Rare Warbler or Two - Greenish Warbler & Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler

A Greenish Warbler was found at Luk Keng by John Allcock, since it was not very far away I decided to give it a try. The warbler was very vocal upon arrival and easily located by following the call. It stayed high up most of the time, following various White-eyes and bulbuls as they foraged in the trees.

Greenish Warbler

On a few occasions the bird flew down to eye-levels to feed, allowing a much better look at some other visible features, including a faint single wing bar, greyish green upperparts, fairly pale and clean looking underparts, lower mandible orange with dark tip and fairly dark legs. Although on a quick glance I could have easily mistaken it for a Two-barred Warbler! Although the different call really gave it away.

Greenish Warbler

While I enjoyed excellent views of the Greenish Warbler, a few other Phylloscopus warblers were also present, including an actual Two-barred Warbler, with a faint front and strong rear wing bar. A few Yellow-browed Warblers, and a single Dusky Warbler. Not bad for a stretch of road only 20 metres long!

Two-barred Warbler

Yellow-browed Warbler

Dusky Warbler

Continuing the warbler theme, the Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler at Telford stayed on and continues to show well. At this rate I won't be surprise if it over winters there! Even though most birders are now 'bored' with this one, I still enjoyed observing this little skulker trotting along the flowerbeds looking for insects, it really is quite a charming bird. Unfortunately for me, I missed a Pale-footed Bush Warbler by 2 hours on the day of my visit, which again leaves me with no photo of that species...

Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler - continuing...

Closer to home, I spent a morning at my local patch, delighted to find that a pair of Daurian Redstarts have returned! They are such charming birds to see and the first of the winter is always the most delightful. Other regular birds there seen includes a single Indochinese Green Magpie which flew off at the first sight of me, numerous Grey Treepies, large flocks of Scarlet Minivet and a single Ashy Minivet.

Daurian Redstart - male

Grey Treepie

Ashy Minivet

I went past Shatin Central Park the other day, the park is known to host the occasion rarity or migrant, although I didn't find anything interesting, a flock of Red-billed Blue Magpies kept me busy, this colourful species never fails to impress, and I always feel so lucky they are so common in Hong Kong. Their large size, the very long tail and bright plumage guarantee you a feast for the eyes.

Red-billed Blue Magpie

Christmas Blues

As we are getting nearer to the end of the year, I was hoping to push my year list as close as 300 species as possible, although having missed a few rarities I doubt my final list will surpass that, it's still fun to just give it a try though. Seeing that there had been reports of a male Small Niltava plus a Chestnut-crowned Warbler at Lung Fu Shan which could add two more birds on my year list, I decided to give it a go. The afternoon before Christmas Eve was pretty quiet up there, only a few other birders were around, although everyone didn't have much luck with neither species. After everyone had gone, I took a stroll nearby, there weren't too much to see, but a flock of Red-billed Blue Magpies at close range kept me entertained, I can never get bored of them.

Lung Fu Shan is also quite good for mammals, and a large flock of Wild Boars was certainly a sight to behold...with their numbers really booming, no wonder they now frequently wander into the city. Blue Whistling Thrush was spotted nearby.

At around 4:15pm, when every single birder had left, I heard the song of the Small Niltava, a series of high pitched notes gave away it's location. I searched for the source of the song and sure enough it was perched on an open branch, singing away! I managed to find an opening amongst the thick foliage, the bird gave me about a minute of excellent views before melting away back into the dense cover. I was very fortunate to have such great views of the Niltava, although the Chestnut-crowned Warbler never showed itself...

I tried again on Christmas day morning for the warbler but it was yet another no show, so I decided to head over to Shek Kong Airfield around noon to look for other birds. Unfortunately there weren't much to be discovered there, all except a female Black-naped Monarch was worthy of note. It did however gave great eye-level views though, not complaining about that! A Chinese Blackbird which perched at close range was remotely interesting, being such a skittish species I would have expect it to have flown away straight after it saw me!

I visited Tai Po Kau on boxing day after my failed attempt for the Chestnut-crowned Warbler. It wasn't particularly exciting to start off with, the common species such as Silver-eared Mesias brought a splash of colours. Most of the usuals were present, but none of them were particularly photogenic, except for a curious White-bellied Epornis. One of my best find of the morning was a White-spectacled Warbler, it was a brief view, but it gave me just enough time to grab a record shot, it's broken eye-ring can be clearly seen. I also saw a Chestnut-flanked White-eye, but it was way too quick for my camera.

Only a few days left in 2017, I am at 304 (I recounted my records), wouldn't mind adding a few more birds...

Park & Birds - Tsing Yi Park

White-throated Kingfisher - one of the many attractions of Tsing Yi Park

I've always found birding in urban parks quite exciting, I think mainly because your expectations aren't as high, so anything not 'ordinary' will become more interesting then they really are. Sunday afternoon saw my Father and I went for a little stroll in Tsing Yi Park, a large urban park next to the Tsing Yi MTR station, very convenient spot for a few hours of excursions.

My main reason for this visit was for a Red-breasted Flycatcher that had been spotted there, but I didn't have much luck with this bird and it never showed for me, same for the many other birders and photographers at the supposed stakeout. So, I turned my attention to the other side of the park. First bird of interest was a single Grey Heron, seeing one at Mai Po I would not have taken any notice of it, but seeing this big guy in an urban park made it that much more special!

Grey Heron

We sat down at the small cafe next to the lily pond to enjoy a glass of iced milk tea and freshly made french toasts, this was good for Black-crowned Night Herons, where a lot of them can be seen at extreme close range. Very dramatic lighting created some beautiful portraits for these good looking birds.

Black-crowned Night Heron

A pair of Common Kingfishers were present as well, an urban gem that everyone can enjoy! Another Kingfisher dropped by the pond in form of a beautiful White-throated Kingfisher, this one came very close and gave excellent views! Even a lot of non-birders stopped to look at this magnificent bird! At one point this obliging individual came as close as 5m! What a bird!

Common Kingfisher - female

White-throated Kingfisher - an absolute stunner!

Red-billed Blue Magpies were quite common here, a few of them took their turns coming down to the pond to drink, they do turn some heads with their magnificent tail!

Red-billed Blue Magpie

I was a bit disappointed not getting the Flycatcher, but I got a consolation prize in form of a beautiful male Grey-capped Greenfinch, this rather uncommon species is scarce but widespread in Hong Kong, often found in urban parks with suitable food source, most often seeds and fruits of Lagerstroemia speciosa, a common flowering tree in Hong Kong urban areas. A living proof that birding in urban parks can be rewarding and exciting!

Grey-capped Greenfinch - feeding on Lagerstroemia speciosa

Blue Magpies - Work Distraction!

Red-billed Blue Magpie - a stunner

If you ask me what is the most colourful and impressive looking bird species in Hong Kong, I probably would answer Fairy Pitta; that's quite obvious. But, if you ask me what is the most colourful and impressive looking RESIDENT bird species, then the title probably will goes to Red-billed Blue Magpies, or Blue Magpies as we usually call them. Their colourful plumage, large size and long tails really make them centre for attention.

They really are quite common, although not a bird that you see on an every day basis unless you're in an area where they occur regularly, but you will see them every now and then gliding across roads while you're on the bus, or hear their cheery and very noisy calls on a tall tree in the park. It just so happens that a flock of these awesome looking magpies lives right where I work, so I have the privilege to pretty much see them everyday. It ALSO just so happens that I got my camera with me this day, and upon hearing their noisy calls I went up to the second floor to try get some decent shots.

Kai Yip estate in the background

And decent shots I got! The group were not shy and gave excellent views. As I was a floor up, I had situated myself right at eye-level with these impressive looking birds. Tt was perfect conditions for photography, as you really need the right lighting for their bluish purple sheen to really show through!

I enjoyed great views for over ten minutes before they decided to move on and make noise somewhere else. A very good show from my very good neighbour! Bad thing about having them at your work place is that they really distract you from your work on hand...I better get some earplugs soon.

They have successfully distracted me from my work...

Birding with new friends

One great thing that had happened to me since I started this blog is that it's been connecting me to birders from all around the world, and birding indeed does not have any barrier, it's an universal passion that all birders can share with other birders. Today I was most fortunate to be joined by two friends I met through the blog, Meera and Sanal from the UAE to do a day of birding around New Territories. We arranged an early meeting time on Saturday morning and started our day at Tai Mo Shan.

Luck wans't exactly on our side, with heavy fog early on, visibility was down to 10m at one point. Birds were not so cooperative either, even the Brown-flanked Bush Warblers didn't come out, most of them staying well in the comfort of branches and twigs...When we got to the "usual" spot, Chinese Francolins called loudly, but stayed behind the hill and did not produce a view. Our first properly visible bird was in fact a Richard's Pipit, generously perched on a rock. The Parrotbills were very shy as well, jumping between trees and branches. Chinese Grassbird, none heard.

Richard's Pipit

After over an hour of searching without much luck, we headed back down. There were so little birds that I started noticing the butterflies, here is an Indian Fritillary.

Indian Fritillary

The other more visible bird was a single Blue-winged Minla, which gave fairly good views but not good enough for a decent photo.

Blue-winged Minla

It was mid morning by the time we got back to the car, we headed to Shek Kong Catchment afterwards. Fortunately, things picked up slightly, including three Crested Serpent Eagles that greeted us with their whistling calls. I got a photo with two in frame.

Crested Serpent Eagle - one of them was just out of frame

A Fork-tailed Sunbird came out briefly, there were also Grey-chinned and Scarlet Minivets, Japanese White-eyes and plenty of Bulbuls. A pair of Yellow-cheeked Tits made an appearance, an adult male with a juvenile, which gave cracking views! Best bird was an Emerald Dove which to my surprise was not that shy at all, feeding right out in the open, picking up small fruits from the ground.

Fork-tailed Sunbird

Yellow-cheeked Tit - juvenile

Emerald Dove - one of our local forest gem

Further on, a flock of Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler danced around for quite some time, giving good views for everyone to enjoy, showing all it's identification features nicely. A single Little Egret foraged in the catchment, another pleasant sight.

Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler

Little Egret

Shek Kong Airfield Road was next, although there wasn't an awful lot of action we managed to find a few good species. A Koel perched right in the open to sing for quite some time before a sudden downpour came in, which had us taking shelter in the car for a short while! Things got interesting when we spotted a flock of Red-billed Blue Magpies, their impressively long tails and cheerful calls makes them very entertaining birds to look at. It was quite a large flock of at least 10 birds, a few of which were juveniles. While watching the Magpies, Meera pointed out at a silhouette on a tree, turns out it was an Asian Barred Owlet! A great find indeed as I was quite worried I might not find this species at Kam Tin later on, it wasn't the best view but we had some decent scope views.

Common Koel

Red-billed Blue Magpie

Red-billed Blue Magpie - juvenile

Asian Barred Owlet - it did not want to look at the camera...

Nam Sang Wai and Mai Po car park were business as usual, fairly quiet in the summer. Chinese Pond Herons provided plenty of entertainment, showing off their breeding plumage nicely. Indian Cuckoos were calling but never showed. At Mai Po car park, the White-shouldered Starlings were still nesting in the electric boxes, busy going in and out. The Azure-winged Magpies were forever present at the car park, even with a few juveniles, we saw at least 6 juveniles all together.

Chinese Pond Heron

White-shouldered Starling

Azure-winged Magpie - juvenile

Azure-winged Magpie

Lok Ma Chau was a little bit more exciting, first a large flock of Scaly-breasted Munias, then a Yellow Bittern near the lily pond, which flew out from a patch of tall grass close by and landed on the opposite side of the pond.

Scaly-breasted Munia

Yellow Bittern

On our way out, I spotted a Hair-crested Drongos on the wire, later I saw quite a few more, a species that seems to be breeding in the small patch of woodlands near the police station. It was near there I heard the Chestnut-winged Cuckoo, which responded very well to my imitation and flew straight out! It flew around us for quite a while, giving frustratingly close but obscured views, but in the end we got some satisfactory views of the bird perched right out in the open singing! No doubt the best encounter I've had with this species so far, and most definitely our bird of the day!

Chestnut-winged Cuckoo - when they fly they do remind you of a Coucal

Chestnut-winged Cuckoo - my best encounter to date!

Finally, we checked into Long Valley for our last stop. It was pretty quiet there, but we still got some birds, including a pair of very sweet Sooty-headed Bulbuls, a few Prinias and plenty of White-rumped Munias. Although we missed on quite a few target species, it was still a pleasant day trip overall, most of all it was wonderful to share this little bit of local nature with my new friends.

Sooty-headed Bulbuls

Plain Prinia

White-rumped Munia