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Brown-eared Bulbul - (Microcelis amaurotis)
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On Saturday, 22nd April we got the ferry to Po Toi Island, in the hope of seeing a "Hong Kong second record" Brown-eared Bulbul that had been reported a few days earlier.
It appeared briefly, but briefly was enough. This species winters in east China, and this one has got a bit further south than most of the others.
Around on the hills of Po Toi, were a good few typical Po Toi migrant species....
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| Brambling - (Fringilla montefringilla) |
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| Dollarbird - (Eurystomus orientalis) |
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| Swinhoe's Minivet - (Pericrocotus cantonensis) |
A boat trip to southern HK Waters followed on April 23rd.
Boat Trips can be a bit of a lottery, but it turned out to be a good day.
Brown Booby was a "HK Tick" for us, a complete surprise...
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| Brown Booby - (Sula leucogaster) |
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Aleutian Tern - (Onychoprion aleuticus)
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| Great Crested Tern - (Thalasseus bergii) |
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| Black-tailed Gull - (Larus crassirostris) |
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| Red-necked Phalarope - (Phalaropus lobatus) |
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Red-necked Phalarope - (Phalaropus lobatus)
Sadly, plenty of rubbish in the water. But the phalarope seem attracted to flotsam in the waves. |
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| Short-tailed Shearwaters - (Ardenna tenuirostris) |
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| Short-tailed Shearwaters - (Ardenna tenuirostris) |
On another boat trip on May 10th 2023, we found that the Red-necked Phalarope were in more advanced breeding plumage than the ones we had seen three weeks earlier.
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| Red-necked Phalarope - (Phalaropus lobatus) |
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| Red-necked Phalarope - (Phalaropus lobatus) |
And, today, off to Sai Kung for the second time for another rarity, Japanese Waxwing.....hanging around near some fruiting trees - but not the tree this barbet claimed possession of.
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Great Barbet - (Megalaima virens)
Vagrant or escape ? Only time - or the HK Birdwatching Society Records Committee - will tell ! |
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| Japanese Waxwing - (Bombycilla japonica) |
