Archivos de diario de febrero 2023

11 de febrero de 2023

Winter at Wu Kau Tang

Wu Kau Tang (烏蛟騰), a village in the Northeastern New Territories, lies at the beginning of Plover Cove Country Park (船灣郊野公園), one of the least developed areas in the territory. Although relatively remote, the village is served by a green minibus service (20R from Tai Po) and there is a small car park at the end of the road, supplemented by parking spaces along the road linking the village to Bride's Pool Road.
The area has become known for harbouring birds which are otherwise uncommon in Hong Kong, such as the Barred Cuckoo-dove. The Common Rosefinch (not so common in Hong Kong) winters around the village, as do buntings such as Little, Black-faced and Tristram's Bunting.
Two birds which are common in Taiwan but uncommon in Hong Kong are resident here: the garrulous Gray Treepie, a relative of the crows and magpies, and the Black Bulbul. Two subspecies of Black Bulbul occur locally, sometimes flocking together in winter: the all-black 'nigerrimus' and the handsome white-headed 'leucocephalus'.

Publicado el febrero 11, 2023 12:11 TARDE por stephenmatthews stephenmatthews | 6 observaciones | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

28 de febrero de 2023

Season of sunbirds

Sunbirds are an Old Word tropical family, occupying the nectar-feeding niche held by hummingbirds in the New World and resembling them through convergent evolution. Tropical regions like Singapore and Malaysia have numerous species - indeed the Crimson Sunbird is the unofficial National Bird of Singapore. Sub-tropical Hong Kong has only one resident species, the Fork-tailed Sunbird, which survives year-round by feeding on a wide variety of flowering plants according to the season. This month they have been feeding on blossoms of Bauhinia, a symbol of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Other sunbirds are occasional visitors. The Olive-backed Sunbird (later renamed as Ornate Sunbird following a species split) makes sporadic visits. One or two recently appeared at Shek Kong where they too were feeding on Bauhinia blossoms.
The most spectacular of the visiting sunbirds is Mrs Gould's Sunbird, a large, long-tailed and (if male) colourful species which passes through in early spring to feed on coral trees, Erythrina sp. Whereas it is usually recorded at Tai Po Kau, a male recently appeared at Lung Fu Shan on Hong Kong Island where there is a stand of these exotic trees. The scarlet-breasted subspecies dabryii breeds in southwest China, some distance to the west of Hong Kong, raising the intriguing possibility that these birds make an annual detour specifically to feed on our coral trees.

Publicado el febrero 28, 2023 03:25 MAÑANA por stephenmatthews stephenmatthews | 3 observaciones | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario