wgeoff

Happy New Year to all, best wishes for another good year's birding.

My first visit to Po Toi in 2015 on Tuesday and it started really well - from the Ferry, five Ancient Murrelet in the East Lamma Channel just off Round Island.
I was really lucky to see them, found them while scanning for gulls but only for two seconds before they all dived together, not to be seen again. I've noticed before when watching them from Po Toi, Ancient Murrelet can stay underwater for quite long periods and travel quite large distances, so not really surprising.

Nothing particularly unusual on Po Toi, no sign of the White-bellied Green Pigeon but we know from past experience these birds can sit quietly in one tree for weeks without being noticed, so it may well still be there somewhere. The Hoopoe still there, around the Opera Shed at the Helipad, also still many Pale Thrushes, I counted 15 plus four Japanese.

Visitors may notice that Hong Kong Youth Hostels have numbered most of the trees to the right of the Ferry Pier. They have made an application to build a low-level 'environmental' hostel in this area avoiding these trees - good news (good to have somewhere to stay overnight on Po Toi) but with some potential drawbacks. Anyway, let's wait and see what Planning Department have to say. This is a critical period for Po Toi as Planning Department are due to publish their Draft Plan for Po Toi in March. Jocelyn and I gave them a presentation on Monday emphasising the importance of protecting the tall trees in the Village and Ferry Pier areas, hope this message gets through to them and AFCD. We may need your help some time.

[ Last edited by wgeoff at 7/01/2015 13:12 ]

wgeoff

Is the birding world going crazy?
Camping on Po Toi is a very commendable way to see the birds. But, in the middle of winter?
First John Clough over Christmas and now Louis Lee camping this week.
Expect to see some good photos from Louis soon.

Best bird for me on Thursday was the female Scarlet Minivet, last seen on 9th December but obviously the same bird, attempting to winter there.
Wintering on Po Toi is a bit like camping, I hope it survives.
Also wintering there, the Radde's Warbler around the Ferry Pier. I didn't see it but Louis did and got some good photos.

Still the Hoopoe, many Pale Thrush with a few Japanese and some others to fill the time, like this Greater Coucal



One correction to my previous report - it is Hong Kong YMCA who are planning to buld an 'environmental' hostel on Po Toi, not Hong Kong Youth Hostels.

[ Last edited by wgeoff at 9/01/2015 10:45 ]

louislee

Camping on Po Toi is a really wild idea, especially when it is extremely windy at night. It is hard to imagine how we subsisted only on bread and biscuits. So, before leaving Po Toi on 8th, we decided to treat ourselves better by having lunch at a cafe near the pier. Noodles in seaweed soup is delicious. We met Geoff and had some nice conversation. He is surely a nice gentleman who is very informed about the island.

Nam Tam Wan is a good place for raptors. Black Kites are constantly circling in the sky, occasionally landing on boulders. An Eastern Buzzard and a Common Kestrel also did the same. For raptor, a handsome adult White-bellied Sea Eagle was also seen flying high up the sky.




Along the path overlooking Nam Tam Wan, at least 3 Blue Rock Thrushes, a Long-tailed Shrike, and a Peregrine Falcon were spotted.



Walking from the rock carving site towards the small banana plantation, many Daurian Redstarts and 2 Black-faced Buntings were seen.



Around the big banyan trees near the pier, at least 2 Blackbirds, a flock of Red-billed Starling, many Pale Thrushes, and Coucals (lesser and greater?) were feeding on the fruits.




Crested Mynas are active everywhere. Sometimes, the 2 Hair-crested Drongos are agitated by their presence and may chase after them.



Walking straight from the pier, two warblers were jumping and flying through the undergrowth. The first one is the Radde's Warbler and perhaps the second one is a Japanese Bush Warbler?



2 White-breasted Waterhens were running around the houses in the triangle surrounded by the big trees. But they are too fast. When you see them, they already made their escape.

A Pacific Reef Egret was hunting near the pier. But it seems to prefer the fish farm in the middle of Tai Wan. Some beautiful crustaceans were also seen.



Walking from the pier towards the lagoon, common birds like Red-whiskered bulbuls and Chinese bulbuls are abundant. The Hoopoe can also be there waiting for you.



The lagoon is a habitat for a Common Kingfisher. A flock of Chestnut Bulbuls favours the fruiting trees around the helipad and the lagoon. A shy Siberian Rubythroat also uses the area around the helipad as its wintering ground. A group of Scaly-breasted Munia is probably its neighbours. A Red-flanked Bluetail and several other Daurian Redstarts shared the area.





Last but not least, not related to birding, this cute pet dog on Po Toi is super-friendly. It guided us around the island. It seems to know where the birds are. Following it, I saw the Hoopoe several times, found most of the raptors and some of the other highlights. It appears to know when to cease going further to avoid flushing away the birds as I stopped to find birds. When other more fierce dogs barked at us, it made some low-frequency sounds and silenced the barking dogs. It even looked for us and slept next to my tent at night. Finally, when we left, it escorted us to the pier and went back to its owner until the ferry departed. What a nice dog! We love it!



[ Last edited by louislee at 9/01/2015 15:58 ]

wazy

The dog is call Rocky and also responds to call as "BB",  which belongs to the seafood restaurant.
He had accompanied with us few times and we had so much fun; while we were walk around the island.

[ Last edited by wazy at 9/01/2015 17:17 ]

louislee

Quote:

Original posted by wazy at 9/01/2015 17:08
The dog is call Rocky and also responds to call as "BB",  which belongs to the seafood restaurant.
He had accompanied with us few times and we had so much fun; while we were walk around the island.

Thank you! It is a very approachable and kind dog. Perhaps next time I may call out his name.

While we were having breakfast, he came and ate some tuna spread. So lovely !

lyatming

The owner of Sisters' café told me that Rocky was not welcomed by the dogs living near the pier.
There was a time, it was trapped at pier because other dogs not allowed it went back to restaurant. Finally, it swam back to restaurant directly.

louislee

Quote:

Original posted by lyatming at 9/01/2015 17:29
The owner of Sisters' café told me that Rocky was not welcomed by the dogs living near the pier.
There was a time, it was trapped at pier because other dogs not allowed it went back to restaurant. Fi ...

Yes, I heard the same story yesterday. But I think Rocky is much braver now as it drives away the four dogs which are kept by the owners of the house near the Sisters' cafe. Anyway, Rocky adds so much fun when birding on Po Toi. I look forward to play with it next time.

wgeoff

Great photos Louis - you should try camping in April.

Your left-hand photo is a Japanese Bush Warbler - this is not one of the photos of the Radde's Warbler that you showed me.
I'm not sure about the right-hand one, maybe that is also Japanese Bush Warbler, or a female Rubythroat? - any more photos?

Can you post some of the Radde's Warbler you showed me?
Thanks
Geoff

[ Last edited by wgeoff at 9/01/2015 19:10 ]

JohnC

Hi Louis,
I just camped on the beach, no wind at all there, close to toilets and stream water right next to camp. Best of all it's shorter walk from the ferry.  Although, there is a second generator which starts up at night which takes some getting used to.  Check the tides before you attempt this.

If you want to get close to the Blue Rock Thrushes, which are stunning, there is a friendly one hanging around the beach/community centre area and if you go past the temple you can sit and wait for the male to come by.  The others around the lighthouse see you coming so it can be a challenge to get close.

louislee

Thank John for the tips ! I will surely attempt it.



For the warbler, here is the photo. Actually, we saw the the Japanese Bush / Radde's three times on Po Toi only. The two photos posted above are those we saw in the 1st time and the 3rd time. Now, this one is the 2nd time's warbler. Is the pattern around the eye different from the other two ?

tmichael

To try to clarify, all three images (ie this last one and the previous pair, which follow an image of a Hair-crested Drongo) are surely Horornis bush warblers, and either Japanese H. diphone or Manchurian H. borealis, to use the taxonomy currently adopted by IOC and, thus, HKBWS (unless a different position is currently being taken, unilaterally). There does not appear to be an image of a Radde's Warbler here.

The bush warblers do all seem to have quite different appearance wrt their supercilia - can anyone enlighten us on what the significance of this might be?

[ Last edited by tmichael at 11/01/2015 14:44 ]

wgeoff

I missed Tuesday because of the rain but Thursday was sunny although cold.

Much the same birds as before.
The Hoopoe has now had to move from the helipad since the men have started to work on the Opera Shed again. I found it around the School area but I wonder if this disturbance will eventually drive it away.
Still many Pale Thrush, I counted 16 plus at least two Japanese and one other with orange underparts, possibly the Brown-headed Thrush from December.
Also at least one Red-flanked Bluetail, a Russet Bush Warbler near the Sister's Cafe, but no Red-tailed Robin again - these are rare on Po Toi this winter.

On such a nice day, I did take a walk out to the South Peninsular, my first visit there for several months. The usual wintering species, Plain Painia and Zitting Cisticola, also two Blue Rock Thrush of which one male showed no signs of red underneath and is presumably pandoo, quite rare on Po Toi.

Here some photos of the Hoopoe, the Rock Thrush, a female Pale Thrush and one Bluetail



I will probably only visit once a week from now until March

coconutcat

Hi wgeoff,

It seems the species can be seen are less than last week.  Is mid-January a good time for bird watching in Po Toi?

For the thrushes, are they very easy to find all around the island or they just appear in particular part of the island?

wgeoff

Hi

This is not the best time to visit Po Toi unless you are looking for particular species e.g. Hoopoe or Pale Thrush, which there is a good chance you will see at the moment.
The best place for the Hoopoe is around the School and for thrushes around the Ferry Pier and Sister's Cafe.

The numbers of birds will fall now until the end of February when migrants start to arrive. But serious migration does not start until the last week in March.

If you want to find out what you might see in any week of the year on Po Toi, go here which is a chart of all my species records between 2006 and 2012.

http://www.geoffwelch46.com/XPoToiChartAll200612.xls

coconutcat

Hoopoe and Pale Thrush are my target birds. If they still around it seems worth to go…

Your chart is very informative!  Thank you very much!

JohnC

For the Pale Thrush, there is a seaweed shop on the top of the small hill leading to the beach restaurant.  There is a sign saying something like try some for free (I can't remember exactly).  If you hide in there, hopefully one or two thrushes will pop up on the corrugated roof of the hut in front.

[ Last edited by JohnC at 16/01/2015 19:26 ]

coconutcat

Quote:

Original posted by JohnC at 16/01/2015 19:11
For the Pale Thrush, there is a seaweed shop on the top of the small hill leading to the beach restaurant.  There is a sign saying something like try some for free (I can't remember exactly).  If you  ...

Thank you for your information.  I will try to find the thrushes there.

coconutcat

Spent half day in Po Toi today and not many birds can be found. I mainly walk around from the ferry pier to beach and walk up to the school.

Only found one Pale thrush near the ferry pier.  


Red-billed Staring still there but only a few


Daurian Redstart not hard to see but they are very shy, especially the males


The females are more friendly


Only found one female Red-flanked Bluetail.  It also very shy.


At least 2 Japanese thrush found near Sister's cafe

louislee

1st Feb, 2015

We went to Po Toi to hike and play with the lovely dog, so not much birding.

Pale thrush 1
Daurian Redstart 5