Being in a subtropics, July is the one of the hottest months of the year in Hong Kong. This is also the time of the year when birds are least exciting, with only our summer breeders and residents remaining during this time. I had joined a outing in search of terns during mid-july, and I felt that it was generally pretty successful during the trip. We started at Ma Liu Shui, and one of the first terns seen after setting off were a few black naped terns perched on railing.
Black Naped Tern
Then boat ride towards the breeding tern colony Shek Ngau Chau after that was pretty uneventful, except for a immature Greater Crested Tern perched on some plastic.
Once we reached Shek Ngau Chau, we immediately saw large numbers of the breeding Bridled Terns which all flushed up in waves.
Bridled Terns
I also got some photos of some terns flying about, and even a few ones with tags and a few chicks!
Bridled Tern - with the tag XV?
Bridled Tern - inflight
Bridled Tern - chick
After a while, we left the islet and headed out to the open Mirs Bay to looks for some other species of terns. We passed a few flocks of terns including black naped and roseates, but nothing special.
Roseate Terns
We decided to do one more loop before heading back to Ma Liu Shui, and I noticed a large raptor flying in the distance. A quick scan revealed the bird to be an Osprey! After the Osprey, we noticed a group of 5 Greater Crested Terns, and they chased our boat for awhile!
Osprey
Greater Crested Tern
Greater Crested Tern - immature
Greater Crested Tern - adult
Just before we arrived at Ma Liu Shui, we also got a few Bridled Terns chasing our boat.
Bridled Tern
I visited Lion's Nature Education Centre right before typhoon Wipha, the strongest typhoon which hit Hong Kong this year so far. I didn't see much birds, perhaps due to the heat, but I did have a pair of breeding White rumped Shamas and some White Rumped Munias.
White Rumped Shama - male
White Rumped Munias
Over at Sai Kung Harbour, I saw a pair of Peregrine Falcons in the distance, while to local White bellied Sea Eagle soared far out in the mountains and our Black Kites fished on the fish guts thrown out by the fishermen.
Peregrine Falcon
Black Kite
Over at my patch, things have been pretty good, with still some breeding and fledging going on. Near the start of the month, the pair of white eyes which had been building a nest for the past month's chicks finally fledged, and over the next few days I enjoyed them being quite low to
the ground with some good photo opportunities.
the ground with some good photo opportunities.
Swinhoe's White Eye - fledgings with parent
Swinhoe's White Eye - lost balance!
Swinhoe's White Eye - feeding and stretching
Other than that, I have also gotten a new patch bird in the form of a Speckled Piculet, which was following a feeding flock of other common forest species. I also gotten some better photos of the hainan race of Black Throated Laughingthrush.
Speckled Piculet
Black Throated Laughingthrush - hainan race
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