Located in the southernmost waters of Hong Kong, and often referred to as the territory’s South Pole, Po Toi is a rocky, rugged island of around 1 square mile, dotted with villages, woodlands, and ancient rock carvings. In the 1960’s, the island was home to around a thousand fisherman, farmers and craftsmen and their families, but most of the population has since immigrated to the city for better job opportunities. Po Toi is an excellent birding destination during migratory bird season (late September- early December and late March- early May), with over 350 species recorded!

Experts believe the diversity of birds is because this island is often the first piece of land encountered by birds migrating over the South China Sea, and provides a valuable rest stop to them. In my five years in Hong Kong, I’ve been to Po Toi seven times for camping, hiking and on junk trips.

However, this was my very first time birding on the island. After hearing about the arrival of colorful migratory flycatchers on Po Toi this past week, along with other passage migrants, I knew I couldn’t miss going. Though my birding session today started off slow and I didn’t see many species altogether, I ended up with two lifers and a nice day out.

On Saturdays, only 1 ferry a day departs from Stanley to Po Toi at 1:20 pm. After wolfing down a quick lunch nearby, I arrived at Blake Pier and waited for the ferry to arrive. Many people were fishing off the pier, some of them landing baby reef fish. After departing the dock, it was around a 30-minute journey over choppy open water to Po Toi. It was extremely foggy off the Stanley coast, which made me worried about the weather farther on. Luckily by the time the ferry arrived at the island, the weather had changed from dense fog to hazy sunshine. There were several Pacific Reef Herons on some rocks adjacent to the ferry pier at Po Toi.

I walked from the pier all the way to the Feng Shui forest behind the main village, which was apparently the place to see migratory flycatchers, cuckoos and minivets on the island. I wasn’t alone today: about ten other birdwatchers were glancing at a distant tree with their binoculars at a clearing between the village and forest. They said a Crested Goshawk made an appearance several minutes prior, but I was unfortunately a little too late to see it. I tailed a group of birders onto a side trail into the forest where they were following the song of a Blue-and-White Flycatcher, just one of the many striking birds that migrate through Po Toi. Twenty minutes passed, and no flycatcher could be seen, so we travelled back to the main clearing. For the next hour, I searched around the Feng Shui forest, seeing little bird activity beyond Red-Whiskered Bulbuls and Black Kites. One interesting thing I saw in the forest was a racer snake that made an extremely brief appearance near a rocky stream. Around 3 pm, I was getting really hot and decided to try my luck near the ferry pier. I came to another group of birders who were playing the song of a Narcissus Flycatcher on their iPhones to try and bring this elusive bird out of the forest. We waited a good ten minutes, and then there it was, high up a nearby tree! Strikingly beautiful, with a sunset-color breast, the Narcissus Flycatcher has to be one of my favorite birds I’ve seen in Hong Kong. They’re also quite rare in the region, so this was an awesome encounter.

We observed the bird for about 10 minutes before it disappeared. I left the group of birders afterward (which had grown to about 20 people after they caught word of our sighting), to check the pier for any additional birds. I saw some House Swifts, and the two Pacific Reef Herons from when I arrived. I walked back to the forest to check if any flycatchers were active, but nothing was there. At this point, it was 3:45 and the ferry was arriving so I headed back and departed the island. On the ferry ride home, several Black Kites soared close to the boat. As we were passing the Stanley headland, us birders on the ferry caught sight of a White-Bellied Sea Eagle perched on a boulder along the coast. This eagle was a lifer for me and one of the only birds of prey I’ve seen in Hong Kong besides Black Kites. What a nice surprise!

My boat arrived in Stanley shortly after, and I headed home. Not too bad a day, but a bit underwhelming how few birds I saw. While I know Po Toi birders have had better days, I’m not too sure I’d want to head back to the island this year for birding when I can birdwatch in better areas like Tai Po Kau or Mai Po. However, I’ll consider giving it a try before the spring migratory season ends. Anyway, thanks for reading as always and stay tuned,

-Bennett

Bird Species Recorded: (7 species total including 2 lifers)

White-Bellied Sea Eagle (Lifer)

Narcissus Flycatcher (Lifer)

Red-Whiskered Bulbul

Pacific Reef Heron

House Swift

Black Kite

Eurasian Tree Sparrow