The warm weather is back again, and brought with it another slower day. However, just after opening the nets we came back to discover three Hainan Blue Flycatchers in the net!
Though none of them were particularly blue, this was still exciting, as it turned out to be one adult female, and two babies (1st calendar year) birds! The two showed all juvenile feathers, and have most likely not begun their post-juvenile moult yet.
The adult female showed a uniform tail, but was missing its outermost GCs, and 3 innermost primaries. As this doesn’t match up to how birds usually moult, it is likely this has occurred due to damage, for example while trying to escape predators in the wild. This therefore does not help us with the ageing. However, due to the lack of any retained juvenile feathers, we can conclude this is a 3rd calendar year or older.
The day continued, warm as ever, with just a Common Tailorbird and Mountain Bulbul in the nets. And then, later in the afternoon, another nice bird; a juvenile Lesser Shortwing!
This was another young bird that most likely has not begun its post-juvenile moult yet. We can see here that GC 3, 6 and 8 that are visible are already broken, most likely from the poor quality of juvenile feathers.
A nice, albeit slow day!
Daily Totals
| Species | Original | Recapture |
| Common Tailorbird | 1 | 0 |
| Hainan Blue Flycatcher | 3 | 0 |
| Lesser Shortwing | 1 | 0 |
| Mountain Bulbul | 1 | 0 |
*Please note that all wild birds are protected under Hong Kong Law. All ringing activities are conducted with the necessary permits issued by the AFCD. Handling and processing of birds is only carried out by experienced individuals.*
