Busy Times

While this year's autumn migration seems to be very birdy, there is simply nothing I could do to prevent the piles of work that was coming my way. I simply didn't have much time for birds, which is annoying somewhat given that there seems to be good birds everywhere! With Greylag and Greater White-fronted Geese at Mai Po and a lot more other goodies dotted around...those were simply out of question for me for now, hopefully normal birding will resume later this month...

I did manage to snuck out a few times before the end of October, one of those rarities I simply could not resist was a Green-backed Flycatcher at Ho Man Tin, which stayed a few days, I just managed to see it before it disappeared the next day. It was one of the tamest individuals we've seen in Hong Kong. This was yet another 1st year male, with very yellow underparts, which makes identification a bit more straight forward. 

Green-backed Flycatcher - 1st year male

The other place I snuck out before work late last month was Mount Davis, I was mainly there for the Chestnut Buntings that were supposedly showing well, I counted no less than 16 individuals, plus at least two dozens of other unidentified buntings! I never seen so many buntings in one place outside of Long Valley. The Chestnut Buntings showed relatively well, although not as 'fearless' as other people have seen them, likely because they already been there a few days and already very well fed at that point and not as hungry as before. Other buntings present were Chestnut-eared Buntings, several Little Buntings and numerous Black-faced Buntings.

Chestnut Bunting - male & female

Little Bunting

The service reservoir playground also hosted a few other birds, including one of the first Daurian Redstarts for me this autumn, a few Asian Brown Flycatchers, a very distant Dark-sided Flycatcher which I didn't bother with a photo and a Taiga Flycatcher.

Daurian Redstart - female

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Taiga Flycatcher

On the same day I visited the nearby Kennedy Town Service Reservoir, which not a lot of birders visited before I wouldn't think. Other than the much expected Yellow-crested Cockatoo that is resident in the area, I was greeted by two buntings at the playground, a Little and a yet another Chestnut-eared Bunting, just shows the potential these areas can hold for migrants.

Yellow-crested Cockatoo

Little & Chestnut-eared Bunting

Night time ventures yielded no Oriental Scops Owls unfortunately, only two Collared Scops Owl which showed well but didn't stay long enough for a good photo, not that I am very bothered having photographed them many times, its still nice to see them at night. A fairly confiding Eurasian Woodcock was a welcoming sight, of which I managed a decent photo.

Eurasian Woodcock

Hopefully I can resume normal birding by the end of this month, and hoping some of the birds will stay on.

Mega Rarity - Lapland Longspur!

The Lapland Longspur's presence on the Hong Kong list is a peculiar story. A few years back, a local television station was on site reporting a fire at Nam Sang Wai, the camera man saw a small bird feeding on the burnt ground and started filming, little did he realized he was the filming an incredibly rare vagrant! Birders saw the footage and a few went looking for the bird, unfortunately the bird was never relocated. We all know this species is capable of reaching Hong Kong, it was just a matter of when. 

Luckily for us, research group trapped one at Long Valley and the bird was later relocated in nearby fields. When I arrived, a few of my friends just saw the bird flew off, we searched frantically around the fields, to my relief the bird came back and we were soon enjoying brilliant views of this bird at close range!

Lapland Longspur - 2nd ever record in Hong Kong!

Its been a while since I last got a lifer! Making this one of the best bird of 2021 for me. Lapland Longspur is a very rare vagrant to this part of the world, as most winter very far north, with very few reaching this far south, Hong Kong is likely as far south as they have been reported. The bird showed off all its cool features while it was in view, including the extra long hind claw and the way they walk like a lark.

Lapland Longspur - very friendly, showing off all its features

Late October had been quite a good time for birds, with plenty of birds moving through, although I have been too busy to bird elsewhere, birding around my local patch seemed a good way to fit some birding in my busy schedule. Other than the Grey-backed Shrike I found earlier, some other good birds were found along Tai Mei Tuk Catchment, including a single Swinhoe's Minivet in amongst a flock of Scarlet, Grey-chinned and single Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike.

How many species can you find here?

Swinhoe's Minivet

A Dark-sided Flycatcher was also found along the catchment, a fairly regular autumn migrant in Hong Kong, they are always fun to watch. Asian Brown Flycatchers are far more common and I regularly find them around where I live.

Dark-sided Flycatcher

Asian Brown Flycatcher

I have been enjoying productive raptor watching sessions on my rooftop, with likes of Peregrine Falcons, Ospreys, Crested Honey Buzzard, Japanese Sparrowhawk, numerous Eurasian Hobby and finally a healthy count of Amur Falcons. Autumn is always a good time to look for these long distance migrants, and this year we have been getting incredible counts of these graceful raptors.

Peregrine Falcon

Western Osprey

Crested Honey Buzzard

Eurasian Hobby

Amur Falcon

Now is also a good time for Eurasian Woodcocks, got lucky one night and found this particularly confiding individual feeding by the side of the road, this is by far the closest I've ever been to one, instead of just flushing them out during the day.

Eurasian Woodcock

The best bird around my local patch this week got to be a Manchurian Reed Warbler found along the Ting Kok East Coast, I usually find Oriental Reed Warblers here therefore it was nice to have something different for a change! This is a rare autumn migrant which I don't see every year. Along there I also had Yellow-breasted Bunting and Little Buntings, although most just flew past without stopping.

Manchurian Reed Warbler - quality local patch tick!

Tai Lam Revisited

The area of Tai Lam Country Park had received much attention since the Brown Wood Owl sightings, I returned again to try for other birds with fairly good results. I had at least three Eurasian Woodcocks along the trail in the morning, one of which stayed still long enough for a record shot. I see them often every winter but never seem to be able to grab a photo, this is actually my first photo ever!

Eurasian Woodcock - record shot

Speckled Piculets are now heard fairly regularly in more mature forests in Hong Kong, but due to their small size they can be tricky to track down in a bird wave. I was fortunate enough to get this bird coming low down for some photos. They are brilliant little birds and a very good addition to our Hong Kong forest!

Speckled Piculet - a wonderful encounter

The Sulphur-breasted Warbler was still present, along with Eastern Crowned Warbler, Goodson's Leaf Warblers, numerous Yellow-browed and a few Pallas's Leaf Warblers. Getting good photos of the Sulphur-breasted Warbler is extremely tricky, I had a few respectable record shots...

Sulphur-breasted Warbler

A single White-bellied Epornis made an appearance. We used to call them White-bellied Yuhina, but it was an obvious mistake, as their solitary behaviour itself is very un-yuhina like. They are now rightfully placed in the family Vireonidae, alongside with the Shrike-babblers they make up the interesting group of old world Vireos.

White-bellied Epornis

There were at least two Japanese Paradise Flycatchers in the bird wave, one an adult female with a complete tail, the other I am guessing a juvenile, with a very short tail that is still growing out. This species is currently in decline, likely due to habitat loss in it's wintering range, including the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Sumatra.

Japanese Paradise Flycatcher

A very shy female Black-naped Monarch also made an appearance briefly, they often fan their tail out like Fantails. There were also no short supply of Grey-chinned Minivets, many were feeding low down and provided excellent views.

Black-naped Monarch - female

Grey-chinned Minivet - male

My dad haven't seen the Brown Wood Owls, so I went back with him in early morning. We got there just before dawn, and managed to see the owl before it roosted. It is truly a magnificent bird and I hope their population will continue to grow in Hong Kong. The subspecies ticehursti in Hong Kong might soon become part of Mountain Wood Owl, a proposed split with Brown Wood Owl leptogrammica described in Borneo, they differs in vocalisation, size and preferred habitat.

Brown Wood Owl - as majestic as always

Birds elsewhere, I was leading a HKBWS group at Wetland Park, it was a fairly productive outing with numerous Black-faced Spoonbills, Red-necked Phalarope, Pied Kingfisher, Red Collared Dove and numerous ducks and waders...There was also an interesting looking Snipe which caught my eye. It was much larger than the Common Snipe feeding next to it and looked fairly big-headed. It was also quite pale of the face, which had Latham's crossed my mind...although after careful look when I got home it is revealed that it's tail is too short and bill probably not long enough for Latham's. In the end it is most likely to be a Swinhoe's Snipe due to it's much larger size, although field identification remains inconclusive. It is certainly a good thing to look out for any Latham's Snipes heading the wrong way during migration though.

"Swinhoe's" Snipe - most likely