Southern Cassowary

Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) is one of the very few extant members of ratites which is a group of flightless birds in the order Struthioniformes. The other members are all quite well known including Kiwi, Ostrich and Emu. They are primitive group of birds originated from Godwana and were once a very diverse group. However, as most of them require great home range and vulnerable to human settlement, urban development and persecution, many of them had gone extinct. Unlike Ostrich and Emu, Southern Cassowary inhabits forests which mainly forages on the forest ground for fallen fruits. It occurs in Southern Papua New Guinea and Northeastern Queensland, Australia. Its population in Wet Tropics in Queensland is, however, facing habitat loss which is a major threat to the population. The Australian population is therefore listed as endangered under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and the Queensland Nature Conservation Act.

This spectacular species is on the top of my target birding list for the Australian trip. However it is a nocturnal or crepuscular species which is somewhat difficult to see during the daytime. Fortunately, with the aid of a ornithologist from CSIRO based in the Wet Tropics, I finally saw a father with three juveniles in a resort at Mission Beach, one day before returning to Hong Kong.

It is interesting to note that the breeding behavior of Southern Cassowary is unlike other birds, where the female birds or both parents are responsible to nurture the chicks. Female bird of Southern Cassowary will leave her partner immediately once after laying the eggs. The male bird will then be responsible for incubating the eggs and looking after the chicks after hatching. Male Southern Cassowary is highly territorial which will patrol its territory and forage with its chicks. The above pictures show a father with three chicks foraging at the backyard of a beach resort. They were quite curious of what we were doing when we met each other. People seeing Cassowary have to bear in mind that they are potentially dangerous to human where there are reports of people being killed by this huge bird.

P.S. Southern Cassowary is listed in the interesting book <100 birds to see before you die>. Three ratites are in the list that the other two are Common Ostrich and Southern Brown Kiwi. This encourages me to dig out pictures of Common Ostrich..

Spectacular scenery in Nam Sang Wai

It's not wise to visit Nam Sang Wai during overcast day if you would like to spend a morning there to enjoy photographing birds. They could hardly stand out from the background as sunlight is unavailable. Tide was particularly low during my visit today and it's a pity that fish boat had interrupted and flushed the large flocks of ducks away. Fortunately the early morning light is great enough to paint the sky, offering a special chance of seeing rosy clouds.

Diversity of birds was disappointing today. I personally enjoy seeing Black-faced Spoonbill pretty much and they gave me several decent views which excited me a bit.

Grey Heron seems not easy-going which usually acts quite fierce to other smaller birds.

Black-headed Gull is the most abundant gull species wintering in Hong Kong.

Wake up early and you'll see something different.

Birding at Nam Sang Wai, Hong Kong

Nam Sang Wai is a wetland located at the northwestern part of Hong Kong, which is a part of inner Deep Bay area. It is a famous place for birdwatching which houses quite a lot of waterbirds including gulls, ducks, cormorants, avocets and egrets, particularly in winter. It worths you spending a day there to enjoy the fun of birdwatching as the diversity of the birds is usually satisfactory. Most birds could be seen at low tide, at about 0.5 to 1 m.

Even during the weekday, there are still quite a lot of photographers, carrying loads of gears, stationing at the estuary for bird-photography.

Northern Pintail is a common wintering duck species in Hong Kong. It is comparatively large to other ducks and is recognized by its longer neck, rounded head and pointed tail. Males are distinctive. They usually arrive Hong Kong in late October and leave in early April.

Northern Shoveler is another common winter visitor in Deep Bay. It is slightly smaller than Northern Pintail, reaching about 50 cm length. Its broad spatulate bill is diagnostic which makes it one of the easiest duck to identify.

Heuglin's Gull is the most abundant large gull wintering in Hong Kong. Identifying large gulls is always difficult even to the experts which requires intensive practices.

Nam Sang Wai is one of the magor night roosting sites of Great Cormorants, where generally holds over 3,000 Cormorants in winters.

Black-faced Spoonbill, a well-known endangered species according to the IUCN Redlist, could commonly be seen in Nam Sang Wai during winter. You should grap a chance to see this spectacular species if you haven't seen it yet!

Pied Avocets are feeding on the intertidal mudflat.

Birdwatching in a chilling winter could still be pleasant and enjoyable!

Chicks of Barn Swallow

Chicks of Barn Swallow had been seen waiting and seeking for food in their nest desperately. This is a fantastic scene to see!

Breeding Swallows in Hong Kong

Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) is an abundant passage migrant in Hong Kong especially in Spring while some are summer visitors which breed in Hong Kong. It nests in a variety of places which has a widespread breeding distribution in Hong Kong. Nesting birds are thought bringing fortune and they are used to be protected by local people in Hong Kong.

Red-rumped Swallow (Hirundo daurica) is used to be an uncommon passage migrants and also winter visitors in Hong Kong. It is also found to be a breeding species in Hong Kong recently which nests in northern New Terrestories. The architecture of its nest is different from that of Barn Swallow which could be easily identified.

Black-headed Bunting (Emberiza melanocephala)

Black-headed Bunting is a passerine bird which breeds in Southeast Europe east to Iran and winters in India. It occassionally occurs in South China including Hong Kong, averaging 1-2 individuals per year. This individual is a female bird wandered to Hong Kong from about 16th Nov to 19th Nov 2008. Its occurrence attracted many birdwatchers and photographers to visit it.

Buntings is a group of birds belonging to the family Emberizidae which is phylogenically closed to finches, Fringillidae. Buntings is seed-eating birds. This hungry passerine was attracted to spend a lot of time on consuming a locally common weed, Digitaria sanguinalis, in Long Valley.

Brown Crake (Amaurornis akool)

Brown Crake is probably a rare resident or irregular visitor to Hong Kong that was found breeding in Hong Kong. Its occurrence would attract crowd of people to visit it and photograph it. Disclosure of its location would bring pressure to not only the bird, but also the residents operating the fish pond. Birdwatchers or bird-photographers should respect and understand the others in order to establish a positive image for themselves. It's all about self-discipline.

Targets 2009

It's time to set some targets for plants at the start of 2009:

Tsoongiodendron odorum	觀光木
Rehderodendron kwangtungense	廣東木瓜紅
Castanopsis fordii	毛錐
Stauntonia decora	翅野木瓜
Sabia swinhoei	尖葉清風藤
Millettia pachycarpa	厚果崖豆藤
Diospyros tsangii	廷平柿
Hartia villosa	毛折柄茶
Ternstroemia kwangtungensis	廣東厚皮香
Strychnos cathayensis	華馬錢

and also for birds..

Fujian Niltava

Yellow-browed Bunting

Sulphur-breasted Warbler

Bay Woodpecker

Large Grass Warbler

Russet Bush Warbler

Dusky Thrush

Pectoral Sandpiper

Lanceolated Warbler

Greater Scaup

Japanese Robin

Birding in Long Valley, HK

Red-billed Starling (Sturnus sericeus)

Troops of Red-billed Starling flying around with loud noise are commonly seen in the winter in Hong Kong. They are believed to be winter visitors including passage migrants whose number reaches the peak during the first two weeks of November.

Pay attention if there is any other starlings mixing with the large flocks!

Crested Mynah (Acridotheres cristatellus)

Crested Mynah is distributed through central and southern China and it is a common resident occurring throughout Hong Kong. It mainly inhabits agricultural areas, around fish ponds, villages and urban areas.

Local birdwatchers have seen that Crested Mynah attempted to kleptoparasitise Chinese Pond Heron deliberately. (This is a common breeding habit of cuckoos)

It is very social which are typically seen in flocks. The highest count of the aggregation recorded in Hong Kong was 600 at Chek Lap Kok on 7th Oct 07 according to "The Avifauna of Hong Kong".

Ferruginous Flycatcher (Muscicapa ferruginea)

Genus Muscicapa (Muscicapidae) is a kind of old world flycatchers consisting about 25 spp. They are widespread along Europe, Africa and Asia. Most of them are migratory and they mostly prefer forest and woodland habitats. Muscicapa flycatchers mainly feed on flying insects which are caught by sallying out from an exposed perch. Other Muscicapa flycatchers occuring in Hong Kong include Asian Brown Flycatcher, Grey-streaked Flycatcher, Dark-sided Flycatcher and Brown-breasted Flycatcher.

Ferruginous flycatcher (Muscicapa ferruginea) is a monotypic species which breeds from the Himalayas east to central and western China and Taiwan. It winters in Sumatra and the Philippines.

A scarce spring migrant with only a few autumn records in Hong Kong.