A morning at Mai Po (Sept 10th, 2015)

It's already a fortnight since I took these shots at Mai Po Nature Reserve, but my excuse is that I was distracted by a Fairy Pitta (see previous post) in between then and now.

In the fig trees behind the Tower Hide...

Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike - Coracina melascistos

Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike - Coracina melascistos

Asian Paradise Flycatcher - Terpsiphone paradisi

Asian Paradise Flycatcher - Terpsiphone paradisi

Skulking on the ground beneath -

Pale-flegged/Sakhalin Leaf Warbler  - Phylloscopus tenellipes/borealoides

In front of the Tower Hide, a vocal and conspicuous resident...

Pied Kingfisher - Ceryle rudis

...and a shyer passage migrant, doing what this species always seems to do - dive for cover !

Purple Heron - Ardea purpurea

Here, a bird that Clements calls "Nutmeg Mannikin" in his checklist -

Scaly-breasted Munia - Lonchura punctulata

At the boardwalk, the "Barwits" are heading south.  The race here is menzbieri - restricted to the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF) it is now considered endangered, with populations of this form falling rapidly.

Bar-tailed Godwit - Limosa lapponica

Bar-tailed Godwit - Limosa lapponica

Finally, a passage migrant duck - Garganey.   I always get "Garganey" and "Gadwall" mixed up - so now I think of the name written along the bird's eyebrow - "Gar-GA-ney"....

Garganey - Anas querquedula

Garganey - Anas querquedula

Garganey - Anas querquedula

Well, it works for me.