ajohn

Weather conditions in Hong Kong today (12th October) seem to be perfect for migrating Black Drongos, and there is clearly a massive passage of this species underway, at least at Mai Po. Up to 0950, over 750 individuals had been observed at the reserve, mostly flying straight over without stopping. Passage was still underway at this time, and more birds are certain to pass through over the course of the day. More birds were almost certainly missed during the morning as well.

The record count reported in the Avifauna is a mere 150 individuals. I seem to remember a higher count since then (last year), but I don't remember the total number. Today's passage may well exceed even that total.

If anyone is outdoors around Hong Kong today, it would be worth checking for the species and getting a count of the number of individuals. It would be interesting to see how widespread this passage is and how many in total can be recorded over the course of the day.