wgeoff

An interesting first week of Spring.

Sunday and Monday were mild with light winds. Of seven newly arrived Pale Thrush on Sunday, there were none to be seen on Monday. New migrants on Monday were a Common Kingfisher on the S Point rocks, first for the year, and a Russet Bush Warbler calling from near the cafe at the top of the concrete steps. I think this bird had probably just come down from the surrounding hills where several spent the winter.

The first spring migrant egrets were seen from the S Point on Monday, a single Great Egret, a flock of 5 Little Egrets and an immature Pacific Reef Egret, definitely not a local Po Toi bird, which was flying up the channel and tried to come ashore only to be chased off by the resident S Point male Reef Egret. This bird must have been attempting some sort of migration or dispersal. Here the Great Egret and the local male chasing off the invading Reef Egret.



Migrant Black Kites were flying in at a rate of about two an hour and the first Pacific Swift of the season also came in off the sea from the south. One very dark Black Kite seemed to have made a real mess of its moult



The cold front came through on Tuesday, Wednesday was the coldest day of the winter so far with an average temperature of 12.8 deg C. Today, Thursday, there were at least 10 Pacific Swifts, several Little Swifts and 5 Asian House Martins feeding over the hillsides. A long distance shot of an Asian House Martin, a single migrant Common Snipe today on the lagoon and one of the wintering Black-faced Buntings



I was wrong about the toilet - it was an illegal building and was removed on Monday. But an unsightly pile of rubbish was left behind - surely just as illegal as the building itself



[ Last edited by wgeoff at 18/08/2010 08:58 ]

wgeoff

Land birds of the week were definitely the flock of 10 Grey-faced Buzzards which appeared over Po Toi at 10.30am on Thursday. I believe these birds had set out from somewhere in the north Philippines early the previous evening to fly north towards Taiwan but had been pushed west by the easterly winds over the Luzon Strait and arrived over South China instead. After circling around for a few minutes, they flew off in a line NW towards Cap d'Aguilar. Also 90 minutes earlier, a pair of Silver-backed Needletail arrived in a mixed flock of Pacific Swifts and Barn Swallows.



Heuglin's Gulls must be the seabird equivalent of London Buses - after waiting for weeks without seeing any, this week there were hundreds - 614 to be exact, over three days and all migrating NE past Po Toi and all in the first hour after dawn or the last hour before dark. Majestic to think these birds are flying all the way to north central Russia.



Also over the sea, 6 Streaked Shearwaters on Tuesday, 7 Ancient Murrelet over Wednesday and Thursday and on Friday a superb male Red-breasted Merganser.



Finally, the Peregrines are back on the cliffs after an absence of several months. How do they know it's migration time again? - here a Red-necked Phalarope is the victim



[ Last edited by wgeoff at 15/12/2009 05:20 ]

wgeoff

A quiet week on Po Toi this week, but very interesting all the same - for me, at least. Here are three areas of interest, Buntings, Egrets and Heuglin's Gulls

There was an influx of buntings this week, mostly Black-faced but also a few Little. Nothing exceptional, but it's very satisfying when you go back to Avifauna and find this is exactly the week predicted for the largest number of spring passage migrants for Black-faced and Little Bunting. Two of the real advantages of Po Toi are its small size and remoteness. You know immediately an influx occurs and you know the birds must be migrants.

Little Egrets and a few Great have been migrating into Hong Kong in small numbers for the last two weeks. You can see the occasional flock over the sea, and on Friday one came ashore, initially on the S coast rocks and then 2 hours later on the lagoon, a typical movement on Po Toi. Here, Avifauna is less certain, 'there is evidence of passage in both spring and autumn'. The advantage of Po Toi is, it can give specific dates to these passages.

Very few Heuglin's Gulls migrating this week after the large numbers last week. Two possible reasons, either the passage is over or the weather was not right. Certainly the weather was not right - I found last year the best conditions to see seabird migration on Po Toi are light, preferably S or SW winds and mist. This is quite different to seabird watching from a boat. What appears to be happening is, the seabirds move into the area on strong E winds but stay around feeding and do not move off again until the winds change. So you can see these birds from a boat, but not from Po Toi until they migrate. The weather next week should be good for seabird migration - let's wait and see.

Regular readers of this section will realise by now I only have few photos to show. So here are a Little Bunting and some of the migrant ardeid/egretta seen during the week, a Grey Heron which found the local fish farm to its liking, the Little Egret in immaculate breeding plumage on the S coast rocks and a Cattle Egret, strangely perched on the rock just south of Beafort Island and seen from the ferry



The Islands Local Government have decided to renovate/renew all the main water pipes on Po Toi. Great, it will mean a more reliable water supply but may cause some disruption during spring migration.

[ Last edited by wgeoff at 15/12/2009 05:21 ]

wgeoff

An early end to the week for me due to commitments in Hong Kong.

Cold fronts passed through on Monday and Wednesday, with strong easterly winds on both days following southerly winds on Sunday and Tuesday. These are good conditions for bringing spring migrants into Po Toi.

I was disappointed not to see Grey-faced Buzzards on either Monday or Wednesday, but I did have Silver-backed Needletails on both days. All five Silver-backed so far this year have arrived in the morning between 9.15am and 9.45am. I believe they may be from a population breeding in Taiwan which have been over-wintering in the Philippines and migrating overnight from there. They arrive earlier in the day than other migrants due to their faster flying speed, only spend about one minute zipping around and then go. Here are birds from 15th, 26th and 28th March



Very few winter thrushes, chats and warblers to be seen now, the long-staying Grey-headed Flycatcher has also gone. Four new flycatchers for this week, Asian Brown, female Mugimaki (no photo), Red-throated (no photo) and male Blue-and-white, an Oriental Pratincole (being chased off by a Black Kite) on Tuesday, a female Purple-backed Starling on Wednesday and a male Ashy Minivet on Thursday



On the sea, it appears the Heuglin's Gull migration has almost finished, perhaps the last large flock was this one of 37 birds flying high up NE late on Sunday evening



On Monday evening there was a big movement of Red-necked Phalarope, streaming continuously past my sea-watching point. I counted 939 in the two hours after I arrived at 4pm but there must have been many more before that time and also some further out I could just about see.



The movement stopped at 6pm when the birds started to settle on the water. Also in this stream, 2 Ancient Murrelet and 6 Heuglin's Gulls.

[ Last edited by wgeoff at 15/12/2009 05:23 ]

wgeoff

The week was dominated by the passage of the cold front on Monday and the migrants it brought in. This graph of the numbers of different migrant species seen each day on the island since the beginning of March shows how the number of species more than doubled after the front passed through on 2 April



The first bird through was a Brown Hawk Owl which flew over my head at the S point at 6.50am on Tuesday and kept going south out to sea, carried along by the strong N wind.



From then on for the next two hours, birds were flying into the SE peninsular from all directions, Egrets, Barn Swallows and Pacific Swifts, Asian House Martin, Olive-backed and Richards Pipits, a group of Ashy Minivets and a Chestnut-cheeked Starling amongst others. Here are a selection of species seen over the next three days

An early Dollarbird photographed from across the bay and another Brown Hawk Owl which stayed on the island (possibly more than one)



An Oriental/Eurasian Cuckoo and another Hepatic one



Ashy and Swinhoe's Minivets



Eastern Crowned Warbler, Ferruginous, Narcissus and Red-throated Flycatchers



As well as a large number of commoner migrants and even some new waders, Lesser Sand Plover, Wood Sandpiper and Red-necked Phalarope on the lagoon



Difficult to come away on Thursday.

[ Last edited by wgeoff at 15/12/2009 05:26 ]

wgeoff

The Red-throated/breasted Flycatcher was not seen on Po Toi today. It may have left.

In fact, there were not many flycatchers or other migrants to be seen on Po Toi today (Thursday).

wgeoff

I should add, the Red-throated/breasted Flycatcher is the same bird that was present last weekend in the large bush beside the toilet block, and appears in my report for the first week in April.

Many people have seen it already.

wgeoff

Another good week, with a mini-cold front passing through overnight on 9th bringing rain, strong easterlies and more new migrants on 10th



Birds of the week for me were the Grey-faced Buzzards which arrived over Po Toi in small flocks between 8am and 10am most mornings. They invariably circled around for a short time, decided they could see nothing to their liking and drifted off towards Hong Kong mainland.



A good week for flycatchers, here an Asian Brown which flew in off the sea on Tuesday and landed on the rocks beside me, the incredible male Japanese Paradise (how can it migrate with that tail??) and the beautiful male Blue-and-white



Also some interesting thrushes, a late Blackbird and a Dusky Thrush here with the first lucionensis Brown Shrike of the season, all Tuesday arrivals



and some different starlings, White-cheeked and Chestnut-cheeked



I didn't get photos of some of the better birds, Siberian Blue Robin (thanks Mike K), menzbieri Pechora Pipit (there were at least three on the island on Tuesday) and not least, a forest-type heron seen briefly on the ground in dense undergrowth near the school on Thursday.

At sea, 12 Common, 2 Little and 1 Caspian Tern over the week, plus a few Red-necked Phalarope.

Finally, enough photos of the Red-throated/breasted Flycatcher have already appeared, and now you can see why - the first twitch on Po Toi



A correction to last week's report. The plover is a Greater Sand Plover, correct id thanks to Geoff Carey.

[ Last edited by wgeoff at 15/12/2009 05:29 ]

wgeoff

We live and learn. When the cold front came through on Tuesday night with rain and a change of wind to strong northerly, I confidently expected to be swatting off the migrants on Wednesday morning. But it didn't happen. Why? I don't know for sure, but I suspect these pictures taken on Wednesday tell the answer



Wednesday was brilliantly clear and sunny. Any incoming migrant could see all of Hong Kong and the surrounding islands (the photo shows Dangan Island behind the SE Peninsular of Po Toi). So why choose the speck of Po Toi when so much is on offer? I guess most incoming migrants simply by-passed Po Toi. The result was a generally poor week for species numbers.



Some migrants did come in, I think having landed on the surrounding islands and later started to move off in a NE direction. These birds usually appear from mid-morning onwards to late afternoon in days after the cold front.

This week, some waders, Grey-tailed Tattler and Wood Sandpiper on Monday and a migrating Curlew sp on Tuesday



The first Indian Cuckoo on Monday, a Black-capped Kingfisher from Tuesday onwards and Dollarbirds on both Wednesday and Thursday



The locals say the cuckoo says 'Hong Kong goh doh' but it can't be a Cantonese bird because there's no 'wah' at the end.

Only a few flycatchers this week. Japanese Paradise Flycatcher on Monday, Mugimaki on Wednesday and Grey-streaked on Thursday



Tristram's Bunting on Tuesday (seen through a fence) and Chestnut Buntings from Wednesday onwards



Last but definitely not least, the Drongo Cuckoo which arrived at lunchtime on Thursday and disturbed a few seafood lunches



Other interesting migrants seen but not photographed were Hodgson's Hawk Cuckoo on Monday, Cinnamon Bittern on Tuesday and Brown Hawk Owl on Thursday.

At sea, quite large numbers of Red-necked Phalarope with some Common and Aleutian Terns all migrating NE and also 2 Gull-billed Terns  and a Swinhoe's Egret on Monday, 2 Black-naped Terns on Wednesday and a Bridled Tern on Thursday.

Finally, a Ching Ming fire last Sunday destroyed most of the grass scrub on the SE Peninsular. Fortunately not a bird-rich area. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to recover - new grass was already sprouting after the Tuesday night rain



[ Last edited by wgeoff at 15/12/2009 05:33 ]

wgeoff

The big numbers of Chinese Goshawks were on 15th and 16th April last year. The cold front passed over on 13th but was held up for 3 days over the Luzon Strait and passed away late on 16th April. Although the weather on 15th and 16th was reasonable, it was very misty, only part of Po Toi was visible from the sky and was probably the first land that could be seen by a migrating bird (not at all like this week).

The Goshawks came down through the mist, from about 10am onwards for two hours, and formed large flocks over the top of Po Toi. It was a magic sight, they just materialised before your eyes, first none, then a few then tens and then hundreds. Unforgettable.

There were none on 17th and 18th.

wgeoff

A good week, but still no really big falls of migrants since 10th April. As usual, the best day was the day after the cold front passed through. What a spectacular cold front, day turned to night just after 11am on 24th, not much birdwatching was possible for the rest of the day.



Bird of the week was the Malayan Night Heron on Wednesday, found by Kwok Jai, seen by others but not by me. Other good birds that day were an Osprey, the first simillima Yellow Wagtail and Oriental Turtle Dove of spring, all early morning on the SE Peninsular, and later in the day as birds started to accumulate, a very late Ferruginous Flycatcher (the latest in Avifauna is 16th April) and the first ever Intermediate Egret to stop on the island.



Earlier in the week, female Yellow-breasted and male Chestnut Buntings, together with the second Purple-backed Starling of spring (extremely rare in spring according to Avifauna but also seen on Po Toi last spring), Eyebrowed Thrushes and a late Blackbird which were around all week and on Thursday my first Black-naped Oriole with a Pechora Pipit (no photo).



I should be used to seeing birds in unusual circumstances but the sandpiper which landed on the rocks beside me as I was seawatching on the SE Peninsular on Monday evening caught me out. It was clearly exhausted, just stood where it landed and fell asleep (first photo). I id'd it as a Red-necked Stint and left it alone. To my surprise, it was still there on Tuesday morning but now feeding on the rocky shoreline. With this behaviour and the long wing extension, I started to imagine it was something else until Paul Leader pointed out, a sandpiper with a red neck is likely to be a Red-necked.



At sea, 5 Pomarine Skuas and 1 Arctic Skua on Sunday evening, with 9 Greater Crested Terns, all flying NE.

That's all for this week - please note the changes to the ferry schedule for the next two weeks, I have posted the details elsewhere.

[ Last edited by wgeoff at 15/12/2009 05:35 ]

wgeoff

Light winds all week - not good conditions for spring migrants on Po Toi, we need a strong overnight blow from the east. Generally low species numbers as a result, except on Tuesday when birds were coming in, I believe from the surrounding islands. They don't stay long under these conditions and by the end of the week, only a few stragglers and the longer staying migrants such as egrets remained.



There were some excellent birds on Tuesday, the Malayan Night Heron seen again (but not later in the week), good views of a very late Eastern Crowned Warbler early in the day, Chinese Goshawks flying over and on the island (but not in the numbers seen on Lamma), Blue-tailed Bee-eaters flying over, an Oriental Reed Warbler, the Yellow-browed Bunting and for me, at least as good, a male Yellow-breasted Bunting late evening on the SE Peninsular



Numbers went down from Tuesday on, but the week ended with at least 13 Arctic Warblers on Thursday, 10 in one tree alone.

Visible migrants coming in included many Yellow Wagtails (all simillima/tschutschensis) and going out, Japanese White-eye, Chinese Bulbul, Black and Hair-crested Drongo and the first ever sighting of migrant Crested Mynas, a flock of 29 which flew off to the NE on Wednesday evening. I think these are more dispersals than true migration, but interesting nevertheless.



Sea watching early on Monday morning was good with the first 4 Short-tailed Shearwaters of the year, 2 Pomarine and 2 Long-tailed Skuas and the first Whiskered Terns of spring. Here the first of the Short-tailed Shearwaters followed by a pair and the final bird, close enough to see the underwing pattern on the photo. Also a Long-tailed Skua making a successful attack on a Black Kite.



Several flocks of migrant waders, here Red Knot and Curlew, together with a group of 4 Ruddy Turnstone on the S rocks, one of which has an Australian leg flag



Finally, on Wednesday evening, a very late immature large gull, which I think from the small head, evenly dark brown upperwing and white upper tail is an immature Black-tailed Gull. Avifauna says they have been seen in Hong Kong as late as June.



Don't forget, next week is Tin Hau Festival Week on Po Toi, Saturday to Thursday, special ferry timetable (see elsewhere), dragon boats, Chinese opera, hundreds of people but all in the harbour area. Good luck.

[ Last edited by wgeoff at 15/12/2009 05:37 ]

wgeoff

A poor week for migrant species this week, a combination of not being able to stay overnight, coming towards the end of the migration season but mostly the weather was too good for migrants to stop on the island.



New species for the week included a Plain Prinia, first for spring, and a Common Myna, first for Po Toi for me but another is mentioned in Avifauna



Regular species include Indian Cuckoo, Arctic Warbler, Grey-streaked Flycatcher, Brown Shrike and Chinese Goshawk present all week.
I think one of these is the same Chinese Goshawk that was rescued from the fishing pot last week by Winnie and Sammy. It looks a lot better now, congratulations to them

  

Not much time for sea-watching, but 4 Black-naped Terns were present around the harbour all week, and a single Arctic Skua passed my sea-watching point on Thursday

  

Finally, some photos from the Tin Hau Festival, which was obviously very successful this year



particularly for the owners of the restaurant!

[ Last edited by wgeoff at 15/12/2009 05:39 ]

wgeoff

I have split the week this week, will be going back on Thursday.

Some recovery in species numbers, although this probably represents not being able to stay on the island last week. certainly the clear weather this week so far has not been good for new species to arrive.



The common spring migrants at this time in May are Arctic Warbler (max 13 per day), Brown Shrike (max 14), Grey-streaked Flycatcher (only 1 all week) and Yellow Wagtail (max 9). Arctic Warblers pass through very quickly, most only staying one day. Brown Shrikes and Yellow Wagtails are more leisurely, usually staying a few days and Grey-streaked Flycatchers may stay a week or more.

There is a lot of variation in the underbody plumage of Arctic Warblers, from grey to bright yellow. Here a mid-yellow bird. Brown Shrikes are 99.9% lucionensis, but this bird with a distinctly brown head may be confusus (photo was over-exposed so head colour is not so obvious as the real bird).



Grey-streaked Flycatchers differ in the amount and size of streaks, this week's bird was very spotty. Yellow Wagtails seem to be all simillima.



More unusual birds this week were the Grey-headed Lapwing which flew in off the sea on Sunday evening and the White-cheeked Starling which arrived on Sunday and was still there yesterday. Both these birds are very late records according to Avifauna. Also a White-breasted Waterhen (no photo) which spent Sunday on the SE Peninsular, an unusual record for Po Toi and clearly a migrant bird.



A Yellow-fronted Canary arrived on Tuesday 15th, one day later than a similar bird in 2006. Not a coincidence I think, probably the same bird which has established some sort of migration route. Another bird arrived at the end of May last year and the two paired, interesting to see if that happens again this year.



On the sea, the unknown shearwater on Monday (I now believe this bird was a Bulwer's Petrel) was the highlight, here two photos together with a Short-tailed Shearwater for comparison. Up to 10 Short-tailed were seen each morning and evening, together with migrating Whiskered and White-winged Terns, also some Bridled and a few Great Crested and another Black-tailed Gull.



[ Last edited by wgeoff at 15/12/2009 05:44 ]

wgeoff

I don't know what the weather system which brought all the rain early this week is called, but it effectively acted as a cold front, bringing in many new migrants from Sunday onwards



Birds mostly affected were egrets and bitterns, on Sunday evening when I arrived back on Po Toi they were lined up in all the tall trees



By Monday morning there were more than 100 egrets and bitterns on the island. 2, possibly 3 Black Bitterns, here two different birds, one flying over the football field and one in the lagoon behind the restaurant



At least 3 Schrenck's Bitterns, here a male on Monday with a superb white moustache



and a female on Wednesday



At least 17 Yellow Bitterns on Monday all around the island



as well as many Cattle Egrets, Pond Herons, a few Little and Intermediate Egrets, a Cinnamon Bittern and at least 2 Striated Herons.

Also brought in were a female Swinhoe's Minivet (looking very wet), 30 Brown Shrikes including this brown headed bird and 5 Grey-streaked Flycatchers



No photo of the Cinnamon Bittern, the Lanceolated Warbler and the Black-faced Bunting, all on Tuesday or the Thick-billed Warbler last Thursday.

Not much time for sea-watching between the heavy downpours, but I did have 2 Short-tailed Shearwaters on Tuesday and Wednesday, also the first Roseate Terns on Wednesday.

Birds started to leave the island even on Monday night, by today (Wednesday), only about 20 egrets and bitterns were left, no sign of any Black Bittern but 1 Schrenck's and the Cinnamon Bittern still around.

Good luck to those going tomorrow, don't forget your mosquito repellant!

[ Last edited by wgeoff at 15/12/2009 05:42 ]

wgeoff

Thanks Ken.

Species numbers continued to fall this week as the spring migration draws to a close.



On Monday, six species of bittern/heron were feeding around the lagoon, Black-crowned Night Heron, Chinese Pond Heron, Striated Heron, Yellow, Schrenck's and Black Bittern



I did not see the Black Bittern after Monday, or the Schrenck's Bittern after Tuesday when I saw this female near the cafe at the top of the steps



A very confiding pair of Red Turtle Doves were still present today, also around the cafe

  

No photo of the crake (Brown?) seen crossing the dirt path after the cafe on Sunday. I have a photo of the very late male Black-faced Bunting also on this path on Tuesday but it's too poor even for me to show. The last Arctic Warbler was on Saturday, and the last Yellow Wagtail on Sunday, the last Brown Shrike and Grey-streaked Flycatcher the previous week.

But stars of the show for the whole week were the Yellow Bitterns which seem to come in a variety of shapes, sizes and expressions, mostly pretty fierce



Their numbers were down to only a few today.

This is the end of Po Toi 2007 Spring for me. It had a good start and a good end but the middle was a bit slow.

2007 Summer starts next week.

[ Last edited by wgeoff at 15/12/2009 05:46 ]