HK Wetland Park 27 Jun 2018 - Summer Swiftlet

It is nearly the end of June, a hot, humid and rainy day. A butterfly training was held today, reminding our butterflying days in the past, but sadly nothing beautiful or interesting except one Common Tiger (I am a true birder, stupid butterflier but Wing Tung still taught me some butterfly ID skills).

Common Tiger

We went out after the rain stopped, a perfect timing to look for swift and swallow (honestly, I didn’t focus on any butterflies), and it will be exciting to see a swiftlet among the flock in this time of  the year. No big flock of swift and swallow was seen, only single boring Barn Swallow until one brownish swiftlet species flew above my head in boardwalk and I knew that would be something interesting. I walked further and refound the bird, took some distant shots. And finally, I went for Germain’s Swiflet for its ID, a species probably overlooked in Hong Kong or East China.

The bird was very similar to the birds I saw in Zhejiang in June 2015, where I had excellent views and much better photos to confirm the ID, and there was an invasion of this species that year to East Asia as well. The swiftlet today showed distinct pale rump that, when there was strong sunlight shining on the bird could cause an illusion of House Swift, but the ‘rump’ on swiftlet was much narrower and darker than House Swift, and they both showed different flying jizz. For the bird today, it also showed small black cap, and some black patterns on its undertail coverts, features which I have never seen in Himalayan Swiftlet but in Germain’s and the Zhejiang birds. There was no size comparison today so could not tell whether it was small or large but the wings looks slightly shorter and boarder than Himalayan Swiftlet I saw in HK in the past (in theory Germain’s Swiftlet is smaller than House Swift or Himalayan Swiftlet). If a better photos could be taken, the wing formula may also tell the difference. Furthermore, we have never seen any Himalayan Swiftlet (or even other swiftlet) in summer in HK. The timing of today’s bird occurance is exactly the same as my Zhejiang experience.

black cap can be shown in this photo

looked like a 'white rump' under strong sunlight

some black pattern in the undertail coverts

unlike House Swift, the rump is not white in color

looks like the Zhejiang birds

Identifying swift and swiftlet is always a challenge, especially for swiftlets, they are small, similar in size, appearance and difficult to get good views because they always fly high in both speed and height. Besides Germain’s Swiftlet, other SE Asian swiftlets species can also come to HK one day, that’s why we need to study more before encounter one next time.

My photos of Germain’s Swiftlet taken in Zhejiang: https://www.hbw.com/ibc/species/55287/photos?uid=lchunfai

Today’s checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46824685

Shanxi 12-14 Jan 2018 - trip for Brown Eared Pheasant

Introduction: 
Brown Eared Pheasant Crossoptilon mantchuricum is one of the four Crossoptilon pheasants, and it is endemic in China and Vulnerable. Thanks to SoSo’s arrangement, we made a weekend twitch in January 2018. The pheasant is well fed every morning in that spot so twitching is rather guaranteed. Leisure birding was also done during the time in Jiaocheng County 交城 and Taiyuan 太原. Anyone who are interested can contact Small Wong 小王 by Wechat 微信 (+86 138 3583 3256) for arranging the car, hotel, and ‘pheasant feeding fee’.


Flight: 
12 Jan 2018
MU 2364 Shenzhen 1925 – Taiyuan 2200

Shenzhen Airport

MU 2364

14 Jan 2018
GJ 8772 Taiyuan 2025 – Guizhou – Shenzhen 0115

GJ 8772

Flight cost: 1570 RMB / Total expenditure (include flight, drive and hotel): 2472 RMB


Itinerary: 
12 Jan 2018 
Hong Kong to Shenzhen, night flight to Shanxi

13 Jan 2018 
Birding in Xuanzhong Temple 玄中寺

Xuanzhong Temple

a view of the temple

Brown-eared Pheasant by iPhone

ibis with pheasant

ibis on snow

a video of Brown-eared Pheasant

14 Jan 2018 
Birding in Jinci Park 晋祠公园 and Fenhe 汾河, night flight to Shenzhen and back to Hong Kong on 15 Jan early morning

Fenhe

birding on ice

Maps:
Brown-eared Pheasant in Xuanzhong Temple (37.563427, 112.078486)

Brown-eared Pheasant in temple

Japanese Waxwing in Jinci Park (37.707087, 112.450034)

Jinci Park

Water Pipit in Fenhe (37.892325, 112.531440)

Fenhe

Bird List: 
(T: Temple, P: Park, F: Fenhe) 

Brown Eared-pheasant Crossoptilon mantchuricum (T)
- at least 8 seen well in the temple, some more heard

a pair of Brown-eared Pheasant

Brown-eared Pheasant, male

Brown-eared Pheasant

more Brown-eared Pheasant

they were very friendly and I just brought my 100-400mm

Brown-eared Pheasant in flight

Brown-eared Pheasant in flight

Common Pheasant Phasianus colchicus kiangsuensis (T)
- 1 male and 4 female flushed on the small path near the temple

Goosander Mergus merganser (F)
- at least 4 female seen in the river

Chinese Spot-billed Duck Anas zonorhyncha (F)
- 1 seen in a group of Mallard in the river

Mallard Anas platyrhynchos (F)

Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis (F)

Rock Dove Columba livia (T/P/F)

Eastern Spotted Dove Spilopelia chinensis chinensis (T/P/F)

Grey Heron Ardea cinerea (F)

Eastern Great Egret Ardea modesta (F)

Accipiter sp. (T)
- 1 seen in flight near the temple, probably Eurasian Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus

Eurasaian Hoopoe Upupa epops (F)
- 2 seen very well in the park

Black-naped Woodpecker Picus guerini kogo (T)
- 1 seen on the way to temple

formerly as Grey-faced Woodpecker in HBW. Can you find the bird?

Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major (P/F)
- 3 seen in the park and 1 seen in the river

another woodpecker of this trip

Red-billed Blue Magpie Urocissa erythroryncha (T)

Asian Azure-winged Magpie Cyanopica cyanus (T/P/F)

Eurasian Magpie Pica Pica (T/P/F)

Southern Nutcracker Nucifraga hemispila interdicta (T/P)
- split from Spotted Nutcracker Nucifraga caryocatactes in HBW Alive

Southern Nutcracker

Coal Tit Periparus ater pekinensis (P)
- a small group seen in the park

Coat Tit

Japanese Tit Parus minor (T/P/F)

Light-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus sinensis (P)

Silver-throated Tit Aegithalos glaucogularis vinaceus (T/P)
- formerly treated as conspecific with Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus

Silver-throated Tit - different to the Long-tailed Tit we saw in Japan

Vinous-throated Parrotbill Sinosuthora webbiana (T)

Beijing Babbler Rhopophilus pekinensis (T)
- at least 3 seen on the small path near the temple

Beijing Babbler, not easy to take a shot

Plain Laughingthrush Garrulax davidi (T)
- very common in the temple area

Plain Laughingthrush

Northern Wren Troglodytes troglodytes (T)
- 1 seen in the temple

Naumann's Thrush Turdus naumanni (P)
- at least 4 seen in the park

adult male Naumann's Thrush

Japanese Waxwing Bombycilla japonica (P)
- at least 32 seen in the park

a flock of Japanese Waxwing

two Japanese Waxwing

Japanese Waxwing

Siberian Accentor Prunella montanella (T)
- 1 seen and 1 more heard on the small path near the temple

Siberian Accentor

Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus (T/P/F)

Water Pipit Anthus spinoletta blakistoni (F)
- more than 10 seen in the river

Water Pipit is very common in Shangxi, and one feeding on ice for dead fish

Chinese Grosbeak Eophona migratoria (P)
- at least 5 seen in the park

Oriental Greenfinch Chloris sinica (T/P/F)

Godlewski's Bunting Emberiza godlewskii (T)
- 1 seen on the small path near the temple

male Godlewski's Bunting

Identifying Pintail Snipe Gallinago stenura

To us, a fantastic photo means showing as many key ID features as it can. By using one photo to tell the identity of the bird species is our ultimate goal. In this first ID post in our blog is a member of Charadriiformes, and also the most challenging genus - the Pintail Snipe Gallinago stenura.

Pintail Snipe in Hong Kong is a common passage migrant and uncommon winter visitor, is always found mixed with other snipes like Common Snipe and Swinhoe's Snipe. In fall, Pintail (and Swinhoe's) usually arrive earlier than Common Snipe, like in August. Then Common Snipe will become the dominate snipe species after November.

Telling from similar Common Snipe can be straight forward if view is good: Common Snipe shows longer bill, thicker black lore and pale edge of scapulars. Also by the call and when flushed, Common Snipe shows a prominent white trailing edge, cleaner underwing and usually flies to a longer distance before landing.

Telling from Swinhoe's Snipe is a real difficult task. In this case, Pintail Snipe is usually smaller, showing rounder body jizz, shorter tail projection beyond wings and no or very small primary projection. Call may also be a clue to tell the difference.

We still don't have any Latham's Snipe in HK and we haven't seen one yet but this species is very possible to be overlooked, so we will create another post if we see one in future.

Anyway, the safest way to tell a snipe is by looking at its outertail pattern.

From left to right: Latham’s, Pintail, Swinhoe’s Snipe. This picture is taken from the Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds.

In Aug 2015, Wing Tung and I were lucky enough to take a flight shot of Pintail Snipe in Long Valley, a photo showing the details of the outertail pattern to confirm its identity. We also saw several Pintail Snipes in fall later, wondering if the time for primary molt is an ID feature or not, which, the Pintail Snipes molt their primaries earlier / during their migration as we saw several Pintail Snipes were undergoing molting in this time of the year but not the case in observed Swinhoe's Snipe.

Pintail Snipe, in Aug 2015

Short notes on a nest of Collared Scops Owl Otus lettia

Collared Scops Owl is the commonest owl species in Hong Kong, they are widely distributed here, Wing Tung and I saw and heard many in our birding life but taking good photos of this species is not always easy, mainly due to its nocturnal behaviour. In Apr 2018, we were lucky enough to visit an active nest of Collared Scops Owl, allowing us to take some better shots and observe the feeding behaviour of this family.

This nest consisted of two adults and five chicks. This post was uploaded after fledging. Also, it will be worth studying whether artificial lighting causing any effect to owl nesting behaviour before a conclusion is made in future.

From the three days’ observation, very few disturbance was made by all birders or photographers and owls and chicks looked stressless. Birders and photographers behaved well and also helped in guarding the owl from illegal poachers, which can still be found in HK nowadays.

24 Apr 2018 (715pm to 11pm)
arthopods (mainly cockroaches, one centepede and other tiny insects): 10+ times
mammals (small rat): 2 times
reptiles (geckos): 1 time

after we left, the chicks were seen being fed by a small frog too.


28 Apr 2018 (745pm to 830pm)
chicks got bigger and adult owl came infrequently even no torch was used. Begging calls from different chicks were heard.

reptiles (probably small snake): 1 time
unknown prey: 1 time
mammals (rat): 1 time, but the adult came with the same rat for three rounds and fed the chicks at last


1 May 2018 (12noon to 2pm)
we went to see the owls in day time. No feeding was observed, one adult with five chicks were there while three were ready to fledge.

Collared Scops Owl with chick at nest

Collared Scops Owl

with cockroaches

another cockroaches, with two chicks which were more mature

Collared Scops Owl

chicks were curious sometimes

fed cockroaches again

with centepede

sometimes we could study the upperwing patern

chicks during daytime

Collared Scops Owl, I cannot identify their sex when the two separate. Can you spot the white-eye? From our past experience, Japanese White-eye are always faster to find an owl than us.

Collared Scops Owl