Starlings & Harriers - Deep Bay Day Out

Still no major rarity yet this autumn, the best birds I managed lately was a juvenile Rosy Starling at Tai Sang Wai, Yuen saw an adult male a few days ago, making it the second bird this month. Among the same flock of starlings was a single Daurian Starling, which seems to be in no short supply this year! I am not complaining, as they are quite good looking birds. They were feeding on the Chinaberry trees, which often attracts lots of starlings.

 

Rosy Starling - juvenile

Daurian Starling - nice looking adult

The fish ponds around San Tin and Tai Sang Wai are always worth a look during passage, I was hoping for Blue-tailed Bee-eaters, but was disappointed to find the overhead wires empty. A distant Black-winged Kite was probably the best bird I managed other than the starlings. A few extremely confiding Little Ringed Plovers provided plenty of photo opportunity, while a few returning dabbling ducks was a pleasant sight, I saw both Eurasian Wigeons and Northern Shovelers swimming around the fish ponds.

Black-winged Kite

Little Ringed Plover

Eurasian Wigeon

Mai Po was a little bit quiet, although two Eastern Marsh Harriers gave quite a wonderful show in front of hide 3. Both birds were juvenile, but one showed conspicuous white rump. 

Eastern Marsh Harrier

The other bird with barely any white rump. For some reason, most wintering birds in Hong Kong are of juveniles, adult male or female are rather uncommon. A Pied Harrier been seen lately, but didn't show up while I was there.

Eastern Marsh Harrier

The only other bird of interest on the scrape was a single Ruff that was very far away. Wader numbers now in higher numbers, although mostly just common species, such as numerous Eurasian Curlews, I scanned for Far Eastern Curlew with no luck. I found a flock of Pacific Golden Plovers along the fenced road, now in their modest looking winter plumage.

Ruff - amongst other common waders

Eurasian Curlew

Pacific Golden Plover

A Fairy Pitta was reported at Ho Man Tin on 6th, I managed to go there after work in the afternoon, managed a good look of this incredible species, despite this individual being very shy. It is always a thrill to see this spectacular looking bird, and even more incredible to think that they come through urban areas every year! 

Fairy Pitta

Slow Spring - Rosy Starling & Waders

Spring migration had been pretty slow for me, mainly because my local patch had been exceedingly disappointing in producing anything of interest, a stark difference to last year's run. Work had been keeping me away from much birding for a week or so, therefore, I haven't even been able to connect with some of our more regular migrants. One of the better bird of late is a Rosy Starling moulting into adult plumage, which I suspect was the one present since November, only now prettier than before. It had been showing regularly and terrorizing the White-shouldered Starlings present.

Rosy Starling

White-shouldered Starling

I also saw a few Great Mynas mixed in with Crested Mynas, now a regularly seen species around Deep Bay area, no doubt taken up residence in Hong Kong. The only purely migrating species of interest I saw at San Tin were a few Himalayan Swiftlets.

Crested & Great Myna

 

Himalayan Swiftlet

Despite all the bulldozing happening at Long Valley, it is still a worthy area to visit during migration, over a dozen Red-necked Phalaropes feeding on the shallow ponds made for great photographic opportunities, with a few now moulting into their breeding plumage.

Red-necked Phalarope

One of the less common visitor to Long Valley is the Grey-headed Lapwing, which I was delighted to see around the shallow ponds, these ponds also attracted a small numbers of waders including Long-toed and Red-necked Stints. 

Grey-headed Lapwing

Red-necked Stint

Over at Mai Po, shorebirds migration are now in full swing, with a good number of species present on the scrape during high tide. Here are a good selection of the commoner species which came close to the hide.

Terek Sandpiper

Black-tailed Godwit

Pied Avocet

It was hard to resist taking a few photos of this Little Grebe in full breeding plumage, especially when it swam so close in front of the hide. 

Little Grebe - breeding plumage

Some of the better migrants on the day were a few Great Knots, numerous Red Knots in breeding plumage and good numbers of Asian Dowitcher, a species I enjoy immensely seeing each spring. I also spotted a single Nordmann's Greenshank and a few Far Eastern Curlews on the scrape, but those were too far for any decent photos.

Great Knot

Red Knot - breeding plumage

Asian Dowitcher - breeding plumage

Greater Painted Snipes likely started their breeding season at Mai Po, I heard and saw at least one pair along the pond outside Education Centre.

Greater Painted Snipe - female & male

A short visit to Po Toi yielded a few Bunting species such as Black-faced, Little and a pair of Chestnut Buntings, none of which were photo friendly...The only bird photographable on the day I visited were a pair of Ashy Minivets. There is still a bit of time left for spring migration, hopefully my luck will come...

Ashy Minivet - male

Ancient Murrelet - A Venture to the Deep South

Po Toi Island is not a particularly popular winter birding hotspot, while the island is known to be a good migrant lookout, winter birding there is usually a little slow going. Some birders still likes to visit the island during the cooler months, and last Saturday it certainly paid off when they found an Ancient Murrelet foraging in the bay! This species is a scarce passage migrant and rare winter visitor, I personally have never had any luck finding these seafaring birds. I waited till Tuesday to visit Po Toi, and luckily enough for us the bird was still there!

Ancient Murrelet

Murrelets are pretty interesting birds, as they are incredibly well adapted to dive and swim in the ocean, this individual was actively chasing shoals of small fishes around the bay, often diving for prolonged period. It certainly looks to be in pretty good shape, it was resting quite far out in the bay most of the time, but venturing in close to the shore when feeding.

Ancient Murrelet

The hunting area for the Murrelet

I was very glad that my trip to the most southerly island in Hong Kong was not wasted, and was particularly delighted to find another bird on the island to add to my annual list, a Red-breasted Flycatcher which showed up when I was having lunch! Although a regular migrant and winter visitor, Red-breasted Flycatchers are much rarer than the similar Taiga Flycatchers.

Red-breasted Flycatcher

The pair of Oriental Storks stayed on and continues to show well at tower hide. I was there again one morning, hoping to get some photos in better light, although they were evidently further away than my previous visit, but the colours around their eyes and legs really show up well in the morning sunlight.

Oriental Stork

The towerhide was quite a decent spot to scan for raptors as well, many drifted past the hide including a very scruffy looking Eastern Buzzard. A pair of Greater Spotted Eagles showed well and circled back a few times at decent range, while two Eastern Imperial Eagles flew past at distant.

Eastern Buzzard

Greater Spotted Eagle

Eastern Imperial Eagle

Captain found a Rosy Starling at San Tin a few weeks back, I missed it twice while searching for it in the afternoon, turns out it really was a morning bird, as I finally saw it on my third visit, although it only showed briefly and did not give good photo opportunity, it was still a nice bird to see.

Rosy Starling

At my local patch the Tai Mei Tuk Catchwater, Speckled Piculets have been extremely vocal of late, I heard and saw up to four different individuals along there. The pair of Grey Bushchats have stayed on, they continued to show fairly well in the same area. During one of my early morning walks there I was treated to a low flying White-bellied Sea Eagle, the most majestic looking raptor in Hong Kong in my opinion.

Speckled Piculet

Grey Bushchat - female

White-bellied Sea Eagle

Out along the Ting Kok beach things remained much the same with a few Kentish Plovers and Greater Sand Plovers. A few Collared Crows foraged at close range, allowing some awesome full frame shots of this now vulnerable species. A better bird seen around the area was a single Brown Shrike.

Kentish Plover

Collared Crow

Brown Shrike