Upland Hike - Search for the Upland Pipit

Back in late 1990s to early 2000s, my dad and I often drove up to Kowloon Peak during the summer months to look for Upland Pipits and Chinese Francolins, you are almost guarantee to hear the 'dit-deeee, dit-deeee, dit-deeee' song of the Upland Pipit as soon as you get out of your car, where you will often see one singing from a rocky outcrop. Since 2014 this species had became more and more difficult to track down, where the pipit is seemingly missing from previously known strongholds such as Tai Mo Shan and Kowloon Peak. The reason for this is still unknown, but it is nowhere as widespread and easy to find as it used to be.

The global distribution of the Upland Pipit is slightly odd, as they are most commonly found along the foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal and India etc, but they are also patchily distributed in Central and South China, Hong Kong is one of the stronghold of this species in Guangdong, also the lowest elevation of its range.

Upland Pipit - in its natural habitat

Me being me, I haven't bothered to venture up Lantau Peak as yet to tick this bird off my annual list in the last couple of years, I kept trying in suitable habitats around Tai Mo Shan but with very little luck, I more often just find Richard's Pipit up there. That being said, this species had been at the back of my mind for a few years, as I have yet to get a good photo record of this species. After hearing Captain finally found one up on Wong Leng at Pat Sin Leng Country Park, I thought I should give it a try given how close I actually live from there...

I parked at Hok Tau and walked up from there, the walk to the reservoir was pretty easy and I saw some birds a long the way. Several Speckled Piculets were heard and later seen, this species had really taken off in Hong Kong and now I see them almost weekly, sometimes a few times each week! Indochinese Yuhinas are still present in small numbers. White-bellied Erpornis was also seen within the feeding flock.

Speckled Piculet

Indochinese Yuhina

White-bellied Erpornis

I heard a few Rufous-tailed Robins singing along the way, often perched on low branches just above the undergrowth. A handsome male Tristram's Bunting was seen feeding amongst the Olive-backed Pipits.

Rufous-tailed Robin

Tristram's Bunting - male

Second part of the hike after passing Hok Tau Reservoir was quite steep, with very high steps. It doesn't help to be carrying a camera and binoculars, as they weigh you down. Fortunately the climb was not that long, I made it up the stairs in just over half an hour with some rests in-between. Once you get to the top of the steps it eases off and the trail becomes easy again.

Looking towards Sha Tau Kok at Ping Fung Shan

It took me a total of 1 hour 30 minutes to get from Hok Tau camping grounds up to the top of Ping Fung Shan, including birding stops and breaks. Once I got to the top I started scanning the rocky outcrops for any pipits, the first bird I saw was however not a pipit but a female Blue Rock Thrush.

Habitat at Ping Fung Shan

Blue Rock Thrush - female

It wasn't long before I started hearing their distinctive song, but the sound came from further down the cliff and out of sight. I heard another individual calling from further towards Wong Leng, this time I was able to locate the calling bird, perched on a rock not too far away from the footpath. Upland Pipits are extremely distinctive looking as far as pipit goes, they are quite short-tailed with a big head, and beautifully marked down their crown and mantle. They can be fairly confiding birds given you approach them quietly, at one point one of them started doing their display flight and landed right in front of me, where I was able to get quite a decent photo.

Upland Pipit

For my morning effort I counted a total of three individuals, where I seen two and later heard another one much further away. While the exact reason for this species's disappearance from several of its previous stronghold in Hong Kong is not known, I do hope this charismatic species can continue to thrive in Hong Kong.

Hok Tau - Piculets and A Bit More

Busy work schedule had limited my time birding outside, but a few friends who visited Hok Tau and yielded some interesting birds such as Speckled Piculets and Indochinese Green Magpies, this got me off my ass to pickup my paces. Hok Tau is a place I rarely visited, it is part of Pat Sin Leng Country Park, opposite to Robin's Nest. The habitat is not considered prime, with mainly secondary forests and tall scrubs with patches of more mature woodlands along rivers and streams.

I picked up Hoiling early on Monday morning and drove towards Hok Tau. things were better then expected as we encountered a small flock of birds at the carpark, mainly Scarlet Minivets, Bulbuls and Velvet-fronted Nuthatches. The Minivets had obviously been busy breeding, as there were quite a few juveniles around.

Scarlet Minivet - male

Scarlet Minivet - juvenile

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

We continued along the main road, on the way we saw a single Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker feeding on a low bush, it's orange bill indicate this as a juvenile, but probably still too early to sex. A small flock of Masked Laughingthrush made an appearance, while a single Lesser Coucal perched out in the open to sing.

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker - juvenile

Masked Laughingthrush

Lesser Coucal

We walked to a picnic area to look for some birds but found very little except Red-whiskered Bulbuls and a pair of Streak-breasted Scimitar Babblers which showed briefly. There were quite a few juvenile Long-tailed Skinks as well.

Red-whiskered Bulbul

Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler

Long-tailed Skink

After a bit of shower, we backtracked to the spot where a pair of Speckled Piculets had been seen lately, sure enough I heard the call of the Piculet and soon we both locked our bins onto this tiny woodpecker. It however stayed pretty high up near the canopy making photographing it difficult. This species had been increasing in Hong Kong steadily, and had became a stable resident in many country parks, although it's still not an easy bird to see by all means!

Speckled Piculet - a spreading resident

We walked towards the reservoir afterwards, on the way we spotted a pair of Hainan Blue Flycatchers. More juvenile birds came in form of Rufous-capped Babblers, as a small flock greeted us by the the roadside, a few pretty much fully grown youngsters continued to beg for food from their parents...a few juvenile Cinerous Tits were also spotted. Greater-necklaced Laughingthrushes also made an appearance.

Hainan Blue Flycatcher - male

Rufous-capped Babbler

Cinerous Tit - juvenile

Greater-necklaced Laughingthrush

It started pouring down hard just as we reached the reservoir, so we decided to turn around. As rain subsided slightly, I saw a Greater Green Snake sitting right on the tarmac road, a medium sized diurnal snake that is non-venomous. They are possibly one of the prettiest snakes we have, a beautiful light green across the whole length of it's body and a yellow underside. This particular one allowed me to get pretty close before slithering out of sight. Certainly interesting enough to be the highlight of the day! The Indochinese Green Magpies never showed in the end, but at least we got something else green that day.

Greater Green Snake