Yesterday I spent a very enjoyable couple of hours at Pui O, which I visited primarily with the objectives of putting my new scope through its paces. For the past 15+ years I have been very much a "bins only" and then a bins + bridge camera birder as much of my birding has been covering forest patches and a large area of fishponds on foot, with the aim of finding rare birds and running up a decent site list. This does not really require a scope, which is heavy and awkward, especially in HK's typically humid weather.
Having treated myself to the Kowa TSN883 in November this was an opportunity to visit a relatively small and open site that does not require much walking - a small patch of wet and dried marsh that is used for buffalo grazing and just sit and see what came into view.
My main target were pipits. Six Buff-bellied Pipits had been reported a week or so earlier, and a quick san of the dryer ares quickly revealed a couple so I set up the scope, plonked myself on my also new
old man's backpack-cum stool and had as good a look at any pipit as I ever have in 25 years of birding. Secretly I was hoping to turn one of them into a Rosy or Water Pipit, but none of the views of these rather muted birds with heavy spotting on the breast and rather plan bak was anywhere near.There were also three
Richard's Pipits and a a scattering of
Olive backed Pipits for variety, plus eight or nine
leucopsis Amur Wagtails. Other birds included a
Little Egret fishing in a puddle by dabbling its toes in the mud, five
Common Snipe, a family of four
Moorhens, two
White-breasted Waterhens, a male
Chinese Blackbirdand a party of ten
Scaly-breasted Munias that dropped in zipped off a couple couple of times.
I always enjoy the
Water Buffalo here, and as I was perched and scanning a face appeared in the hedge next to me just before a couple of youngish animals stepped cautiously across the path and out onto the marsh. Other expected birds included an
Intermediate Egret and the usual
Crested Mynas and Black-collared Starlings, a male
Daurian Redstart, plus a Common Sandpiper. There were few birds on the beach but a walk over to the estuary delivered fishing
Great Egret and
Chinese Pond Heron, a
Common Kingfisher as well as a patient female
Buffalo being suckled by three calves of two different ages.
Just before the bus stop there is another area where a stream runs through another buffalo field. A couple of the trees heres were laden with small black berries, which ad pulled in good numbers of
Chinese and Crested Bulbuls, 30-odd S
ilky Starlings. Some of these were dropping down onto the muddy banks of the stream to drink, and the same banks held half-a-dozen
Tree Sparrows which were feeding on fallen berries. This area turned out to be unexpectedly productive as a couple squawking
Large-billed Crows drew my attention to an
Eastern Buzzard, a rather tatty
Crested Serpent Eagle, drifted up and over the ridge line, my only
Eastern Yellow and
Grey Wagtails appeared and a handsome pair of
Oriental Magpies dropped in to feed on the short grass.
The final highlights here were a trio of
Chinese Grosbeaks, including a fine male, in a streamside tree and four hen-plumaged
Scarlet Minivets - rare on Lantau before this winter - but perhaps enjoying a breakout year.
Cheers
Mike