Tai Po Kau - Woodpeckers and More

Bay Woodpecker - star bird of the day

I received a very sudden request for a guided tour for a birder from the US around Hong Kong last Saturday. The most obvious place to start the day off and as an introduction to the forest birds of Hong Kong was at Tai Po Kau. I always explain to visitors that this is our prime forest site, but historically this forest is still very new while we are only starting to get a few more forest dependant species back in the last few decades or so. One of those species that we always aim for but by no means a guarantee species is no doubt the Bay Woodpecker, where we will most often hear but not see, even when we do see them it will likely be a fly by view at most. We were in for a treat that day, more of that later.

We started our morning at Tai Po Kau Park, always good to get some key species here early on. First bird seen was a leucogenis Ashy Drongo perched on the tree top. A small bird wave with Silver-eared Mesias, Scarlet Minivets, Grey-chinned Minivets, Black-winged Cuckooshrikes and Yellow-cheeked Tits were good appetisers. The best bird found there was a single Dollarbird that perched on a tree in the distant, first for me this autumn.

Ashy Drongo - leucogenis

Black-winged Cuckooshrike - male

Yellow-cheeked Tit - male

Dollarbird

We headed up towards the reserve once it got brighter. A Crested Serpent Eagle perched by the roadside was more then welcoming, it allowed us to get pretty close and seemed quite at ease by ours and other hikers presence. Not every day do we get to observe this magnificent raptor for as long as we wanted.

Crested Serpent Eagle

A bit of "Action"...

There weren't that many birds once we got to the trails, though we still managed some commoner species such as Fork-tailed Sunbirds, Mountain Tailorbirds, Streak-breasted Scimitar Babblers, Chestnut Bulbuls and a Pygmy Wren Babbler which showed only very briefly. We got to Picnic Area 2 and I investigated some movements at the far end, yielding a small bird wave with mainly common species, although there were a pair of White-bellied Epornis which showed extremely well.

Mountain Tailorbird

White-bellied Epornis

Suddenly, I heard the call of the Bay Woodpecker. THAT would be a nice bird to see, I said to myself. I quickly played a burst of playback and waited and received a minute of silence. Just as I thought it wouldn't really come to us, a pair of large reddish brown woodpeckers flew over our heads and landed on a nearby tree! The pair circled around us a few more times, gave me the best look of this species in Hong Kong as I ever had! Despite their numbers increasing in recent years, they are still not an easy bird to see and remains to be a scarce resident. I have not seen them in Hong Kong for a long while, and it's nice to get a reminder that this great looking Woodpecker is now part of our native avifauna. Awesome!

Bay Woodpecker - male

Bay Woodpecker - female without the red nape patch

Finally, while on the way back down we got a great looking male Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker feeding on a low tree, again showing as well as any flowerpecker could! A great little bird to end the morning at Tai Po Kau. Sometimes even seeing a common bird well can be a high note.

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker - male

Rescue Day

Occasionally while birdwatching, us birdwatchers have to take up the role for a bit of rescue work...Strangely enough an afternoon at Long Valley had me trying to help two birds, there weren't anything interesting enough to distract me that day.

First bird was an Oriental Turtle Dove that for some reason couldn't fly. I saw that it had some mud on it's wings and tails and presumed it had been stuck in the mud. I caught it and washed off the mud that stuck it's primaries together. It also had some feathers missing from it's head, not sure how that happened. I checked it's wings and it didn't have any open wounds, so for whatever reason that grounded the bird, I hope it was OK after I let it go...although it is most likely going to be an easy prey for the cats. So, in a way this was not much of a "rescue".

Oriental Turtle Dove

Washing off the mud on it's primaries

My dad spotted a Black Drongo stuck in a muddy pond, it couldn't move it's wings and could only move it's head up and down while it struggled. This is most likely a result of it being overly confident while chasing insects and ended up stuck in the thick mud. It wasn't a pretty sight and when us birdwatchers see something like this it's always hard to just stand there and watch. I went over to a farmer lady nearby and asked whether I can borrow a pair of wellies, but she didn't have any that would fit me, though she was kind enough to walk over to the pond and help rescue the bird from the thick mud!

Black Drongo - more like a muddy duck

The nice lady to the left handed me the Drongo

It was covered in mud, and drenched. In fear that it might get hypothermia we quickly wrapped the bird in a handkerchief and rushed back to the public toilet at Ho Sheung Heung to hopefully dry it off. The hand driers proved to be very effective, although we got some weird looks from other gentlemen visiting the men's room...The bird was pretty feisty and kept trying to bite me as I was getting the mud off it's chest and throat, a good sign.

Good old hand driers!

Once it's feathers were dried enough we brought it back outside and as I was letting go of the grip to see if it could stand on it's own, it took off! It managed to fly up to the closest tree on it's own, which was a relief. It was still looking very scruffy and I couldn't get all the mud off it's head, but at least it would live. Hopefully, a lesson learnt for the Drongo.

Not the best looking Black Drongo, but alive!

An Untickable Bird

Black-backed Swamphen - one untickable bird...

News of a Black-backed Swamphen at Long Valley travelled fast, this being a species I have yet to see in Hong Kong naturally caught my interest. I have missed the last two birds so I thought this was a good chance for me to catchup with one in Hong Kong. I walked into Long Valley under the midday heat, sun blazing down on me. I got to the supposed location and a few familiar faces were already there, all of whom seems rather relaxed and told me that the Swamphen did not fear people...hmmm...strange behaviour for a Swamphen.

I soon saw the bird feeding on the seeds of some grass right on the concrete footpath. It was strangely tamed and looking quite scruffy to be honest. Overall not in it's best shape. Later when it got into better view I realise it's primaries had been cut off...never a good sign! This was clearly an ex-captive individual.

Black-backed Swamphen - feeding on grass seeds

Soon, one of the land owner nearby came along and somehow wanted people out despite the fact that we were not standing on his land. An argument broke out between another man and the land owner and I certainly felt that something dodgy was going on. I was already on my way out when I look back to see that the land owner have the Swamphen in his hands! Apparently (as the story goes), a farmer in Long Valley picked up the bird in Long Valley and locked it up, only to be seen by someone (whom we do not know) and the person paid the farmer to release the bird, by then the bird's primaries had already been cut. But why did that particular land owner picked up the bird and stated he will let it go later...I have no idea, but certainly smells fishy. Either way, it's not a happy story, and it's certainly not the Long Valley I used to know. I am not going to include the photo of the bird in the farmer's hand...I will leave some room for you to imagine how it went down.

I walked around Long Valley briefly, not seeing much except some common birds. An immature Common Kingfisher made an appearance. Siberian Stonechats now increasing in numbers. Black-winged Stilts happily feeding along different ponds as usual. While a single Besra brought slight excitement.

Common Kingfisher

Siberian Stonechat

Black-winged Stilt

Besra

Certainly wish there is something tickable around the corner...