![]() |
Brown-eared Bulbul - (Microcelis amaurotis)
|
On Saturday, 22nd April we got the ferry to Po Toi Island, in the hope of seeing a "Hong Kong second record" Brown-eared Bulbul that had been reported a few days earlier.
It appeared briefly, but briefly was enough. This species winters in east China, and this one has got a bit further south than most of the others.
Around on the hills of Po Toi, were a good few typical Po Tai migrant species....
![]() |
Brambling - (Fringilla montefringilla) |
![]() |
Dollarbird - (Eurystomus orientalis) |
![]() |
Swinhoe's Minivet - (Pericrocotus cantonensis) |
A boat trip to southern HK Waters followed on April 23rd.
Boat Trips are a bit of a lottery, but it turned out the be a good day.
Brown Booby was a "HK Tick" for us, a complete surprise...
![]() |
Brown Booby - (Sula leucogaster) |
![]() |
Aleutian Tern - (Onychoprion aleuticus)
|
![]() |
Great Crested Tern - (Thalasseus bergii) |
![]() |
Black-tailed Gull - (Larus crassirostris) |
![]() |
Red-necked Phalarope - (Phalaropus lobatus) |
![]() |
Red-necked Phalarope - (Phalaropus lobatus)
Sadly, plenty of rubbish in the water. But the phalarope seem attracted to flotsam in the waves. |
![]() |
Short-tailed Shearwaters - (Ardenna tenuirostris) |
![]() |
Short-tailed Shearwaters - (Ardenna tenuirostris) |
On another boat trip on May 10th 2023, we found that the Phalarope were in more advanced breeding plumage that the ones we had seen three weeks earlier.
![]() |
Red-necked Phalarope - (Phalaropus lobatus) |
![]() |
Red-necked Phalarope - (Phalaropus lobatus) |
And, today, off to Sai Kung for the second time for another rarity, Japanese Waxwing.....hanging around near some fruiting trees - but not the tree this barbet claimed possession of.
![]() |
Great Barbet - (Megalaima virens)
Vagrant or escape ? Only time - or the HK Records Committee - will tell ! |
![]() |
Japanese Waxwing - (Bombycilla japonica) |