Po Toi Island, Hong Kong - 11th October 2018
Dark-sided Flycatcher - Muscicapa sibirica Po Toi Island is Hong Kong’s southernmost island, and a migration hotspot. Nine or ten birders/photographers, including ourselves, caught the 10:00 ferry...
View ArticleJust passing through
I imagine that big raindrops must be quite a hazard for insects, they are no fun for humans generally, either. Sand Martin - Riparia riparia But when the rain is hard enough, the insects are beaten...
View ArticleEnd of October
Blue-and-White Flycatcher - Cyanoptila cyanomelana A stroll around Mai Po on “World Migratory Bird Day” (Oct 13th) revealed a variety of migrants, from a female blue and White Flycatcher in a grove of...
View ArticleHere today.....gone tomorrow ?
Eastern Buzzard - Buteo japonicus Zitting Cisticola - Cisticola juncidis Out and about, it seems like autumn passage birds are giving way to winter visitors. But even the winter birds may not linger,...
View ArticleOh, what a grey day...for Long Valley "regulars"
November 20th, 2018 A late-autumn wander about Long Valley with Andrew Hardacre. LV is an area of freshwater vegetable fields, and traditional crops like rice planted by Green Groups, including the...
View ArticleMai Po Boardwalk Hide, 22nd Nov 2018
A 2.1 metre tide was predicted at Mai Po, possibly one of the last of the year that would get anywhere near the boardwalk hides. It was still overcast early on, but there was a large group of roosting...
View ArticleNam Sang Wai and Shek Kong Catchment, 29th Nov 2018
Black-faced Spoonbill - Platalea minor Hazy sunshine and a low tide predicted in late morning made NSW seem like an attractive place to visit for the first time in over a year. Common Teal - Anas...
View ArticleRays of sunshine
White-spectacled Warbler - Seicercus affinis On the 30th November we joined some other keen birders to go to Po Toi Island to “twitch” HK’s first Silver Oriole, seen the previous day. Well, we didn’t...
View ArticleSouthwest Yunnan Dec 2018/Jan 2019 - Part 1, "Hornbill Valley"
Pale-billed Parrotbill (Chleuasicus atrosuperciliaris) - near Ruili, SW Yunnan 23 Dec 2018 Dec 23rd Jemi and I arrived at Luxi airport in mid-afternoon with Carrie MA, who had initiated and organised...
View ArticleSouthwest Yunnan 2018/2019 - Part 2, "Around Yingjiang City"
Mandarin Duck - Aix galericulata 27th Dec After splendid bowls of noodles in Mengyun town, we packed the bags into the car and headed north towards Nabang on a minor road that joined Route S 318 a few...
View ArticleSouthwest Yunnan 2018/9 - Part 3, “Gaoligongshan”
Black-headed Shrike-Babbler - Pteruthius rufiventer It was tangerine harvest time as we drove from the main road up towards Baihualing village on Dec 29th. We had given ourselves two full days to bird...
View ArticleIn praise of .....(Asian) Red-rumped Swallows
I strolled out to a fishpond area near HK's northernmost boundary a couple of evenings ago and found a whole host of hirundines whirling about. Among them a species I've photographed before, but I...
View ArticleFirst “Twitch” of 2019 - Fire-capped Tit at KFBG
The Hong Kong birdwatching Society has a forum on its’ website and requests for bird identifications are often made. One such request appeared on 26th January, about a bird seen the previous day at...
View ArticleIn praise of: - Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) - again !
Pied Kingfisher - Ceryle rudis Pied Kingfisher - Ceryle rudis Pied Kingfisher - Ceryle rudis Pied Kingfisher - Ceryle rudis Pied Kingfisher - Ceryle rudis Pied Kingfisher - Ceryle rudis All taken at...
View ArticleAt Mai Po boardwalk, 7th March 2019
Pacific Golden Plover - Pluvialis fulva A bit of rain had been forecast, but actually the rain was heavy indeed. Such wet weather would be more welcome in a month’s time when April rain might ground a...
View ArticleNorthern Japan - On and off the rails - Feb 14th to 24th 2019
Friend and former RHKP colleague John Murphy had seen a documentary on British TV where Chris Tarrant travelled along the main Japanese island of Honshu on trains in winter....
View ArticleDistinguished Visitors
Glossy Ibis - Pelegadis falcinellus There was a flurry of activity yesterday afternoon on various “Whats App” birding groups - two Glossy Ibis had been briefly seen and photographed on the scrape...
View ArticleSilver-backed Needletail (Hirundapus cochinchinensis)
Silver-backed Needletail (Hirundapus cochinchinensis) A “scarce spring passage migrant” in Hong Kong, so it was a pleasant surprise two find two hunting around the big trees beside the Police Post...
View ArticleLast week of March 2019 - unsettled weather and some migrants at last
Grey-capped Greenfinch - Chloris sinica More unsettled weather around 23rd/24th March brought a few interesting birds into view. These usually seem to be high and distant, maybe often overlooked by...
View ArticlePo Toi Fever, - a Wood Warbler "Twitch" on 4th April 2019
Wood Warbler (Phyloscopus sibilatrix) On the ferry from Po Toi back to Aberdeen on 2nd April, one photographer showed another some shots of an odd phylloscopus warbler he had seen that afternoon. It...
View Article