Pacific Swift

And in the late afternoon, a few Pacific Swifts were among the House Swifts and Swallows over the ponds near Mai Po Nature Reserve..






Apus pacificus

There is some debate in birding circles here about how the Pacific Swifts in HK might be either the south China race "kanoi", or the nominate race, "pacificus" .

If "kanoi" are confusable with House Swifts - well, these were MUCH bigger and should be the nominate "pacificus".

Oriental Pratincole 普通燕鴴

Due to the high winds yesterday, the insects must have been concentrated low over one corner of a particular fishpond on Mai Po Access Road.

There was a veritable cloud of Barn Swallows and about half-a-dozen of these...



Oriental Pratincole

Sabah Trip highlights

We visited Danum Valley, Kinabatangan River (with Robert Chong), Sepilok, Mt. Kinabalu and the Rafflesia Centre in the Crocker Range.

Most useful Trip Report on the interweb-thingy was the 2007 account by Wendy Newnham, which is still very useful. Thanks again for that, Wendy ! We shall write-up a brief Trip Report i.d.c.



Crested Fireback, Danum Valley


Diard's Trogon, Danum Valley



Black-and-Crimson Pitta, Danum Valley


Oriental Bay Owl, Kinabatangan River


Bornean Bristlehead, Rainforest Discovery Centre, Sepilok

We saw a good variety of mammals, too.

More later.

Off to Sabah, East Malaysia

We'll be away until 17th March, so no posting will be likely until after that date !

Flagging Interest - Saunders' Gull

There have been several "decent" tides at Mai Po over the last few days, and the Saunders' Gulls have been showing well. Up to sixty have been foraging on the mudflats in front of the boardwalk hides.

This was the first we've seen with a leg flag. A response to these photos posted on the HKBWS website indicates that it was flagged in Yancheng National Nature Reserve, Jiangsu Province. Yancheng is a breeding site for this species, which winters here in Hong Kong.





Flagged Saunders' Gull at Mai Po Nature Reserve, Hong Kong

Bull-headed Shrike

The third day of the Year of the Tiger, and also the coldest day of the winter in HK so far, 7 degrees centigrade.

We went to Lam Tsuen Valley this morning, to search the flower gardens and terraces for a Bull-headed Shrike.

It was either too early or too cold for the "Wishing Tree" crowds and we sailed through the bottom end of the valley, eventually arriving at Tai Om Tsuen.

At the river's edge opposite the Chan Shum Kee Store we found some birding friends who told us the bird had been favouring the fields behind a rise a hundred metres or so distant. Beyond a stream the ground rose slightly and we found some older houses and a small temple overlooking some market gardens. The temple and some of the houses were bedecked with Lunar New Year papers. Pots of flowers and "gat chai" (miniature tangerine trees) were prominently displayed.




The gardens - with most of the flowers sold off - looked strangely empty.



As if to remind us what year it was (and is), a child's balloon drifted past.




Almost immediately Jemi spotted the Bull-headed Shrike, which
flew to the top of a wooden telegraph pole before disappearing. Twenty minutes later it reappeared on a pole above some unsold peach trees. I got a few photos from beside an empty greenhouse.




The bird vanished again and we drifted up to the front of Tai Yeung Che village. A number of villagers seemed to be back from the UK for the New Year holidays, and were interested to know what we were looking for. The joy of digital photography was being able to show to people exactly what the object of our attention was.




Meanwhile, almost stealthily, the Bull-headed Shrike appeared in front of us at eye height.

Grey weather, great bird - BULL-HEADED SHRIKE