Double Rarities - Chinese Grey Shrike & Water Pipit

After a really busy week, I was finally able to catchup on a few rarities that had appeared last week. Including a very handsome Chinese Grey Shrike at Tam Kon Chau Road, if accepted this will be the 1st record for Hong Kong. This species had been recorded in the past, however all of them had been treated as escaped caged birds. This individual was in very good condition and overall behaved very naturally, keeping a good distance away from people.

Chinese Grey Shrike - possibly 1st record for Hong Kong

The main diagnostic feature of Chinese Grey Shrike with Great Grey is more white on the wing and having no white rump. Both features can be seen when the bird is in flight.

Chinese Grey Shrike - showing large white wing patch in flight

A female Ferruginous Duck was also present in a fish pond nearby, it stayed with a female Tufted Duck. I caught only a glimpse of the male Ferruginous Duck last month, so it was nice to be able to get good views of this one early morning. While at the drained pond next to Tam Kon Chau Road I spotted a few Temmink's Stints.

Ferruginous Duck (right) with Tufted Duck (left)

Temmink's Stint

Rice fields at Long Valley have ripened, attracting dozens of Buntings. The most numerous were Yellow-breasted Buntings, which in one day I counted over 15 individuals! A brilliant count for this critically endangered species.

Yellow-breasted Bunting - male

Yellow-breasted Bunting - female

Another bunting species we used to get as a rarity and now regularly visiting Long Valley is the Black-headed Bunting, it's large size usually give it away in amongst the smaller Yellow-breasted Buntings. I managed to photograph it while it rested on the banana trees nearby.

Black-headed Bunting

Other buntings includes the common Black-faced Bunting, which prefers low scrubs to the paddy fields. There were plenty of Little Buntings feeding around the fields. I also found a single Chestnut-eared Bunting which showed briefly.

Black-faced Bunting

Little Bunting

Chestnut-eared Bunting

Common Snipe numbers had increased steadily, here is one preening, showing off the diagnostic tail. A fly-over Grey-headed Lapwing is a good record for Long Valley. Dusky Warblers are now everywhere, it's impossible not to hear one calling nearby. There are also more ocularis White Wagtails around at this time of the year. Other than the eye-stripe, I also find them to be slightly larger than our local leucopsis White Wagtails.

Common Snipe

Grey-headed Lapwing

Dusky Warbler

White Wagtail - ocularis

I received news of a Water Pipit at Long Valley on Sunday morning (the weird angle of the photos on the whatsapp group nearly had me thinking it was a Richard's Pipit, oops!). I didn't have time on Sunday so I waited till Monday and visited with Hoiling, the bird showed exceedingly well at the same location, in the field there was little question of it's identity, a long-billed, quite small, faintly marked breast and faint eye-brows were all good features, dark legs is also a good feature to look for when identifying Water Pipit. The call was also very different from all the other pipit we usually get in Hong Kong, a very sharp and short flight call that even resembles that of a Bunting!

Water Pipit - second rarity within one week!

Other than the Water Pipit, there were plenty of other pipits in the area for comparison. The most similar looking pipit was the Buff-bellied Pipit, it was overall slightly darker with more heavily marked breast and darker malar stripe. I couldn't manage a better photo before it flew off.

Buff-bellied Pipit

Red-throated Pipits were everywhere, a few retained some red on the throat. While the largest of the pipits are Richard's Pipit, a very long-legged species that usually prefers drier fields.

Red-throated Pipit

Richard's Pipit

Birding elsewhere, having now moved to Tai Po area, it opens up a good selection of sites near home for exploring. We visited Robin's Nest at night in hope to see Oriental Scops Owl, unfortunately the owl was not found, but we did have a single Eurasian Woodcock on the road. While Brides Pool area is likely to get better in the upcoming winter months, I only managed a few birds late in the afternoon, but a beautiful male Fire-breasted Flowerpecker at close range can brighten up any birders day no matter how many years you have been birding!

Eurasian Woodcock

Fire-breasted Flowerpecker - brilliant looking male

Identifying Pipits

Decided to go somewhere a bit different this morning and headed to Ng Tung Chai, a valley near Lam Tsuen. The area was quite popular a few years back, but have since been a bit quieter and gotten less attention. However, this place have turned up many rarities in the past and certainly worth the steep hike up. Habitat is typical of Hong Kong's woodlands, but the steep valley makes it something different to Tai Po Kau.

Picked up Long Long at 6am and started the walk at 7am, walk up was pleasant but birds were not particularly cooperative, mostly hid behind dense foliage, most identification were made with sounds.

Overlooking the valley

Steep walk up

We encountered a few bird waves including the usual Silver-eared Mesia, Chestnut Bulbul, Rufous-capped Babbler, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Japanese White-eye and Scarlet Minivet. Two large flocks of Striated Yuhinas made things interesting, allowing good prolonged views. A beautiful Emerald Dove popped in for a visit, but never stay long enough for a photograph, as of most case with this species.

Rufous-capped Babbler

Chestnut Bulbul

Yellow-cheeked Tit

Japanese White-eye

Striated Yuhina

We reached the waterfalls around 9:30am and enjoyed a cup of tea with the view. Bird nest ferns are very common here, not that I have noticed them being too common else where in Hong Kong, I guess the humidity from the waterfall makes the environment perfect for them.

Lower falls

Middle falls

Bird Nest Ferns

On the way down we encountered a bird wave, I noticed a bird pecking away at a branch, I look through my bins and noticed the spots on it's belly and a short tail. A Speckled Piculet! It was however gone after 5 seconds and we could not locate it again. This species have been recorded here in the past and I am glad we can still find them here.

A short trip past Shek Kong generated nothing except numerous common species, Pallas's Warbler being one of them.

Pallas's Leaf Warbler

After lunch we visited Tam Kon Chau, the fishponds outside Mai Po. There, we found a flock of Pipits feeding along some burnt pond banks. Most of them were Red-throated, I scanned the group for Buff-bellied Pipits and sure enough found a few within the flock. They were all a little skittish but we managed a few shots before they all flew off.

Red-throated Pipit

Buff-bellied Pipit

It's a lot easier to identify them when you can see them side by side. You notice the mantle of the Buff-bellied Pipit have much less markings and the head is a lot paler, lacking that rufous tint. In the field, look for more dull-coloured individuals within Red-throated Pipits. Also present was a Ocularis White Wagtail.

Ocularis White Wagtail