Hok Tau (鶴藪) to Fung Yuen, Hong Kong

It was a beautiful Saturday morning on April 8, I ventured to Hok Tau (鶴藪) located at the north- estern part of New Territories, Hong Kong (HK). Mini Bus 52B from Fanling MTR Station took me to the terminal station at Hok Tau village where I began my slow hike to the Hok Tau Reservoir. After that I  continued my hike heading towards Sha Lo Tung and Fung Yuen at Tai Po.

The Papilio paris is a very common butterfly in HK. We can find them visiting wild Lantana flowers along roadsides. But most of the time, they were hyper acctive and flapping its wings at a high speed. 

Shooting into the sky.

I could see some butterfly activities along the service road that leads us to the Hok Tau Reservoir. While taking a short break at the barbecue and picnic site,  I noticed some Grass Blues were flitting around me - one of thme was a Zizeeria maha.

When I reached the reservoir dam, I was delighted to see some different butterflies feeding on a row of Bidens flowers.  The Neptis hylas is a common butterfly that we can find in many wild places and country parks in HK.

I cound sense that a skipper with  some white patches was zipping past me a few times. I patiently waited for it to land. Yes, it turned out to be the Gerosis phisara - my first sighting of this rather uncommon skipper in Hong Kong.

When this brown skipper - a Baoris farri, perched closer to me,  I quickly snap a few instinctive shots.

A dry season form of Ypthima baldus looks so different from the wet season form.

This loving pair of Hypolimnas bolina made me busy for a while as they were quite sensitive to my presence. After changing their perch a few times, they settled down on a cement wall.

At a T-junction, I walked left towards Sha Lou Tung. It was an easy hike on a level and well-paved forest trail with good shade. However, for a long period of time, I didn't have a clear chance to take any shot.

There were very few shooting opportunies at Sha Lou Tung and Fung Yuen too. When I was about to call it a day, this pristine Water Snow Flat (Tagiades litigiosus) made me go round the flowers to compose some shots.

I don't get to see Lemon Pansy (Junonia lemonias) often at Fung Yuen. Though it was not a perfect specimen for photography, I decided to snap a few shots for my own record.

A spider on a leaf suerface was motionless for quite a duration - I guess it was waiting for its prey to come nearer.