Autumn Migrants at my Local Patch

Having been living in Tai Po for nearly five years now, I consider most of Tai Po area close enough to be my local patch, and Tai Po Kau is certainly one of them, being just 15 minutes drive from home, it certainly is an area I visit often. A morning walk there yielded two Siberian Blue Robins, first was a 1st winter female, and the second one a 1st winter male, both showed quite well. Siberian Blue Robins are generally an uncommon passage migrant in Hong Kong, although on some days they can be quite numerous. Unfortunately, its been fairly quiet at Tai Po Kau otherwise, with very few other migrants or even residents seen.

Siberian Blue Robin - 1st winter female

Siberian Blue Robin - 1st winter male

Great Barbets are still quite active around Tai Po Kau Park, but as always they remain high up and difficult to get a good photo.

Great Barbet

Tai Mei Tuk Catchwater have been extremely disappointing, I did not encounter any notable migrants there! Although a friendly Speckled Piculet and a few Scarlet Minivets did allow me to get some good photos, both iconic forest species of Hong Kong.

Speckled Piculet

Scarlet Minivet - male

A bit lower down along the Ting Kok Coast East, many Hair-crested Drongos were around, I always enjoy seeing them at close range, their metallic blue plumage best observed under good lighting. A Besra came through a few times, obviously looking for unsuspected birds, but the local Black-collared Starlings were definitely not happy about its presense.

Hair-crested Drongo

Besra - juvenile

On the mudflat at Ting Kok during low-tide, a few Kentish Plovers and Greater Sand Plovers were present, these are regular passage migrants and winter visitors here. A friendly Grey-tailed Tattler was a welcoming sight, a species that I don't see here very often.

Kentish Plover

Greater Sand Plover

Grey-tailed Tattler

Away from Tai Po, at my survey site at the airport a few White-faced Plovers were present together with many Kentish Plovers. Juveniles and females are not too easily distinguished from Kentish, but I have found that the pale spot at the bill base of the lower mandible to be a good feature if you are close enough to the bird, together with pinkish legs and overall heavier bill and head, they can be separated with Kentish Plovers with a bit of care.

White-faced Plover - juvenile

White-faced Plover

The Oriental Plovers were still present, but they have spread out throughout, a juvenile was particularly confiding and allowed close views. Strangely enough, I haven't heard of any other Oriental Plovers reported elsewhere around Hong Kong at the moment.

Oriental Plover - juvenile

Oriental Plover - non-breeding female

Up to three House Sparrows have been spotted along the fence by the South Perimeter Road, they seem to be residents around the airport now, and follow the main flock of Eurasian Tree Sparrows. Give it a few more years I suspect their numbers may increase if they successfully breed here.

House Sparrow - males with Eurasian Tree Sparrows

Constant Trickle - Autumn Migration in Action

The past two week's been quite good for regular migrants, with a constant stream of migrants trickling through, we are seeing very good numbers of Siberian Blue Robins, probably the highest counts I can remember. Numerous birds been reported throughout Hong Kong, including Shing Mun, Tai Lam, Shui Hau and of course Ho Man Tin, where I connected with this extremely bold immature male, it probably just arrived and was not shy at all. 

Siberian Blue Robin - juvenile male

Grey Nightjars are regular migrants through Hong Kong, and been recorded annually at Ho Man Tin the past few years, two of these interesting birds were found by birders, it was hard to say no to seeing this cryptic species roosting during the day.

Grey Nightjar

Young Crested Goshawks seems to be dispersing at the moment, one taken up residence at Ho Man Tin lately, another was seen at Lai Chi Kok Park, this species is quite adaptable and often found in urban parks as well as in well forested areas.

Crested Goshawk - immature

Over at Lai Chi Kok Park, a fruiting Big-leaved Fig attracted a lot of birds, including numerous Asian Koels, as well as constant stream of Black-collared and White-shouldered Starlings.

Asian Koel

White-shouldered Starling

The star bird of the show though were a few Daurian Starlings mixed in with the White-shouldered Starlings. September is always a good time to look for these rarer starlings, and if you find the right tree you surely will not be disappointed!

Daurian Starling

I did not have a lot of luck over at Tai Lam, while I did see a Tiger Shrike briefly and caught a glimpse of an Amur Paradise Flycatchers, both of them were gone before I could reach for my camera. The site is hosting good numbers of migratory warblers though, mainly Arctic Warblers and quite a few uncooperative Eastern Crowned Warblers, Pale-legged Leaf Warblers were also in good supplies, their slightly higher pitched calls are usually enough to distinguish between Sakhalin Leaf Warblers.

Arctic Warbler

Eastern Crowned Warbler

Pale-legged Leaf Warbler

Early September Migrants

Four twitch for various reported male Yellow-rumped Flycatchers ended in extreme frustration, I missed the bird by mere an hour in both locations I went to. I tried Ho Man Tin three times and ended up with more females...The best bird I managed was a Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher, which I found sitting on a branch motionlessly at first, it was later chased off by the local Oriental Magpie Robins, luckily I managed a few decent photos before it flew into deep cover.

An Amur Paradise Flycatcher was not quite enough to make up for the losses of the male Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, but it was nice to see one up close. This species is usually the earliest migrant to come through and is one of our staple migrant seen in Hong Kong.

Also present were numerous Asian Brown Flycatchers and Hainan Blue Flycatchers, both regular migrants at Ho Man Tin. There were also a few Arctic Warblers and Pale-legged Leaf Warblers around, although none provided any good chance for photographs.

On my final try at Ho Man Tin I gave up by mid morning (proved the right decision as no male Yellow-rumped Flycatchers were seen since), I ended up taking a stroll along Kowloon Hill Fitness Trail, a site I rarely visit nowadays, and seems to have become not so popular amongst birders in recent years. It was already well past 11am, I almost lost all hope until I heard the call of Black-throated Bushtits, and sure enough I saw three of these tiny birds right above my head. I have seen this species at this site many years ago, so its nice to see them again here. Also present were Black-throated Laughingthrush, which is kind of a specialty at Kowloon Hill.

An early walk along trail at Tai Lam proved to be a good call, with up to three Siberian Blue Robins seen along a short stretch of forest trail. One immature male was particularly showy, feeding on the trail at times. This seems to be a great year for this species, with numerous reported almost everywhere.

A short walk a Shing Mun Reservoir also yielded some migrants, most notably a pair of Amur Paradise Flycatcher in a single bird wave. Asian Brown Flycatchers were also noted.

Nothing hugely exciting yet, but good number of birds passing through at the moment, still hopeful for a rarity or two...