HK Wetland Park 29 Apr 2018 - end of season soon

There was movement of flycatchers, raptors and buntings in Hong Kong recently, so I tried in my patch this afternoon but no luck. Waders number and species dropped dramatically, only a few Tringa and Curlew Sandpiper left, together with 7 Greater Sand Plover came to roost and 5 Common Sandpiper including one with broken leg, appeared fearless. The long staying male Tufted Duck was still there.

Best of the day should be Asian Barred Owlet, the commonest owl species in my patch. One was seen very well and probably one more mobbed and flushed by Masked Laughingthrush.

The lunchtime list is here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45053879

Asian Barred Owlet, this one just had a bath, with wet feathers on belly. Owls usually perch near the main trunk in daytime, enforcing the camouflage. 

this Common Sandpiper was tame, probably a new arrival, or because of losing one leg.

Book Review - Roberts Bird Guide (Second Edition)

We haven't been to Africa yet, and South Africa is one of my target places to boost my lifer list in coming years. I bought this book - Roberts Bird Guide (Second Edition) from NHBS more than a month ago, and after some problems in shipping, it was finally shipped to Hong Kong last week.

Quickly read through the book, this book is really useful for birders who want to visit southern part of Africa. The drawings are fantastic, words are easy to be understood, making this book to be a first choice for birder who wanna know more about south African birds. As it is covering nearly 1000 species, distributed in several countries, this book is quite thick and heavy when comparing to other field guide. However, as it is very informative and useful, this excellent field guide is still highly recommended no matter you will go to South Africa or not.

For more information, you can check here: http://www.robertsbirds.co.za/sa-guide.htm

this is the second edition, with a cover of a Secretarybird

photos are included in some difficult species, exactly what I want to do if publishing a field guide

key features are highlighted in difficult species too

drawings are excellent, like the wader page

Mai Po 21 Apr 2018 - Spoonie day

A day off today and we went to Mai Po again, because 1. nothing interesting else around HK; 2. I love waders and I don’t mind watching waders for whole week; 3. my friend got a very close Swinhoe’s Egret yesterday even no Spoon-billed Sandpiper nor the Styan’s Grasshopper Warbler.

We went early morning as usual to see any Styan’s but without success, even not a call. Tide was still low and not many waders came, making us bored, until a bulky stint caught my attention in my scope -  a Spoon-billed Sandpiper! Probably the same individual as few days ago, still assuming to breeding plumage, behaved much better than that day, so we had plenty chances to take some record shots.

Spoonie was no doublt the bird of the day. Apart from the sandpiper, we saw the same Swinhoe’s Egret (but never come close), 3 Little Stint, 3 Sanderling, a single Nordmann’s Greenshank and the long staying Greater White-fronted Goose. The whole checklist of today is here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S44772059

my first view of this Spoon-billed Sandpiper, by using the 23X scope

a digiscoping shot of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper

Spoon-billed Sandpiper, busy feeding

feeding and feeding

with a Red-necked Stint

Spoon-billed Sandpiper is a uncommon passage migrant in Hong Kong, we usually record this species in both spring and autumn. This is not a lifer for me but still cannot resist to take more photos for this Critically Endangered species!

the Spoon-billed Sandpiper we saw before were mostly in first winter or adult winter plumage, the one this time is assuming summer plumage as you can see the reddish tone of its head

the special bill shape is the reason why this wader is called Spoon-billed!

Spoon-billed Sandpiper, assuming summer plumage

Spoon-billed Sandpiper - when not seeing the bill clearly, it could be hard to separate from Red-necked Stint, but the upperpart and throat pattern are different, also the jizz

if there is no conservation work done, this beauty may be extinct by the end of this century 

Spoonie, the bird of the day, even not a true rarity in Hong Kong

final shot of spoonie today

when the tide was coming, the spoonie also gone

Nordmann's Greenshank was friendlier today, but different individual, with three species of terns and a curlew here

when the tide came, the Nordmann's Greenshank became the lonely bird. The thicker bill, shorter tibia and different upperparts pattern can help separating the Common Greenshank

Nordmann's Greenshank in flight, you can see the plain white underwing, white upper tail, and shorter leg projection. Again more details can be read here, a great post: http://www.shanghaibirding.com/2016/09/18/nordmanns-primer/

time for fishing during high tide, as this Black-eared Kite found its lunch

Mai Po 19 Apr 2018 - wader day again

We went to Mai Po again today mainly for the Styan's Grasshopper Warbler (Brenda needs a better tick), the same individual was still there but sadly just a poor view today.

The tide was above 2.6m today, making photography and wader watching challenging as the birds rushed back to the inner ponds. The best bird of today was no doubt the Spoon-billed Sandpiper in breeding plumage, found by Brenda (a compensation for the naughty Styan's?), but also a bird I dipped..... The spoonie just came and landed less than 10 seconds, even shorter than the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, which was the first HK 1st for me and was found exactly the same day three years ago... (my beloved also dipped for the BBS but luckily we saw the second one together later)

The full checklist is here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S44713822

Terek Sandpiper, a rather easy wader species

Terek Sandpiper, the orange legs are diagnostic

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper with Terek Sandpiper, reddish cap is one of the features of Sharp-tailed Sadnpiper

Red-necked Stint, as you can see there is no webbing between toes, eliminate the western peeps (This bird showed a thick bill, with mud maybe, giving me an impression of Semipalmated Sandpiper at first! Of course, other features are wrong)

two Curlew Sandpiper, there were so many flying insects when the tide rushing in

Common Redshank, in summer plumage, very different to the Spotted Redshank

few species in one shot: Black-faced Spoonbill, Greater and Lesser Sand Plover, Gull-billed Tern and a Black-headed Gull

Far-eastern Curlew, an endangered species, with a Gull-billed Tern

a Common Sandpiper in summer plumage, more strongly pattern above. The tide covered this patch finally.

Little Curlew, my second time to see this species in Mai Po, told from Whimbrel by shorter bill and paler lore

how many waders species here? the main character is Nordmann's Greenshank, the paler one on the right, the upperparts pattern is different to similar Common Greenshank, also shorter legs and smaller body. I haven't seen any full breeding Nordmann's nor taken any good shots of Nordmann's in any plumage, so needa try more before writing an ID post. (here is a good reference for separating the two Greenshank: http://www.shanghaibirding.com/2016/09/18/nordmanns-primer/

Greater White-fronted Goose, a long staying goose in Mai Po

last bird of today, Stejneger's Stonechat (molting to summer plumage. In stonechats, the summer plumage is probably 'molted' by abrasion). The presumed stonechat in Hong Kong is Stejneger's Stonechat stejnegeri, but the similar Siberian Stonechat maurus (some authors treated as two separated species) can come to Hong Kong in theory. This male showed a very bright white rump and reminded me to do more study about the identification of chats (I admit I love shorebirds and gulls more, also warblers) Should I reclassify all stonechats I see into 'Siberian Stonechat species' before more research?

HK Wetland Park 17 Apr 2018 - the wader quest

A ‘training’ day in my working place, so I got much more time outdoor than usual.

The tide was high in the morning and so many waders came to roost at the mudflat hide, including many patch ticks for me like Asian Dowitcher, Terek Sandpiper, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Red Knot, Long-toed Stint and Ruddy Turnstone... And also some unusal species here, like the Broad-billed Sandpiper, the long staying Long-billed Dowitcher again, Black-tailed Godwit, Greater Sand Plover and numerous Curlew sandpiper.

Raptor migration also started here with a single Peregrine Falcon and two female Chinese Sparrowhawk.

Despite the long staying migrants, like the male Tufted Duck, male Garganey and Two-barred Warbler, some late spring or summer migrants also arrived like more Yellow and Cinnamon Bittern, and the first Indian Cuckoo for me here this season.

Anyway, not a bad day and the whole checklist is here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S44652898

the patch tick here - the near-threatened Asian Dowitcher, with full black and straight bill separated from breeding Bar-tailed Godwit, this individual has a longer bill which may indicate a female. Can you spot the bird?

two patch ticks here - Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and Ruddy Turnstone (where?)

several waders here, Marsh Sandpiper, Common Redshank, Common Greenshank and the target  Long-billed Dowitcher. Compare to Asian, Long-billed Dowitcher is smaller and more compact, showing two-toned color bill and greenish legs, also barred flanks. Distinguish from Asian is easy but telling from the American sister species Short-billed Dowitcher is a challenge!

Cinnamon Bittern

only two coucals in Hong Kong, the reddish iris of this Greater Coucal is the best way to tell from adult Lesser Coucal.

Chinese Sparrowhawk, yellow iris indicates female (need a scope)

Mai Po 15 Apr 2018 - styan's, sandpiper and stint

Spring is the best time to watch waders in Hong Kong. Numerous can be found in Mai Po and majority are assuming breeding plumage, making the ID more straight forward. So, Mai Po was the destination. We woke early in order to catch the tide (once again I needa buy a car).

Nothing special on the way to the hide. As usual, I used playback in the mangrove for the Styan's (or called Pleske's) Grasshopper Warbler, vulnerable species which having restricted breeding ground in some remote islands in Japan like Miyakejima, South Korea and remote Russia, and with uncertain wintering grounds, where Mai Po may be one of them. I tried many years in Mai Po but never got a tickable view, and finally we saw the full bird today, marked my #444 in HK.

Styan's Grasshopper Warbler, the best photo I could get. This bird is still molting and as Kennerley’s book suggested, this moult is a main complete moult and will be completed by mid April, before arriving the breeding ground.

Locustella is always my favorite but difficult to see well in HK

the usual view

the warbler would also perch and sing, for a minute or so, but the view was never open

As always again, I am an unlucky guy, rainstorm came and we could only hide and watch the waders.

We saw plenty waders species, including 4 Little Stint and also one Swinhoe's Egret.  More info here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S44585279

the rain

Curlew Sandpiper, assuming breeding plumage

Common Sandpiper, also assuming summer plumage

Long-toed Stint, very similar to the American sister species Least Sandpiper, but the Long-toed Stint would show longer mid toe (difficult to see in this picture), stronger split supercilium (difficult to see in this picture too), and the supercilium not joining at the forehead. 

Lesser Sand Plover assuming summer plumage, bill is stouter, a broader reddish breast band

Greater Sand Plover, showing much stronger bill and restricted breast band

Terek Sandpiper

Broad-billed Sandpiper

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, waders can bend their upper and lower mandible in a certain angle to manipulate food item, this is called rhynchokinesis

Red-necked Stint, assuming summer plumage, the reddish throat is prominent

Red-neck Stint, still showing a hint of reddish throat

Red-necked Stint

Little Stint, assuming breeding plumage, an uncommon passage migrant or winter visitor in HK, we saw 4 birds today

Little Stint, the rufous edges on tertials, coverts and scapulars are obvious in summer plumage

Little Stint, compare the Long-toed Stint behind

Little Stint, identification is straight forward in this plumage, reddish upperparts and ear coverts, split supercilium, whitish throat, and also the structure: much longer bill and leg than Red-necked Stint

Little Stint, compare to Red-necked Stint at the back, the primary projection is shorter than Red-necked Stint (but slightly longer than the two American peeps: western and semipalmated)

Little Stint, the feeding posture / jizz is also different, maybe due to the longer legs. Any idea what was the stint eating?

Little Stint, the split supercilium and long bill is prominent 

Little Stint, some individual showed shorter bill, may be related to sex

identifying peeps is challenging but interesting, as here you can see different bill length and shape, not in scale but you can tell the proportion (Red-necked Stint, Little Stint, Little Stint)