I am very pleased to have another guest blog….from a fantastic and friendly bloke that I met whilst observing a cat snake in the hills of Tai Mo Shan. Paul can often be found roaming the hills day and night, and as he puts it, he has “a passion for all wildlife and a preference for reptiles”. His photography expertise has grown leaps and bounds, as I am sure you will agree when seeing these pictures. Now, over to Paul.......
Winter is a great time to explore your country trails and look for birds. With many seasonal visitors here over the cooler months, mixed with our resident locals there is a lot of action to look, hear, see and photograph…in that order!
Today I will focus on forest birds I have managed to find over the past couple of weeks while walking the trails of Tai Po Kau. I prefer an early start as many species are up a the crack of dawn foraging and looking for food. My technique is look for wooded areas with trees, bushes & shrubs, especially those in bloom and then listen for any rustling of leaves, moving branches or birds singing, remembering to look down as well as up and side to side. It's a good idea to carry binoculars with you too as it makes the process a little easier, and walking slowly and quietly is a must as you don't want to scare the birds you come across and start over.
Here are three species of Bulbul that are rather noisy and easy to spot, with the Mountain Bulbul being the largest and quietest of the trio.
<Red-whiskered Bulbul>
<Chestnut Bulbul>
<Mountain Bulbul>
Paul's Instagram account name is “dickypa’
Paul Dickson is the General Manager, Beas River Country Club, The Hong Kong Jockey Club. And he has done a great job in working to increase the wildlife diversity around the club property and setting up education programmes for the members and public who visit. Please give me/him/us some feedback so I can invite him back.