Boring Spring...

Spring is suppose to be all about exciting migrants, rarities turning up weekly. This year, although we have got most of regular migrants, we barely got any rarities. Those reported only stayed briefly and were not twitchable. At Tai Mei Tuk Catchment, I hardly had any notable migrating flycatchers, the only one being a Grey-streaked Flycatcher that was too far for a worthy photo. We did get a few Chinese Sparrowhawks during the peak week for these pretty raptors, two were found perched on top of dead trees early morning before joining the migrating flock heading north.

Chinese Sparrowhawk

Tai Mei Tuk Catchment is quiet otherwise, I had a nicely perched Grey Treepie the other day, a species though common here is by no means easy to get a decent photograph. I suspect Speckled Piculets are breeding nearby, but no nest been located as yet, although they are very active lately. A few Two-barred Warblers remains, they are usually very scruffy looking at this time of the year. Large Hawk Cuckoos are still calling like crazy, occasionally they can show well if there are large trees in the area.

Grey Treepie

Speckled Piculet

Two-barred Warbler

Large Hawk Cuckoo

We joined a pelagic boat trip last week, but had no luck with any good birds. Conditions were extremely foggy and visibility was down to just 50m at one point, which is not good for birds as you can imagine. The southerly wind may also have something to do with it, as we usually get more pelagic birds during easterly winds. Some Red-necked Phalaropes and a few distant Little and Greater Crested Terns were the only interesting birds of note. Before we returned to Aberdeen we added a few Black-naped Terns, likely early arrivals from the tern colonies.

Red-necked Phalarope

Black-naped Tern & Common Sandpiper

I went after the Blue-throated Bee-eater reported by Koel at Fung Lok Wai but couldn't relocate the bird as expected. A fairly friendly Black Drongo was the only notable bird there, though a very common species in Hong Kong, it is nice to get a good photo opportunity with good perch and nice background.

Black Drongo

Although we usually go looking for Nightjars at night, we occasionally do come across them during the day. Here's one that I flushed from its day roost accidentally, they are so well camouflage that they are very difficult to find unless you know where it landed.

Savanna Nightjar

The disappointing week was saved by this beautiful Brown Fish Owl the other night. Hoiling and I chanced upon this one, it was rather confiding and remained perched even after we fumbled to a better position to photograph it. A bit of consolation for the lack of migrants.

Brown Fish Owl

An unexpected Rook

Rook - a most unexpected drop in at Long Valley

Normal birding resumes for me, and just in time for some winter visitors. I gave Shek Kong Catchment a try, a spot i've not been to during the day for quite some time. Things started off fairly decent, with two Black-winged Cuckooshrikes, they are a common winter visitor in Hong Kong. Hair-crested Drongos we get mainly as migrants and winter visitors, but I think there are some resident birds now.

Black-winged Cuckooshrike

Hair-crested Drongo

Large flocks of Silver-eared Mesias is a common sight in Hong Kong, they often gather with Velvet-fronted Nuthatches. Scarlet Minivets were also seen, along with Grey-chinned Minivets.

Silver-eared Mesia

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

Scarlet Minivet - female

Grey-chinned Minivet - male

Birds of the undergrowth are not often easy to detect, Rufous-capped Babblers often move with large feeding flocks, you will see these quick moving birds moving near your feet. They become extremely bold within these feeding flocks that you can observe them within a meter or so. A few Chinese Hwameis were seen, they are very common in Hong Kong, inhabiting almost any hills with scrubs and trees, but not often easy to see. The best skulker I found was no doubt a Lesser Shortwing, an uncommon resident that is tough to see, it didn't pose for a nice photo but at least it gave me a decent view.

Rufous-capped Babbler

Chinese Hwamei

Lesser Shortwing

Grey Treepies are somewhat of a Shek Kong Catchment speciality, they are noisy and hard to miss, they were quite active that morning and allowed great views. While two flycatchers were seen during my walk, first a male Verditer Flycatcher which showed briefly, second an Asian Brown Flycatcher saw within the Eco Garden.

Grey Treepie

Verditer Flycatcher

Asian Brown Flycatcher

I later took at trip to Long Valley in the afternoon, weather was fairly decent if not on the warm side. Yellow-breasted Buntings were still in good numbers, many of them feeding in the harvested paddy field, they often flew back to a reed bed when they were flushed from the field, I guess the tall reed bed made them feel safe, therefore allowed quite close views.

Yellow-breasted Bunting - still in good numbers at Long Valley

Chinese Penduline Tits were also present, a few of them stayed near the reed bed as well, occasionally flying out to feed. This species is most easily detected by their piercing calls, once you are familiar with it you will find them to be pretty common during winter months.

Chinese Penduline Tit

Daurian Redstarts and Red-throated Pipits were both in good numbers, both typical wintering species in Long Valley. While a very pretty Eastern Yellow Wagtail stood out from the rest, it was of race tschutschensis, with longer supercilium.

Daurian Redstart - female

Red-throated Pipit

Eastern Yellow Wagtail - race tschutschensis

Everything was quite ordinary, in fact things got a little boring when I noticed a large black bird perched on the overhead cable. Large-billed Crows aren't that common at Long Valley, so I took a closer look through my binoculars. It was quite clear something wasn't quite right the moment I looked at the bird and very soon I figured out what it was, it's was a Rook! Unlike the bird from last year, it was an adult, which showed it's most prominent feature of it's 'naked' nose. It looked healthy if not a little tired, coughed up a pellet before flying off into the distance.

This was quite a remarkable encounter, as last year's bird was only Hong Kong's first confirmed record, this if accepted will be the second. Now all we need is a Black Redstart and November feels like Deja Vu...

Rook - coughing up a pellet

Rook - all features showed well, straight thin beak with pale base, purplish sheen

Chinese Thrush - Shing Mun

Chinese Thrush - Turdus mupinensis

Things had definitely slowed down since December started, although interesting birds may still appear around the corner, especially with colder weather we should be expecting some eruptive species from further north.

The Ultramarine Flycatcher at Shek Kong Catchment was still present, although my second visit didn't get me the desired photos I wished, the bird behaved pretty much the same, staying high up near the top of trees or down to places with terrible lighting...My shots were pretty much the same if not even a little worst then my first encounter. It also continued as an early morning bird, having a tendency to disappear after late morning.

Ultramarine Flycatcher

Other birds at Shek Kong Catchment includes a large flock of Indochinese Yuhinas, noisily making their squeaky calls. A few photogenic Silver-eared Mesias are always welcoming, they are simply gorgeous birds to look at. A large bird wave contained plenty of busy Velvet-fronted Nuthatches, all crawling around foraging for food. Although a difficult species to see well in Hong Kong, I seem to have quite good luck with the Grey Treepies, one perched for a good minute for me to take a fairly decent photo. I also heard the Speckled Piculet on the same day, although that one refused to show.

Indochinese Yuhina

Silver-eared Mesia

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

Grey Treepie

On Tuesday I got news of a Chinese Thrush spotted by Sherman at Shing Mun Reservoir. A species that I've missed on previous occasions, I went early Wednesday morning hopefully to get the bird. After a few hours of waiting, the bird finally showed itself first feeding on a Wild Coffee tree, it was later relocated at a gully and showed very well for over a dozen birders. It's feather condition was however not at tip top shape, being quite scruffy overall...so definitely a possibility of it being ex-captive.  Either way I will leave that call to the record committee, but the wild bird trade is still a huge problem in Asia.

Chinese Thrush - rather scruffy looking

There weren't that many other birds to be seen on the same day, I spotted a selengensis Ashy Drongo. Bird waves with mainly Pallas's Leaf Warblers and Japanese White-eyes dominated the pace. A single male Red-flanked Bluetail was spotted around the area where the Chinese Thrush was, although it kept a good distance away.

Ashy Drongo - selengensis

Red-flanked Bluetail - male

I heard two Grey-headed Canary Flycatchers in a bird wave but they never showed well, the two species of Minivets though were more then happy to offer some great eye-level views, a treat as always.

Grey-chinned Minivet - male

Scarlet Minivet - female