Summer Heat and Breeding Birds

I haven't been out birding out of my local patch much this month, with the only exception being the Tap Mun Tern Festival on the 28th of June. We visited Shek Ngau Chau, where we were able to see many of the resident breeding Bridled Terns. 

                                                                     Bridled Terns

Other than that, we also had a few Black Napes and a single Roseate sitting on a rock. 

                                                                Black Naped Terns

                                                                       Roseate Tern

On my trip, I also had a jellyfish species which I suspect is a Acromitus flagellatus, seen on the pier of Ma Liu Shui.

                             

                                                                    Acromitus flagellatus

Birds seen at my local patch of Piper's Hill includes the same family of Nuthatches from last month, Black throated Laughingthrush, White Rumped Shama and Blue Winged Minla.

Velvet Fronted Nuthatch

Black Throated Laughingthrush - hainan race

Black Throated Laughingthrush

White Rumped Shama

Blue Winged Minla

Other than that, I also had a Chinese Hwamei singing right out in the open. 

Chinese Hwamei

In terms of other creatures, I have increased my night walks of late, and I had a few good finds. Some examples of this includes a Chinese Gecko feeding on an entire grasshopper, which should have been 1/3rd of the gecko's size. 

Chinese Gecko - feeding on grasshopper

Other interesting non - bird observations which I found was a species from the Wallacidia oculata, this was the first time seeing it and it immediately caught my eye with it's bright colors. With the typhoon passed and the rains ending, the nuptial flight of different species of termites were found, though the one I found the species I could not identify. 

Wallacidia oculata

Termite sp. - king or queen

A brown tree frog was spotted with its eggs during the night, likely protecting and and tending to the eggs, along with an Asian Mantis seen perching on then railing.

Brown Tree Frog - with eggs

Asian Mantis 

The light vented bulbuls have made their second nesting attempt since their fail last time. I would have loved to say that the birds fledged and are now immature birds, but on the 4th day after the bulbuls hatched they all mysteriously disappeared. I looked around, but found not evidence of struggle except the half-broken nest. The photo shown here is the last before the all disappeared.... 

Light Vented Bulbul Chicks - last day before disappearance

On a higher note, another nest of Light Vented Bulbuls which grew up near the same time at my friend's place fledged successfully! Below are the photos of the entire process of the bulbuls growing up. 

Eggs - 17th of June

Chicks - 23rd of June

Chicks - 24th of June

Fully Feathered - 27th of June 

Fledged - 28th of June

Keeping on the topic of fledging birds, I found two fledged Red Whiskered Bulbuls with their parents tending to them. I have suspected them of nesting for quite some time, but I never found their nest. Anyways, it was great to see that the parents succeeded this breeding season.

Red Whiskered Bulbul - fledging being fed

However, not all fledging birds are so luck, and I found a dead juvenile tree sparrow. I do not know what got it, a cat, or just the heavy rain the previous night? 

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Pale Blue Flycatcher, Breeding Birds and Other Wildlife

May has been pretty average in terms of birding, though there was one rarity, it was generally quiet. The rarity which had appeared in May is the Pale Blue Flycatcher, and I had paid a to see it one morning. I was located at the helipad on Maclehose Trail Sec.9, and throughout the time when I was there it was very vocal and showed well.

                   

Pale Blue Flycatcher - singing and showing well

Other bird which I had seen in the same area included hainan blue flycatchers, lesser cuckoos, and even a square tailed drongo cuckoo was heard, but only silver eared mesia and juvenile blue whistling thrush showed briefly.

Silver Eared Mesia

Blue Whistling Thrush - juvenile 

I also visited Cheung Chau briefly whilst waiting for my family to finish some work. The ferry ride was pretty uneventful, but in the harbour there were quite a few terns. The species included Black naped Terns, Roseate Terns, Whiskered Terns, a Common and Little Tern.

Roseate Tern, Whiskered Tern and Common Tern (far right)

 

Whiskered Tern, Black Naped Tern and Little Tern (under whiskered tern on metal semicircle)

Whiskered Tern - in flight

Other birds along in the waterfront which I got photos of included Black Kites and Black Crowned Night Herons.

Black Kite 

Black Crowned Night Herons - inflight 

On a trip to Tai Po Kau, we started out hike with a pair of duetting Brown Wood Owls near the entrance, but they obviously stayed out of view. Some of our common forest species can be best seen in Tai Po Kau, and on the day I visited it was no exception, with some of the birds seen including Yellow Cheeked Tit, Little Egret, Hainan Blue Flycatcher and Fork Tailed Sunbird. 

Yellow Cheeked Tit

Little Egret

Hainan Blue Flycatcher

Fork Tailed Sunbird

Another owl which I had seen along the footpath was an Asian Barred Owlet. I had first seen some birds mobbing something on a tree on the opposite side of the gully, and when I spotted a dove sized bird perched on a branch, I lifted my binoculars and two bright yellow eyes staring back at me!

Asian Barred Owlet - being mobbed by mountain bulbul

It soon flew closer and perched just right above the road and at a way closer distance! On my way out I also had a flyby of Great Barbet with food, and it seems that it is nesting on the far side of the hill. 

Asian Barred Owlet - staring right back.....

Great Barbet

On a brief stop to Hong Kong Park, birds seen there included Yellow Crested Cockatoo and other common birds, but I did find a young tailorbird being fed by it's parents!

Yellow Crested Cockatoo

Common Tailorbird - adult

Common Tailorbird - young

Other than that, I haven't been out birding much and mainly just observed common birds around my local patch. We are now well into the breeding season, and since my last blog post there was a pair of light vented bulbuls building nest on my housing estate!

Light Vented Bulbul - building nest 

Soon after, they laid eggs and their chicks hatched, and everything seemed to be going great with the chicks growing strong and healthy! But, as with all natural beings, there are dangers too. On the third day after the chicks hatched, all of then chicks were missing from the nest, my suspicion is that maybe red billed blue magpies or snakes, both of which are in the area. 

Light Vented Bulbul - chicks before disappearance

On the other hand, the local pair of Barn Swallows which nests at Caldecott Road each year has returned again which three chick successfully fledged! I had a great photo session with them, as the chicks just stood on a wire and the parents hunted around the clock, bring food every 3 minutes!

Barn Swallow - chicks being fed

With all the work, the parents had to rest, so on some occasions the parents would also perch on the wire to take a break. The juveniles hung in the area for around one week while still being fed by their parents before leaving, with only the parents remaining. 

Barn Swallow - resting after feeding chicks

Swinhoe's White Eyes have been found breeding on my estate once again, not gathering nesting material to restore an old red whiskered bulbul nest. The have started to add spiderwebs to the nest, and from my view the nest is pretty out in the open. 

Swinhoe's White Eye - reusing old bulbul nest

On a few trips to Piper's Hill Road, I picked up some new birds for my patch during this month, which was Black Throated Laughingthrush, White Rumped Shama, a family of Velvet fronted Nuthatch, Blue Winged Minla and Chinese Hwamei. I also heard and briefly seen a brownish- flanked bush warbler, which was new for my patch but failed to get a photo. I also had a juvenile Asian Tit.

Black Throated Laughingthrush

White Rumped Shama

Velvet fronted Nuthatch

Blue Winged Minla - very skulky

Chinese Hwamei

Asian Tit - juvenile

Other than bird, some other animals in my local patch include moths, frogs and geckos. Some of the frog species which were seen included brown tree frog, asian painted frogs and greenhouse frog, all from my housing estate! Not bad for a small patch in my estate!

Brown Tree Frog

 
Asian Painted Frog

Greenhouse Frog

Geckos which were seen included Oriental Leaf Toed Gecko, Indo-pacific Gecko, Gray's Chinese Gecko and Common Four Clawed Gecko.

Oriental Leaf Toed Gecko

Indo-pacific Gecko

Gray's Chinese Gecko

 Common Four Clawed Gecko - missing leg

In terms of insects and moths, there has been quite a few but nothing worthy of note. With the weather getting hotter, I might increase my night outings.....