September - Still HOT!

I swear if anyone tells me global warming doesn't exist I will be most tempted to throw them off a cliff. Mid-autumn festival just passed by, and we just had our hottest one ever since record began. You would expect the temperature to be dropping slightly now that it is officially autumn, but unfortunately it is still very hot during the day, with temperature exceeding 34°C on some days! That being said, more autumn migrants are coming through, even some winter visitors are now returning. Amur Stonechat is one of those winter visitors that always arrives quite early, Green Sandpipers as well are now returning. Red Collared Dove is also a migrant or winter visitor in Hong Kong, some are now returning to the fish ponds, this lovely looking male seen at San Tin.

Amur Stonechat - female

Green Sandpiper

Red Collared Dove - male

I haven't been out birding much myself other than when I am working, but there are signs of migrants around, such as various Arctic Warblers out and about, and a very pretty male Black-naped Oriole which only decided to show up briefly. 

Arctic Warbler

Black-naped Oriole - male

Whiskered Terns are now arriving in their hundreds at the fish ponds, although they are a common species I always enjoy seeing these marsh terns around. Here are some shots of them in the rain.

Whiskered Tern

Tai Po Kau's been slightly disappointing on my last visit, with no visible migrants around, I am sure there were some there I just didn't chance upon them. I did however got very lucky with an extremely bold male Bay Woodpecker, which stayed there for 10 minutes in full view! I have never experienced that in Hong Kong, and likely not going to have another like this for a long while. A single Speckled Piculet showed briefly, but never came close. Also present was a Lesser Shortwing which showed well, by the looks of it I am guessing its a female without the white eyebrows.

Bay Woodpecker - male

Speckled Piculet

Lesser Shortwing - female

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker and Fork-tailed Sunbirds are both tiny but colourful birds, at this time of the year they are not always easy to photograph, as there aren't many flowering trees, or fruiting mistletoes (at least not low down), luckily got two chances to photograph both species with guests, first a Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker that came down low, and a Fork-tailed Sunbird taking a bath on a small hole filled with water on a tree branch.

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker - male

Fork-tailed Sunbird - male

I have mentioned many times that the Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babbler is my favourite babbler species in Hong Kong, I just think they have so much character. While a common species, they are never easy to photograph well, so when opportunity arrises, I rarely say no.

Streak-breasted Scimiter-Babbler

I have been out herping a few times this month, there were plenty of instances I did not take any photographs (a Checkered Keelback, Mountain Water Snake, Anderson's Stream Snake...), here are a few that I did. The ever so fabulous looking Marbled Pygmy Frog, the Fujian Large-headed Frog, a Bamboo Pit-Viper posing nicely, and the ever so impressive looking Reeve's Tokay Gecko, with the door of an abandoned house.

Marbled Pygmy Frog

Fujian Large-headed Frog

Bamboo Pit Viper

Reeve's Tokay Gecko

And a few good butterflies, the Rounded Palm-redeye, locally more commonly known as the 'Banana Skipper', which is a banana specialist as their caterpillars feeds on banana leaves. The Fluffy Tit, with far more frequent records in recent years, I would not really consider it as a hugely rare butterfly anymore. And, the Malayan, another formerly very rare species, is now recorded regularly in recent years, but this was still a first sighting for me.

Rounded Palm-redeye

Fluffy Tit

Malayan

Hopefully, we will get some cooler weather next week...

Quiet July - Local birds and a few Herps

With temperature soaring up to 38°C on one day last week, it really is not the best time to be out doors. However, I had a request for a half day bird tour during what was likely the hottest day of this summer. Despite the heat, I thought it was actually quite an enjoyable outing, with a few good resident species seen, plus a couple of nice summer visitors. Tai Po Kau is probably at its quietest during this month, as Chinese Barbets and Hainan Blue Flycatchers are now not singing anymore, making them tricky to find. Common birds like Silver-eared Mesia, Huet's Fulvettas and Black-throated Laughingthrush can still be seen and heard with relative ease.

Silver-eared Mesia

Huet's Fulvetta

Black-throated Laughingthrush

Mountain Bulbuls used to be a relatively rare bird in Hong Kong good many years ago, and Black Bulbuls used to just be an eruptive winter visitor to Hong Kong. Both of them now breeds in Hong Kong, with Mountain Bulbuls now very widespread and relatively common throughout. Breeding Black Bulbuls are still not a common sight, so seeing a few juveniles at Tai Po Kau was nice.

Mountain Bulbul

Black Bulbul - juvenile

Velvet-fronted Nuthatches are always a nice bird to see, we saw no less than 6 birds in a flock, a few of them I suspected as younger birds, although they already have red bills, but they were evidently following the 'parents' begging for food.

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

Plain Flowerpeckers are now not very vocal, although I did manage to find a juvenile feeding. Pygmy Cupwings are never easy no matter the month, I was pleased to find this one singing by the footpath. While I only had a brief glimpse of a Bay Woodpecker, Speckled Piculets were more cooperative in general.

Plain Flowerpecker

Pygmy Cupwing

Speckled Piculet

Along the forest footpath a Branded Orange Awlet was seen, this is a rare butterfly species in Hong Kong. Whereas an Idionyx victor was found perched by the stream, a nice forest stream species that is uncommon in Hong Kong.

Branded Orange Awlet

Idionyx victor

Over at San Tin, several waders were seen on the drained pond, including a few Wood Sandpipers, a Green Sandpiper and Common Sandpipers, just to prove that even in mid-summer there are still a few birds around. Immature Barn Swallows were everywhere, a few perched nicely on the wire for photo. There were a lot of Yellow Bitterns flying around, but the best bird goes to a single female Cinnamon Bittern that flew into the reeds next to the road, I tried several times to flush it out but it simply did not budge! It wasn't until the third time of trying did it finally flew out for a nice inflight view.

Wood Sandpiper

Barn Swallow

Yellow Bittern

Cinnamon Bittern

Led a few different night tours lately, with good sightings of Reeve's Tokay Geckos at its usual spot. A nice looking Taiwan Kukri Snake and a Rufous Burrowing Snake was found on two separate evenings, both provided great opportunities to educate children and public about these fascinating creatures. Although I didn't get any chance to photograph these two beauties properly as I had to move on with the tour group, so only a few record shots were taken.

Reeve's Tokay Gecko

Taiwan Kukri Snake

Rufous Burrowing Snake

Closer to home, I did get a chance to photograph a lovely White-spotted Slug Snake, a very common species of snake in Hong Kong that is also one of the most docile.

White-spotted Slug Snake

Otherwise, nothing hugely exciting, except our locally common Garnot's Gecko, Brown Tree Frogs and Asiatic Painted Frogs.

Garnot's Gecko

Brown Tree Frog

Asiatic Painted Frog