brendank

June 2 & 3

I'm not ready to give up on Spring. I decided to stay over on Po Toi this weekend for seabirds and it was quite impressive.

Similar to Geoff last week best bird was a seabird flying South this morning. I knew it was exciting because as Geoff mentioned almost all birds on Po Toi fly North. The bird had a very unique flight style. Gliding for about 15-20 seconds with wings held slightly bowed down. When gliding very buoyant banking from left to right and up and down erratically almost like a swift. Wingbeats from horizontal to very deep down. Bird was about Aleutian Tern size, with very long wings with wrist held slightly forward. All black except for a brown carpal bar on upperwings. Underwings black. The flight style and shape seemed like a perfect match for videos of Bulwer's Petrel I have watched. Due to the distance I was unable to get a photo.

In addition to the Petrel seabirding was very rewarding. Saturday night I had a Short-tailed Shearwater and a Black-tailed Gull. Sunday morning was excellent given the late date. 5 Short-tailed shearwater, 3 Long-tailed Jaeger, a Parasitic Jaeger, 26 Aleutian, 2 Gull-billed, 4 Greater Crested and 3 Little Terns. Also two Grey Plovers were unexpected. The Long-tailed Jaeger appeared to be hunting in the area because I saw it quite close to land flying north then it turned around and headed south. Two more Long-tailed passed by a few minutes later. Quite a
lot of Bridled Terns still. I  don't know whether there are some migrants mixed in with breeding birds. Afternoon seawatching was more quiet. Another Greater Crested and 6 Aleutian Terns.

Here are photos of a Shearwater, the Black-tailed Gull, a Long-tailed and the Parasitic Jaeger and two Aleutian Terns.

shearwater.JPG (37.32 KB)

3/06/2012 22:03

gull.JPG (35.84 KB)

3/06/2012 22:03

longtailed.JPG (34.66 KB)

3/06/2012 22:03

parasitic.JPG (32.28 KB)

3/06/2012 22:03

aleutian.JPG (29 KB)

3/06/2012 22:03

On land a Brown Shrike on Saturday, a Silky Starling today and a late Black-faced Bunting in Columbarium today and yesterday. One or two Yellow Bitterns around as well.

shrike.JPG (38.63 KB)

3/06/2012 22:03

bfbunting.JPG (46.41 KB)

3/06/2012 22:03

[ Last edited by brendank at 4/06/2012 11:16 ]

wgeoff

A great weekend for Brendan.

I think the number of seabirds seen in late May and now early June this year is probably related to a long sequence of strong easterly winds, mostly between force 4 and 6, which started on 21 May and continues even today (although this may be the last day, according to the forecast). This is very unusual at this time of the year. It seems likely that strong easterlies push seabirds either migrating or even foraging in the northern part of the South China Sea closer to Hong Kong waters. In the same way, the lack of easterly/northerly winds in April this year which gave us such a poor landbird spring also gave us a relatively poor April for seabirds but we are certainly making up for that now.

Unfortunately I can't go to Po Toi this week due to other commitments. I usually regard June as a safe month to be doing something else.

[ Last edited by wgeoff at 4/06/2012 15:39 ]

brendank

Thanks, it does seem like the prevailing winds must have something to do with it.

For Aleutian Terns it seems to be a very good year for them since this is the fourth strait month they have been recorded. Short-tailed Shearwaters seem to have had a rather uniform migration this year with daily mid-single digit numbers since the end of April. I expect we are now catching the tail end of it. The Jaegers were a bit more surprising to me. I saw some Jeagers April 14 then none in late April to mid May then one last weekend and four yesterday.

kmike

Great to see enterprise rewarded - it would be great if you can make a decent case for Bulwer's Petrel!

Cheers
Mike

brendank

Thanks, Mike. I have submitted a report of the record. We will wait and see but I don't expect it will be joining the Hong Kong list yet. Someday hopefully we will get one with some excellent photos.

ajohn

Bulwer's Petrel is already on the Hong Kong list, on the basis of a bird picked up last year in Kowloon. See the RC report here: http://www.hkbws.org.hk/BBS/view ... &extra=page%3D1

brendank

Thanks, I missed that report.

brendank

9 & 10 June 2012

I may not want to give up on spring migration but seems the birds have.

Yesterday, seawatching was quite slow other than ever present Bridal Terns, which seem to be very common off Po Toi this year, including a group of 14 just off the South Point. One distant tern looked all dark. Possibly a Sooty Tern but impossible to be certain given the distance.

A more definite but less comforting sighting was a giant centipede on the floor of the house. Better on the floor than me I suppose but my night's sleep was a bit less restful as a result.  

Sunday morning seawatching was also slow. An adult Black-tailed Gull, quite likely the one I saw last weekend, was the only non-resident seabird.

On land just two Yellow Bitterns in the Columbarium.

The rocky outcrop seen from the ferry has nesting Roseate and Black-naped Terns although surprisingly given how common they are this year no Bridled Terns.

bridles.JPG (45.25 KB)

10/06/2012 18:48

terns.JPG (62.8 KB)

10/06/2012 18:48

brendank

17 June 2012

One and possibly two Yellow Bitterns remain in the Columbarium. I would say habitat is good for breeding right now.

Despite strong ESE winds nothing at sea in the afternoon except the ever present Bridled Terns.

wgeoff

It might be good to be there tomorrow (Monday) when this Tropical Storm passes HK to the south.

But I guess we will never know.