Yesterday afternoon we were relaxing at home in Sai Kung and I had my camera out in case our resident garden Long-tailed shrike perched out in the open. Within 30 minutes I added two birds to my garden list, both totally unexpected. Firstly, a White-breasted waterhen was seen (but not photographed) scuttling rapidly along the path. It reappeared an hour later and was heard again a third time late in the afternoon. Around the same time a Chinese Pond Heron landed in the garden - photograph here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29954808@N00/8041914529/
The Avifauna says CPH is "common and present all year, though with an undetermined migratory element.
There is also some suggestion that White-breasted waterhen is migratory in China: "In China it breeds south of the Yellow River; birds in southern coastal areas are resident while more northerly birds are migratory."
I wondered whether these garden visitors might be migrants or just a coincidence that two species had wandered locally at the same time. These are the first sightings in our garden since we moved here in December 20009. Neither has been seen or heard this morning.
