3 Feb 2023
Oriental Storks at Mai Po
14 Jan 2023
Some mid-winter birding in Hong Kong
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Common Rosefinch - Carpodacus erythrinus |
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Yellow-browed Warbler - Phylloscopus inornatus |
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Pallas's Warbler - Phylloscopus proregulus |
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Dusky Warbler - Phylloscopus fuscatus Further afield, the woodland of Pat Sin Leng Country Park had some very seasonal offerings, too |
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Rufous-tailed Robin - Larvivora sibilans |
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Rufous-faced Warbler - Abroscopus albogularis |
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Rufous-faced Warbler - Abroscopus albogularis |
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Grey-chinned Minivet - Pericrocotus solaris |
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Wryneck - Jynx torquilla Spellcheck wants to correct the latin above to "Jinx tortilla" - something I wouldn't choose from a Mexican Restaurant menu . |
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Red-rumped Swallow - Cecropsis daurica |
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Red-throated Pipit - Anthus cervinus |
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Red-billed Starlings - Spodiopsar sericeus Final bird photo - and a future candidate for one of those "birds in their environment" categories in a photography contest, perhaps.... |
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Wood Sandpiper - Tringa glareola |
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Over Tsim Bei Tsui, sunset on the "Year of the Rat" |
*Strictly, a "Wetland Buffer Area" around the Mai Po/Deep Bay Ramsar Site - long may it continue.
28 Dec 2022
We three "Kings" at the Mai Po Boardwalk - Christmas 2022
11 Nov 2022
Early winter visitors - Nov 9th
A typhoon passing Hong Kong in early November is evidence of the reality of Climate Change.
But, after several wet and grey days, the sun shone on November 9th and the birds performed over the fishponds of the northwest New Territories.
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Yellow Wagtail - “macronyx" |
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White Wagtail - “leucopsis" |
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White Wagtail - “leucopsis" |
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Common Snipe |
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Red Turtle Doves |
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Eurasian Wryneck |
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Amur Stonechat |
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White Wagtail - “ocularis" |
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Eastern Buzzard |
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Imperial (l) and Greater Spotted Eagles |
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Imperial (upper) and Greater Spotted Eagles |
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Greater Spotted Eagle |
What better place to be than the fishponds bordering Mai Po Nature Reserve ?
27 Oct 2022
Geese at the Mai Po boardwalk hides, 25th October
Another clear and cool morning at Mai Po Nature Reserve.
I saw the tide come in at the outermost boardwalk hide, and the “usual suspects” were present, but nothing unusual. The flags on this Common Redshank were a sign that the Hong Kong bird ringers had been busy.
Round at the oldest hide I met KK Hui and another photographer. We hadn’t been sitting there very long when three large, pale geese flew in and landed about 100 metres out.
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Greylag Geese - Anser anser |
Greylags - a seventh or eighth record for HK. They obligingly took off and circled, then landed again and drifted closer.
While viewing the Greylags we had a brief flyby of three Greater White-fronted Geese. By the time I’d identified them on the back of the camera they were long gone.
It was our good fortune that, when the Greylags left after about an hour-and-a-half, the Whitefronts reappeared briefly.
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Greater White-fronted Geese - Anser albifrons |
Fewer than ten HK records for this species. Geese are rare in the tropics, even in the winter.
Later still, we saw all six geese heading towards Tin Shui Wai, where they were duly reported over HK Wetland Park.