End of 2025 Goodies - Grebes and Ducks

A lovely Black-necked Grebe turned up at Tai Sang Wai lately and have been showing exceedingly well for everyone, a great bird to see as always and the second consecutive year that we have had one turning up in Hong Kong. They are far rarer than people think, as there are fewer than 15 records in Hong Kong so far, and getting them on consecutive years only happened once between 2002 and 2003.

Black-necked Grebe

The Ferruginous Ducks at Tam Kon Chau have stayed there all month, and seems very comfortable with their wintering home. I finally had a day free to get some better photographs of them, you never know when you may get another chance to photograph them up close!

Ferruginous Duck - male & female

Mai Po's been fairly popular this winter, mainly due to the continuing Hen Harrier and Brahminy Kite, the latter I have not had the luck to bump into. A Ruddy Shelduck also appeared and seems to have stayed on around the scrape. While some reported seeing it quite close, it was never very close to the bird hide whenever I was there. Nonetheless, a great bird to see.

Ruddy Shelduck

The small flock of Oriental Storks have been going in and out of Mai Po, its always a treat when you see them either soaring above or perched on the scrape somewhere. They are becoming such a regular sighting that most birders nowadays take very little notice of them, but I still enjoy each and every encounter with this majestic species.

Oriental Storks

Even though I have had no luck with the Brahminy Kite, both Greater Spotted and Eastern Imperial Eagles can be regularly seen in Mai Po. Both of these majestic raptors are often bullied by the local Black Kites.

Eastern Imperial Eagle & Black Kite

Greater Spotted Eagle

Other wintering birds such as Chinese Penduline Tits and Black-faced Buntings continue to show well at Mai Po, both species can be confiding if you are lucky.

Chinese Penduline Tit

Black-faced Bunting - female

A fairly confiding Siberian Pipit have been spotted near the entrance of Mai Po, I am always happy to find this rather uncommon species.

Siberian Pipit

I got very lucky with a male Siberian Rubythroat that showed very well at Mai Po, even though it is a species that will often show very well at feeding station, seeing a truly wild one so well feels extra special.

Siberian Rubythroat - male

Whereas the male Bluethroat is showing exceedingly well at Tai Sang Wai at the moment, a bird that I can never get bored of seeing, a real crowd pleaser for sure.

Bluethroat - male

Black-faced Spoonbills are now easily seen at almost all of our wetland sites, outside of Mai Po you can find them around San Tin, Tai Sang Wai, Long Valley and Nam Sang Wai. Great to see them all the same wherever it is.

Black-faced Spoonbills

Some of the drakes Eurasian Teals are finally moulting into their lovely plumage, I think most ducks are underated, they are all stunning to look at up close.

Eurasian Teal - male

Tai Po Kau's been more or less the same, I have been trying to reconnect with the White-spectacled Warbler with little luck, although the usual suspects are never boring. I was especially pleased with a male Orange-bellied Leafbird at close range one day, they are never easy when Rhodoleia are not in bloom. 

Orange-bellied Leafbird - male

Grey-chinned Minivet - male

Grey-chinned Minivet - female

Huet's Fulvetta

Great Barbet

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

Ground dwelling skulkers such as Pygmy Cupwings and Asian Stubtails are always a treat to see well, while wintering Grey-backed Thrush that allows you to get a good look are never easy to come across these days. Rufous-tailed Robins are probably the easiest of the skulkers, but still great to see them whenever possible.

Pygmy Cupwing

Asian Stubtail

Grey-backed Thrush - female

Rufous-tailed Robin

The most interesting bird at Tai Po Kau was probably a very late Dark-sided Flycatcher, by December there are usually very few records of this species.

Dark-sided Flycatcher - juvenile

Finally, some regular birds of Shek Kong Catchwater, Speckled Piculets often show well here, Verditer Flycatchers and Grey-headed Canary Flycatchers are of course a regular wintering species, but no doubt some of the star bird of this birding site.

Speckled Piculet

Verditer Flycatcher - female

Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher

Hong Kong Rarity...Carrion Crow?!

One man's trash is another man's treasure, this is very true in birding, where one species maybe very common in one country, but consider a rarity in another. Roman found two Rooks near Lut Chau and posted a few photos up to instagram, I noticed that one of the 'rook' looked slightly weird, with heavier and thicker bill. Turns out he found a Carrion Crow along with the Rooks! Its been many years since I last seen a Carrion Crow in Hong Kong, although it was something I used to see almost daily when I was in the UK, but it is no doubt a rarity in Hong Kong! It took my third try to locate it at Lut Chau, where after scanning for 30 minutes in the cold I finally caught sight of it with Large-billed Crows and Collared Crows.

Carrion Crow - a twitchable bird for us none the less

Carrion Crows maybe mixed up with juvenile Rooks, the bill of Rooks are thinner and pointier, with less curved on the upper mandible. This particular individual was frequenting in between Lut Chau and Mai Po, often coming out to the fish ponds to feed and roosting on trees in Mai Po.

Carrion Crow

Occasionally some Large-billed Crows may also have less 'stepped' forehead, which may be mistaken for Carrion Crows, but Large-billed Crows have a much thicker bill, and slightly longer as well. I've always thought the shape of the bill of Carrion Crows is similar to that of Collared Crows.

Carrion Crow (below) and Large-billed Crow (above)

Collared Crow

Olive-backed Pipits are now returning and not difficult to find along well vegetated tracks along Tai Sang Wai. Daurian Redstarts continues to be in great numbers this year, some extremely confiding such as this female.

Olive-backed Pipit

Daurian Redstart - female

Whiskered Terns are mainly passage migrants in Hong Kong, but we occasionally get a few wintering in Hong Kong. A long staying Pheasant-tailed Jacana at Tai Sang Wai will occasionally pop its head out for birders to see.

Whiskered Tern

Pheasant-tailed Jacana

The Booted Warbler at Fung Lok Wai continued to show well for any birders looking for it, often confiding and at close range. The fish ponds in the area is probably the best area for reed warblers at the moment, with more Black-browed Reed Warblers I can count, I managed to find one more Manchurian Reed Warbler still lingering, while a few Oriental Reed Warblers were also present.

Booted Warbler

Manchurian Reed Warbler

Oriental Reed Warbler

The shrubs and bushes around the fish ponds also provided plenty of shelter for birds such as Black-faced Buntings, I counted no less than five Siberian Rubythroats in one morning, with one male showing particularly well. At least two Eurasian Wrynecks also been present, although not always easy to photograph.

Black-faced Bunting - male

Black-faced Bunting - female

Siberian Rubythroat - male

Eurasian Wryneck

Other wetland species easily found here includes Eastern Marsh Harriers, which often patrols the area in early morning. Eurasian Coots are not as common as they used to be in Hong Kong, I am glad to find them in good numbers here still at Fung Lok Wai. A single Yellow Bittern was spotted along the reed beds, while Common Kingfishers can be found here with relative ease.

Eastern Marsh Harrier

Eurasian Coot

Yellow Bittern

Common Kingfisher

Over at Mai Po, Black-faced Spoonbills have now returned, we are lucky in Hong Kong that getting close views of this iconic species is a regular occurrence. If you sit around long enough in the bird hide, you often find raptors coming around, such as this Western Osprey. Numerous ducks have returned, I managed to grab a few shots of a pair of Eastern Spot-billed Duck flying across.

Black-faced Spoonbill

Western Osprey

Eastern Spot-billed Duck

Bunting season is right about now, unfortunately Long Valley is now out of bounds due to the construction of the nature park. With the limited access I only managed a pair of Rustic Buntings and a few Little Buntings. I have been seeing Yellow-breasted Buntings here and there, but not quite as easy to photograph outside of Long Valley.

Rustic Bunting - female

Little Bunting