A Little Curlew at Mai Po

There are usually only one or two records per year of this species - today was one of those days, obviously !

Little Curlew - Numenius minutus

Little Curlew is a vagrant that is often found on open patches of grassland, - strangely, not a common habitat in Hong Kong. 

This one should be on its' way to spend the northern winter in New Guinea or Northern Australia.

Little Curlew - Numenius minutus

And here's a Whimbrel for comparison...

Whimbrel -Numenius phaeopus

Whimbrel -Numenius phaeopus

There were quite a lot of distant Garganey (passage migrants) between the hides as the tide rose.

The "new" floating hide from one of the "old" ones, Mai Po

Avocets will mostly be returning winter visitors - but a very few oversummer, anyway

Avocets - Recurvirostra avosetta

A small and distant group of terns gave pause for thought - late on autumn passage, but Common Terns..

Common Tern - Sterna hirundo

Just a couple of hours at the boardwalk today, and plenty of variety.