29 Jul 2008

Roseate Tern with White leg flag

Jemi braved the scorching weather for a Boat trip to HK's southern waters see Terns on Monday 28th July.

Roseate, Black-naped and Bridled were seen.

We get a few ringed and flagged waders at Mai Po, but hardly any ringed Terns anywhere. This one is an exception, ringed near the North Island of New Zealand!









John volunteered to stay in and "Guard the Flat" Wasn't that brave of him ?

Black-naped Tern

Busy at grooming!







21 Jul 2008

Red-billed Starling

20/08/2008 新界西北 NW N.T.
















Did our birding duty on Sunday with the July Waterbird count. Early starts are good when it is hot in July ! On the scenic route back from Nim Wan, we found some fruiting Chinese Hackberry trees, full of Starlings.

Red-billed (the starling formerly known as "Silky") Starling were in noisy family parties.

Red-billed Starlings were -in past years- just winter visitors, but in the last couple of summers some have stayed to breed.

Blackbirds are breeding at Mai Po this year. Bizzarro ! I blame Climate Change.

3 Jul 2008

Worlds.Rarest.Tern.

Back to birding, you'll be relieved to know.

We've just got back from four days in Fuzhou. The main reason for this was a chance to see Chinese Crested Terns at the mouth of the Min River.

Chinese Crested Tern was thought extinct, and described as such in my 1993 copy of "A Field Guide to the Waterbirds of Asia" The species was rediscovered by Taiwanese Ornithologists on the Matsu Islands (in the Taiwan Straits) in the summer of 2000. (Described in OBC Bulletin 32)

More recently, these rare birds have been regularly found at the mouth of the Min River in Fujian Province, about 30 km west of the Matsu Islands. Some Hong Kong friends had seen them in early June, so we went too, ably guided by LIN Chen of the Fujian Birdwatching Society.

The Fujian Bird Watching Society would be pleased to guide more visitors (both Chinese and foreign) to the Min River Estuary and other sites in the province. Their intent is to demonstrate the importance of Chinese Crested Tern to local officials and to raise funds for more more surveys of the Fujian coastline. Anyone interested in a visit may contact English-speaking LIN Chen (林晨) "Forest Morning" - of the FJBWS at email :buguy@163.com; <332622060@qq.com>
or Mobile (86)-13799370893 for more details.



"Follow my leader" across the sandbanks...




Chinese Crested Tern -smaller and paler than Great Crested, with a dark tip to the bill

Greater Crested Terns were strutting about, and mating, too.

"White-faced" Plover