Exploring Lantau (1 Viewer)

More than two months since my last visit I headed down to Pui O this morning in the hope of a migrant wader or two. And that's exactly what I got - two Common Sandpipers on the rivermouth after a couple of hours trogging round the marsh!

The real highlights of the day were the good numbers of successful breeders - Crested Mynas and Black-necked Starlings and being pursued by their offspring, three or four more independent Black Drongos, and two families of leucopsis White Wagtails. I also had a couple of almost fully fledged White-breasted Waterhens, plus another younger family of five fluffy black chicks being led slowly along the edge of the marsh by a cautious parent.

Other birds included a single Large-billed Crow,a solitary Barn Swallow, two Common Tailorbirds, a couple each of Little and Cattle Egret and a rather scruffy White-throated Kingfisher on the river.

Cheers
Mike

These overnight storms are doing wonders for my midsummer birding blues. This morning I headed down to Tai O to see if it might deliver any autumn migrants.

First up was a flock of 25 Chinese Starlings, which I am all but certain had a few Daurians mixed in with them. But since they flew directly away from me and were not close to start with I'll have to let them go.

With the tide right out I had high expectations of picking up Grey-tailed Tattler on the foreshore, but did not expect five of them to fly in and land right in front of me and begin feeding about 50 yards away across the creek. They were joined by four Common Sandpipers and my first Green Sandpiper of the autumn. Less expected was a fine male taivana Yellow Wagtail that took off from the marsh behind the tattlers and headed out to sea.

The close muggy weather had brought some swifts down to feed over Tai O hill. I was pleased to find a couple of sleek Pacific Swifts among the stubbier resident House Swifts. Even better, a couple of Himalayan Swifts with smoky brown rumps and underparts drifted down out of flock. I initially picked them out on jizz - they were holding their wings slightly below the horizontal - noticeably different from House Swift, but they eventually came low enough to confirm that the pale looking underparts were not imaginary and the rump was really not white. I've only seen Himalayan Swiftlet twice before in HK, so this felt like a great reward for getting out in 90+ percent humidity.

Other birds seen included an Asian Paradise Flycatcher and an Asian Brown Flycatcher in the valley behind the Shaolin martial arts centre, and I capped it of with three Chinese White Dolphins from the watchpoint where I was buzzed by White-throated Needletails in the spring.

Other notable birds seen included a couple each of Common and White-throated Kingfisher, five juvenile Black-crowned Night Herons, two Great Egrets, a moulting Hair-crested Drongo and a dozen Black Drongos.

Quite apart from the birding Tai O has a lot to recommend it. The pix below capture some of the diversity.

Cheers
Mike

A quieter morning at Tai O produced fine views of two Pale-legged Leaf Warblers (green ones) and at least two and possibly three Yellow-rumped Flycatchers in the Shaolin valley, plus a couple of brief views of a juvenile Besra and an adult Crested Goshawk in the same area.

Cheers
Mike

And quieter again today . . . but still one Yellow-rumped Flycatcher (and a Sakhalin/Pale-legged Leaf Warbler, plus a Brown Shrike, a flyover Blue Rock Thrush and an Arctic Warbler.

Before descending to Tai O I got off the bus and walked down past the spots I'd had a few flycatchers in the spring. It was less exciting today, with just a single Asian Brown Flycatcher, an Arctic Warbler and a Grey Wagtail.

The real highlight was watching five Chinese White Dolphins repeatedly breaching from the watchpoint above the Shaolin Valley.

One more bird from two weeks ago - a magnificent adult Bonelli's Eagle that drifted over the valley.

Cheers
Mike

A migrant from home this morning - a Cattle Egret on one of the lawns 22 floors below the flat.

As I watched it caught and ate a frog.

Cheers
Mike

Just to prove that birds can be watched everywhere! (I might have thought that was a long ways down!)

Hope he didn't get one of your (I forget the name) rare endemic frogs... Well, I guess you said they were doing pretty well - anyway, I appreciated hearing about them.

The egret was there again today - same bird same place, but (unsurprisingly) no frog!

Gretchen, yesterday's frog was much bigger than Romer's Tree Frog, which is only the size of a man's thumbnail!

This morning at Tai O produced more of the same birds from the previous weekend - Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, 4 Arctic Warblers, two Pale-legged/Sakhalin Leaf Warblers, and an Asian Brown Flycatcher.

New birds included two Yellow-browed Warblers and a Black-naped Oriole.

The highlight and major tick of the day was meeting up with Shanghai-based BF member Dev for lunch at the Tai O Heritage Hotel. While waiting for me Dev had at least 3 and probably four Asian Brown Flycatchers.

Lets see what the typhoon will bring in the next day or so . . .

Cheers
Mike

As Typhoon Usagi, which has been billed as the strongest storm in the world this year, bears down on us the northerly winds have brought some more migrants in the calm before the storm.

An Arctic Warbler and a Yellow-rumped Flycatcher were again in the banyans overhanging the market building in the village. It's really been an exceptional year for the flycatcher - I've had more bird days (10) in the last 30 days than in the last ten years (7).

The Shaolin valley started with a Common Kingfisher zipping over the school itself before a calling Arctic Warbler showed well in the starfruit tree seconds after an intriguing pale-edged tail had flipped up and away from the side path without providing a clear view. Three Yellow-browed Warblers were in the big tree above the graves along with the first of four Asian Brown Flycatchers.

On the way out the intriguing tail fulfilled my expectations - revealing itself as the back end of a Forest Wagtail. It performed wonderfully hunting along the path within a few metres of me, waggling its tail from side to side, and showing the handsome double breast band.

I found a small side path across the small nullah and poking about in here produced a very confiding female Hainan Blue Flycatcher, which I watched catch and eat a pale caterpillar, and a Pale-legged/Sakhalin Leaf Warbler.

The other highlight was capturing these butterflies in flagrante delicto.

Thankfully the typhoon has made landfall at Shanwei about 100km to the east of HK, so we will be spared the worst of it.

There were a few more migrants around at Tai O this morning. I was once again tantalised and then frustrated by a flock of starlings. the only bird I saw well enough to identify was White-shouldered Starling, but a dozen or so others could so easily have been Daurian or Chestnut-cheeked had they not barreled away in silhouette into the rising sun . . . . I did however pick up a Grey-streaked Flycatcher - also in silhouette - on a ridgetop snag. The difference is of course that the long-winged jizz of Grey-streaked is so distinctive that it can be safely identified even at quite long range.

The Shaolin valley was rather quiet - with just an Asian Brown Flycatcher seen and the Hainan Blue Flycatcher and Pale-legged/Sakhlin Leaf Warbler heard. The dolphinwatch ridge did produce my first Stejneger's Stonechat of the autumn along with ten migrating Richard's Pipits and the usual good views of six or seven hunting Black Drongos and a family party of Sooty-headed Bulbuls.

I did better on the northern side of the island as a Eurasian Hobby circled briefly and a single bare tree hosted an Asian Brown Flycatcher, Brown Shrike and four Red Turtle Doves while a second Pale-legged/Sakhalin Leaf Warbler called nearby.

And a few more pix to illustrate why Tai O is fast becoming one of my favourite villages in Hong Kong

Cheers
Mike

Love that Sepia shot Mike .. and that Lantern Bug is spectacular !

All great shots! It makes me think I'd like to see Tai O. Was that longhorn still alive?

Did you eat at that restaurant - I mean how could you resist when all the animals seemed so delighted to be eaten??

Thanks for the lunch Mike! Tai O is indeed a great escape from the megastructures with lushing greenery. The 20HKD boat ride was awesome, very close views of the "Chinese White(Pink) Dolphins".

Sadly Gretchen the longhorn beetle was as dead as the proverbial doornail, and I had lunch at the Heritage Hotel's rooftop restaurant instead!

Great to meet you Dev - and delighted that you saw the dolphins!

There was a real sense of migration at Tai O yesterday, especially along the dolphin ridge as birding were clearly arriving during the time I was there.

These included my first Olive-backed Pipits and Yellow-breasted Bunting of the autumn, plus a Wryneck, a Red-rumped Swallow and three Barn Swallows, a Black-naped Oriole and a flock of seven Red Turtle Doves that flew up and down a couple of times as if nerving themselves to head out across the sea.

Other migrants in the Shaolin valley included a single Yellow-browed Warbler, two each of Arctic Warbler and Pale-legged/Sakhalin Leaf Warbler and an Asian Brown Flycatcher, plus a Hobby that flew over a couple of times.

Birds that looked like they might be in for the winter included a male Blue Rock Thrush that had fun playing with the Black Drongos and two Stejneger's Stonechats perched along the rail along the top of the ridge.

My bird of the day was a (I think) third year White-bellied Sea Eagle that cruised along the ridge giving tremendous views before drifting off over the sea.

I also had a record count of 11 Chinese White Dolphins.

Cheers
Mike

Another day of light northwesterly winds drifted a nice range of migrants into Tai O.

I took a look at the promising-looking marsh in the eastern corner. There was no real way in but I did get decent views of an Oriental Reed Warbler, and heard a Dusky Warbler. The mangroves held the usual mix of ardeids, plus a juvenile Yellow Bittern, while a pondside fruiting fig held the first of seven Asian Brown Flycatchers. Another patch of woodland along the northern edge held an Arctic Warbler and a Pale-legged/Sakhalin Leaf Warbler (PL/SLF).

The big trees and mangroves on the northern edge of Tai O island held the first Yellow-browed Warbler of the day, two PL/SLF and another each of Arctic Warbler and Asian Brown Flycatcher, the latter both hanging around a starfruit tree that was flowering and fruiting. Not wanting to walk all the way round I tried freelancing up to the ridge that backs onto the Shaolin valley. It was a bit of a struggle and pretty birdless, but I did eventually make it and walked along the ridge, picking up a couple of Stejneger's Stonechats and Zitting Cisticolas, but no dolphins.

Two dazzling yellow Black-naped Orioles and a Black-winged Cuckooshrike showed superbly in a large tree down in the valley and a Black-naped Monarch was my first for a couple of years. Two female Red Turtle Doves dropped into one of the pines, while two Arctic Warblers, two PL/SLW, a YBW and four Asian Brown Flycatchers all served to confirm that the Shaolin Vally is the best place for migrants at Tai O.

Cheers
Mike

With northerly winds freshening today Tai O once again produced the goods.

The star this morning was an Orange-headed Thrush lurking in the woods above the market when I went in to get a better look at an Asian Paradise Flycatcher. It was obviously curious, but also shy and never had unobstructed views of the whole bird. What I could tell was that it was an adult - principally based on the well-develop facial pattern and the grey (rather than brown) wings. An Arctic Warbler also showed superbly here.

Before that a dozen White-shouldered Starlings were in a fruiting tree by the bus stop - the pic shows the pale iris that distinguishes them from Daurian and Chestnut-cheeked Starlings in all plumages. I also checked out the northern woods and picked up a Japanese Sparrowhawk, a couple of Asian Brown Flycatchers, a Black-naped Oriole was in a giant banyan above the village and a dozen Black Drongos that had dropped into the bushy islet behind the temple.

Adding to the mystique of Tai O I found the oriole while standing next to a building that claimed to house the official hairdresser to the 1976 Miss Universe pageant, which was held in Hong Kong.

In the Shaolin Valley a Pale-legged/ Sakhalin Leaf Warbler and a Yellow-browed Warbler were again present, but the real highlights were at least three Black-naped Orioles which were actively feeding and flying around the valley. As I as looking out at some distant trees one swooped past just in front of me with a superb flash of golden wings. Before climbing up onto the ridge I also had brief but close views of a couple of Ashy Minivets foraging in the canopy.

As I did climb up three guys were exhuming a grave and had just lifted out the lid of the coffin. As grisly as this sounds its pretty normal here - land is so costly that people are generally buried for seven years and then exhumed and the skull and femurs are then kept in a pot. While a small part of me was curious, I figured that a "foreign ghost" peering into the grave was not going to be well received and I continued on my way as 20 or so migrating Black Drongos steamed over. I did however walk over a bridge made of coffin lids for the first time. The valley is used as a cemetery and the tomb-maker obviously valued the timber over superstitions . . .

Up on the ridge first a female Eurasian Kestrel and then a pair of Hobbies drifted over, reminding me that Amur Falcons should be coming through any time now . . . Other birds included four Barn Swallows, a drop-in Richard's Pipit and a flyover Red-throated Pipit and ten Zitting Cisticolas that would take to the air together as if migrating, and ten drop back into the grass. The last bird of the day was an Oriental Reed Warbler that flushed across the path as dropped back into the valley.

Cheers
Mike

With two different reports of Amur Falcons in HK earlier this week, including three seen alongside the south runway at the airport, I had decided that Tai O was the logical place to find one perched perfectly at head height somewhere along the dolphin ridge. It wasn't to be.

Once again phylloscopids predominated with two each of Dusky, Arctic, Pale-legged/Sakhalin and Yellow-browed Warblers, plus a couple of Asian Brown Flycatchers.

A Japanese Quail flushed unexpectedly along the ridge was a new bird for me on Lantau and my bird of the day. Tantalisingly brief views of an accrocephalus warbler and a flycatcher that sounded awfully like Red-breasted left me wondering what might have been.

Cheers
Mike

A walk with the wife that started at Pui O was a stark reminder of how birdy that site is - and that its 25 minutes closer by bus.

The buffalo fields were nicely waterlogged and had a good spread of buffalos of all ages sploshing around feeding - each with a Cattle Egret in attendance or an entourage of Crested Mynas trailing in its wake.

A flurry of brown feathers was - excellently - a male Greater Painted-snipe that dropped down shortly after and continued to feed in good view. Since it was around 1pm and there was a light drizzle falling I'm guessing this was a recently-arrived migrant, especially as I saw three others that were far from the secretive dusk-creepers that resident birds usually become.

Amongst them were eight or so Yellow Wagtails , all pretty grotty-looking, which eight Red Turtle Doves in a fine range of plumages were feeding on the dryer meadow to the right of the path. A Yellow Bittern lurked close o the hedge nearby, and a Brown Shrike was in the beachside vegetation

Adding to the autumnal feel, a male Yellow-breasted Bunting and a Little Bunting were feeding on the open grass in the eastern half of the marsh,close to a Little Ringed Plover, but the river disappointed - delivering nothing but a solitary Common Sandpiper.

The walk over to Chi Ma Wan produced a single calling Pale-legged Sakhalin Leaf Warbler that never emerged from the undergrowth. I've never previous visited Chi Ma Wan, but was delighted to see a very pale falcon apparently hunting round the of the lone tall casuarina tree on the beach some distance away. It was too broad-handed for a Hobby and really wasn't working as Kestrel or Peregrine, so I was absolutely delighted to find it perched on a wire and be able to confirm it as my first Amur Falcon on Lantau! I wish I'd seen it for longer, but it was still good to find this just a couple of days after calling it for Tai O.

The rest of the walk round to Mui Wo was pleasant enough, but uneventful, and was well rounded off with unexpectedly good samosas at the China Bear while waiting for the ferry back to Discovery Bay.

Cheers
Mike

With a public holiday and some promising winds, I thought I would give Lantau a shot today, walking along the northern coast from Tung Chung to Tai O. I've often found this walk to be productive in autumn, and today was a good day - good numbers and diversity of migrants, although with no megas.

The Phylloscs have been particularly obvious. My final totals were 30 Dusky Warblers, 12 Yellow-browed Warblers and 11 Pale-legged/Sakhalin Leaf Warblers (I think this may be a record count for HK). Also brief views of what looked like a Radde's, and a possible Greenish calling briefly, but neither confirmed. A small patch of reedbed (5mx5m) at Tung Chung produced Oriental and Black-browed Reed Warblers.

Various other migrants were scattered in patches of trees along the coast - 4 Asian Brown Flycatchers, an Ashy or Swinhoe's Minivet (heard only and not certainly identified), 3 Hair-crested Drongos and 5 Black Drongos (plus 2 from the bus on the way to Tung Chung). A Stejneger's Stonechat and another Black-browed Reed Warbler were in some of the open habitat at Sha Lo Wan. Among the resident species I managed views of three Emerald Doves, not bad for this species.

At Tai O I decided to check out the reedbed area and the mangroves. The reedbed pulled in another Black-browed Reed Warbler and a Yellow Bittern, while the mangroves had Oriental Reed Warbler. A scan along the mangrove fringe revealed two Slaty-breasted Rails sneaking along the edge and a Whimbrel chasing down crabs in the mud. Finally, just as I was deciding which route to take home, a Black-winged Cuckooshrike flew over with a couple of drongos.

Shock of shocks . . . not one but TWO good birds at Discovery Bay this morning.

I've got fed up of lugging my scope about on the off chance of finding something to digiscope and today I trialled my new Canon SX 50 HS - one of the relatively inexpensive ultrazooms.

I was impressed with the camera, but astonished to find not only a Black-winged Stilt, but also a Slaty-breasted Rail a Common Kingfisher and a couple of Common Sandpipers in the small mangrove/mudflat next to Discovery College. I also heard Dusky Warbler and Yellow-browed Warbler.

The pix of the former can definitely be filed under "record shot", but since they were 40-odd metres away and the rail was deep in cover the results are more than good enough to make me happy. The other pix are of a Crested Myna (the best shot of the day), a large skink profiling the length and weirdness of its hind-toes,and a couple of sunbathing Red-eared Sliders.

Cheers
Mike

Sounds like a nice outing. Good to be able to get a record shot of the rail. (We've been thinking about one of those ultrazooms, so interesting to see what you can get with it.) Like the skink's toes.