This year has been a rather quiet year for ringing after the end of our Lantau Project, but finally we are back for the autumn! We kicked off our warm morning in the forest, threatening to be rather quiet, but ending with quite a few surprises!
First up was a beautiful Velvet-fronted Nuthatch! This is actually our first for the year, and gorgeous male, identified by the distinct black eyebrow. As usual, these birds show nice, uniform wings at this time of year, making ageing impossible (as there is a high chance juveniles and adults look identical). Therefore, we conclude that this birds is a 1st calendar or older!
Next up was another, even more uncommon capture: a Sulphur-breasted Warbler! This is our first ringing of a Sulphur-breasted Warbler since 2021! Phylloscopus warblers typically have quite a confusing moult, with most having an adult Summer Complete, juvenile summer partial, but some (e.g. Arctic and Two-barred) conducting summer partial moults in Adults and juveniles.
The warm days continued into our second day in the forest, and with them came another rare catch, a Japanese Sparrowhawk! And what was so special about this bird was that, from the multiple generations of feathers in the wing, we could determine this to be an adult male! It is rather rare for us to catch adult sparrowhawks, so this was a nice surprise!
And lastly, but by no means least, we ended our ringing sessions with a beautiful Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher! This is a species we may only be lucky enough to catch once per year, and this little bird never disappoints; with a bill a little too large for its head, they are rather endearing birds. Though their moult is not well-studied, it is likely that they moult similar to most other flycatcher species: Adults Summer Complete, juvenile summer partial. This individual showed a clear moult limit between the first, outermost GC, being more worn and loose, and with a more ginger hue to the fringes, and the inner 9 GCs. Therefore, we can conclude that this was a 1st calendar year bird!
Daily Totals
| Species | Original | Recapture |
| Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher | 1 | 0 |
| Cinereous Tit | 3 | 1 |
| Eastern Crowned Warbler | 1 | 0 |
| Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush | 0 | 1 |
| Grey-chinned Minivet | 2 | 0 |
| Huet’s Fulvetta | 5 | 1 |
| Japanese Sparrowhawk | 1 | 0 |
| Pale-legged Leaf Warbler | 2 | 0 |
| Red-billed Leiothrix | 8 | 2 |
| Rufous-capped Babbler | 1 | 1 |
| Sulphur-breasted Warbler | 1 | 0 |
| Velvet-fronted Nuthatch | 1 | 0 |
| Grand Total | 8 | 4 |
*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 wilfully 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.*
