End of Year Tick - Olive-backed Sunbird

All previous Olive-backed Sunbirds in Hong Kong were one-day birds, therefore its a species thats long eluded me on my Hong Kong list. Therefore I was delighted to learn that an eclipse male been spotted at Hutchison Park at Whompoa, and supposedly quite stable. I gave it a try on the last week of 2021, and luckily was successful in connecting with this local rarity. OBS are not rare elsewhere, race rhizophorae is resident on Hainan, Yunnan, Guangxi and some western parts of Guangdong.

Olive-backed Sunbird - eclipse male

Also present at the park was a very confiding Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher. which almost got as much attention by the photographers present than the sunbird.

Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher

Someone relocated the Steppe Eagle at Lut Chau where it was seemingly unfazed by the crowd it created, with a few dozens birders and photographers down to less than 10 metres away from it! It mainly fed on the dead fishes around the fish ponds. While the Collared Crows were not so pleased with this oversized visitor, the eagle took very little notice of them even when they pecked at its wings or tail. It stayed till the morning of 29th, where birders witnessed it soared higher and higher until out of sight, its not been seen since.

Steppe Eagle - juvenile

Warblers in Tai Po Kau been tough to nail, I saw both Rufous-faced Warbler and White-spectacled Warbler but didn't manage to get even a record shot...Hartert's Leaf Warblers and at least one Kloss's Leaf Warbler were slightly easier, but still not as friendly as they were last year. The only friendly warbler I got were Pallas's Leaf Warblers, which were in no short supply.

Hartert's Leaf Warbler

Kloss's Leaf Warbler

Pallas's Leaf Warbler

Even the common resident species at Tai Po Kau were not that easy lately, as bird waves were quite scattered. I did manage some good photos of our lovely residents, including a male Yellow-cheeked Tit, male Scarlet Minivet and Silver-eared Mesia.

Yellow-cheeked Tit - male

Scarlet Minivet - male

Silver-eared Mesia

Red-flanked Bluetail are often heard at this time of the year, but not always easy to photograph, I managed a record shot of this female. The Rhodoleia are now starting to flower, and that attracts Orange-bellied Leafbirds to visit the sweet nectar, here is a female.

Red-flanked Bluetail - female

Orange-bellied Leafbird - female

Over at Tai Lam, I didn't manage to photograph the Japanese Robin, but I did find plenty of Chestnut-flanked White-eyes along the 'magic valley'. Feeding amongst the Swinhoe's White-eyes. 

Chestnut-flanked White-eye

While Long Valley is out of bounds to birders, the surrounding area still have some birds. Most birders and photographers were there to look for the Grey-headed Greenfinches thats been frequenting the area, although I did not connect with them I found at least two Common Kestrels in the area, plus a few Red-rumped Swallows amongst some Barn Swallows.

Common Kestrel

Barn Swallow & Red-rumped Swallow

Red-rumped Swallow

I've almost lost count to how many times I visited Mai Po lately in hope to bump into the long staying Northern Goshawk, which I miserably failed. There are still plenty to find around the reserve, and not always water birds. Yellow-fronted Canaries are fairly common along the access road nowadays, while Chinese Penduline Tits frequents the reedbeds. The Red-breasted Flycatcher was still present last time I checked. Finally, its almost impossible to not find at least one or two Daurian Redstarts at this time of the year.

Yellow-fronted Canary

Chinese Penduline Tit

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Daurian Redstart - male

Slight Improvement - Late September Urban Migrants

Having stayed mainly in the 'countryside' for most of autumn migration and not having much luck, I finally decided to visit some of our urban birding hotspots. First being the now famous Telford Gardens, its became a bit of a regular birding spot to look for Grasshopper Warblers. I was not disappointed while I was there, on the two days I visited I had at least two Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler, a single Lanceolated Warbler plus a Black-browed Reed Warbler. All of which were extremely elusive and terribly photo shy, maybe another week before they get used to people. Here are two horrible record shots I took, that being said it is still a wonderful experience to see these migrants in action, I was lucky enough to actually see this Lanceolated Warbler coming down from above and landing right into the flowerbed.

Lanceolated Warbler

Black-browed Reed Warbler

I felt luck haven't been on my side lately, turning up very little interesting birds despite some effort. Luckily for me, I struck some luck on my first visit to Ho Man Tin this year with this Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher. It was actively foraging in the dense thickets of what we call the 'Pitta spot', named after the two appearances of Fairy Pittas in the past. The Flycatcher 'performed' fairly well for me while I was there, although it wasn't particularly photogenic, it was still a very nice bird to see. This species is now listed as vulnerable due to ongoing habitat loss throughout its range.

Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher

In the same area were two female Hainan Blue Flycatchers, which seemed to be getting along with the Jungle Flycatcher, these were evidently migrating through and decidedly to stop in this urban oasis. Another species that we regularly see at Ho Man Tin during passage is the Orange-headed Thrush, this one was not particularly photogenic but showed a few times while I was there.

Hainan Blue Flycatcher - female

Orange-headed Thrush - male

There were plenty of Arctic Warblers present, although none were photographable. A vocal Sakhalin Leaf Warbler was however a little more cooperative. This species and the closely related Pale-legged Leaf Warbler are almost unidentifiable in the field, the only way to confidently identify them is by their call, where Sakhalin's pitch is lower than that of Pale-legged Leaf Warblers.

Sakhalin Leaf Warbler

It's not quite the end of autumn migration yet, still plenty of room for improvement!

Deja Vu - Rosy Pipit...Again!

Rosy Pipit - Again!

It was a typical afternoon at Long Valley, November is always a good time to visit as you usually can end up with quite a good range of species, including various Buntings etc. Upon arrival I immediately picked up several Yellow-breasted Buntings feeding in the paddies. I later saw a single female Rustic Bunting as well, although it did not stay still for a photo, while the long staying Black-headed Bunting is still around. One of the more interesting bird I saw was a male House Sparrow, they are still considered a rarity in Hong Kong, this species is likely expanding its range from the west, and they are now regularly recorded during the winter months.

Yellow-breasted Bunting

House Sparrow - male

I met Benjamin who saw a Buff-bellied Pipit in another field, so I decided to head over to take a look, along with fellow birders Mike Leven and Sam Baxter-Bray. As we were approaching the field, I explained to Sam that this was the exact same field I found a Rosy Pipit in 2017. We scanned for pipits in the field and soon picked up a pair, one was clearly a Buff-bellied Pipit, with typical dark coloured mantle that is faintly streaked.

Buff-bellied Pipit

The other bird however caught my attention, it was very well marked with streaked mantle, finer streakings on the breast compared with the Buff-bellied, plus a much more pronounce eyebrow. At that point various possibilities ran through my head, and this bird felt strangely familiar to me, on closer inspection I noticed the olive coloured edges to the primaries and tertiaries, and it clicked. A Rosy Pipit! This was surely a Deja Vu, what were the chances that I found yet another Rosy on the exact same field!? I asked Mike for a confirmation on this, and after a few minutes of observation, we both agreed this should be a Rosy Pipit in non-breeding plumage.

Rosy Pipit - pronounce eyebrow, streaked mantle and olive edges on primaries and tertiaries

We had great views of the bird for the next thirty minutes or so, before it flew off to another field. To my knowledge it was seen again the next morning, but a photo of a cat with a pipit had everyone believing the Rosy may have met its demise...Although some believe it was a Red-throated and not the Rosy, either way, feral cats is a huge problem for migratory birds.

Rosy Pipit

 At one of the overgrown ponds, an Eastern Water Rail had been fairly regularly making an appearance, I had a quick look before dark and saw it strutting along the edge. A Slaty-breasted Rail is also supposed to be present, although I didn't get to see it. A few Greater Painted Snipes were also at the same pond, coming out into the open at dusk.

Eastern Water Rail

Greater Painted Snipe - female

It had became a habit of mine to check in on Telford Gardens every so often in between jobs. While the long staying Middendorff's Gropper is still present, I was lucky enough to see this extremely confiding Lanceolated Warbler on my last visit, it was the most cooperative one I have ever seen, strolling along the flowerbed looking for food. I have always had a soft spot for this species, being quite a dainty bird compared with other grasshopper warblers, I find their streaking to be quite beautiful.

Lanceolated Warbler - so very friendly!