Early Migrants - Amur Paradise Flycatcher

It's been a while since I ventured up Tai Po Kau during day time, weather had been incredibly hot with some days exceeding 35°C! But, recent happenings and political crisis in Hong Kong had dragged on with our government not wanting to listen or actually make a change, sometimes you just have to escape from all the news and have some alone time. Tai Po Kau provided a quiet sanctuary, with not many hikers in the midst of summer, I nearly had the whole nature reserve to myself the whole morning. The best species was no doubt a pair of Amur Paradise Flycatchers in two separate mixed flock, both showed well but not quite well enough for a good photo, I still managed record shots of both though. Amur Paradise Flycatchers are usually one of the earliest autumn migrants returning from their breeding grounds up north, we will likely get more of them coming through in September.

Amur Paradise Flycatcher

Other interesting birds seen includes a single Speckled Piculet, although it was gone by the time I wanted to get a photo. Most of the common forest birds were present, and most showed pretty well. Silver-eared Mesias were in good numbers, as were Blue-winged Minlas. Surprisingly, I only encountered one flock of Huet's Fulvettas.

Silver-eared Mesia

Blue-winged Minla

Huet's Fulvetta

A few Black-throated Laughingthrushes showed well at close range, there were also quite a few Pygmy Wren-Babblers calling by the footpath, but only one showed well enough for me to get a decent photo.

Black-throated Laughingthrush

Pygmy Wren-Babbler

Both Mountain and Chestnut Bulbuls showed well, I am still surprise by how slowly Black Bulbuls had been in colonising Hong Kong, considering breeding populations in Guangdong is fairly close.

Mountain Bulbul

Chestnut Bulbul

A pair of Velvet-fronted Nuthatches on my way down were my last species added to the morning list. With around 29 species recorded, it is not a bad count for a session in summer.

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

Let's also not forget that Tai Po Kau is a wonderful place to visit even without the birds, the forest and cascading stream make the walk very scenic and well worth the effort.

Chinese Thrush - Shing Mun

Chinese Thrush - Turdus mupinensis

Things had definitely slowed down since December started, although interesting birds may still appear around the corner, especially with colder weather we should be expecting some eruptive species from further north.

The Ultramarine Flycatcher at Shek Kong Catchment was still present, although my second visit didn't get me the desired photos I wished, the bird behaved pretty much the same, staying high up near the top of trees or down to places with terrible lighting...My shots were pretty much the same if not even a little worst then my first encounter. It also continued as an early morning bird, having a tendency to disappear after late morning.

Ultramarine Flycatcher

Other birds at Shek Kong Catchment includes a large flock of Indochinese Yuhinas, noisily making their squeaky calls. A few photogenic Silver-eared Mesias are always welcoming, they are simply gorgeous birds to look at. A large bird wave contained plenty of busy Velvet-fronted Nuthatches, all crawling around foraging for food. Although a difficult species to see well in Hong Kong, I seem to have quite good luck with the Grey Treepies, one perched for a good minute for me to take a fairly decent photo. I also heard the Speckled Piculet on the same day, although that one refused to show.

Indochinese Yuhina

Silver-eared Mesia

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

Grey Treepie

On Tuesday I got news of a Chinese Thrush spotted by Sherman at Shing Mun Reservoir. A species that I've missed on previous occasions, I went early Wednesday morning hopefully to get the bird. After a few hours of waiting, the bird finally showed itself first feeding on a Wild Coffee tree, it was later relocated at a gully and showed very well for over a dozen birders. It's feather condition was however not at tip top shape, being quite scruffy overall...so definitely a possibility of it being ex-captive.  Either way I will leave that call to the record committee, but the wild bird trade is still a huge problem in Asia.

Chinese Thrush - rather scruffy looking

There weren't that many other birds to be seen on the same day, I spotted a selengensis Ashy Drongo. Bird waves with mainly Pallas's Leaf Warblers and Japanese White-eyes dominated the pace. A single male Red-flanked Bluetail was spotted around the area where the Chinese Thrush was, although it kept a good distance away.

Ashy Drongo - selengensis

Red-flanked Bluetail - male

I heard two Grey-headed Canary Flycatchers in a bird wave but they never showed well, the two species of Minivets though were more then happy to offer some great eye-level views, a treat as always.

Grey-chinned Minivet - male

Scarlet Minivet - female

Take a Break - Tai Po Kau

April had been a busy month, there wasn't much time for any birding. Birds had been plentiful everywhere, but when you have no time on your hand then it doesn't matter even if a Dodo turns up. A day off finally gave me time to rest (in rest I mean waking up at 6am), and to spend some time alone in the forest of Tai Po Kau. It was quite cloudy and when I got to the car park it was very foggy; not ideal conditions for birdwatching but I pushed on. It wasn't too hot, but the air was extremely humid. On my way up, I heard a familiar call at a fair distant from the access road. The call of a Drongo Cuckoo, ascending in pitch on each of it's seven notes, they are quite rare in Hong Kong so I took this as a good omen.

I reached the AFCD warden's mass shortly, it was so foggy that it was impossible to see anything. I waited at the rain shelter for the mist to clear. It wasn't until around 8:30am that the fog started to lift, then I spotted a small bird pecking at a bamboo. It could only be a Speckled Piculet. They are now regularly seen in Hong Kong and Tai Po Kau is now one of their strong holds, but this doesn't make them any easier to photograph...Some half decent record shots in such terrible lighting was all I managed.

Speckled Piculet

I waited for a little longer for the Piculet to come out again, but it never did again. So, I went up to do a loop around the trails. A Blue Whistling Thrush flicked it's tail around the base of the dam, although I see them often I still think they are one of my favourite bird in Hong Kong (Yes I do have a lot of favourites). Just past the public toilet I heard the song of a Plain Flowerpecker, a scarce species that is seldom recorded nowadays. A burst of playback brought one down from the canopy and gave me some cracking views! This is our smallest bird species in Hong Kong, measuring at mere 8cm, I am not surprise that this species is not recorded more often, their size and behaviour can be easily missed. It had been a long time since I last saw this species in Hong Kong, so a very pleasant record for me personally, no doubt stole the "bird of the day" prize from the Piculet.

Blue Whistling Thrush

Plain Flowerpecker - the humble looking star of the day

The Blue walk was fairly quiet, there wasn't that many interesting birds to be seen. Silver-eared Mesias were very active, many of them weren't in flocks but in pairs, a sign that they have started breeding. Along the way I saw a few White-bellied Epornis, managed to take some better photos today, my previous photographs of this species had all been pretty blurry, so I was glad I got some decent shots finally. A flock of Greater-necklaced Laughingthrush came through, they were strangely quiet. A few Black-throated Laughingthrushes were with them.

Silver-eared Mesia

White-bellied Epornis

Greater-necklaced Laughingthrush

Tai Po Kau in April cannot be completed without seeing the beautiful Hainan Blue Flycatcher, which have returned to breed. I heard at least 5 pairs along the trail. Their melodious songs already echoing through the hills, announcing their presence to everyone. One of them gave particularly good views, this male was not shy at showing off it's song and it's plumage.

Hainan Blue Flycatcher

The rest of the way was pretty quiet, I was a bit disappointed that the Chinese Barbet did not call once. Another pair of Silver-eared Mesias saw me off at the access road, rounding up my visit nicely.

Silver-eared Mesia