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
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 - female
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!
