All quiet on the Eastern Front

Sunday January 31st

An uneventful weekend after a draining week at work. I walked down Lung Mei Tsuen Road on Saturday and through Ngau Liu, Lung Mei , across the Sai Kung River and down to the main road in Sai Kung itself. As I walked out the Verditer flycatcher showed briefly (and again today) but still it has not come across the communal garden close enough to provide good photographic opportunities. It seems to like the company of bulbuls as I have only once seen it alone. Suddenly Fork-tailed drongos have appeared and a Siberian stonechat near Jade Villa was a bonus. A flash of dark orange made me start but I could not follow the bird. Today a female Daurian redstart was nearby. Could that have been it? Small private "gardens" were resplendent with orange trees for the Chinese New Year and lower down some blossom was being tied ready for sale.

I had not expected to see Red-billed starlings near the road but a small group of 4 or 5 were up in the trees. The "river" is a bit of a generous tag as it is little more than a stream but may provide some dragonflies later in the year. It was devoid on anything today. There were butterflies on the wing but nothing settled.

The moth numbers have just started to pick up and the temperature today rose to a rather unexpected 26 C. The species count was into double figures and any hawkmoth is welcome. Hippotion rosetta is a smallish hawkmoth but attractive all the same. There were two near the trap and luckily the gecko was some way away on the sun terrace. Mrs Ha. claims to have seen a frog and I am assuming she means an amphibian not a visitor from la belle France. I am all agog about the frog. Ha ha! By the way the other moth is Dasychira inclusa.

Finally a trip to the nursery resulted in two small orange trees, a large branch of blossom for the "crane" vase and a smaller planted blossom display. We were given two free pot plants for spending so much! I think the epithet 'free' may have been misleading. This is the first year we haven't bought from the fair in Victoria Park but I still expect to make the pilgrimage when it opens. Roll on the next weekend when, Kuan Yin willing, the skies will be blue and the breeze balmy.

Post script:

The frog is a toad. Bufo melanostictus to be precise.