The clouds had rolled in this morning, leaving us working in a cool and humid wetland, with the calm only broken by the infrequent cooing of a Great Coucal hiding somewhere in the reeds.
Though the cold did not have enough of a bite to wake us from that morning feeling, the hooked beak of our resident dark-morph Long-tailed Shrike most certainly was. This bird was first ringed by us on the 11th January 2022, meaning it is an adult bird (3rd calendar year or older). It shows a uniform adult-type wing and tail, with no moult limits, although determining this while that hooked bill is made for piercing and ripping flesh was rather difficult (hence the gloves). We all now sport a few extra finger scars…
After tending to our wounds, we continued the day with one of our favourite overwintering guests- a young male Little Bunting! He showed a pointy juvenile tail, and a dark, contrasting crown and ear coverts.
As the sun rose, we ended with one of our largest Thrush species- a White’s Thrush! Though the mesmerising pattern of its feathers can make it a little difficult to determine moult limits in the GCs, we can see that this bird has a clear moult limit between the 7th GC (juvenile) and the 8th (postjuvenile), which is much larger and denser.
A nice day (despite the punctures)!
Daily Totals
| Species | Original | Recapture |
| Chinese Bulbul | 1 | 0 |
| Chinese Penduline Tit | 9 | 0 |
| Dusky Warbler | 1 | 3 |
| Grey-backed Thrush | 0 | 1 |
| Little Bunting | 1 | 0 |
| Long-tailed Shrike | 0 | 1 |
| Olive-backed Pipit | 0 | 1 |
| Pale Thrush | 0 | 1 |
| Pallas’s Leaf Warbler | 1 | 0 |
| Plain Prinia | 1 | 1 |
| Siberian Rubythroat | 0 | 1 |
| White’s Thrush | 1 | 0 |
| Yellow-bellied Prinia | 1 | 0 |
*Please note that all wild birds, their nests, and eggs are highly protected (under Wild Animals Protection Ordinate, Cap. 170) in Hong Kong. It is an offence to willfully disturb, take, remove, or injure wild birds or their nests/eggs. The actions described here were undertaken by trained professionals holding the necessary licenses and permits issued by the AFCD.*
