Sunday, June 8, 2025

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......





                                    

Monday, May 12, 2025

Long Valley's Rarities - Late Spring Migration and Breeding Birds

This month has been great for birding, with I gaining 4 Hong Kong ticks and lifers! On the 26th of April, me and my team had attended the HKBWS youth bird race. It included two destinations, Lui Kung Tin and Long Valley. Due to the hurried schedule of the race, I was unable to get a lot of shots, though we did end up with a reasonable number of species seen or heard. On our first stop at Lui Kung Tin, and the only birds that I got shots of was a Crested Goshawk soaring far away and a Asian Emerald Dove.


Crested Goshawk


Asian Emerald Dove - record shot 

The competition's next stop was in Long Valley, where the local Black winged Stilts had starting breeding. During that period, I observed a behavior which I had never seen: a group of stilt mobbing and harassing a black kite into the village!


Black Winged Stilt - with chick


Black Winged Stilt chasing Black Kite

Other birds which I had time to get photos of were Plain Prinia, Yellow breasted Bunting, Oriental Pratincole and Common Snipe. 


Plain Prinia


Yellow Breasted Bunting


Oriental Pratincole and Common Snipe

After the birding competition, we headed over to Tsim Tsa Tsui for the prize giving ceremony. We had one hour of free time before we had to go to the venue, so my team decided to take a walk at Kowloon Park. There were all the usuals, such as Black Crowned Night Herons and Alexandrine Parakeets. 


Black Crowned Night Heron


Alexandrine Parakeet

In the end, me and my team won the competition in first place, with a total of 69 points! We even won a binoculars which we gave to our coach, John Chow. 

Other than birding in the competition, I also had been birding alone. Long Valley had been getting a lot of attention of late, with photographers mainly focusing on a Gray Headed Swamphen, though there were still many other birds to see! On an outing with Kuma, some HK ticks which I got were Little Curlew, Oriental Skylark, Pechora Pipit and Gray Headed Swamphen.





Little Curlew - very confiding and lifer



Oriental Skylark




Pechora Pipit


Gray Headed Swamphen

Other birds of note included Yellow Breasted Buntings, Little Bunting, Plain Prinias, Eastern Yellow Wagtails and a Japanese Sparrowhawk.




Yellow Breasted Bunting - male


Yellow Breasted Bunting - female


Little Bunting


Plain Prinia




Eastern Yellow Wagtail


Japanese Sparrowhawk

I paid a visit to Tai Mo Shan to try and find a few Chinese Grassbirds at the start of May; they are the most vocal during this time and basically the only time that we can see it. Once I arrived at the location for the grassbirds, the first birds that I got were a few Brownish flanked Bush Warbler and a Vinous throated Parrotbill!


Brownish flanked Bush Warbler - hiding as usual


Vinous throated Parrotbill

Soon after, rain started to pour down and I was starting to lose hope in seeing the grassbird. Luckily, the rain passed through quickly, and it soon cleared up with it less being misty. We decided to head up a hill which looked like good habitat for the grassbird. Soon after, I heard the low screech of a Grassbird and I made my way towards the bird. Soon after, I got a brief view of it before it flew off into the valley.


Chinese Grassbird - calling

We decided to continue to head up the hill, and after a while I managed to heard two birds calling! Soon after, I got some a brief view of the two grassbirds! Although they soon spotted me and flew out of view. 





Chinese Grassbird - great view!

Though we can still find grassbirds in Hong Kong with relative ease in multiple locations, this species is under threat due to the advance of trees up the highlands. This is caused by global warming, and if not stopped, the short bamboo habitat in Tai Mo Shan could one day be replaced with trees!