This morning dawned cloudy but warm, with 100s of bats flying over the reeds. We blessed them for making even the slightest dent in the mosquito population that was determined to exsanguinate us.

It was a pretty quiet morning, threatening rain, but we were still lucky enough to catch a few Prinias!

Our first Plain Prinia showed a moult limit in the wing- something we don’t often see! In the photo below we can see that there are 6 retained juvenile GCs, and 3 inner GCs (just visible) that have been moulted. The middle and outer tertial have also been moulted, contrasting to the innermost tertial and secondaries/primaries, that are old, worn and bleached. This, coupled with a non-pneumatised skull tells us that this is a 1st calendar year bird.

Next up we had a Common Tailorbird (below). This bird also presented a not fully pneumatised skull, revealing that this bird is also a 1st calendar year.

As the morning drew on, the birds quietened, so we resigned ourselves to saving the dragonflies from the nets, with a few beautiful species!

Also while checking the nets, we found a beautiful snake skin from a Chinese Cobra!

Back to the birds, and the next up were a Yellow-bellied Prinia and a Plain Prinia (below).

This again provides a nice comparison of the two species, which, as mentioned before, are best separated between the thickness of the bill. The Plain Prinia (in the background) has a chunkier bill with a shorter appearance, while the Yellow-bellied Prinia (in front) shows a slimmer, more needle-like bill.

Daily Totals

*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.*