Monday, March 9, 2026

Late Winter Visitors Lingering On


 A Little Heron has been seen in a river near Tai Po Kau, I dropped by a couple of times and got pretty good views, however it was a bit skittish. 

有人在大埔滘附近的一条河里看到了小鹭,我去了几次,看得挺清楚,不过它有点胆小。

Little Heron(绿鹭)

In the same area, there was also a very confiding group of Red-Billed Blue Magpies and a few Stonechats and Manchurian Bush Warblers, however I only managed photos of the first two. 

在同一区域,还有一群非常不怕人的红嘴蓝鹊,以及几只黑喉石䳭和遠東樹鶯,但我只拍到了前两种鸟的照片。


Red-Billed Blue Magpie(红嘴蓝鹊)


Amur Stonechat(黑喉石䳭)
 

Despite trying 5+ times for the White Spectacled Warbler at Tai Po Kau, I still haven't seen it, with two times being really close to seeing it, missing it by half an hour and 10 minutes! There were other birds around, including Hume's Warbler and Speckled Piculets.

我在大埔滘尝试了五次以上寻找白眶鶲鶯,但仍然没有看到它,其中两次都非常接近,只差半小时e和十分钟就看到了!周围还有其他鸟类,包括淡眉柳莺和斑姬啄木鸟。


Hume's Warbler(淡眉柳莺)


Speckled Piculet(斑姬啄木鸟) 

There were plenty of other birds around, including Grey Headed Canary Flycatchers, Grey Backed Thrush, Huet's Fulvettas and a few Cuckooshrikes. 

还有很多林鸟,例如方尾鶲,灰背鶇,黑眉雀鹛和暗灰鵑鵙。


Grey Headed Canary Flycatcher(方尾鶲)


Grey Backed Thrush(灰背鶇)


Huet's Fulvetta(黑眉雀鹛)


Black Winged Cuckooshrike(暗灰鵑鵙)

A Crested Serpent Eagle perched up nicely as I left.

走的时候看到了一只蛇雕。


Crested Serpent Eagle(蛇雕)

I visited Lantau Peak in mid- February for the long-staying Altai Accentor, and on the day I went, I was lucky enough to good views of it. Lucky I did, as a few days after it disappeared.

也去了鳳凰山看只高原岩鹨,他一进楼了在这里一个月,还没走。我去的时候还看到。

 




Altai Accentor(高原岩鹨)

There were other birds on the summit, including a Eurasian Kestrel along with a Eastern Buzzard. 

还有其他鸟在山顶,有红隼和普通鵟。


Eurasian Kestrel(红隼)


Eastern Buzzard(普通鵟)

The rosefinches in Wu Kau Tang were back for the Lunar New Year, with some birders counting flocks up to a few dozen birds. I only counted half a dozen, with the flocks being scattered and not as large as last years. I did get a good view of the male this time, it allowed pretty good views. 

烏蛟騰的朱雀在新年又回来了,一些观鸟者数到了几十只的鸟群。我只数到了六只左右,鸟群比较分散。不过这次我倒是看清了雄鸟,视野相当不错。

 



Common Rosefinch - male and female (朱雀)

At the village, the local pandoo Blue Rock Thrush showed nicely, giving eye level views for as long as I wanted. 

在村子里,当地的蓝矶鸫漂亮地出现了,让我可以长时间地平视观察它们。


Blue Rock Thrush(蓝矶鸫)

There were a few bird waves around the valley, I managed to pick out a singing Sulphur-Breasted Warbler within it. A male Verditer Flycatcher was also nice to see. 

在谷里面看到了几个鸟浪,看见了一只黑眉柳鶯在唱歌和铜蓝鹟。


Sulphur Breasted Warbler(黑眉柳鶯)


Verditer Flycatcher(铜蓝鹟)

An interesting Zitting Cisticola was seen in the small field area outside the village, this was the first time I've seen it in this hotspot. A few Little Buntings perched up on the top of trees.

在村外的小田野里,我看到了一只有趣的棕扇尾鶯,这是我第一次在这里看到。几只小鹀栖息在树顶上。


Zitting Cisticola(棕扇尾鶯)


Little Bunting(小鹀)

There was an influx of Streaked Shearwaters and other seabirds seen on the ferry to Po Toi near the beginning of March with the bad foggy weather. There were hundreds counted, however I only saw around 60 at most at once. 

三月初,由于大雾天气,前往蒲台岛的渡轮上出现了大量白額鸌和其他海鸟。据统计,数量多达数百只,但我最多一次只看到了大约60只。



Streaked Shearwater(白額鸌)

I encountered a singing male Blue Rock Thrush, this is the first time I have seen this behavior and surely a sign of spring.

有一只蓝矶鸫已尽在唱歌,是我第一次听到的。


Blue Rock Thrush(蓝矶鸫)

A Pacific Reef Heron also gave good views. 

还看到了一只岩鷺飞过。


Pacific Reed Heron(岩鷺)

Over at Ping Yeung, the Golden Headed Cisticolas were still around in there usual field, however they were extremely elusive and it took me awhile to get good perching views of it. 

在坪洋,金頭扇尾鶯依然在它们常去的田野里,但是它们很难看。


Golden Headed Cisticola(金頭扇尾鶯)

There were other birds in the area, including Richard's Pipit, Sooty Headed Bulbul, Little and Black Faced Bunting and a beautiful Amur Stonechat.

该地区还有其他鸟类,包括理氏鹨、白喉紅臀鵯、小鹀、灰头鹀和石䳭。


Richard's Pipit(理氏鹨)


Sooty Headed Bulbul(白喉紅臀鵯)


Little Bunting(小鹀)


Black Faced Bunting(灰头鹀)

I dropped by Nam Chung briefly to check for the Black Capped Kingfishers and Great Crested Grebes which I had seen last year, however when I went the tide wasn't right and the water level was high. I did not manage to see the kingfisher, however I did find a flock of 6 Great Crested Grebes far out. 

我去了南涌,想看看去年看到的蓝翠鸟和凤头䴙䴘有没有出现。然而,我去的时候潮水不对,水位很高。我没能看到翠鸟,不过倒是在远处发现了一群六只凤头䴙䴘。


Great Crested Grebe(凤头䴙䴘)

I refound the Chestnut Crowned Warbler which I had last seen in late December, however it did not show well and only gave brief views. 

我再次找到了栗頭鶲鶯,上次见到它是在十二月,出现了短暂的几次。

Chestnut Crowned Warbler(栗頭鶲鶯)

Other than the warbler, I caught up with some of the other warblers in the area, including Sulphur Breasted Warbler, Eastern Crowned Warbler, Two Barred Warbler and Hartert's Leaf Warbler, which I couldn't get a photo of. 

除了那只鶲鶯之外,我还遇到了该地区的其他一些莺,包括黑眉柳鶯、冕柳鶯、双斑柳莺和华南冠纹柳莺,可惜我没能拍到哈氏叶莺的照片。


Sulphur Breasted Warbler(黑眉柳鶯)


Eastern Crowned Warbler(冕柳鶯)


Two Barred Warbler(双斑柳莺)

There were other winter visitors, including a few Verditer Flycatchers, Chestnut Flanked White Eyes, hopwoodi Ashy Drongo and Grey Headed Canary Flycatchers.

还有铜蓝鹟,紅脇繡眼鳥,灰卷尾亞種和方尾鶲。


Verditer Flycatcher(铜蓝鹟)


Chestnut Flanked White Eye(紅脇繡眼)


Hopwoodi Ashy Drongo(灰卷尾亞種)


Grey Headed Canary Flycatcher(方尾鶲)

Wednesday, February 4, 2026

2025 Wrap up and New Year Rarities

The elusive Hen Harrier has been reported by others for months in the Mai Po and San Tin area , however despite me trying for it multiple times, I still hadn't seen it! There was no way to chase the harrier as it flew in random places in search of food, the best chance of seeing it was waiting in either hides for a long time or just getting lucky! On my 7th try near the end of 2025, I finally got lucky as I was on my way out. I was searching for the previously reported Thick Billed Warbler, when I oticed a harrier with an extremely pale belly circling over me!, and I quickly got my bins on it. As I thought, it was the long-awaited Hen Harrier. I only had it in view for around 40 seconds, then it flew off at speed into the distance. 

几个月来,其他人都报告在米埔和新田一带发现白尾鹞,但我尽管多次尝试,却始终未能见到它的身影!由于它四处觅食,最好的办法要么是在隐蔽处长时间守候,要么就是碰碰运气!2025年底,我第七次尝试寻找它,终于在离开时幸运地看到了。当时我正在寻找之前有人报告的厚嘴苇莺,突然发现一只腹部颜色极浅的鹞在我头顶盘旋!我只观察了它大约40秒,它便迅速飞向远方。


Hen Harrier(白尾鹞)

Other than the Harrier, there was a great diversity of raptors in Mai Po. For example, from just the Osprey Hide I actually found an Osprey sitting on a tree right outside of it!

除了鹞之外,米埔还有种类繁多的猛禽。例如,我仅仅在鱼鹰观察站外就发现了一只栖息在树上的鱼鹰!


Osprey(鱼鹰)

There were other raptors, including Imperial Eagle and Eastern Marsh Harriers. There were others, but they were all too far or fast for photos.

还有其他猛禽,包括白肩鵰和白腹鷂。还有其他的,但是她们太远或速度太快,无法拍照。


Imperial Eagle(白肩鵰)


Eastern Marsh Harrier(白腹鷂)

The 4 Ferruginous Ducks were continuing at Tam Kon Chau Road, and in the new year a Baer's Pochard joined them! However, I didn't have the time to see the Baer's and I only have some older photos of the Ferruginous Ducks before they all flew off. 

有四只白眼潜鸭在担竿洲路,新年的时候有一只青頭潛鴨加入了他们。我没有时间去看青頭潛鴨,我只有一些白眼潜鸭在全部飞走之前的旧照片。


Ferruginous Ducks(白眼潜鸭)

There were other common wintering ducks too, including Northern Pintails, which showed nicely. 

还有其他常见的越冬鸭,包括针尾鸭,它们看起来很漂亮。



Northern Pintail(针尾鸭)

When news of an Ancient Murrelet circled around WhatsApp groups of someone posting it Xiaohungshu, I was immediately interested, as this was another bird which I hadn't see before. When it got reported the next day, I decided I would go the following day. When I went, the Murrelet swam in really close and provided great views! I was extremely lucky on that I went that day, as on the next the bird had disappeared and was never seen again!

有人在小红书放了一段视频问一只鸟是什么,原来是一只扁嘴海雀!我没见过,所以我想有时间去。我去的时候,海雀游得很近码头!我很幸运的,因为我看完之后第二天不见了!



Ancient Murrelet(扁嘴海雀)

I visited Pak Sha O for the first time, mainly for the long-staying Bull-headed Shrike and Hill Blue Flycatcher. This site is a bit hard to get to, as it is in a restricted area so in order to visit we can either take the minibus or taxi. After a while of waiting at the supposed spot of the Hill Blue Flycatcher, it flew out and gave amazing views for a few minutes. 

我第一次去白沙澳,主要是为了看山蓝仙鹟和牛頭伯勞。在山蓝仙鹟的出没地点等了一会儿后,它终于飞了出来,让我欣赏了几分钟。



Hill Blue Flycatcher(山蓝仙鹟)

After getting the flycatcher, I decided to walk around the main trail at Pak Sha O towards Lai Chi Chong. I didn't see many birds, mainly due to the fact that the trees were extremely dense and hard to find birds. There were some, including White Bellied Erpornises, Speckled Piculet, Pallas' Leaf Warbler and Mountain Bulbul.

拍到鹟后,我决定沿着白沙澳的主路往荔枝莊方向走。因为树木非常茂密,很难找到鸟,所以没看到多少鸟。不过还是看到了一些,比如白腹凤鹛,斑姬啄木鸟和绿翅短脚鹎。


White Bellied Erpornis(白腹凤鹛)


Speckled Piculet(斑姬啄木鸟)


Mountain Bulbul(绿翅短脚鹎)

I also heard a Fujian Niltava, saw a Orange Bellied Leafbird and encountered a huge feeding flock of 15 Japanese Thrushes feeding on berries by the bridge. A White Rumped Shama also hopped out from the undergrowth for a look before I headed out. 

我还听到了棕腹大仙鶲的叫声,看到了橙腹葉鵯,并在桥边遇到了一大群正在吃浆果的烏灰鶇。在我离开之前,一只白腰鹊鸲也从灌木丛中跳出来看了看。


Japanese Thrush(烏灰鶇)


White Rumped Shama(白腰鹊鸲)

I had looked for the Bull-Headed Shrike for some time now, and I decided to leave afterwards when the bird was clearly hiding and now out in the open. As I was walking out of the farmland area, I noticed a shrike sized bird fly out of the trees by the footpath, and it turned out to be the Bull Headed Shrike! I took a few photographs before it flew off to the opposite side of the field.

我找牛头伯劳已经有一段时间了,后来它出现在开阔地带,于是我决定离开。当我走出农田时,我注意到一只体型和伯劳差不多大小的鸟从路边的树丛中飞出来,结果发现它正是牛头伯劳!我赶紧拍了几张照片,然后它就飞到了田地的另一边。


Bull Headed Shrike(牛頭伯勞)

A few Eastern Cattle Egret also flew in to feed in the large field. 

有几只牛背鷺飞到田里面。


Eastern Cattle Egret(牛背鷺)

I have beed visiting Tai Po Kau multiple times for the White-spectacled Warbler recently, however I missed it multiple times, and once one by only 10 minutes! However, I did see other birds, including an extremely showy Pygmy Cupwing.

最近我多次前往大埔滘寻找白眶鶲鶯,但都没见。不过,我确实看到了其他鸟类,包括一只非常艳丽的小鳞胸鹪鹛。


Pygmy Cupwing(小鳞胸鹪鹛)

The flowering trees at Tai Po Kau Park has now started to bloom, attracting many birds and bird waves. One of the first birds I saw when I got there was an Ashy Drongo, perched with a Great Barbet. 

大埔滘公园的开花树木已经开始开花,吸引了许多鸟类前来觅食。我到达公园后最先看到的鸟儿之一是灰卷尾,它正和一只大拟啄木鸟一起。


Ashy Drongo and Great Barbet(灰卷尾和大拟啄木鸟)

I soon found a few Hair Crested Drongos feeding on the nectars of the flowers, and they provided great eye level views. 

我很快发现几只发冠卷尾正在吸食花蜜,它们提供了很好的视线高度。


Hair Crested Drongo

As I left, I also managed a Black Winged Cuckooshrike perching on the same tree as the drongos and barbets. 

离开时,我还看到一只暗灰鵑鵙在高树上。


Black Winged Cuckooshrike(暗灰鵑鵙)

A Forest Wagtail had been reported at Tai Tong at the start of Janurary, and as I haven't seen this bird before, I decided to go try go get this. Within ten minutes of my arrival, I almost stepped on the bird as it was crossing the path! We enjoyed amazing views of the bird for over half an hour, before it flew off when hikers passed.

有一只山鶺鴒在大堂一个月了,因为我没见过我就试一下去看一看。我到达不到十分钟,就差点踩到那只正在过马路的鸟!



Forest Wagtail(山鶺鴒)

There had been a female Fujian Niltava at Kings Park for over a month, however I didn't have the time to go until mid-Janurary, and even then I waited for a long time to see it. After a few hour's wait, the niltava finally flew out near dusk, and it showed nicely as it hopped out to the final branch which had light. 

一只棕腹大仙鶲已经在京士柏待了一个多月了,但我直到一月中旬才有时间去看它,而且我也等了很久才看到它。等了几个小时后,棕腹大仙鶲终于在黄昏时分飞了出来,它跳到最后一根有光的树枝上!



Fujian Niltava(棕腹大仙鶲)

Another birder had found the hopwoodi Ashy Drongo in my patch, in the nearby Butterfly Valley. I paid a visit to it, however it always stayed high up in the trees and flew off with the other Ashy Drongos after a while. 

其他人发现了一只‘Hopwoodi’的灰卷尾,这个就是黑一点的灰卷尾。我去了一次,但是它很远,很快就飞走了。


Hopwoodi Ashy Drongo 1(Hopwoodi 灰卷尾 #1)

I also found another hopwoodi Ashy Drongo in the Kam Shan area, which brung the total to two hopwoodi drongos wintering in Kam Shan. This was an exceptional count, as we usually get one or none each winter. This one showed better, as it was closer and eye level. 

 我还发现了第二只‘Hopwoodi’ 灰卷尾在不同的地方,我觉得有两只Hopwoodi 灰卷尾在金山郊野公园!这次的数量非常罕见,因为我们通常每年冬天只能看到一只或一只。


Hopwoodi Ashy Drongo 2(Hopwoodi 灰卷尾 #2)