brendank

9 October 2011

As always Pui O was interesting.

1 Black Bittern (a late date?)
1 Eurasian Collared Dove (ever recorded away from Deep Bay?)
7 Red-collared Doves (in a big flock)
1 Crested Serpent-eagle
1 Brown Shrike
1 Black-naped Oriole
1 Black-winged Stilt
1 Oriental Reed Warbler
1 Blue Rock Thrush
1 Asian Brown Flycatcher

A dog walker reported the location of two King Cobras.  I tried looking for them but no success.

In Mui Wo there is a large marsh about 10 min walk from the Ferry Pier. I looked around there last autumn but had nothing special. Has anyone tried that area before?

bittern.JPG (77.03 KB)

9/10/2011 19:13

eurasiancollared.JPG (55.04 KB)

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redcollareddove.JPG (17.33 KB)

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serpenteagle.JPG (22.5 KB)

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[ Last edited by brendank at 9/10/2011 20:22 ]

thinfor

Brendan,

I did go birding with two of my friends in Mui Wo before.  The date was 30May09.  It was a hot day with highest around 30C but still we regarded it as a satisfactory day with birding record as follows:
Besra x2 (with prey) @ Luk Tei Tong
Crested Serpent Eagle x2
Crested Goshawk
Hair-crested Drongo
Black Drongo
House Swift
Large Hawk Cuckoo (heard, very close)
Indian Cuckoo (heard)
Chinese Francolin (heard)
and other common birds with a total of 32 species.

Hope the above can encourage your move to Mui Wo.  Apart from marshes, there are also opened fields, abandoned cultivated farm land and also Feng Shui woodland with some small-scaled streams.  I think it has potential to give you surprises.   And lastly good luck if you wanna go!

EricB

It used to be worked as part of the "Lantau outing" in the late 70's and early 80's being close proximity to the ferry pier. It used to be excellent for Watercock and Cinnamon Bittern  but I only birded there on 3 occasions -late Spring/Summer.No doubt it's changed dramatically like so many places in HK.Glad to hear some of the original habitat remains.
Great Black Bittern photo.
Here's an obliging juv from Queensland.
E

eBB.jpg (96.41 KB)

10/10/2011 01:05

brendank

Thanks, for the above information.  The marsh in Mui Wo is the largest I have seen in HK except for Deep Bay and Luk Keng marshes but difficult to access (no clear vantage point). I would try that area more in the future.