyes, making this my second sighting this year. A fairly showy Pygmy Cupwing was seen singing in the undergrowth, its been a while since I've gotten a good view of this species.

Chestnut-flanked White-eye

Pygmy Cupwing

San Tin produced a Buff-bellied Pipit, although it was quite skittish, whereas a Red-throated Pipit posed nicely for a photo, now moulting into breeding plumage. I found two Whiskered Tern amongst the flock of Black-headed Gulls, which seems to be a regular sight now around the fishponds of Tai Sang Wai and San Tin.

Buff-bellied Pipit

Red-throated Pipit

Whiskered Tern with Black-headed Gulls

Whiskered Tern

Black-headed Gull

Black-faced Spoonbills are often found around the fishponds at San Tin, you can often get very close views from the car, a single Eurasian Spoonbill was spotted.

Black-faced Spoonbill

Eurasian Spoonbill

My last visit to Shing Mun was not particularly birdy, even the Slaty-backed Forktail was no show, it was mostly just common birds along the forest track. The only notable bird was the long staying Alstrom's Warbler which FINALLY showed for me, after hearing it several times, it finally gave decent views for me, although I did miss the perfect shot, this record shot is what I have to live with for now.

Huet's Fulvetta

Alstrom's Warbler

 

Oriental Storks - For All You Endangered Waterbird Enthusiasts

Many wetlands across Asia are facing destruction, with them the waterbirds that lives in those wetlands. Many of these waders and wetland birds winter in Hong Kong, such as the endangered Black-faced Spoonbill. While many of the larger wetland birds such as cranes or storks winter further north around the large lakes in southern China, due to habitat loss, many of them are now listed as endangered or vulnerable, including the Oriental Stork. We are lucky enough to have two visiting Mai Po at the moment, and they have been showing exceptionally well.

Oriental Stork

I caught up with the pair one afternoon and marvelled at these incredible giants. On their own you don't really get a sense of how big they really are, only when they are right next to some Great Egrets do you really start to appreciate just how much bigger they are compared to the already very large Egrets. The Black-faced Spoonbill is dwarfed when compared side by side...They can be as tall as 150cm, with a wing span of over 2 metres!

Oriental Stork - look how small the Great Egret looks next to it...

Oriental Stork - the pair together

Oriental Stork

Also around Mai Po I finally caught up with the Ferruginous Duck, although other birders reported at least 3 birds, I only saw a single female within the flock of Tufted Ducks.

Ferruginous Duck - female with Tufted Ducks

Around the reed beds there were many Chinese Penduline Tits, this is a pretty good season to find them, especially if you know their calls. I can never get bored with these cute little birds, the way they perch lightly on the top of the reeds, and their 'panda eyes' look just makes them adorable.

Chinese Penduline Tit

Dusky Warblers are in no short supply at this time of the year, although usually not very photogenic, I was happy to find this one feeding in a ficus tree that at least gave me a chance for a decent photo. Yellow-bellied Prinias are usually quite skulking during winter months, this one however perched right out for a good photo. I found various Black-faced Buntings around Mai Po, a small flock gave good views along a quiet path.

Dusky Warbler

Yellow-bellied Prinia

Black-faced Bunting

Collared Crows are fairly common around Mai Po, you can hardly get around the reserve without seeing at least some of these now vulnerable corvids. A good numbers of Great Mynas within a large flock of Crested Mynas caught me by surprise, while I have usually seen a few, I have never seen a good size flock of this recently introduced species, it seems they have started breeding and slowly increasing in numbers.

Collared Crow

Great Myna

Both Eurasian and Black-faced Spoonbills can be seen around the reserve regularly, with Eurasian being less common. A few of these lovely spoonbills feeding at the scrape provided brilliant photographic subjects under the late afternoon light.

Eurasian Spoonbill

Black-faced Spoonbill

Birding around my local patch at Tai Mei Tuk Catchwater have picked up slightly, with a lot more action than previous month. Grey Treepies were active along here and often seen perched near tree top. While warbler numbers had increased the last weeks or so, with quite a few Two-barred Warblers along the catchwater.

Grey Treepie

Two-barred Warbler

Best birds so far were a pair of female Grey Bushchats which showed well consistently, I was surprise the pair didn't fight very much, a male Daurian Redstart was not particularly happy about their presence, it protested constantly with warning calls.

Grey Bushchat - female