Po Toi and southern waters (HKBWS outing)
The highlight for those on the HKBWS boat during today's outing was the strong passage of skuas in southern waters, with 82 seen, all in the afternoon session. We looked for skuas in the morning session, but found none at all, probably because our boat didn't go far enough out to sea. A group of mainland birdwatchers under the care of Carrie Ma were also out in a boat and got much further from land than we did. They recorded a further 23 Long-tailed, 2 Arctic and 6 Pomarine Skuas, all in the morning session. After lunch on Po Toi, they very kindly showed us where to look.
(1) Birds recorded at sea in southern waters by the HKBWS outing group (counts from the morning & afternoon sessions combined):
duck sp 12
Little Egret 25
Cattle Egret 1
Red-necked Phalarope 179
Great Crested Tern 11
Gull-billed Tern 1
Aleutian Tern 3
Common Tern 3
White-winged Tern 1
Long-tailed Skua 55
Arctic Skua 1 (probably more waiting to be identified from photos)
Pomarine Skua 3
unidentified skuas 23
Barn Swallow 1
Chinese Bulbul at least 4 exhausted migrants, seen in the morning somewhere between Shau Kei Wan and Po Toi, still alive but sitting on the sea within c 100 metres of each other, presumably having become disoriented in foggy conditions
(2) Migrants recorded by the group on Po Toi island:
Ashy Minivet 1
Yellow-browed Warbler 2
Dusky Warbler 1
Chestnut-cheeked Starling 1
Silky Starling (Red-billed Starling) √
White-shouldered Starling √
Narcissus Flycatcher 1
Blue-and-white Flycatcher 1
