Spring ! Some waders at Mai Po - 5th,6th and 7th April 2019

Here they are then - mostly waders….

Nordmann’s Greenshank - Tringa guttifer

Nordmann’s Greenshank - Tringa guttifer

Nordmann’s Greenshank - Tringa guttifer

Saunders’ Gull - Chroicocephalus saundersi

Curlew Sandpiper - Calidris ferruginea

Gull-billed Tern - Gelochelidon nilotica

Black-tailed Godwit - Limosa limosa

Far Eastern Curlew - Numenius madagascariensis

Eurasian Curlew - N. arquata + Far Eastern Curlew - N. madagascariensis

Black-tailed Godwit - Limosa limosa

Black-tailed Godwit - Limosa limosa

Black-tailed Godwit - Limosa limosa

Black-faced Spoonbill - Platalea minor

Gull-billed Tern - Gelochelidon nilotica

Oriental Plover - Charadrius veredus

and mostly at Mai Po’s boardwalk hides....

Po Toi Fever, - a Wood Warbler "Twitch" on 4th April 2019

Wood Warbler (Phyloscopus sibilatrix)

On the ferry from Po Toi back to Aberdeen on 2nd April, one photographer showed another some shots of an odd phylloscopus warbler he had seen that afternoon.

It did look unusual….

Mobile phone photos of the finder’s camera review screen were quickly circulated and almost instantly the verdict was in:

Wood Warbler (Phyloscopus sibilatrix) - a “First” for Hong Kong !

Ten of the keenest of HK’s twitchers chartered a boat to Po Toi on Wednesday, 3rd April (there’s no regular ferry on Wednesdays) and re-found the bird.

I was a bit slower and went to Po Toi on Thursday’s public ferry. There were about twenty birders and photographers on board. 

We were directed to the very tree favoured by the Wood Warbler over the previous couple of days by Peter WONG, who had seen it the previous day. After an anxious hour or so, the bird re-appeared.

Wood Warbler (Phyloscopus sibilatrix)

Wood Warbler (Phyloscopus sibilatrix)

Wood Warblers breed in western Europe and winter in Africa - there are very few east asian records.

Some other passage migrants* gave decent views as well.

Five-bar Swordtail - Pathysa antiphates

Ferruginous Flycatcher - Muscicapa ferruginea

Ashy Minivet - Pericrocrotus divaricatus

Ashy Minivet - Pericrocrotus divaricatus

Ashy Minivet - Pericrocrotus divaricatus

* Caution - One of these is not a bird

Happy “twitchers” return to the Po Toi public ferry pier.

Last week of March 2019 - unsettled weather and some migrants at last

Grey-capped Greenfinch - Chloris sinica

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.

Grey-faced Buzzard - Bustatur indicus

A spring passage regular…

Eastern Yellow Wagtail - Motacilla tschutschensis (taivana)

At Long Valley there were two different Water Rails about, I missed one but got the second !

Eastern Water Rail - Rallus indicus

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. 

Red-necked Phalarope - Phalaropus lobatus

Red-necked Phalarope - Phalaropus lobatus

Red-necked Phalarope - Phalaropus lobatus

Red-necked Phalarope - Phalaropus lobatus

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.

Western Yellow Wagtail ?- Motacilla flava leucocephala (rear)

Western Yellow Wagtail ? - Motacilla flava leucocephala

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 -

Gull-billed Tern - Gelochelidon nilotica

Gull-billed Tern - Gelochelidon nilotica

And the Black-faced Spoonbills were colouring up for their return to their Korean breeding grounds.

Black-faced Spoonbill - Platalea minor

The commoner passage migrants had increased in number and were also adopting some breeding plumage…

Greater Sand Plover - Charadrius leschenaultii

Curlew Sandpiper - Calidris ferruginea

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 :

Oriental Plover - Charadrius veredus

Oriental Plover - Charadrius veredus

And April is just getting started… 

Silver-backed Needletail (Hirundapus cochinchinensis)

Unsettled weather made unusual birds possible today, 24th March 2019.

Silver-backed Needletail (Hirundapus cochinchinensis)

A “scarce spring passage migrant” in Hong Kong, so it was a pleasant surprise two find two hunting around the big trees beside the Police Post opposite the car park at Mai Po Nature Reserve.

Silver-backed Needletail (Hirundapus cochinchinensis)

Silver-backed Needletail (Hirundapus cochinchinensis)

Silver-backed Needletail (Hirundapus cochinchinensis)

Silver-backed Needletail (Hirundapus cochinchinensis)

Silver-backed Needletail (Hirundapus cochinchinensis)

The light was pretty awful, but if conditions had been clearer, then maybe they wouldn’t have been so low and visible.

Thanks to Jamie Partridge for spotting them first !

Distinguished Visitors

Glossy Ibis - Pelegadis falcinellus

There was a flurry of activity yesterday afternoon on various “Whats App” birding groups - two Glossy Ibis had been briefly seen and photographed on the scrape (Ponds 16/17) Mai Po Nature Reserve. 

There are only two previous Hong Kong records - single birds (also at Mai Po) in May 1994 and April 1978.

Immature Glossy Ibis are described as “wanderers” in the bird books, and these two seemed to have wandered on.

However, this afternoon - 21st March 2019 - the very same person who had seen them at Mai Po, found them again, this time in Long Valley, where they lingered through the afternoon and were the subject of many mobile phone messages.

Glossy Ibis - Pelegadis falcinellus

Long Valley is ten minutes from where I live, but first I had to collect Jemi, who was returning from downtown on the 978 bus. I scrambled into the car with bins and camera, and arrived at Choi Po Court just in time to pick her up.  Someone had kindly “dropped a pin” on the phone message group thread and the birds and attendant admirers were easy to find.

Long Valley's vegetable fields seemed to suit the rare visitors well, and they were actively foraging around the bases of the vegetation.

Glossy Ibis - Pelegadis falcinellus

Both individuals are in non-breeding plumage, having light-streaked heads and necks, and actually, as can be seen here, look very similar.

Glossy Ibis - Pelegadis falcinellus

Glossy Ibis - Pelegadis falcinellus

Here's hoping they hand around a bit longer than the previous ones, which were one or two-day "wonders".

Today’s warm sunshine also served as a reminder that the main spring migration is coming....

Postscript (Sunday, 31st March)

These birds disappeared from Long Valley after Friday 22nd March, so weekend-only "twitchers" felt they had missed out.

However, there followed rumours of Glossy Ibis out at Nam Sang Wai from Wednesday 27th March.  It was true.

The Ibis pair have been present in the NSW area for the past four days, so previously frustrated twitchers have enjoyed a second chance to add Glossy Ibis to their HK lists.

Glossy Ibis - Pelegadis falcinellus

Glossy Ibis - Pelegadis falcinellus

Glossy Ibis - Pelegadis falcinellus

These photos were taken at sunset on 28th March