Hong Kong Southern Waters - Late April Pelagic

Hong Kong is not well known for its pelagic birds, mainly because where we are situated in the south China coast is a bit off course from most of the truly pelagic species, but with the right conditions and a bit of luck we occasionally get a good haul of species out at sea. 25th was such a day, in terms of bird movement it was one of the most exciting pelagic trips I've been on for a long while in Hong Kong, with an almost constant stream of various terns and phalaropes. As usual, Red-necked Phalaropes were in no short supply, with over 60 individuals seen throughout the day.

Red-necked Phalarope

Our first tern species were a few Little Terns, of which we ended with a good count of 24 individuals, other species we saw were numerous Common, a few Bridled and a single Black-naped Terns. Additional species I didn't get a photograph of were Caspian and Gull-billed terns.

Little Tern

Common Tern

Bridled Tern

Black-naped Tern

The most numerous Tern species of the day was the Aleutian Tern, with at least 70 individuals counted. This is a species that up until 1980s ornithologists had no clue where they wintered outside of their breeding range in Alaska and Russia, not until some birders found them along the coast of Hong Kong during migration. Now, we know they winter throughout the warm tropical waters near Malaysia and Indonesia, and is a regular migrant through Hong Kong waters.

Aleutian Tern

Another tern species that often passes through our waters during migration is the Great Crested Tern, we had at least 18 of these large long winged terns, two were found resting on floating polystyrene boards, a well known 'habitat' for migrating terns.

Great Crested Tern

We had up to 6 Arctic Skuas throughout the trip, with an addition of 2 unidentified Skua species. The best one for me was a dark morph adult, which came quite close to our boat. There was also a single adult pale morph in breeding plumage.

Arctic Skua - adult dark morph

Arctic Skua - adult pale morph

There were other individuals with various plumage variety, I am clueless at aging Skuas, so I presume most of them as adult still in winter plumage, or 3rd year birds. Anyone willing to shine a light on this subject matter I will be most grateful!

Arctic Skua

The highlight for me though was no doubt 6 Short-tailed Shearwaters, a species I have yet to photograph in Hong Kong before. They weren't particularly close, but were close enough to see all the diagnostic features. This is a species that up until 2008 we had no knowledge that it was a regular migrant through Hong Kong.

Short-tailed Shearwater

Franklin's Gulls and a bit more - One day at Mai Po

A Saturday free must not be wasted, this morning saw me arriving at Mai Po at around 9:30am. I arrived much earlier then the predicted tide as I didn't want to miss anything, most notably the pair of Franklin's Gulls that had been sticking around. Months ago I saw the Franklin's at Deep Bay, it had been seen on and off since then. Only a few weeks ago however did birders suddenly realise there were in fact TWO of this mega rarity! Whether it was one and was joined later by the other or were there a pair all along will remain a bit of a mystery, but it's very unlikely that I will see two of this rare vagrant at the same time in Hong Kong again if I miss these two.

Franklin's Gull - the pair of American vagrant

First bird I saw was one of the now resident pair of Asian Barred Owlets along the access path past AFCD warden's post. It wasn't difficult to pick out and allowed quite good views. Not a bad start to the day at all!

Asian Barred Owlet - one of the most easily seen Owl species in Hong Kong

I was soon sitting at the new bird hide out at Deep Bay mud flat. Not a lot to see as the tide was still way out, so I took some time looking at fiddlers crabs and mud skippers; both staples for the numerous waders at here. They are themselves quite entertaining to watch, especially the mudskippers. They are quite territorial and will fight over good burrows, where you will see them "waving their flags" as a warning display to scare off any potential rivals. If the warning is ignored they will engage in mud wrestling.

Fiddlers Crab

Mudskippers

A few birds showed up later on, mostly common waders including Greater Sand Plovers, Grey Plovers, Whimbrels and Terek Sandpipers. They kept me well entertained. A few Grey-tailed Tattlers were also feeding close to the bird hide, this is a typical migrant wader here in Hong Kong, it's the right time to see them right now.

Greater Sand Plover

Grey Plover

Whimbrel

Terek Sandpiper

Grey-tailed Tattler

One of the most unusual sighting of the day, a Purple Heron flew out from the mangroves and landed right on the mud-flat. This species rarely ventures out from cover, so I wasn't too sure what this one was planning on doing, it certainly looked out of place. Gull-billed Terns were still in good numbers, a few show-off their aerobatic skills in front of the hide, snatching up food from the ground in mid-flight. There were still a few Caspian Terns around, but most have already moved on.

Purple Heron - an unusual setting for this species

Gull-billed Tern

Caspian Tern

A few Ruddy Turnstones came close to the bird hide, this is another passage migrant wader. A colourful species (waders standard), they certainly are eye-catching. They look for little snails in the mud and swallows them whole.

Ruddy Turnstone

A pair of Pied Kingfisher kept flying about, the male kept giving the female "gifts", so no doubt they are a breeding pair. This behaviour is not uncommon amongst birds, it's safe to say that birds do understand romance. It's a shame I missed the moment the male delivered the fish to the female, but as you can see, it was quite a big gift, it took the female a few tries to swallow it whole.

Pied Kingfisher

As the tide came closer, smaller waders became more visible. Curlew Sandpipers, which most have now transformed into their rufous breeding plumage are easy to pick out from the crowd. A few Long-toed Stints fed along the waterline. Red-necked Stints also gathered to feed along with Broad-billed Sandpipers. I picked up a single Sanderling amongst the group, it's very "white" compare to other small waders.

Curlew Sandpiper

Long-toed Stint

Red-necked Stint

Broad-billed Sandpipers

Flock of smaller waders

Sanderling

A Little Tern came by shortly. I have always liked this tiny tern, as with all terns they are quite elegant, yet they have this kind of playfulness to their character which makes them very likeable. 

Little Tern

Finally, my main target of the day. The pair of Franklin's didn't disappoint, although staying quite far, this view was still much better then my last, and to see two at the same time was incredible! They are now moulting into their breeding plumage, so picking them out from the crowd was not that difficult. One of the Gull later took flight and circled around for quite some time, calling constantly. The pair soon flew off into the distance. I do wonder whether this pair will find their way home, even if they do stay, it's highly unlikely that they will find anywhere suitable for nesting here in Hong Kong...

Franklin's Gull - now assuming breeding plumage

Franklin's Gull - in flight

A strange looking large Gull was terrorising other birds, can't quite figure out what exactly it is but it seems to be some type of hybrid? It surely got a bad temper though as it chased the egrets around trying to snatch the fish out of one of the egret's beak. A big bully indeed. Other egrets and the remaining Spoonbills couldn't care less and was focusing on a feeding frenzy. 

Hybrid Gull?

Black-faced Spoonbills & Egrets - feeding frenzy!

I headed back out to the scrapes, passing the Great Egret colony once again. They seems to be doing quite well, there seems to be a few chicks in the nests. I saw quite a few carrying nesting materials back to the colony as well. The displaying egrets are always fun to watch.

Great Egret - "surely you know you are not a peacock?"

The waders weren't particularly close at scrape 16/17, I did manage to spot a Nordmann's Greenshank but it was too far for any decent photographs. There were however quite a lot of Pale Martins feeding along the pond. As I was photographing the Martins I saw a small swift amongst the flock, a quick look reveal it to be a Himalayan Swiftlet! I have a much better look this time and even managed a few record shot of this quick species.

Pale Martin

Himalayan Swiftlet 

The Pacific Golden Plovers at the scrape weren't particularly close, but their beautiful breeding plumage sure make them stand out from the crowd. There were a flock of Red-necked Stints there but was scared off by a Black Kite before I have time to scan through them for any possible Spoonbilled Sandpipers...Later on my way out I saw a pair of Little Grebes, a closer look reveals that it was a parent tending to it's young.

Pacific Golden Plover

Little Grebe - juvenile

On my way out at Mai Po Access Road, Whiskered Terns filled up the skies above the fish ponds. It's such a typical view this time of the year. I spotted one or two Little Terns along with them. And they provided a wonderful ending to such a fulfilling day.

Whiskered Tern

Little Tern