Hong Kong - April 2012 Trip Report (1 Viewer)

[Paul Collins]

Introduction

I spent the first 9 days of this April in Hong Kong with my parents visiting my brother, who is carrying out studies at the university there. Although this was the primary purpose of our visit, my dad and I managed to factor in some time each morning for birdwatching in a variety of urban and countryside locations.

I have only been to Asia once, and that was in June 2008, to visit my brother who was then studying at the University of Beijing. So this time round, I was slightly more familiar with the continent's avifauna, but nevertheless I used various materials (online and in my own library) to learn about what I might find.

The bird guides I used were:

• 'A Photographic Guide to the Birds of China, including Hong Kong' by John MacKinnon and Nigel Hicks (1996) - this is a beginner's overview to the area, but I found this quite a useful guide if I needed to quickly check an ID
• 'A Field Guide to the Birds of China' by John MacKinnon and Karen Phillipps (2000) - a very bulky guide with some good illustrations, but I still lugged it around as it was invaluable, particularly at Tai Po Kau

For research on locations, I used the following books and websites:

• 'Where To Watch Birds In World Cities' by Paul Milne (2006) - an invaluable city birdwatching guide which has served me well. It has an excellent section on HK, with accurate details on how to access sites and what one can find.
• 'Hong Kong Birdwatching Society' www.hkbws.org.hk - a useful site for looking at ID pictures and online sightings, although for some reason I found it difficult to navigate
• 'Hong Kong Outdoors' www.hkoutdoors.com - an excellent website listing locations and typical species
• 'Mai Po Nature Reserve' www.wwf.org.uk/eng/maipo - the key site for visiting this reserve, and for acquiring permits

These, and others, are also listed in Paul Milne's 'Where To Watch Birds In World Cities' (2006).

A note on how I shall upload these posts...
Each post will focus on one day only, and on all of the locations visited. I'll include a summary of each location visit, ending with a list of the species seen, and a handful of photos (unfortunately, most of these photos will be of rather poor quality!).

For listing species, I tend to use the following system: " means that I heard the species; number obviously denotes how many of the species I saw (sometimes there will be no number, in which case there will naturally be a " to show that I heard it but didn't see it); and + indicates that I saw the number indicated or something approximate/higher. I use a ? to show uncertainty over seeing a species, and x (such as in the case of 3x butterfly sp.) to show that I saw 3 species of unIDed butterfly (not 3 butterflies of 1 unIDed species).

Hopefully I'll be able to give a flavour of what birdwatching is like in Hong Kong at this time of year to those birders who are planning their own trips to this wonderful city, or at least provide you with an enjoyable and informative read. All the best, Paul

 

[Paul Collins]

Sunday 1st April - Munich

Train: Munich Airport - Central Munich/Marienplatz (5pm-8pm)

We flew with Lufthansa to HK via Munich, arriving at our stop-over at 5pm and leaving again at 9pm. We spent the evening walking the main streets around Marienplatz. The train journey from the airport took 48 minutes and provided few wildlife sightings other than a handful of lapwings, a hare, a rabbit, and a slightly sooty house mouse on the Marienplatz metro rail-track. In Marienplatz itself, I was very happy to see a peregrine flying over the clock tower, a bird that I last saw hunting over Bologna's Piazza Maggiore early last month. Very little else of note.

Birds: 5 Lapwing, "1 Greenfinch, 1 Peregrine, "3 Chaffinch, 30+ Rock Dove, "7+ Carrion Crow, 1 Black Billed Magpie, "1 Great Tit, " Blue Tit, 1 House Sparrow, "6 Blackbird
Other Wildlife: 1 Hare, 1 Rabbit, 1 House Mouse

 

[Paul Collins]

Monday 2nd April - Arrival: Hong Kong and Cheung Chau

Train: Lantau Airport - Hong Kong Island (4pm-5pm)

After meeting up with my brother, we all took the hour long train from the airport to Hong Kong Island. A mix of lack of sleep and excitement at seeing my brother for the first time in 8 months meant that I gave little time to birdwatching and therefore saw little other than crested mynas and black eared kites flying among the looming skyscrapers. I may have also seen a drongo species, but I think I was still too groggy at the time to trust my own eyes.

Birds: 4 Crested Myna, 6 Great Egret (perhaps Intermediates among them?), 1 Great Cormorant, 4 Black Eared Kite, ? Drongo sp.

Ferry: Hong Kong Island - Cheung Chau (5.30pm-6.30pm)

The next part of our journey was the slow boat to Cheung Chau, a lovely island east of Lantau. I was looking forward to the boat trip as I hoped to get a few seabirds. I was surprised that, contrary to websites that I had looked at, that there weren't many gulls or terns about - although I did see a delightful pair of white winged black terns (my first lifer) passing by the boat's starboard, many little egrets flocking around Lamma Island, and another lifer, a Pacific reef egret, standing guard at Cheung Chau's idyllic harbour with many black eared kites circling overhead.

Birds: 1 Pacific Reef Egret (lifer), 2 White Winged Black Tern (lifer), 12+ Little Egret, 14 Black Eared Kite, "2 Tree Sparrow, "2 Crested Myna, 1 Black Billed Magpie, 1 Large Billed Crow, 1 Gull sp.

Cheung Chau (6.30pm-11pm

There was much birdsong when we entered the little market streets, but the singers remained elusive. An oriental turtle dove, the only one seen on the trip and a lifer, took off into the trees in the Warwick Hotel's garden, where we were staying for the next two nights.
A late evening walk along the east side of the island gave us a gorgeous Chinese gecko and many calling cicadas.

Birds: 1 Oriental Turtle Dove (lifer), "1 White Wagtail, "3 Tree Sparrow, "6 Barn Swallow, 2 Warbler sp. (probably Japanese White-Eye)
Other Wildlife: 1 Chinese Gecko (lifer), " Frog sp., " Cicada sp.

 

[Paul Collins]

Tuesday 3rd April: Cheung Chau and parks of Hong Kong

Warwick Hotel, Cheung Chau (6am-8.20am; 9am-10am)

I awoke at 3.20am and couldn't get back to sleep, so went out onto the balcony as soon as first light rose to do some birdwatching. The balcony looked out over the beach and hotel pool, and there was a big tree inbetween the two which hosted one of my wishlist species, the oriental magpie robin. It looks very much like a thrush-sized magpie, and I found that these would be everywhere I went. Many light vented bulbuls, which I had seen in Beijing and Shanghai 4 years earlier, also put in a noisy appearance on this tree (alas, no red-whiskereds among them) and, as the sky lightened, sun-loving groups of barn swallows, black eared kites and spotted doves replaced the Japanese pipistrelles and stunning false tiger moths, flying alongside the balcony. Birds of the morning were a complete surprise hwamei, a beautiful orangey thrush with a blue eye and white 'monocle', and then two gorgeous Japanese white-eyes in the tree.
A post-breakfast search gave similar results, except now with the much-anticipated addition of my first red whiskered bulbul in the bamboo plantations around the front of the hotel, and of another Japanese white-eye with my dad. It was lovely also to see the Pacific reef egrets around the pier again as we waited for the 10am ferry.

Birds (6am-8.20am): "4 Oriental Magpie Robin (lifer), "1 Hwamei (lifer), 2 Japanese White-Eye (lifer), "5 Light Vented Bulbul, "10 Tree Sparrow, 8 Black Eared Kite, 1 Black Billed Magpie, 2 Pacific Reef Egret, "13 Barn Swallow, 8 Spotted Dove, 1 White Wagtail (personata), 1 Blackbird
Birds (9am-10am): "1 Red Whiskered Bulbul (lifer), "1 Oriental Magpie Robin, "2 Light Vented Bulbul, "2 Spotted Dove, 1 Japanese White-Eye, "2 Tree Sparrow, 1 Pacific Reef Egret, 1 Dove sp.
Other Wildlife: 6 False Tiger Moth (lifer), 2 Japanese Pipistrelle, 3x butterfly sp.

Soho and Central, Hong Kong (afternoon)

The uneventful fast boat trip from Cheung Chau offered little other than a black crowned night heron and my 2nd red whiskered bulbul as we disembarked. The streets of Soho were just as quiet.

Birds: 7 Spotted Dove, "12 Tree Sparrow, 20 Rock Dove, 1 Red Whiskered Bulbul, 4 Black Eared Kite, 1 Black Crowned Night Heron

Statue Square, Hong Kong (5.30pm-5.50pm)

This, and the following 2 sites, was my first taster of HK urban birdwatching. There was a profusion of both bulbul species in the trees around the water mosaic features, and a lovely black collared starling washing in the waterspray which my non-birdwatching mother took a quick shine too with her compact camera.

Birds: "1 Black Collared Starling (lifer), "8 Red Whiskered Bulbul, "4 Light Vented Bulbul, "1 Oriental Magpie Robin, 3 Black Eared Kite, "8 Tree Sparrow, "2 Spotted Dove

Charter Gardens, Hong Kong (5.50pm-6pm)

This is a half-way kind of place, both geographically and in terms of landscaping, between Statue Square and Hong Kong Park, with a mix of vegetation and tarmac areas. The major find here was our first masked laughingthrush, a noisy bird which eventually showed itself for a brief moment once flushed by some Japanese white-eyes.

Birds: "1 Masked Laughingthrush (lifer), 4 Japanese White-Eye, "4+ Red Whiskered Bulbul, "3 Light Vented Bulbul, "2 Oriental Magpie Robin, "4 Tree Sparrow, 1 Black Collared Starling

Hong Kong Park, Hong Kong (6pm-6.15pm)

Even before we reached the entrance (you have to go through a shopping mall in order to cross the road), I saw two exotic lifers flying in the canopies - Alexandrine parakeets, quite similar to our ring-neckeds at home but with a rouge blush on the neck, and large sulphur crested cockatoos, both feral and very localised species here (in fact, the cockatoos can't be seen anywhere else in Hong Kong but in this park). Apart from these and a common tailorbird which, like a dunnock, hurried into its hedge as quickly as it had ventured out, most focus was on the ubiquitous red eared terrapins who had young ones on their backs, and a hummingbird hawkmoth zooming among the aviary flowerbeds.

Birds: 1 Common Tailorbird (lifer), "7 Sulphur Crested Cockatoo (lifer), "2 Alexandrine Parakeet (lifer), "2 Light Vented Bulbul, "2 Tree Sparrow
Other Wildlife: 15+ Red Eared Terrapin (lifer), 2 Hummingbird Hawkmoth, 6 Japanese Pipistrelle, 3x Butterfly sp.

Warwick Hotel, Cheung Chau (11.15pm)

A common Asian toad sat stiffly on a soily wall near the hotel, with many cicadas whirring above in the trees.

Other Wildlife: 1 Common Asian Toad (lifer), " Cicada sp.

 

[Paul Collins]

Wednesday 4th April: Cheung Chau

Warwick Hotel, Cheung Chau (9.20am)

I needed sleep, so only managed a minute of birdwatching between showering and breakfast. I somehow managed to get two extra species for the trip: a red billed blue magpie and a lifer chestnut bulbul. As always, the Pacific reef egret stood in the pier and the usual suspects of oriental magpie robin, light vented bulbul and tree sparrow took their seats on top of the big tree.

Birds: 1 Chestnut Bulbul (lifer), 1 Red Billed Blue Magpie, 1 Oriental Magpie Robin, "6 Tree Sparrow, 1 Black Eared Kite, 1 Pacific Reef Egret, "1 Light Vented Bulbul

Cheung Chau west side (10.30am-12pm)

We took a walk along the west side of the island, through the market streets and towards the hilltop cemetery. Although the species weren't particularly different from what I had already seen, it made me realise what the staple species of HK's avifauna were. Of note were many more bulbuls - it was not just their wonderful character but also the sheer number, which was comparable to the feral pigeons back in London - and another red billed blue magpie in the bushes near the beach. I also got an albeit poorly viewed velvet fronted nuthatch and many butterflies.

Birds: "1 Velvet Fronted Nuthatch (lifer), "1 Red Billed Blue Magpie, "4 Black Collared Starling, "25+ Red Whiskered Bulbul, "15+ Light Vented Bulbul, "1 Japanese White-Eye, "7+ Spotted Dove, "30+ Tree Sparrow, "6+ Oriental Magpie Robin, 3 Black Eared Kite, 1 Pacific Reef Egret
Other Wildlife: 7x buttefly sp.

Ferry: Cheung Chau to Hong Kong (12.30pm-1.30pm)

Sadly we now had to say goodbye to Cheung Chau. A couple of black eared kites, a common sight along the beach, harassed the local Pacific reef egrets, and a barn swallow far out over the water was the most unusual sighting as we left the island's holiday hum for the daily buzz of the city. As we passed Lamma Island, we sighted a handsome egretry.

Birds: 1 Barn Swallow, 3 Pacific Reef Egret, 8 Black Eared Kite, 1 Spotted Dove, 26 Little Egret

Hong Kong and Kowloon (afternoon)

Very little of note. A possible crested myna around the streets of Kowloon.

Birds: ? Crested Myna, 3 Light Vented Bulbul, "1 Oriental Magpie Robin, "5+ Spotted Dove, 15+ Rock Dove, 3 Black Eared Kite, "10+ Tree Sparrow

 

[Paul Collins]

Thursday 5th April: Mai Po Nature Reserve

Langham Place Hotel, Mong Kok, Hong Kong (10am)

Our other hotel for the trip - a great place, but it offered next to nothing on the birdwatching front, as the view from the 32nd floor is generally one of skyscrapers and smog.

Birds: 1 White Wagtail, 1 Black Eared Kite

Train: Mong Kok to Mai Po Nature Reserve

A quiet journey, with crested mynas being the main feature of the approaching countryside.

Birds: 6+ Crested Myna, 1 Light Vented Bulbul, 2 White Wagtail

Mai Po Nature Reserve (10.30am-2.30pm)

This was my first experience of an Asian nature reserve and, whilst not as impressive as it could have been for April (the tide was very low too, resulting in a low wader count for us), it was a fantastic opportunity nevertheless to see some exotic passerines. The entrance track gave us some rare black faced spoonbills feeding alongside little egrets. They are not too dissimilar from the Eurasian spoonbills, but at close range the black is more obvious. A yellow bittern walked along the reeds, encouraging an opportunistic white breasted waterhen, a common rail of the reserve, to follow and pick insects thrown up by the bittern's trail.
The car park was actually one of the best spots for finding birds, as we quickly found a superb Asian koel female perched on a tree across a lake, some azure winged magpies grating and dancing on the wires, Pacific swifts a plenty wheeling overhead and, best of all, a Japanese paradise-flycatcher with its tail feathers trailing behind like oil in water.
The first hide was quite quiet with only a handful of ducks (spot-billed and garganey) and many grey herons. Outside the hide swarmed superb fig wasps, docile yet nevertheless intimidating beasts. Quite a few passerines were around too, such as the common and very approachable yellow bellied prinias, a few fabulous greater coucal males, and a fleeting scaly breasted munia. The road offered long tailed shrike, Chinese pond heron and bulbuls together on the wires and, where the road turned back into mangroves, more lifers cropped up in the shapes of white throated kingfisher, black faced bunting and a lovely Nordmann's greenshank.
The main part of our excursion took us out across the mangrove boardwalks, accessible only to those with permits. I felt right at home here, looking at hundreds of wonderfully exotic fiddler crabs, with their huge left pincers, and common mudskippers, a peculiar fish that I have wanted to see since reading Valmik Thapar's 'Land of the Tiger' 12 years ago. Getting eventually to the wader hide, it was too high tide to seen any sandpipers or stints, but we were still treated to great views of more common and blue spotted mudskippers, an osprey, many great egrets, gull billed terns, Nordmann's greenshanks, avocets and black winged stilts, and even a wonderful black capped kingfisher which posed near the osprey for many minutes. Two further lifers - Saunder's gull and immense ibis-sized eastern curlews, stood further away, just where the mudflats melted into fog and the shadows of thousands upon thousands of unidentifiable waders.
Heavy rainstorms sent us quickly back home, wet but happy, with a common kingfisher bidding us a colourful farewell at the exit.

Birds: 3 Black Faced Spoonbill (lifer), 1 Japanese Paradise-Flycatcher (lifer), "20+ Pacific Swift (lifer), 3 Greater Coucal, "4 Yellow Bellied Prinia (lifer), 1 Black Capped Kingfisher (lifer), "1 Scaly Breasted Munia (lifer), "2 Asian Koel (lifer), 2 Eastern Curlew (lifer), 3 Saunder's Gull (lifer), "18 Nordmann's Greenshank (lifer), "1 Black Faced Bunting (lifer), 1 White Throated Kingfisher (lifer), 20+ Little Egret, "1 Yellow Bittern, "15+ Red Whiskered Bulbul, "20+ Light Vented Bulbul, "10+ Masked Laughingthrush, "15+ Azure Winged Magpie, 2 Black Billed Magpie, "10+ Spotted Dove, "20+ Barn Swallow, 3 Black Eared Kite, 8+ Black Winged Stilt, 1 Black Headed Gull, 1 Long Tailed Shrike, 15+ Grey Heron, 10+ Shoveler, 10+ Spot Billed Duck, 6 Little Grebe, "7 Moorhen, 40+ Avocet, "5 Chinese Pond Heron, "2 Japanese White-Eye, 35+ Great Egret, "7 Black Collared Starling, "6 White Breasted Waterhen, 6 Crested Myna, "5+ Gull Billed Tern, 3 Black Crowned Night Heron, 1 Common Kingfisher, " Great Tit, 2 Osprey, "2 White Wagtail, "3+ Oriental Magpie Robin, 1 Common Sandpiper, 10+ Rock Dove, 5+ Garganey
Other Wildlife: 1 Blue Spotted Crow Butterfly (lifer), 50+ Common Mudskipper (lifer), 10+ Blue Spotted Mudskipper (lifer), 1 Chocolate Pearl (lifer - is this the correct name?), "30+ Superb Fig Wasp (lifer), 200+ Fiddler Crab, 5+ False Tiger Moth, other butterfly sp.

 

[Paul Collins]

Friday 6th April: Kowloon Park, HKU and Stanley

Kowloon Park, Kowloon (7.30am-9.30am

This was the first of just three mornings that dad and I got up together to go birdwatching (the other two would be at Tai Po Kau forest reserve during the weekend). We met up with the Hong Kong Birdwatching Society, a friendly bunch who organise outings at this time every Friday (they meet around 7.30am outside the Arcade, although it was all very relaxed and informal with many people turning up half an hour later). In the meantime, we set up telescopes and cameras around the Arcade flowerbeds and watched the flocks of Alexandrine parakeets squawking in the trees and Arcade facade, the black collared starlings searching for juicy worms, and the black crowned night herons flapping to distant ponds.
Once everyone had arrived, we headed to our first spot, the flamingo pond, where there is a collection of captive birds, including flamingos of course. There were quite a few very approachable black crowned night herons here, and even a Chinese pond heron a little further off. They provided great scope views, but all eyes turned as a pair of nest-making greater coucals came into view (apparently they've been there for a good while preparing their nest). The trees behind the lake gave a few velvet fronted nuthatches and Japanese white-eyes which only I saw as everyone else had walked on ahead to photograph a captive peacock and an oriental magpie robin. All around was the haunting call of the Asian koel, like a hyena in the savannah, calling its name 'ko-ell' over and over. We eventually caught up with it - a fairly drab bird in fact, but memorable and quite pavlovian - and, as dad and I made our exit back to the hotel at 9.30am, we located a pair of white shouldered starlings, the only lifer of that morning for me.

Birds: 2 White Shouldered Starling, "17 Alexandrine Parakeet, "6 Black Collared Starling, "6+ Spotted Dove, "2 Velvet Fronted Nuthatch, 7 Black Crowned Night Heron, 1 Chinese Pond Heron, "2 Greater Coucal, "1 Asian Koel, "4 Japanese White-Eye, "1 Masked Laughingthrush, "3 Oriental Magpie Robin, "20+ Red Whiskered Bulbul, "10+ Light Vented Bulbul, 3 Black Eared Kite, 25+ Rock Dove, "15+ Tree Sparrow, 1 Great Cormorant
Other Wildlife: 26 Red Eared Terrapin

Langham Place Hotel, Mong Kok, Kowloon (10am)

Birds: 2 Black Eared Kite

Sheung Wan, Hong Kong (12pm-1pm)

Birds: 1 Oriental Magpie Robin, "6 Tree Sparrow, 4 Spotted Dove

Hong Kong University (HKU) campus (1.40pm-2.20pm)

My brother took us around his campus which was surprisingly green and large given its place in Hong Kong. I found many more red whiskered bulbuls, which really are everywhere I looked in HK, and a new species, a house swift as I went up an escalator to a lecture theatre. Most interesting were the trees, which had green spikes along their branches. There were a handful of elephant's ear trees as well around the ponds, which homes red eared terrapins and so many tadpoles

Birds: 1 House Swift (lifer), "10 Red Whiskered Bulbul, "4 Spotted Dove, "3 Oriental Magpie Robin, "10+ Tree Sparrow, 10+ Rock Dove, 2 Black Eared Kite
Other Wildlife: 2 Red Eared Terrapin, 1000+ Tadpole sp. (probably many more)

Stanley (5pm-6.30pm)

It was raining very hard when we arrived at Stanley Beach, but we all wanted a walk because the scenery was so stunning. There was a pair of Pacific reef egrets on Stanley's pier, and a group of cattle egrets flew past them to land on the yellow buoys. Many groups of crested mynas, a favourite of mine on this trip, flocked on the rocks, their black rounded wings flashing white stripes over the waves. The wail of the Asian koel haunted the coastline - its bizarre call reminded me of a mother looking for her lost son at sea: 'Koel! Koel! Where are you, Koel?'

Birds: "36+ Crested Myna, "10+ Light Vented Bulbul, "5+ Spotted Dove, "3+ Oriental Magpie Robin, 6 Black Eared Kite, "15+ Tree Sparrow, 20+ Rock Dove, "15+ Red Whiskered Bulbul, 17 Cattle Egret, 2 Pacific Reef Egret, "1 Japanese White-Eye, "2 Masked Laughingthrush, "6+ Barn Swallow, " Asian Koel, "1 White Wagtail
Other Wildlife: 2 False Tiger Moth, 1 cockroach sp.

 

[Paul Collins]

Saturday 7th April: Tai Po Kau and Macau

Tai Po Kau Nature Reserve (7.15am-9.40am)

I was perhaps more excited about this reserve than Mai Po, even though there was undeniably more effort in getting to Mai Po, because of the jungly landscape and incredibly exotic birdlife. I also wanted to track down some rhesus macaques, a species which we were originally planning to see at the aptly named yet unpoetic Monkey Hill - although my brother tells me that many of the macaques there are sick, have scars and eat people's litter. Not what I'd like for my first monkey sighting.
We rose early and got the red line train from Mong Kok to Kowloon Tong, then the blue line to Tai Po Market - an easy 35 minute journey with no hassle. We then took a taxi (an incredible HK$22 to the park only!) and walked up a slope into the misty forest. We met a man with a long beard and walking stick (a stereotypical Chinese philosopher, some might say; I thought he looked, and even spoke, rather like Rafiki from The Lion King). After telling him that we had come to find macaques and birds, his eyes brightened and he leaned in meaningfully: 'There is a land...a land near here...where there are many monkeys...We can find them...over that hill!...I take you...I show you...You shall see...You shall see...' Just a moment later, I was lucky enough to spot a rhesus macaque crashing through the tree tops - a brief view, yet it whetted my appetite and reminded me that I had now left Hong Kong. He bid us farewell, leaving us with one story of a Swedish man he knew who had seen 300 bird species one autumn day at Mai Po. Awesome stuff.
Our plan was to travel the blue trail and, where the streams cut through, we'd take the red trail back. These are the best trails for birdwatching since the yellow and brown trails have poor forest, although we saw very little to start with other than what we had already found in the city. As we got into the forest, there was a great profusion of shadowy flickers - a bird here, a bird there, but very difficult to identify in such transitory moments. The light was also poor, and it was only until 8.30 when we had more luck. We met a bird guide and his two companions, an English couple in safari clothes, who had located Hainan blue flycatcher and greenish warbler by call. We heard the song of the former, very distinguishable and strikingly simple, and eventually tracked a female Hainan blue flycatcher with ease. Dad, binoculars fixed on the bird, stepped forward and fell off the path into a deep ditch, bruising his leg. He was slightly shaken by the fall, particularly as the other side of the path gave way to a big precipice. We continued our way more carefully, and it was after a few minutes of patient searching in undergrowth that I finally found the pretty male bird - a dark blue with a white front.
Other birds that had originally eluded us now entered centre stage - 2 noisy hwameis swooped into view and seemed to bow to each other in some kind of courtship, whilst a grey faced canary flycatcher (identified later on my camera) put in a shy cameo role on the branch behind. Further down the red track we got a chestnut bulbul, more calling Hainan blue flycatchers and then, best of all, a colourful flash of red and black, and then of yellow - two pairs of scarlet minivets! This red trail proved to be the best bit, and the next bird was an undoubted highlight of our forest experience.
Coming to the end of the trail, I spotted an unusual hanging nest, like that of a weaver bird, dangling deep in the vegetation. Dad had walked straight past it, but saw it as soon as a dainty green bird flew into the entrance. Another birdwatcher came by, who helped us to identify it as a female fork tailed sunbird, a species that I had particularly hoped to see. The view wasn't spectacular, but the quality of the find was more satisfying than finding a species such as black faced spoonbill with ease.
An encounter with dogs delayed us a little, as we were slightly concerned about the whereabouts of their owners, so we had to hurry the last bit of our morning. Here we saw many birds with great ease - it was less satisfying than the forest as the species were handed to us on a plate, but it was still spectacular, as was obvious by the three birdwatchers standing around the colourful red flowers. A male fork tailed sunbird - a superb bird and a superb view of it feeding. We allowed ourselves a few minutes to watch it, and then hurried back to the carpark, passing a school group who had found a velvet fronted nuthatch. There was also a majestic yellow cheeked tit and long tailed shrike in the trees behind. Superb morning, even if dad limped most of the way.

Birds: "2 Fork Tailed Sunbird (lifer), "6 Scarlet Minivet (lifer), "2 Hainan Blue Flycatcher (lifer), "1 Yellow Cheeked Tit (lifer), "1 Grey Faced Canary Flycatcher (lifer), 1 Long Tailed Shrike, "1 Velvet Fronted Nuthatch, "4+ Great Tit, 5 Crested Myna, 2 Great Eget, "5+ Red Whiskered Bulbul, 3 Light Vented Bulbul, "2 Oriental Magpie Robin, 2 Black Eared Kite, 1 Black Collared Starling, 1 Japanese White-Eye, "2 Hwamei, "1 Chestnut Bulbul, " Large Billed Crow, " hawk sp. (possibly Crested Goshawk?), " woodpecker sp. (possibly Rufous Woodpecker?)
Other Wildlife: 1 Rhesus Macaque (lifer)

Macau (1.30pm-5.30pm)

Despite having to have 5 stamps in my passport, I didn't notice much difference between the birdlife of HK and Macau. An Asian koel in the park and some house swifts by the port were the highlights, and it felt almost like an illusion to see tree sparrows flying in St Mark's Square in the Venetian Hotel. Outside the hotel, whilst waiting for the bus to the port, there was an evening flock of herons.

Birds: "1 Asian Koel, "3 Oriental Magpie Robin, 2 Little Egret, "10+ Tree Sparrow, 5+ Rock Dove, 15+ Crested Myna, "3 Red Whiskered Bulbul, "6+ Spotted Dove, "3 Light Vented Bulbul, " Velvet Fronted Nuthatch, "2 Great Tit, "10+ Barn Swallow, 9 House Swift, 7 Black Crowned Night Heron, 33 Great Egret

 

[Paul Collins]

Sunday 8th April: Last Day: Tai Po Kau, Central and Victoria Peak

Tai Po Kau (7.40am-9.40am)

Dad and I had to do a return trip after the success of yesterday, and dad was particularly keen to see monkeys. So it was with great jubilation that we both had great views of one rhesus macaque sitting high up in the treetops barely minutes after arriving at the forest.
We decided not to explore the trails but to focus on the Tai Po Road where we had seen the male sunbird. I got a brief view of the fork tailed sunbird feeding in the rain, but I think it was driven away by our approach and it didn't come back for a good twenty minutes. There were many more scarlet minivets colourfully swooping in the trees, among which hid a couple of grey chinned minivets which I IDed with the camera (they are more orangey and with grey patterning on the black head). For almost every species that we found, there was a Japanese white-eye in tow. We didn't venture far into the forest, but a step into the glades gave me a quick view of a beautiful narcissus flycatcher. The calls of Hainan blue flycatcher and Asian koel tantalisingly beckoned, but we didn't have enough time to follow. We gave in for a few minutes, and were rewarded with a black winged cuckoo shrike and crested goshawk.
We saw the fork tailed sunbird one last time as the rain poured on and on and, as we left back to the carpark, butterflies a plenty made colourful signatures in the mist (no idea where that came from, but that's poetry for you) and another lifer, a black throated laughingthrush, pootled through the undergrowth. A stunningly delicate blue butterfly species shimmered along the path; somehow it reminded me of the delicacy of Cinderella's glass slipper, so beautiful and fragile it was.
At Tai Wo station, 18 house swifts overhead.

Birds: 1 Narcissus Flycatcher (lifer), "1 Black Throated Laughingthrush (lifer), 2 Black Winged Cuckoo Shrike (lifer), "2+ Grey Chinned Minivet (lifer), 1 Crested Goshawk (lifer), "12+ Scarlet Minivet, "1 Fork Tailed Sunbird, "14 Japanese White-Eye, "20+ Red Whiskered Bulbul, "10+ Light Vented Bulbul, "2-4 Masked Laughingthrush, 6 Crested Myna, " Hainan Blue Flycatcher, " Asian Koel, "3 Great Tit, "2 Oriental Magpie Robin, "5+ Spotted Dove, 4 Black Eared Kite, 1 White Wagtail, "1 Large Billed Crow, 1 Great Egret, "6 Velvet Fronted Nuthatch, 1 Black Collared Starling, "18 House Swift
Other Wildlife: 1 Rhesus Macaque, 2 False Tiger Moth, 1 swallowtail sp., 1 blue butterfly sp.

HK Central (afternoon)

We passed Hong Kong Park on the way to the Peak tram, seeing a profusion of sulphur crested cockatoos around the church opposite.

Birds: "16 Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, 3 Crested Myna, 6 Black Eared Kite, 4 Red Whiskered Bulbul, "3+ Spotted Dove, 2 Oriental Magpie Robin, "2+ Light Vented Bulbul, "4 Black Collared Starling
Other Wildlife: 1 False Tiger Moth

Victoria Peak (2.20pm-4.40pm)

A scenic yet quiet walk. I did however hear a lovely blue whistling thrush, which I would count as a lifer had I seen it. Of course, I'm happy enough just hearing the song though - a wonderful one to end the trip on, and second only to that of the Asian koel.

Birds: " Blue Whistling Thrush (not counted as lifer as I only heard it), "10+ Red Whiskered Bulbul, "4 Japanese White-Eye, " Great Tit, 7 Black Eared Kite, "4+ Light Vented Bulbul, "4+ Spotted Dove, " Velvet Fronted Nuthatch, " Asian Koel
Other Wildlife: 9 False Tiger Moth

 

[Paul Collins]

Monday 9th April: Munich

Train: Munich Airport - Marienplatz (7.40am-8.40am)

That is sadly the end of the HK part of the trip. As part of the Lufthansa deal, we had a few hours in Munich, so dad and I explored Marienplatz and the Schlosse Nymphenburg. It was absolutely freezing, and the early train trip from the airport gave quite a few cross-season species - a couple of fieldfares and goldcrests against a few singing blackcaps.

Birds: 1 Goldcrest, 2 Blackcap, 13 Rook, "2 White Wagtail, 3 Fieldfare, "1 Goldfinch, "2 Greenfinch, 3 House Sparrow, 1 Collared Dove, 2 Wood Pigeon, 5 Rock Dove, 1 Great Cormorant, 11 Blackbird, 20 Carrion Crow, 3 Starling, 1 Buzzard

Marienplatz (8.40am-9.40am)

No peregrines this time, just a couple of blackbirds to replace the larger koels.

Birds: "1 Chaffinch, 2 Blackbird, 3 Rock Dove, 2 Carrion Crow

Schlosse Nymphenburg (10am-12.40am)

The lakes out front of the palace gave a fair selection of ducks and mergansers - best were red crested pochards, lovely pearly gadwalls and the goosanders. There were also many mute swans and, in the woods, a lot of nuthatches which, although physically different, sounded just like the velvet fronted ones in HK and were just as showy. Unfortunately there were no black or grey headed woodpeckers present, but many "black" red squirrels bounced from branch to branch and a willow warbler and a chiffchaff heralded the warmth of the afternoon.

Birds: " Green Woodpecker, "6 Nuthatch, "45+ Mute Swan, 6 Goosander, 40+ Tufted Duck, "20+ Barnacle Goose, "15+ Greylag Goose, 10+ Canada Goose, 8 Mallard, "4 Chaffinch, 2 Red Crested Pochard, 1 Little Grebe, "1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, "3 Blue Tit, "4 Great Tit, " Goldcrest, "1 Blackcap, "? Chiffchaff, " Willow Warbler, " Robin, 3 Fieldfare, 6+ Coot, 10+ Black Headed Gull
Other Wildlife: 'Black' Red Squirrel

 

[Paul Collins]

Bird Species

I hope that you have found this report to be helpful and that it gives some flavour of what you can see in HK. Here's a list of all the species that I found in HK, and also in Munich, divided into new and old species. A separate list of other wildlife will be up shortly.

Hong Kong: New Birds

1. Intermediate Egret - seen at one or two locations, although need to check where and when
2. Pacific Reef Egret
3. White Winged Black Tern
4. Oriental Turtle Dove
5. Oriental Magpie Robin
6. Hwamei
7. Japanese White-Eye
8. Red Whiskered Bulbul
9. Black Collared Starling
10. Masked Laughingthrush
11. Common Tailorbird
12. Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
13. Alexandrine Parakeet
14. Chestnut Bulbul
15. Velvet Fronted Nuthatch
16. Black Faced Spoonbill
17. Japanese Paradise-Flycatcher
18. Pacific Swift
19. Greater Coucal
20. Yellow Bellied Prinia
21. Black Capped Kingfisher
22. Scaly Breasted Munia
23. Asian Koel
24. Crested Goshawk
25. Eastern Curlew
26. Saunder's Gull
27. Nordmann's Greenshank
28. Black Faced Bunting
29. White Throated Kingfisher
30. White Shouldered Starling
31. House Swift
32. Fork Tailed Sunbird
33. Scarlet Minivet
34. Hainan Blue Flycatcher
35. Yellow Cheeked Tit
36. Narcissus Flycatcher
37. Black Throated Laughingthrush
38. Black Winged Cuckoo-Shrike
39. Grey Chinned Minivet
40. Blue Whistling Thrush - heard only
41. Grey Faced Canary Flycatcher
42. poss. woodpecker sp. (heard only, maybe Rufous?)
43. gull sp. (unIDed)
44. poss. drongo sp.

Hong Kong: Old Birds

1. Crested Myna
2. Great Cormorant
3. Black Eared Kite
4. Little Egret
5. Tree Sparrow
6. Large Billed Crow
7. Black Billed Magpie - Munich too
8. White Wagtail
9. Barn Swallow
10. Light Vented Bulbul
11. Spotted Dove
12. Blackbird - Munich too
13. Rock Dove - Munich too
14. Black Crowned Night Heron
15. Red Billed Blue Magpie
16. Yellow Bittern
17. Azure Winged Magpie
18. Black Winged Stilt
19. Black Headed Gull - Munich too
20. Long Tailed Shrike
21. Grey Heron
22. Shoveler Duck
23. Spot Billed Duck
24. Little Grebe - Munich too
25. Moorhen
26. Avocet
27. Chinese Pond Heron
28. White Breasted Waterhen
29. Gull Billed Tern
30. Common Kingfisher
31. Great Tit - Munich too
32. Osprey
33. Common Sandpiper
34. Cattle Egret
35. Great Egret
36. Gadwall
37. Black Headed Gull - Munich too

Munich

1. Lapwing
2. Greenfinch
3. Peregrine
4. Chaffinch
5. Rock Dove - HK too
6. Mallard
7. Carrion Crow
8. Black Billed Magpie - HK too
9. Great Tit - HK too
10. Blue Tit
11. House Sparrow
12. Blackbird - HK too
13. Goldcrest
14. Blackcap
15. Rook
16. White Wagtail - HK too
17. Fieldfare
18. Goldfinch
19. Collared Dove
20. Wood Pigeon
21. Great Cormorant - HK too
22. Starling
23. Buzzard
24. Green Woodpecker - heard only
25. Nuthatch
26. Goosander
27. Mute Swan
28. Tufted Duck
29. Barnacle Goose
30. Greylag Goose
31. Canada Goose
32. Red Crested Pochard
33. Little Grebe - HK too
34. Great Spotted Woodpecker
35. Chiffchaff
36. Willow Warbler - heard only
37. Robin - heard only
38. Coot
39. Black Headed Gull - HK too

Total Species

Total: 108
Excluding Munich: 77
New Birds: 41
Old Birds: 77
Excluding Munich: 36

 

[MKinHK]

Sounds like you had a pretty good visit Paul.

The Japanese Para at Mai Po was the first one of the year - nice record! Also, there have not been many records of Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher this winter.

The only woodpecker you might have heard is Bay Woodpecker - which has a loud laughing call.

Cheers
Mike

 

[Frogfish]

Excellent read Paul !

You have now whetted my appetite for what would no doubt be an expensive trip down to HK for a few days (wife shopping and me birding) ! Even though I lived in HK for nearly 3 years I was not into birding, or even photography, at that time and it would be great to go out to Mai Po and Tai Po Kau !

Hmmm maybe later this month, or early next, before our daughter arrives for a month's holiday.

 

[MKinHK]

April would certainly be better than May - more migrants, and a bit cooler.

Wife shopping sounds like an interesting concept!

Cheers
Mike