Late January Mega Rarity - Fire-capped Tit

The first 'twitchable' bird of the year came in form of a Fire-capped Tit seen at Kadorie Farm and Botanical Garden. News came from the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society forum, where a photo was uploaded to the 'Bird Identification' section, it was later confirmed to be a female Fire-capped Tit. I've seen this species before in Sichuan Emeishan, but this species had never been recorded in Guangdong, let alone Hong Kong! According to Richard Lewthwaite, the closest record for this species is one trapped in West Guangxi in 2013. This species is known for their seasonal migration from high to lower altitude during winter, where birds breeding at the foothills of the Himalayas can migrate all the way to North-Central India and northern Thailand. Therefore, for vagrants to turn up in Hong Kong is not impossible. Also, a dull looking female or juvenile is less likely to be a target of bird trade. Whether this bird gets accepted remains to be seen...If it does it will be a 1st for Hong Kong!

Fire-capped Tit : First Mega Rarity in 2019

Kenneth and I decided to go for the bird after another group of birders relocated it on a plum blossom tree along the main road of Kadorie Farm on the 28th. We met up and arrived at the gate at 9am to find a long queue of hikers and birders. There is a shuttle bus service that goes all the way to the top of the hill, but seats are limited, therefore people try to get there early to get a seat. We were obviously not early enough...So, we took the option to walk 20 minutes uphill. We were joined by James Kwok, Eric and Dephne Wong on our ascend. All the birders were standing around when we arrived, a clear sign that the target had yet to arrive. We waited for 10 minutes and all of a sudden a small bird appeared in the plum tree, pecking at the flower buds, the sound of camera shutters filled the valley...

'Twitchers' in Action

Fire-capped Tit - feeding in the blossoming plum tree

The Fire-capped Tit showed exceptionally well for the next hour or so, feeding constantly. This bird was just as how I remembered it from Sichuan, being quite bold and active. It was seemingly oblivious to the huge crowed congregating below the tree. This species was previously assigned to the family of Penduline Tits, but it's nesting habit in tree holes was most untypical, therefore it is now placed in with the Tits, but under a monotypic genus of Cephalopyrus.

Fire-capped Tit

While we waited around for the Fire-capped Tit, a few birds of prey drifted past, including a pair of very vocal Crested Serpent Eagles. I was hoping for an Oriental Honey Buzzard but only yielded an Eastern Buzzard.

Crested Serpent Eagle

Eastern Buzzard

The blossoming plum and cherry trees also attracted hundreds of Redbase Jezebels, they are probably one of the commonest butterflies in Hong Kong, but it's still a wonderful sight to see so many.

Redbase Jezebel

After we've had satisfactory views of the Fire-capped Tit, we ventured up to the T.S Woo Memorial Pavilion to look for a recently reported Mrs. Gould's Sunbird that's been feeding in the blossoming cherry trees. We were greeted by a lot of Japanese White-eyes also enjoying the abundance of nectar.

Cherry Blossoms

Japanese White-eye - active and everywhere!

It wasn't long until the rather scruffy looking immature male came into view, light was very harsh and and terrible for photography, but it was still nice to catch up with this rare winter visitor. The bird only showed briefly and never returned for another look.

Mrs. Gould's Sunbird - immature male

Elsewhere this January, many expected species had returned to known locations, including a few Common Rosefinches returning to Shek Kong Airfield, I managed to get a few record shot of this rather shy male feeding in the thick vegetation. Chinese Grosbeaks are however much more friendly and gave eye-level views.

Common Rosefinch - male

Chinese Grosbeak - female

A Rook had been reported at Lut Chau yet again, I finally took the time to have a look at it and confirmed it to be a different bird to the one I saw at Long Valley, this was a juvenile while the bird I found was an adult. This is the 3rd bird in two years, really quite incredible when you think that we only had our first ever one last year.

Rook and Collared Crow

At Wa Shan Tsuen in Sheung Shui, some birders had found a rather tamed Red-breasted Flycatcher and a male Grey Bush Chat. The flycatcher was very obliging, not surprising as it was receiving a generous amount of meal worms offered by the photographers. The Grey Bush Chat was however minding it's own business, foraging in the nearby fields. Two female Daurian Redstarts were also present, quite often chasing away the Red-breasted Flycatcher.

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Grey Bush Chat - male

Daurian Redstart - female

Finally, Kenneth and I were putting in the effort of finding a photographable Bright-capped Cisticola near Ma Tso Lung, the Cisticolas were not very cooperative, only showed briefly from afar, but this male Plaintive Cuckoo was more than happy to show, allowing a fairly decent shot.

Plaintive Cuckoo - male

It's really warming up, I heard the first Koel calling just the other day, spring seems to be just around the corner now.

An unexpected Rook

Rook - a most unexpected drop in at Long Valley

Normal birding resumes for me, and just in time for some winter visitors. I gave Shek Kong Catchment a try, a spot i've not been to during the day for quite some time. Things started off fairly decent, with two Black-winged Cuckooshrikes, they are a common winter visitor in Hong Kong. Hair-crested Drongos we get mainly as migrants and winter visitors, but I think there are some resident birds now.

Black-winged Cuckooshrike

Hair-crested Drongo

Large flocks of Silver-eared Mesias is a common sight in Hong Kong, they often gather with Velvet-fronted Nuthatches. Scarlet Minivets were also seen, along with Grey-chinned Minivets.

Silver-eared Mesia

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

Scarlet Minivet - female

Grey-chinned Minivet - male

Birds of the undergrowth are not often easy to detect, Rufous-capped Babblers often move with large feeding flocks, you will see these quick moving birds moving near your feet. They become extremely bold within these feeding flocks that you can observe them within a meter or so. A few Chinese Hwameis were seen, they are very common in Hong Kong, inhabiting almost any hills with scrubs and trees, but not often easy to see. The best skulker I found was no doubt a Lesser Shortwing, an uncommon resident that is tough to see, it didn't pose for a nice photo but at least it gave me a decent view.

Rufous-capped Babbler

Chinese Hwamei

Lesser Shortwing

Grey Treepies are somewhat of a Shek Kong Catchment speciality, they are noisy and hard to miss, they were quite active that morning and allowed great views. While two flycatchers were seen during my walk, first a male Verditer Flycatcher which showed briefly, second an Asian Brown Flycatcher saw within the Eco Garden.

Grey Treepie

Verditer Flycatcher

Asian Brown Flycatcher

I later took at trip to Long Valley in the afternoon, weather was fairly decent if not on the warm side. Yellow-breasted Buntings were still in good numbers, many of them feeding in the harvested paddy field, they often flew back to a reed bed when they were flushed from the field, I guess the tall reed bed made them feel safe, therefore allowed quite close views.

Yellow-breasted Bunting - still in good numbers at Long Valley

Chinese Penduline Tits were also present, a few of them stayed near the reed bed as well, occasionally flying out to feed. This species is most easily detected by their piercing calls, once you are familiar with it you will find them to be pretty common during winter months.

Chinese Penduline Tit

Daurian Redstarts and Red-throated Pipits were both in good numbers, both typical wintering species in Long Valley. While a very pretty Eastern Yellow Wagtail stood out from the rest, it was of race tschutschensis, with longer supercilium.

Daurian Redstart - female

Red-throated Pipit

Eastern Yellow Wagtail - race tschutschensis

Everything was quite ordinary, in fact things got a little boring when I noticed a large black bird perched on the overhead cable. Large-billed Crows aren't that common at Long Valley, so I took a closer look through my binoculars. It was quite clear something wasn't quite right the moment I looked at the bird and very soon I figured out what it was, it's was a Rook! Unlike the bird from last year, it was an adult, which showed it's most prominent feature of it's 'naked' nose. It looked healthy if not a little tired, coughed up a pellet before flying off into the distance.

This was quite a remarkable encounter, as last year's bird was only Hong Kong's first confirmed record, this if accepted will be the second. Now all we need is a Black Redstart and November feels like Deja Vu...

Rook - coughing up a pellet

Rook - all features showed well, straight thin beak with pale base, purplish sheen

January Summary

Oriental Stork

Since I was away for a whole week at the beginning of the month, I felt that I had quite a lot of catching up to do. A few birds turned up while I was away or when I was too busy preparing for the trip that I hadn't gotten around to see them, including a Black-backed Swamphen, a Chiffchaff and a Smew at Mai Po...News of an Oriental Stork at Mai Po was also attractive, so on 16th I decided to head out to Mai Po. I was greeted by a pair of Chinese Grosbeaks as I got off my car at the carpark, the handsome male showed particularly well.

Chinese Grosbeak

The stork was last seen at pond 20 the day before, when I didn't see it I went over to pond 22 and came up empty as well, so I decided to head towards pond 6 to try for the Smew first...Just as I got to pond 6 I received news that the stork was actually at pond 23! So, I had to walk all the way back to the far side of Mai Po...My legs were getting a bit tired when I got there, but quite a few fellow birders were already there watching the bird. Being one of the largest waterbird species in Hong Kong, Oriental Storks are usually easy to spot even from afar. Their numbers had however greatly decreased in recent years, with an estimated global population of no more than 3,000 birds, making them an endangered species. They used to be more regular winter visitors to Hong Kong, but had became rarer in recent years. The stork along with a lot of egrets and herons were enjoying the lowered water levels in pond 23, where they could fish much more easily, Black Kites were taking advantage to that and were harassing any birds that managed to catch a fish.

Oriental Stork

Little Egret

The Rook that was first seen in November 2017 was still present near Lut Chau at Mai Po. It seems to be doing exceptionally well and showing no sign of leaving anytime soon...Another long staying rarity was a Greater White-fronted Goose, separated with it's two other mates, this single goose had stayed behind at Mai Po, other than being a bit lonely it looked to be in good shape.

Rook - long staying rarity and settling in well

Greater White-fronted Goose - the lonesome stray...

Northern Lapwings had been fairly regular this winter at pond 16/17, making regular appearances (could be different birds of course) on several occasions. January is probably one of the best time to see Black-faced Spoonbills in Hong Kong, you are guarantee great views inside Mai Po, but you may also see small flocks feeding in fishponds at nearby Tai Sang Wai or San Tin with relative ease.

Northern Lapwing

Black-faced Spoonbill

Walking along the border fence at Mai Po I came across a Peregrine and a Collared Crow engaging in an intense aerial battle. Collared Crows are known to be quite aggressive towards other birds of prey and will actively chase away any intruder. This particular individual seems to dislike Peregrines the most and would not leave this young Peregrine alone. The Peregrine Falcon being the fastest flying bird in the world is not a bird you would want to mess with, it constantly out manoeuvred the Collared Crow...but, where the Collared Crow lacked in speed it made up with wit! The chase went on for nearly 10 whole minutes before they eventually got too tired and gave up!

Intense fight between Peregrine Falcon and Collared Crow

Peregrine Falcon

January is also quite a good time for ducks. A flock of 7 Falcated Duck had been regularly seen at pond 12, just like many other species we have been seeing continued decrease in wintering numbers, the Falcated Duck is now a near threatened species. I regularly see females but have not seen males in Hong Kong for a long time, so I was delighted to see two drakes in their beautiful plumage.

Falcated Ducks

I managed to caught up with the female Smew just before the month ended, it had been slightly elusive for me and evaded my sight a few times. I finally saw it swimming amongst a few Tufted Ducks, it really stands out from the rest of the ducks when it's in view.

Smew - female

A Black-backed Swamphen had been seen at Mai Po of late, so Hoiling and I went to check it out. At the supposed location I spotted a Great Bittern in the distance, a species that is a regular winter visitor in Hong Kong, but not always easy to spot as they usually stay well hidden in thick reed beds. It was rumoured that the Swamphen prefer to come out late in the afternoon, so we waited until 5pm and just like clockwork this colourful bird appeared from the midst of the reed bed, it foraged for new shoots along the edge of the reed bed. I've missed several chances on ticking this bird off my Hong Kong list the last few years (the escapee at Long Valley doesn't count!), so I am so happy to finally catch up with this one.

Great Bittern

Black-backed Swamphen - my first HK tick for 2018

As for land birds things had been pretty quiet at Mai Po, at the nearby Tai Sang Wai I managed a fairly friendly Dusky Long-tailed Shrike, this colour morph is less common and it's my first better photo of this species as far as I am aware of. Good numbers of Starlings got me scanning for possible Rosies...although I came up empty handed, I did managed a single Common Starling but it took off before I got a chance for a photo. The only starling that didn't take flight at the sight of me were a few White-cheeked Starlings...

Long-tailed Shrike - dusky morph

White-cheeked Starling

There had been a report of a Japanese Waxwing at Shek Kong Airfield, although I tried for the bird the next morning it never showed. There were however a pair of Asian Barred Owlet which showed well on a bare tree early morning. Also present was a single male Common Rosefinch, they had not been particularly friendly this year and had been making it slightly difficult for good photographs.

Asian Barred Owlet

Common Rosefinch - male

Temperature saw a huge drop near the end of the month, it dropped to just 7°C in the city and a few degrees lower in New Territories. This kind of temperature usually will affects the birds behaviours, as many birds gets "grounded". One such examples are flycatchers, both Taiga Flycatchers and Asian Brown Flycatchers were seen feeding on the ground, looking for any insects. One of the Taiga Flycatcher was particularly interesting in that it's red throat is showing in the midst of winter.

Taiga Flycatcher - male

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Warblers are usually some of the most hard hit birds during cold spells, Yellow-browed Warblers and Pallas's Leaf Warblers both in good numbers and many were observed feeding on the ground as well, many of them will allow very close views. Here's a Yellow-browed Warbler hovering, hoping to pick off small insects on the leafs.

Yellow-browed Warbler

Thrushes were also in good numbers at Shek Kong Airfield, a Blue Whistling Thrush was slightly surprising, as I seldom see them there. Chinese Blackbirds were abundant and showed better than usual. There were also a few Grey-backed Thrushes around, a species that had not seen huge influx this year.

Blue Whistling Thrush

Chinese Blackbird

Grey-backed Thrush

The cold spell should continue for at least a week...I am hoping this may bring down some interesting birds, we shall see!