3rd May 2024 - an Ashy Woodswallow "Twitch"

A report by John Allcock - and a well-dropped location "pin" - of HK's fourth Ashy Woodswallow - brightened a dull morning.

Unlike HK's three previous Ashy Woodswallows, this one stayed for a couple of days, to the delight of many, including us.

 Ashy Woodswallow (Artamus fuscus) -     Lam Tsuen Valley, Hong Kong.       3rd May 2024

Some mid-winter birding in Hong Kong

Black Stork - Ciconia nigra

Mid-December - a Black Stork was the birding surprise of our winter so far, using a tree near a busy Sheung Shui junction as an overnight roost. But only for two nights that we know of.

A short walk from home, there was (were ?) a variety of winter visitors, active on the colder mornings.

 

Common Rosefinch - Carpodacus erythrinus

Yellow-browed Warbler - Phylloscopus inornatus

Pallas's Warbler - Phylloscopus proregulus

Dusky Warbler - Phylloscopus fuscatus

Further afield, the woodland of Pat Sin Leng Country Park had some very seasonal offerings, too

Rufous-tailed Robin - Larvivora sibilans

Rufous-faced Warbler - Abroscopus albogularis

Rufous-faced Warbler - Abroscopus albogularis

Grey-chinned Minivet - Pericrocotus solaris

Around the fishponds buffering Mai Po*, some of the "usual suspects"....

Wryneck - Jynx torquilla

Spellcheck wants to correct the latin above to "Jinx tortilla" - something I wouldn't choose from a Mexican Restaurant menu .

Red-rumped Swallow - Cecropsis daurica

Red-throated Pipit - Anthus cervinus

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....

Wood Sandpiper - Tringa glareola

(A shot for anyone who ever wondered what happened to the crusts of white bread that the citizenry here won't eat - the crusts are fed to fish in commercial fish ponds, where this was taken.)

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. 

The WWF Hong Kong “Big Bird Race” - 1988

An annual fund-raising event, started in 1985 with four teams which rapidly expanded to around a dozen. 

“Bucks for Mai Po” was the mantra, and, with many participants from the business world, sums exceeding two million HK dollars were raised annually for Worldwide Fund For Nature’s work at Mai Po Marshes Nature Reserve.

In those days it was a 20-hr event, - 00:01 to 20:00hrs - with the winners declared at the HK Jockey Club Beas River centre later in the evening.  (After 1989 or 1990 they went over to 24hrs, 18:00 to 18:00)

I had an Olympus XA 2 and B&W film.  B&W is sooo “20th Century” don’t you think ?

It was fun, but, By Golly we were all tired by the finish.

 

Outer Island Birding, Hong Kong

View from the Pier, Kat O

With overseas options closed off by the prospect of a 21-day quarantine on return to Hong Kong, like everyone else we’ve been exploring corners of HK we haven’t seen much of before.

To my shame, in 43 years in Hong kong I had never been to Kat O Chau (Crooked Island).  At the end of November, we put that right. There are ferries out there at the weekend from Ma Liu Shui, and By Golly, they’re popular. 

Kat O was a centre of HK’s mid-20th century fishing industry, and the school there (now closed) had 300 pupils at one stage.  Mechanization led to over-fishing and fish stocks collapsed in the mid-1960s.  Like other rural communities there was a wave of emigration and the fields and houses on Kat O fell to disuse and decay.

From the high point of Kat O island, the visitor can look north to Yantian on the mainland, where things have gone the other way - agriculture has been superseded by a Container Port servicing Shenzhen and other places in east Guangdong.

Down in Kat O village, this Plumbeous Water Redstart looked like it had just arrived for the winter.  It was competing with Daurian Redstarts for insects in a broad drain behind a row of partially-ruined houses.

Nothing says “50s” like an asbestos-tiled roof

Plumbeous Water Redstart - (f) - (Phoenicurus fuliginosus)

Three days later, we got a hot tip concerning the location of an Oriental Scops Owl on Lamma Island.

Lamma Island has changed too, but, - unlike remote Kat O - it’s only a short ferry ride from Central so there a traditional lifestyle has been supplanted by an influx of outsiders as residents.

Despite having specific directions we needed the help of the locals to spot this one. I had fully expected a crowd of birders/photographers at the owl site already, but my preconception was entirely wrong in this case.

We hadn’t seen Oriental Scops for a dozen-or-so years, so it was great to see this one.  And Lamma is a great spot for a “Post Twitch” coffee and cake !

Oriental Scops Owl (Otus sunia)

Oriental Scops Owl (Otus sunia)

This species is a rare passage migrant in Hong Kong. It was around for about four days and then moved on.

In a flash, it’s Christmas, so all the best for Christmas and the New Year.