Long Valley - Buntings and A bit More

I've always found November quite a good time to visit Long Valley, with late autumn migrants still passing through as well as arriving winter visitors, it is usually teaming with life. This year it's no exception, with a good variety of interesting birds on show. One of which was the Black-headed Bunting which had been around, I finally caught up with one last week. Funny thing was that a few days later when I visited again the same bird had already been ringed by the bird ringing group of HKBWS, number A13. This species used to be much rarer in Hong Kong, but seems to have became a regular winter visitor ever since they replanted rice.

Black-headed Bunting - before and after ringing

Other buntings were in good numbers, I missed the Yellow-browed Bunting that a few birders saw, but there were plenty of Black-faced Buntings and Chestnut-eared Buntings around the paddies.

Black-faced Bunting

Chestnut-eared Bunting

Of course, you can't leave out the Yellow-breasted Buntings which had been in fairly good numbers, although nothing like what we used to have...I counted a flock of 9 birds flying together, but considering there were probably more in the paddies, my estimated count will be around 15 - 20 birds. I saw plenty enjoying a good meal in the paddies, a clear demonstration why they are called the "rice birds" in China. The other birds also enjoying the extra food at the harvested paddies were a few Oriental Turtle Dove, all of which were pretty confiding as they munched on the left over rice.

Yellow-breasted Bunting - male and female

Oriental Turtle Dove

House Sparrows attracted a few birders to "twitch", a male soon appeared not long after the reported female, they foraged together with the Tree Sparrows. I personally don't find them very exciting, but a nice rarity to have around anyway (yes I guess I can be very ungrateful sometimes). The other rarity on site being the Black Redstart, but since I had already seen it a few times plus taken good photographs I didn't bother too much looking for it.

House Sparrow - male

The Ruddy-breasted Crake had been showing well. It even came out to the open to preen and stretch it's wings for me one afternoon! It was a weekday and no one was around, I guess it feels much safer with less disturbance. Oriental Reed Warblers are also in good numbers, they occasionally showed well like this one, which perched long enough for me to get a good photo. The other species that often attracts a lot of attention from birders are the Chinese Penduline Tits, I think it's because their "panda eyes" are just so cute, a few of them were visiting the same patch of paddies as the crake, one of which gave cracking views.

Ruddy-breasted Crake

Oriental Reed Warbler

Chinese Penduline Tit

Finally, a single Northern House Martin within a flock of Barn and Red-rumped Swallows. Another species that seems to have increased in numbers slightly, something to do with a shift in their migration route perhaps?

Northern House Martin

Cooling Effects

Northern House Martin

A drop in temperature certainly made a difference, both to comfort and also for the birds. Strong northerly winds had certainly been bringing in more interesting birds and many of our wintering species are also starting to pop up here and there.

Was leading a wildlife photography workshop on Saturday for a group of students from Poly U, outing to Tai Sang Wai was extremely pleasant and I think everyone enjoyed the cool weather and beautiful sunset. I was especially pleased to find two Northern House Martins circling an area which certainly made the trip that little bit more interesting for me. A Common Awl (Hasora badra) that is not so common in Hong Kong was also seen just before the sun went down.

Leading the group from Poly U (photo courtesy to Katy from HKBWS)

Northern House Martin

Common Awl (Hasora badra)

Sunset at Tai Sang Wai

I once again missed the Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher at Ho Man Tin (no surprise there), so for Sunday afternoon I decided to head to Kowloon Park for a short stroll, hoping to find some unexpected migrants. Things were pretty ordinary to start off with, Cinerous Tits were pecking away at a termite infested branch, Masked Laughingthrush foraged on the lawn nearby, a few Asian Koels perched silently on a bare tree and the resident Black-crowned Night Herons were by the Flamingo pond as usual.

Cinerous Tit

Masked Laughingthrush

Asian Koel

Black-crowned Night Heron

I managed two species of Flycatchers, first an Asian Brown Flycatcher at the Chinese Garden, then two Taiga Flycatchers which were definitely new arrivals just outside the Heritage Discovery Centre. I waited around for the Orange-headed Thrush Captain saw in the morning but no luck.

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Taiga Flycatcher

Finally, a flock of Alexandrine Parakeets by the park entrance were entertaining to watch as always. This species is one of our three introduced parrot species that had established themselves in Hong Kong, although Alexandrine Parakeets seems to have took over at Kowloon Park and became the dominant species, no surprise as they are much larger and likely more able to get good nesting spots. Either way, they do provide a splash of colours and a unique birding experience in urban parks of Hong Kong.

Alexandrine Parakeet

I have also been on a few night outings lately, one of which had us entering a rock cave in New Territories (disclosed location), this was a very interesting experience for me and certainly opened up a whole new world. Bats make up a large proportion of mammal species in Hong Kong, there are 26 recorded bat species, which is plenty to keep you busy. We saw up to three species in the cave, although I am sure us not having the "eye" for bats we definitely missed a few more.

Chinese Horseshoe Bat

Himalayan Leaf-nosed Bat

Chinese Myotis

There were also plenty of amphibians and reptiles around, notably a lot of Hong Kong Cascade Frog froglets, a few still have their tails! Brown Wood Frogs were also noted, a species I don't see as much as other frogs. I also spotted a very young White-spotted Slug Snake, certainly one of the cutest and most docile snake species around, they feed mainly on snails and slugs, which does reflect on their behaviour, as they are extremely slow for a snake.

Hong Kong Cascade Frog - froglet

Brown Wood Frog

White-spotted Slug Snake

We also headed to Lung Fu Shan the other night, I was hoping to repeat my luck last year with the Palm Civets but it proved to be harder then I thought, though we still found some interesting creatures. Tadpoles of the Short-legged Horned Toad were everywhere, their funnel shaped mouth piece make them instantly recognisable, the adults were however nowhere to be found.  the endemic Nanhaipotamon hongkongense can often be found along fresh water streams, we found quite a few that night.

Short-legged Horned Toad - tadpoles

Nanhaipotamon hongkongense

A Brown Tree Frog perched by the footpath provided great photography opportunities. All these were however no comparison to the four Bamboo Pit Vipers we found that night, this is a fairly common snake, but for some reason I never had much luck with them during night walks, so getting four in one night was sure exciting. Finally, one of the few East Asian Porcupine we encountered that night, this one was really close and clearly demonstrated how amazing encounters with wildlife can be achieved by just a 15 minutes walk from the MTR station.

Brown Tree Frog

Bamboo Pit Viper

East Asian Porcupine

2016 Birding Review

Another year gone, time for yet another annual review! 2016 been an interesting year for birds, probably the most American species I have seen here in a year, plus we received quite a few species that had been extremely high on my HK wish list! Many of them I've missed years ago, and finally ticking them off this year was truly amazing. Here is a list of some of my most memorable birds from 2016.

1. Siberian Crane - lifer & HK tick

This one is a no brainer, THE most exciting and indeed most spectacular bird of the year. This was especially special for me because I missed the bird in 2002 whereas my dad was one of the lucky few who saw the bird flew off into the distant and never return! The adult was with the juvenile for the first few days before the juvenile disappearing somewhere, the adult though had stayed on till the day of writing!

2. Red-throated Diver - HK tick

Another one that my dad had and I haven't, a long awaited tick for Hong Kong, this one at Lamma Island created quite a buzz in the birding community and a big twitch for everyone. The bird stayed for quite a while and was even later spotted near Aberdeen pier.

3. Chinese Barbet - HK tick

This increasingly common bird from Guangdong is making their first baby step in colonising Hong Kong, one that I will welcome with both arms stretched out! Stunning view of this calling barbet in spring had me feeling extremely sorry for this lonesome bird, being the first in Hong Kong you will have to work extra hard to find a mate.

4. Japanese Yellow Bunting

An incredible streak with this rare species, where I saw a pair at Long Valley on 25th of March and later on 28th of March at Mai Po! Usually seeing one was unusual enough, but seeing this many in a few days time was just over the top crazy.

5. Northern House Martin - HK tick

A new tick for me at the beginning of the year and I saw some more near the end of the year. Seems their numbers had increased significantly in recent years, wonder why...

6. American Wigeon - Lifer & HK tick

Quite an exciting dabbling duck to find in Hong Kong! This drake was well away out of it's natural range. A new tick for me and I hope it enjoyed it's vacation at Mai Po.

7. Franklin's Gulls

A strange year with this species, we first received our first one in November 2015, then suddenly two bird turned up at Deep Bay in April! Had some incredibly good views of the pair of American gulls one afternoon. Maybe next year they will come in flocks...

8. Plain Flowerpecker

Quite an interesting find for me, as according to many they have not been recorded in Hong Kong for many years. I heard their song in Taiwan during my January 2016 trip and recognised the call in Tai Po Kau, later I found that you can hear their calls throughout the forest! Clearly they have been under recorded as many birders were simply not familiar with their songs and calls. They became a bit of a local twitch for a while!

9. Russet Bush Warbler

Not exactly a rarity, but this species had been a bit elusive to me until this year. I could never get any decent view of this species before, you could be less then 3m away from the bird and you still won't see it! This year though I got more views then I could ever dream of, resulting in some pretty good photos as well!

10. Malayan Night Heron - HK tick

Another species I needed on my Hong Kong list badly, my dad had got this bird years ago already while they eluded. Finally, a juvenile was spotted at Yuen Long back in September and gave me this much needed tick.

11. Greater White-fronted Geese

We have been getting a lot of geese in recent years, and four Greater White-fronted Geese in one day were simply more then we asked for! Three of them stayed on and are still around San Tin!

12. Slender-billed Gull

This rare gull was not a lifer for me, but one that I've always wanted to see again as I never had the chance to get any record photos of it. This one at Deep Bay exceeded all expectations!

13. Amur Falcon - male

I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Amur Falcons, simply my favourite raptor in Hong Kong! I've never seen one perched until this fine male! Simply breathtaking!

14. Buff-breasted Sandpiper - Lifer & HK tick

My last lifer of 2016, a great Christmas present for all birders in Hong Kong, this amazing vagrant was only the second Hong Kong record. The bird had stuck around until 2017!

15. Lesser Cuckoo - HK tick

A new tick for me this year, this was one of my better findings on Tai Mo Shan this year. This scarce cuckoo was not easy to see and I was lucky to find one perched on a distant tree, not the best of views but I am not complaining!

Honorable Mention:

Great Barbet

A commonly heard species in Hong Kong but very seldom seen, I've only seen them on a few occasions in the past. So, discovering a fruiting ficus tree that managed to attract seven at the same time was simply mind blowing for me. This finding had again led to a local twitch by many birders, seems like the mysterious air of this species had finally lifted!

Looking forward to more exciting birds this coming year!