Mainly birding in Hong Kong with a few pictures thrown in.
29 Jul 2008
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.
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
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
20 Jun 2008
Pipe Dreams
After posting the previous piece about dubious-looking pipe smokers, I looked up "Venturi Pipes" on the eenternet-thingy and discovered that the company that placed the ad in the UK was a subsidiary of an American one, AND someone out there - actually a Dr. Billie Taylor from the United states - has a website devoted to Venturi Pipes in their many manifestations.
We have exchanged correspondence on this important slice of 1970s sociological history.
Gripping, n'est ce pas ?
**********
Thank you, John. If Venturi-pipes, Ltd. followed the practice of Venturi, Inc., it advertised twice yearly; Father's Day in June (does GB celebrate that?) and Christmas. I have been searching for back issues of The Cricketer but none of the libraries I have contacted has even heard of it. A bit of online research has turned up information about the twists and turns of ownership that the magazine has endured over the last several years, but archived articles (not complete issues) online go back only to 2006. Well, the search is more than half the fun and I shan't impose the saga of it upon you.
Best regards,
Bill
At 09:38 PM 6/19/2008, you wrote:
Hi Bill,
You're welcome to the picture! But I don't think they advertised very often. That advert was inside the front cover. There may have been others in black and white hidden away that I didn't notice, not being a smoker.
Regards
John Holmes
On Jun 18, 2008, at 21:29, Bill Taylor wrote:
Greetings, John Holmes!
Thanks for the laugh. As a collector of all things the pipe, I have taken the liberty of capturing from your web site your scan of the ad from the June, 1972, edition of "The Cricketer" and entreat you for more of the same if you can locate them. One wonders in what other publications Venturi-pipes, Ltd. placed ads. This is the first I had ever heard of. If the British company followed the US company's lead, they placed very few ads in very select magazines and newspapers. Now to find a library in the US that has back copies of The Cricketer and start working my way through ten years of them.
Surfing a bit on your blog, I note that we share another interest - birding! Your photos are stunning. I have never pursued World Birding, but your blog makes it very attractive.
Thanks for the lead!
Bill Taylor
http://www.thepipe.info
http://www.billietaylor.com
At 10:00 PM 6/17/2008, you wrote:
Hello there,
Interesting to lampoon this old advert, and then discover someone has a whole website devoted to this product. Still I think the British advertisers were way off the mark with this one: -
http://johnjemi.blogspot.com/
Best Regards from an Englishman in Hong kong
We have exchanged correspondence on this important slice of 1970s sociological history.
Gripping, n'est ce pas ?
**********
Thank you, John. If Venturi-pipes, Ltd. followed the practice of Venturi, Inc., it advertised twice yearly; Father's Day in June (does GB celebrate that?) and Christmas. I have been searching for back issues of The Cricketer but none of the libraries I have contacted has even heard of it. A bit of online research has turned up information about the twists and turns of ownership that the magazine has endured over the last several years, but archived articles (not complete issues) online go back only to 2006. Well, the search is more than half the fun and I shan't impose the saga of it upon you.
Best regards,
Bill
At 09:38 PM 6/19/2008, you wrote:
Hi Bill,
You're welcome to the picture! But I don't think they advertised very often. That advert was inside the front cover. There may have been others in black and white hidden away that I didn't notice, not being a smoker.
Regards
John Holmes
On Jun 18, 2008, at 21:29, Bill Taylor wrote:
Greetings, John Holmes!
Thanks for the laugh. As a collector of all things the pipe, I have taken the liberty of capturing from your web site your scan of the ad from the June, 1972, edition of "The Cricketer" and entreat you for more of the same if you can locate them. One wonders in what other publications Venturi-pipes, Ltd. placed ads. This is the first I had ever heard of. If the British company followed the US company's lead, they placed very few ads in very select magazines and newspapers. Now to find a library in the US that has back copies of The Cricketer and start working my way through ten years of them.
Surfing a bit on your blog, I note that we share another interest - birding! Your photos are stunning. I have never pursued World Birding, but your blog makes it very attractive.
Thanks for the lead!
Bill Taylor
http://www.thepipe.info
http://www.billietaylor.com
At 10:00 PM 6/17/2008, you wrote:
Hello there,
Interesting to lampoon this old advert, and then discover someone has a whole website devoted to this product. Still I think the British advertisers were way off the mark with this one: -
http://johnjemi.blogspot.com/
Best Regards from an Englishman in Hong kong
17 Jun 2008
The Pipe
Here in Tropical South China, the summer is upon us.
The late spring migrants of May have gone through, and the resident birds are feeding young and being secretive.
NOW is my chance to go "Off Topic".
I'd like to start with an advert from the June 1972 edition of "The Cricketer" magazine. I was a loyal subscriber for many years. I've never pretended to be trendy, but even as a fifteen-year-old I knew something was horribly amiss with this photo.
Or perhaps it's just me.
The late spring migrants of May have gone through, and the resident birds are feeding young and being secretive.
NOW is my chance to go "Off Topic".
I'd like to start with an advert from the June 1972 edition of "The Cricketer" magazine. I was a loyal subscriber for many years. I've never pretended to be trendy, but even as a fifteen-year-old I knew something was horribly amiss with this photo.
Or perhaps it's just me.
10 Jun 2008
Flaming June
On Saturday, 1st June, we went to Po Toi Island on the ferry from Aberdeen. Apart from two other couples intent on bird photography on Po Toi there weren't many people on the boat.
On arrival, Po Toi seemed hot, steamy and birdless. We met Geoff Welch - "Mr Po Toi" - who was just leaving. Geoff confirmed our suspicions. Most of late May's migrants had cleared out, and so did we.
Birds of the day then, this pair of White-bellied Sea Eagles between Abeerdeen and Po Toi.
White-bellied Sea Eagles
On arrival, Po Toi seemed hot, steamy and birdless. We met Geoff Welch - "Mr Po Toi" - who was just leaving. Geoff confirmed our suspicions. Most of late May's migrants had cleared out, and so did we.
Birds of the day then, this pair of White-bellied Sea Eagles between Abeerdeen and Po Toi.
White-bellied Sea Eagles
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