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Grey-capped Greenfinch - Chloris sinica
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More unsettled weather around 23rd/24th March brought a few interesting birds into view.
These usually seem to be high and distant, maybe often overlooked by birders looking closer to hand, including me.
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Grey-faced Buzzard - Bustatur indicus
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A spring passage regular…
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Eastern Yellow Wagtail - Motacilla tschutschensis (taivana)
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At Long Valley there were two different Water Rails about, I missed one but got the second !
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Eastern Water Rail - Rallus indicus
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When seagoing passage migrants such as phalarope turn up on inland patches of water, like the ponds at LV, you know it must be rough at sea.
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Red-necked Phalarope - Phalaropus lobatus
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Red-necked Phalarope - Phalaropus lobatus
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Red-necked Phalarope - Phalaropus lobatus
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Red-necked Phalarope - Phalaropus lobatus
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On March 28th the diligence of the fishpond surveyors paid off again with the finding of this unusual wagtail, which may be a Western Yellow Wagtail. Richard Lewthwaite and I arrived at the same time for a twitch of this potential HK first, feeding on a fishpond bund at Lut Chau.
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Western Yellow Wagtail ?- Motacilla flava leucocephala (rear)
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Western Yellow Wagtail ? - Motacilla flava leucocephala
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Wagtail and admirers |
At the boardwalk hides of Mai Po Nature Reserve, on the final day of March, it felt like winter was turning to spring. The wintering gulls were fewer in number and the terns were coming through. Here’s one -
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Gull-billed Tern - Gelochelidon nilotica
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Gull-billed Tern - Gelochelidon nilotica
And the Black-faced Spoonbills were colouring up for their return to their Korean breeding grounds.
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Black-faced Spoonbill - Platalea minor
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The commoner passage migrants had increased in number and were also adopting some breeding plumage…
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Greater Sand Plover - Charadrius leschenaultii
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Curlew Sandpiper - Calidris ferruginea
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There are fewer than ten records per year of Oriental Plover -and, actually, I haven't seen one in such good plumage for several years, - so it was great when this was pointed out to me on the Deep Bay mudflats :
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Oriental Plover - Charadrius veredus
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Oriental Plover - Charadrius veredus
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And April is just getting started…