Pelagic birding & Po Toi
1/4/2023 - Southern waters of Hong Kong (0700-1030)
I signed up for a group pelagic birding trip with other birders and boarded a small yacht at Aberdeen Pier early in the morning. We sailed out towards the Southern waters of Hong Kong at 7AM sharp.
Winds were already howling by the time we set off, the weather forecast predicted rainfall in the morning today. And lo and behold, droplets started pouring down once we left the docks, the only time the weather forecast decides to be accurate is the one time when I go pelagic birding lol. Rainfall and hefty winds make a deadly combination, sending a barrage of liquid bullets flying, covering my face and camera lens with rainwater. It was extremely annoying needing to clean my camera lens every 2 minutes.
As this was my first time pelagic birding, I had no idea what to expect, and I certainly underestimated the difficulty of the sport. Spotting the birds itself among a vast ocean itself was already an impossible task, forget tracking, focusing and taking photos of birds atop a boat being tossed around by turbulent waves.
There were two instances where a small flock of terns were spotted and a single red-necked phalarope was seen at sea. I missed everything. The autofocus on my camera was way too slow to catch anything, and tracking a seabird flying close to the ocean surface on a moving yacht is no easy feat either. I truly underestimated the difficulty of pelagic birding.
Just as I was feeling hopeless about the situation, the captain informed us of the decision to board the nearby Po Toi island instead as the morning proved to be very unproductive with little to no seabirds to say the least.
1/4/2023 - Po Toi island (1100-1300)
Everyone immediately noticed the presence of many birds-of-prey after the boat pulled into the bay of Po Toi at 11AM. Someone on the boat pointed out that they were gray-faced buzzards, and we counted around 11 upon landing. I decided to head the the sisters’ cafe right away as there was still at drizzle and I wanted a dry place where I can sit and enjoy a bit of food. However, as I walked into the cafe, a group of birders were already gathered and gawking at something in the trees. Turns out there was a gray-faced buzzard that was resting through the rain on the nearby bamboo forest.
This is the very first perched bird-of-prey I’ve photographed - the gray-faced buzzard
Just as everyone was snapping photos, it surprising flew even closer to the group. Everyone scrambled to get good shots of the gorgeous bird while it stayed perched photogenically.
It is very very rare for raptors to voluntarily approach humans, as they are usually timid
Attention was turned towards the ground after the buzzard flew off shortly after, where a small flock of 3 little buntings were foraging along the footpath that leads out of the sisters’ cafe. It’s always a treat to see these cuties, as they are almost always photogenic little buggers, and you are guaranteed to get great photos out of them. These fella’s bounced up and down a small bush and really put on a show for us birders.
Look closely, at its beak
They were feeding on seeds on the soil
Two adorable little buntings in one photo
Surprises kept on coming, after photographing the buntings for a solid 10 minutes, a huge flock of ashy minivets passed through the sister’s cafe. There were around 30 birds in the bird wave, several landed in close proximity and provided great photographic opportunities
This particularly curious one landed close
A lifer for me!
One soon caught a month and began munching it in close proximity!
The minivets left after a short while, and the group of birders at the sisters’ cafe decided to head to another spot, and I followed. Heading towards Ming Kee seafood restaurant, we stopped as we passed a small bush beside the public toilet. There were people hunched up under all the trees, and I ducked in as well to see what all the commotion was about
It didn’t take me long to adjust to the dim undergrowth, and saw a tiny tiny bird zig-zagging around the place. However, it seemed to return back to the same perch every time after taking off. I waited for it to settle down again before zooming, revealing to me its identity
It’s a ferruginous flycatcher!
Locals call this adorable bird ‘big-eyed cutie’ after its round and massive eyes
I spent a couple minutes with the adorable flycatcher, and then headed out towards the helicopter pad nearby. There weren’t much except some buzzards flying overhead and a few minivets littered across treetops, which I didn’t bother taking photos of as I got many portraits of the species earlier already. As the group was idling around, a bird whizzed passed right in front of me and landed in a tree before us. The blue colour on the bird stood out and I immediately recognised the bird and started firing off shots after shots
A stunning blue and white flycatcher in the rain! The drizzle captured in the photo really brings out the aesthetics of the bird
Apparently a birder flushed it out of the forest nearby and it somehow chose to land right in front of us. What a treat after an uneventful morning!!!
It didn’t stay around for long, but I already got the shots that I wanted and I couldn’t possibly ask for more. Hitting two of the most sought-after and prettiest flycatchers during migration season on the same day was unbelievable, especially on a rainy day. It was genuinely one of the luckiest days of my life and I couldn’t help but smirk while going through the photos on our boat trip back to Hong Kong island
Paid the cutie one last visit before heading out, it was still chilling at the same spot after all that has happened
Spotted this kingfisher by the banks while walking the way back
Can you guess what I spotted at the docks?
A pacific reef heron, one last surprise before boarding the boat
Thank you for reading :)
