14 Sept 2008

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John & Jemi

61 comments:

  1. Hi, I've been quite a fan of your photos in OBI, didn't know you also have a blog here. Keep up great work!!!

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  2. Hi there,

    Thanks for the kind words. Glad you found the blog at last !

    Sorry not to have responded earlier, but we were in Sabah, East Malaysia

    John and Jemi

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  3. Hi there! just came by your blog and its really awesome! Thanks for sharing! ;)

    Marie

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  4. Hi Marie,

    I liked your Barred Owlet photos on your blog, too !

    John

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  5. Hi John,

    Lovely pictures.

    Thanks for your email.

    Is it easy to get access to Nam Sang Wai ?

    I have looked at the location on Google Earth.

    Chris Rae.

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  6. Hi Chris,
    There are no permit requirements and it is a 10 - 15 minute Taxi ride from the West Rail Station at Kam Sheung Road.

    Hope this helps !

    John

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  7. Hi,

    I have a photo of a bird in North Eastern China and eager to know it's name. Can you help?

    Thank you.
    Sally
    cottonyc@gmail.com

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  8. Hi Sally,

    We've relied to your Email - it is a Hoopoe

    Best

    John and Jemi

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  9. Hi John

    I am a new hand in bird watching. I agree with Marie that your blog is really awesome. Many thanks for the sharing.

    Wendy K (wksf)

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  10. Hi Wendy,
    Thanks for your kind words. Don't forget there is a lot of good information on the HKBWS site;
    http://www.hkbws.org.hk/BBS/
    Cheers
    John

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  11. I am delighted to stumble upon your blog. I haven't been in Hong Kong since 1962 - and wasn't a birder then.

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  12. Hello,
    Enjoying your blog very much. Great birding stories and fantastic pictures. I am going to spend a month in China this winter. Would you perhaps have any tips what organisation or person to contact? Thanks very much in advance for your advice!
    Eildert

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  13. Hi Judy, Sorry not to have replied earlier, but we're on a trip right now... HK must have changed since 1962 ! Birding is more fun as a passion acquired later in life, I think !

    Hi Eildert, Yunnan Province would be a good "bet" in winter, much of Sichuan and Qinghai, for example, quite frost bound. If you're traveling independently, there's quite a lot of tourist infrastructure in Yunnan.

    Best
    John

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  14. Absolutely beautiful photos! Came across your blog by accident looking for bird photos and you have a wonderful collection. Would love to know details of the lenses/camera etc. Seriously good!

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  15. Hi "Anon",

    They're mostly taken With Canon equipment.... and we find a tripod to be useful in low-light situations.. Thanks for the comments

    John

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  16. Hi John, have been avidly reading your site lately, preparing for my trip to China. You site is amazingly informative! I read that you've visited Jianfengling, Hainan. My wife and I are thinking of spending some time there, as well. I am finding it very hard however to find specific information about the place. Could I ask you what hotel you stayed at while you were there, and whether you enjoyed your stay? Did you take a cab from Sanya airport? How did you get into contact with this place? I'm sorry to ask you all these questions, but I'm afraid the very quality of your site has promoted you to guru-like status concerning eco-travel in China!
    Apologies again and many thanks in advance for any help,
    Best regards, Eildert

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  17. Hi Eildert,

    We stayed at the Tian Chi Resort, which we recommend, it's right next to some good forest.

    http://johnjemi.hk/journey_tr/cn/hn09_11/two.html

    You can get a taxi from Sanya Airport

    We're off to Yunnan today..

    Regards
    John

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  18. Hi John ... thank you for sharing you wonderful photos .. my wife and i are new to birding but are very keen, .. because i am a non-chinese reading chinese, i have found it very difficult to find information in HK .. it'd be great if we can tag along on one of your outings on weekends!! Cheers

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  19. Hi dongdong,
    Glad you like the photos... the weather is pretty miserable at the moment.... here are some links to sites a non-reader of Chinese - and that includes me, basically - may find useful....

    HKBWS site: http://www.hkbws.org.hk/BBS/index.php

    (Tim Woodward) South China Birder : http://www.southchinabirder.com/Provinces/Hong%20Kong.html

    David Diskin's site and book: http://www.hknaturewalks.com/

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  20. Hi John - excellent images. I am in HK for four days 19-22 April, trying to show some of my students who live there a few birds. Fancy a trip to Mai Po to help us find some great birds? Anyway, even if not, is there an electronic annotated list of Hong Kong birds you could send me? I can't find anything like that on the web. Thanks!

    Simon Woolley (skw@wincoll.ac.uk)

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  21. Hi Simon,
    Did you get my Email ? A checklist of HK birds is here..

    http://www.hkbws.org.hk/BBS/viewthread.php?tid=11861&extra=page%3D1

    John

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  22. John, Nice to see your work. I am trying to find my pics of "my" sea eagles on Tai Ah Chau (big bird island). John Burton, I think, id'd them for me and we had an immediate campaign to stop the Viet. residents eating them like they did everything else that moved.There were also tiny flocks of birds about the size of my thumb which we did not id. My own birding fame is otherwise only by association namely my relative who has the polioptilia clementsi named after him. Personally I prefer to think of it as a miniature raptor - better for the street cred!

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    1. Hi Jamie,
      Good to hear from you !
      I'm rather rusty at South American birds, but - having googled it - I see that you're writing about Iquitos Gnatcatcher.... "New to science" in 2005 and named after James F. Clements. I have had Clements's "World Bird Checklist for 10 - 12 years... your relative ? GREAT.
      I suppose it is a "Raptor of small insects" - so what-the-hell. At least it's not a seedeater !
      I remember your WBSE photos from Tai Ah Chau... I may have been at "Camp Shekkers" at about the same time with Graeme Sutherland

      Delete
  23. Hi John & Jamie,

    How are you?

    I'm Thet Win from Bagan. I was with you as the birding guide to Bagan and Mt. Victoria in 2005. Now I'm working as a freelance in the region with various travel companies. I would like to include photos of Hooded Treepie and Jerdon's Minivet in my website. Can you please kindly send me some of your photos to my email baganbirdwatching001@gmail.com if you do not mind? Aslo let me know if you ever make Burma trip again. I would love to guide you again. Or if any of your friends are coming this way please let me know.

    Thet Win

    Birding Guide
    Mobile - 00959 49214838
    Email - baganbirdwatching001@gmail.com

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    1. Hi Thet Win,

      It is good to hear from you. We'll send the photos you asked for in a day or two. We have fond memories of Burma and Bagan ! If we return to Burma we'll let you know. Good luck with the guiding.

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  24. Dear John,

    We were recommend you as a potential guide by Mike Kilburn. Two of us, father and son, are travelling over from England to Hong Kong and are there from the 14th to the afternoon of the 17th of March 2013 on route to a birding holiday in Australia. We are hoping to do a day and a halfs birding in Hong Kong, the half day preferably on the morning of the 17th. The full day could be either the 15th or 16th, and wonder if you would be able to guide the two of us. We were thinking of Mai Pow but would be grateful for advice regarding where else would be good.

    Thanks in advance,

    Adam

    My email address is adzey_1231@hotmail.com

    I've tried emailing you several times on the email address which Mike gave, but each time it 'fails'. I'm not sure if this is a problem emailing from the UK in which case I'm not sure how would be best to make contact. Thanks again.

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  25. Hi Adam,
    The tides at Mai Po peak around midday on March 15th and 16th (and 17th)

    http://www.hko.gov.hk/tide/eTBTtide.htm

    I'll email you later today.... I don't do much guiding now, but David Diskin still does....

    http://www.walkhongkong.com/birdwatchingtours.html

    John

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  26. Hi John,

    I too am based in HK and frequent Mai Po - love your blog and more so your images. What equipment do you use? It's not in the same league but you can check my work out at www.flickr.com/photos/wildaboutwildlife - cheers, Darren

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  27. Hi Darren,

    I'm using a Canon 800mm lens and usually a 1D Mk IV.... I'll certainly check out your flickr stuff

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  28. As an ex Hong Kong resident I used to birdwatch at Mai Po (and well, just about everywhere else) back in the late 60s. Really enjoyed your blog and photos - really enjoyable :-)

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    1. Hi Stuart,

      Glad you like the blog; - the human development means the landscape around Mai Po has really changed since the late 60s... ( I first saw Mai Po in 1979 ) but the birds still look the same !! We are lucky now that the infrastructure of hides and paths at the Nature Reserve makes things much easier than in the "old days".

      Sorry for the slow reply, we got back yesterday from Yunnan.

      Delete
  29. Hi John,

    Last year you gave me some great advice on Yunnan and Hainan birding. I had a ball there!
    I've got a picture with (I think) 2 species of Rosefinch in it; I think they are Chinese White-browed and Chinese Beautiful.
    Is there any way I send you the picture for you to have a look at it?
    Thanks in advance,
    Eildert Beeftink

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    Replies
    1. Hi Eildert,

      If you put a photo on Flickr, then you can send us a link ? Or attach a small file to an Email to:

      Glad you enjoyed Yunnan and Hainan, where did you go ?

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  30. We (my wife and I) went to Zhongdian (and surroundings) Tiger Leaping Gorge and to Kunming. It was our first trip to Yunnan, so we were getting acquainted with the place; it wasn't fully dedicated to birding. Nonetheless, we found Napahai and other places very impressive. In Hainan we went to Jian Feng Ling. This is a great place. Unfortunately, it took us quite a while to find the best places to bird, and as a consequence we didn't find all of the species we were looking for. For our next visit to these regions I will have to step up my preparation! In Jian Feng Ling we had some unpleasant moments at the big resort on the lake there. When you were there, you probably stayed in the other, smaller place that's on the far side of the lake, with its back to the mountain side?
    I posted my picture on birdforum; here's the link: http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=249794
    Hope it works! The (bad) picture was taken at Xiagei. The reason I'm not sure of this ID is because the illustrations in the guide to China are so poor, and because of recent (confusing) splits. Is there any guide in which these Roesfinches are decently covered at the moment?

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  31. Hi Eildert, the Tian Chi Resort is where we stayed, no problems there

    http://johnjemi.hk/journey_tr/cn/hn09_11/one.html

    Your photo on bird forum shows both White-browed and Beautiful Rosefinches, I agree.

    The Helm guide "Finches and Sparrows" is fine, but pre-dates some of these "splits".

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  32. Hi John

    I am planning to go to Kamchatka and the islands...and just realized you went last summer!!! May I ask for some bird guide details please if you have used any....and how many days were you there?
    Cheers
    Marie

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    1. Hi Marie,
      Sorry for the slow reply, we just got back from Papua New guinea yesterday. I'll see what we've got from Kamchatka, but it's a big remote place with no local Russian bird guides as far as I know.

      We went the "easy" way with the Heritage Expedition trip, which sails this year on May 23rd..... but it may be too late to sort out your Russian visa in time...

      More later

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  33. Hi John and Jemi, Lovely shots from the WPO trip.
    A couple of minor corrections - all of the 'white' wandering albatross are Southern Royal Albatross. Wanderers at this plumage stage tend to show white patches in the upperwing as if marked marked with a small paint brush (blotchy) whereas Southern Royals show white as if it were dusted icing sugar. The white in a wanderers upperwing develops and expands from the middle of the wing out, whereas Royals develop white from the leading edge and expands back. Darkish cutting edge and all white tail also good pointers.
    Your Southern Giant Petrel is a Northern Giant Petrel. Bill tip is reddish not greenish but even if the colour perception is difficult, southerns tend to show a greenish tip where the shade contrasts little with the remainder of the bill (so at a distance the bill appears concolorous) whereas northerns show a reddish tip that is much darker than the remainder of the bill (at a distance appears dark-tipped bill).
    Look forward to Part 2
    Rohan

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    1. Hi Rohan,

      Many Thanks for pointing those errors out.... We've got plenty of doubtfully identified seabird shots from later in the voyage as well !

      I'll correct the picture captions, and Thanks again

      Delete
  34. Hi John,

    Love your blog... what a tremendous resource! I'll be visiting Hong Kong in a month and would love to touch base with you before then about blogging and your recommendations about birders to meet while in town. Please e-mail me at your convenience at mike AT 10000birds.com.

    Hope you are enjoying your current trip!

    Cheers,
    Mike

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  35. I wonder if you can help? I read a story in the Hong Kong Telegraph in 1902 (see my blog http://forteanzoology.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/muirheads-mysteries-round-up-of-strange.html?spref=fb)
    of parrots sighted in Hong Kong.But I thought they were only released or escaped during World War 2. Do you know the history of parrots in Hong Kong? Are you familiar with other unusual Hong Kong fauna stories other than birds?

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    1. I left a reply at your blog earlier. Sorry for the delay, this came in when we were beyond the reach of the internet in South America.
      Anyway, early 20th century "parrot" records may refer to Rose-ringed Parakeets, it was Yellow-crested Cockatoos that were released in HK in 1941.
      Source: "Hong Kong Birds" by G A C Herklots (1954 ed.)

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  36. Hello John,
    nice images!
    We are interested in publishing one of your photographs in a new book.
    Can you please contact me on info@gameparkspublishing.co.za
    Thank you so much!

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  37. Hello John!
    I've been to Hong Kong 4 months this year and have done quite a lot of birdwatching there. I have pictures of about 5 birds that i couldn't identify for sure. Can you help me? I would like to send you these pictures but I could not find your email address anywhere. Can you give it to me or email to numero13 ad gmx.ch ?
    Thank you very much!
    Gavino Strebel

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  38. Hi John my husband and I are in HK with friends for new year and wondered if the Sch Bittern was still around - unlikely but we live in hope - also best place to see Duarian Starling -& Tristram's Bunting
    Regards

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  39. Hello John,
    I'd like to approach you to write an article for Horizon, the monthly publication found onboard TurboJet. Would you be able to drop me a quick email? gpark@bauermedia.com.hk
    Many thanks,
    Graeme.

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  40. John, I love your blog. your photos are amazing and the text so informative. Thank you. I am going to Taipei and wondered if you knew any good bird guides whom I could hire to take me and my husband on a day trip. Thank you.
    Molly

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  41. Hi Molly, in Taichung we hired Kuendar CHIANG Email kuendar AT gmail.com
    I highly recommend him.... but he may not guide in Taipei...might know someone who does

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  42. Hi John: I am seriously considering a trip to Hong Kong sometime between December 2016 and February 2017 for nine or ten days. Any advice, assistance or other information you can provide would be very much appreciated. I am especially concerned about getting the necessary permit to visit Mai Po for a couple of days and wonder how far in advance I need to do this, and whether it can all be done in advance on line.
    It goes without saying that if ever you find yourself in southern Ontario I would reciprocate in kind.
    David Gascoigne
    Waterloo, ON, Canada
    www.travelswithbirds.blogspot.com

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  43. Hi John, My boyfriend and I will be visiting Hong Kong at the end of October to first part of November. We are fascinated by the photos in Mai Po Marshes Reserve and would like to spend one day there. Do we need to get a permit? Thanks. Christina
    Houston, TX

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    1. Hi Christina, A permit for Mai Po is required...Please see the Solo Walk for Overseas Visitors info below "Would you like to go birding in Hong Kong" section of the sidebar.

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  44. Hi John. Loving the blog. My wife of 6 months Sally originates from Hong Kong so I have visited for the last two years and am likely to be a very regular visitor in the future. So your website is great for info. I have a specific id challenge from a visit in late Nov. So I hope you can help. In a recent visit to Tai Po Kau I observed a bird frequently in the flocks that I can't id. It was present in small groups of 5-10 accompanying Rufous Capped Babblers and of a similar size. It had a blue/grey head, aa geeenish bck annd yellowish underpart, with a light eye ring. From the id guide it looked like a Green Shrike Babbler but I can't see it in the HK list. Can you advise if this species is present in TPK or if not can you suggest any similar species that it might have been. Cheers John.

    Allen Gillespie, Belfast

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  45. Hi Allen, could it be Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher ? They usually associate with mixed flocks...

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  46. Thanks John. Checked out the pics and looks very likely. That was on my list of options but didn't expect flycatcher to be in small groups along with others. Cheers. Allen

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  47. john,jemi,
    Enjoy your trip; will look forward to see the posts you do manage and will follow your progress on FB.
    Take care and don't fall over bits of the boat.
    jeb

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  48. Hi John and Jemi,
    Have just been introduced to your blog by our mutual friend Roger Muscroft. Have had a brief browse and am hooked....
    We, I and my wife Irfana, were in Central Sri Lanka in January and coincidentally met a local bird enthusiast, Radeeka, and she opened up the world of bird watching to us....

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    1. Hi saifee,
      You have a whole bird world of birds to look forward to ! I find that birds lead me to places that are interesting in other ways, too.

      Delete
    2. ...and I should add that Sri Lanka is a great place to start !

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  49. Hello John @ Jemi, I hope you are well. PJhopkin1@gmail.com is waving across the decades...

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    1. Hi Peter - I'll email you, Thanks for the message !

      Delete
  50. Hi John and Jemi;

    Great stuff! Brings back some memories (I visited Riviere-Bleue in New Caledonia in 1970, before the Kagus were tame enough to see).

    I will be travelling this August/September as naturalist/lecturer on a Holland America cruise from Yokohama to Sydney, with stops at a number of the places the WPO cruises visit (though not, alas, with birding in mind - I'll have to make the best of it, including getting back to Riviere-Bleue if possible). I would greatly appreciate permission to use some of your photos of birds, flying fishes etc to illustrate some of my lectures, fully credited of course. I receive no payment for this except for passage on the cruise. If this is OK please reply to me at ron.orenstein@rogers.com.

    Many thanks - Ron Orenstein

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