Waders Scanner

Upon hearing news of a Little Curlew at Mai Po from Wednesday to Friday, I headed over at my earliest convenience that was Saturday morning. It was a classic twitch where I was a day late...As I had work later in the afternoon, I only had time at scrape 16/17. It was so unfortunate that a friend of mine gave me news a little bit later that they had a Spoon-billed Sandpiper out at the mudflat. I was totally gutted...I did try to scan for the Spoonie when the waders flew into the scrape, but simply could not locate one amongst the huge flocks of Red-necked Stints...There were also lots of other waders coming into roost, including lots of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Curlew Sandpipers.

Flocks of Red-necked Stints...no Spoon-billed Sandpiper...

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

The long staying Greater White-fronted Goose strolled past the front of my hide, it was the only one left overwintering here at Mai Po, it looks to be a pretty young bird and I think it's probably very lost without any older Geese to guide it through it's supposed northward journey. It's fate remains uncertain!

Greater White-fronted Goose

Some other birders tried for the Spoonie on Sunday, but no one spotted it again. I decided to give it another try on Monday. As I walked towards the gate to the boardwalks, I was greeted by a few Chinese Penduline Tits at the reed bed. Striated Herons had also returned, one perched long enough for me to grab a record photo.

Chinese Penduline Tit

Striated Heron

I arrived at the new hide at around 9:30am, there were a lot more people than I expected for a Monday...obviously everyone wanted to glimpse the rare Spoon-billed Sandpiper...I settled down and started scanning through the mudflat with my scope...A few Kentish Plovers were very close to the hide, both males and females in breeding plumage.

Kentish Plover - male

Kentish Plover - female

There were a few Grey-tailed Tattlers around, although not as many as I expected. Flocks of Long-toed Stints walked along the front of the hide as well.

Grey-tailed Tattler

Long-toed Stint

I scanned the flock of Red-necked Stints in the distance, sure enough saw a very good looking Little Stint in breeding plumage. As Little Stints moult into their very bright orange plumage, they become very obvious.

Little Stint & Sanderling

As the tide came in higher, other species started arriving. A few good looking Ruddy Turnstones strolled along the front of the hide, feeding on small crabs. While a few Sanderlings also gave good views at close range, they are very pale compare with other waders present, making them quite conspicuous.

Ruddy Turnstone

Sanderling

Both Mongolian Plovers and Greater Sand Plovers ventured to the front of the hide, here you can clearly see the difference in their structure and bill shape, Mongolian having a very stubby and short bill, while Greater Sand Plover have a much longer and stronger bill.

Mongolian Plover

Greater Sand Plover

I of course continuously scanned the large flocks of Red-necked Stints, hoping to find a Spoonie amongst them...All I got were Red-necked Stints with muddy bills...

Red-necked Stint

I spotted yet another Little Stint amongst the flock close to the bird hide in amongst the Red-necked Stints. This one was not as brightly coloured as the other one, but still a very handsome individual, especially when seen so close!

Little Stint

There were still plenty of Curlew Sandpipers around, I was able to get a few closeups of the few that ventured to the front of the hide. A single Red-necked Phalarope also made an appearance. As the tide came in higher and covered up all the mud, I knew my chances of finding a Spoon-billed Sandpiper was pretty much gone, so I decided to move to the middle hide to look for other waders.

Curlew Sandpiper

Red-necked Phalarope

Waders as the tide came in

I was just in time as the tide was still coming in at the middle hide, there I spotted a few very good looking Red Knots. This is another near threatened species that seems to be in decline in recent years, mainly due to habitat loss along the East Asian Australasian Flyway.

Red Knot

Another similar species that is facing the same problem is the Great Knot, now an endangered species. While another endangered species, a few Far Eastern Curlews roosted nearby, I counted a total of 8 individuals.

Great Knot

Far Eastern Curlew

I spotted 3 Nordmann's Greenshanks roosting amongst the Common Redshanks and Marsh Sandpipers. It is yet another endangered species for the day, with an estimation of no more than 1,300 individuals remaining in the wild, we are fortunate to still get them in small numbers in Hong Kong and can often pick them out with relative ease.

Nordmann's Greenshank

A single Swinhoe's Egret was also present, although this time it was much further away. There were still a lot of Black-faced Spoonbills around, I counted up to 30 birds. While two Eurasian Spoonbills had stayed on.

Swinhoe's Egret

Black-faced Spoonbill

Eurasian Spoonbill

I scanned scrape 16/17 one last time on my way out, most of the smaller waders were roosting and had their head tucked under their wings...not useful when you are trying to scan for Spoon-billed Sandpipers, I was left feeling quite defeated, but that's just birding sometimes, there are birds you won't be able to find no matter how hard you try.

Flocks of waders roosting at scrape 16/17

The day ended on a happier note, where I found quite a few Greater Painted Snipes strolling about in the open. It is breeding season for them, so they are currently very active. I won't be surprise if we see the males followed by a few chicks in a month or two.

Greater Painted Snipe - female

Continued Surprises - Mai Po

Eurasian Eagle Owl - our largest owl species, likely in the world!

Mai Po never seizes to surprise us, and in April anything can turn up anywhere. The raptors are taking advantage of the abundance of migrant waders, other then the Peregrine and Eastern Marsh Harrier from the previous posts, I witnessed a Black Kite coming down onto the mudflat and grabbed an injured Curlew Sandpiper and devoured it right in front of the bird hide! A Besra was also ambushing around the footpaths, this particular one I encountered at least twice throughout the day, first time it chased a few songbirds through the mangroves, the second time Pan Lau found it perched close-by next to the footpath, we enjoyed some confiding views for as long as we wanted.

Black Kite - with Curlew Sandpipers between it's talons...

Besra

Large Hawk Cuckoos had been calling constantly in Mai Po, and we have been getting some good views of them lately, here's another one perched on top of a tree, a bit further away then my last close encounter. The other Cuckoo species that had been active are Indian Cuckoos, their "One More Bottle" call can be heard throughout, I was lucky to bump into one that allowed me to get an obscured but close view, it's the first time had been able to get a photograph of a perched individual.

Large Hawk Cuckoo

Indian Cuckoo

Mudflats at Deep Bay had been full of waders, here are just a sample of the many waders found there on any given day...Greater Sand Plovers, Ruddy Turnstones, Terek Sandpipers, Great Knots, Red Knots, Red-necked Stints, Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, Common Sandpipers, Whimbrels and Asian Dowitchers...

Greater Sand Plover

Ruddy Turnstone

Terek Sandpiper

Great Knot

Red Knot

Red-necked Stint

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Whimbrel

Asian Dowitcher

An interesting wader caught our eye on the mudflat, a very bright and well marked stint foraging amongst the Red-necked Stints. The general reaction in the bird hide at the time is that this was probably a Little Stint, and I thought so too given that it looked so different with rest of the flock. It was later suggested that this is a Red-necked Stint, although I must say it's bill shape doesn't quite click as classic Red-necked to me, it looks slightly longer and very pointed...especially when placed side by side with the Red-necked present, but I must admit the body structure, leg structure both seems a bit off for a usual Little. I did saw a more 'obvious' Little Stint on the same day in bright breeding plumage, although it was way too far for any photo to be taken, but in breeding plumage they are difficult to miss. It does show the huge variety Red-necked Stints can show. So, I will have to wait my turn for photos...

The 'strange' Red-necked Stint with a 'regular' Red-necked Stint

Other then waders, there was a bird that attracted quite a lot of attention in form of an Eurasian Eagle Owl, they are rare to scarce residents in Hong Kong, although quite widespread they are seldom seen. One had been spotted around pond 11 frequently and attracted a lot of birders to try their luck for this elusive species. I took my chance and went for it, knowing that birders waited half a day to get a look at it the day before. I was surprise therefore when Peter Wong found the bird sat right next to the footpath, it didn't move much for the next few hours. By the time it was surrounded by a dozen of photographers, it seems quite obvious to us that there was some problem with this owl. After a heavy rainstorm birders reported it to be quite week, and called up WWF to pick the bird up. It was later transferred to SPCA later on the day. It was unclear what was wrong with the bird, but our guess is that it could have ate a rat with poison? Sad news is that after a few days this majestic bird did not make it. It was exciting while it lasted...let's hope we get to see a healthier one next time.

Eurasian Eagle Owl - RIP...