Tree Sparrows in Hong Kong and a Trip to Macau

Friday 10th November and it was off to Gatwick Airport with Julie and Matt for an overnight stay at The Hilton before flying out to Hong Kong for Julies 50th birthday holiday.The drive up to Gatwick was uneventful and along the way the usual red kites were seen soaring overhead by the motorway.

We flew from Gatwick at 11:30am (local time) on Saturday 11th and arrived in Hong Kong at 06:30 am (local time) on Sunday 12th on a 12 hour flight but the jet lag was an absolute bitch and it wasn't until Thursday 16th that I felt back to normal. The weather on arrival wasn't great either with grey skies and rain but it was warm and humid and the sun finally did appear on Thursday when it then became hot and humid but we made the most of it and went out and about to see the sights.

Having visited Hong Kong 9 years ago in 2008 it was interesting to see how it has changed with a lot more building and development going on and a much more Chinese feel. It still remains a bastion of commerce, materialism and consumerism but I do really love the place and its energy and history and its air of Britishness. My previous visit was in September when it had been hot and humid with a typhoon adding to the excitement but a visit in November meant better weather conditions but more tourists so it was much more busy and crowded when out and about. It was also more expensive with just HK$10 to the pound instead of the HK$15 we were getting back in 2008.

Being based in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island again I wasn't expecting to see much in the way of wildlife but managed to see a few birds while out and about - familiar birds such as kingfisher, little egret, grey heron, magpie, cormorant and tree sparrow, more exotic birds like black kite and yellow browed warbler and exotic birds like Chinese bulbul, oriental magpie robin and masked laughing thrush.

Tree Sparrow, Nan Lian Gardens

Masked Laughing Thrush and Tree Sparrow, Kowloon

Chinese Bulbul, Victoria Peak

Red Whiskered Bulbul, Nan Lian Gardens

Japanese White-eye, Nan Lian Gardens

Spotted Dove, Nan Lian Gardens

Juvenile Oriental Magpie Robin, Kowloon Park

We took a day trip to Macau on November 14th, travelling out on a high speed catamaran and returning on a high speed hydrofoil, a trip we made back in 2008 as well, and we had a great day out. Macau has changed even more than Hong Kong with a huge amount of building and development having occurred. A few birds and butterflies were seen as we toured around the old town before heading out to the Macau Tower to watch crazy humans bungee jumping off the top.

 Chinese Bulbuls, Macau

 Tree Sparrows, Macau

Great Egg-fly (Male), Macau

A trip to the Hong Kong Wetland Park on November 16th was a bit of a bust - a late start, dillying and dallying around and a longer journey time than expected meant a very brief visit but it was nice to see how much the plantings had grown and matured since my visit 9 years ago. Not much in the way of birds were seen but a wood sandpiper, a greenshank and a green sandpiper were familiar waders with tufted ducks, shovelers, teals and wigeons also familiar ducks from home. Unfortunately there were no sightings of the black faced spoonbills I had hoped to see but yellow browed warblers were very vocal and I managed some good views of one individual as it responded to my phishing and came very close - in fact yellow browed warblers were vocal everywhere as we travelled around Hong Kong, much more vocal than birds I have seen in the UK, but they mostly kept themselves well hidden.

 Pied Kingfisher, Hong Kong Wetland Park

Black Faced Spoonbill, Hong Kong Wetland Park - the only one I saw!

The birdlife may have been a bit thin on the ground at the park but at  least there were plenty of butterflies flitting about in the hot sunshine although they were absolute swines to try and photograph.

Common Indian Crow

Red Base Jezebel

Ceylon Blue Glassy Tiger

Blue Spotted Crow

Blue Spotted Crow

The highlight for me was a trip to see Indo Pacific humpback dolphins off the island of Lantau on November 15th, a trip we also did back in 2008. The dolphins are a pink colour for unknown reasons and on our previous trip we had some decent but mostly distant views of them but this time they showed much better and much closer, coming right up to the boat and swimming around us. First sighting was an individual leaping out of the water some distance away with 2 more animals swimming nearby. The leaping dolphin moved away but the other 2 moved towards the boat where they stayed for some time giving some good views. They eventually moved away when 3 more dolphins appeared but the 3 kept their distance before moving away too and then it was time for us to head back to port. A great trip on our "western style cruiser" and interesting to see the bridge and tunnels being constructed to link Hong Kong to Macau, a 60km long massive construction project.

Leaping Indo Pacific Humpback Dolphin in front of the new Hong Kong - Macau Bridge 

Indo Pacific Humpback Dolphins

Indo Pacific Humpback Dolphin

Indo Pacific Humpback Dolphins

Indo Pacific Humpback Dolphin

Indo Pacific Humpback Dolphins

Indo Pacific Humpback Dolphins

Indo Pacific Humpback Dolphins

Indo Pacific Humpback Dolphins

And so a great time in Hong Kong was had by all - ate too much food, drank too much booze (despite how expensive alcohol was, thank heavens for 4 hour long Happy Hours!), walked miles and had a good laugh. A great place and great fun but it was time to fly on to Singapore on November 19th for the second part of our trip.