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Hong kong birds (1 Viewer)

mark ridsdale

Well-known member
Its been a few years now but i spent a year in Hong Kong working and birding.During this time i fell in love with birding Hong Kong style,the birds were great.What with Mai po,waders and the passerine migration to name a few.Are there any birders based over there on the forum or have been over there recently as id love to hear from you( i think im getting with withdrawl symtoms!).
 
mark ridsdale said:
Its been a few years now but i spent a year in Hong Kong working and birding.During this time i fell in love with birding Hong Kong style,the birds were great.What with Mai po,waders and the passerine migration to name a few.Are there any birders based over there on the forum or have been over there recently as id love to hear from you( i think im getting with withdrawl symtoms!).

Mark,
Your cry for news from HK was brought to my attention. Ihave been back in HK since March this year so most of my gallery since then is of HK birds. It was so exciting to be there for the wader migration south Apr/May this year so see so many birds in breeding color. I've been visiting Mai Po every week, even through the summer, (although the locals thought I was mad ). If you want any specific news let me know and if you have any special spots you want me to check out I'm happy to do it as I'm retired now and have plenty of time. Neil.
 

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Neil said:
Mark,
Your cry for news from HK was brought to my attention. Ihave been back in HK since March this year so most of my gallery since then is of HK birds. It was so exciting to be there for the wader migration south Apr/May this year so see so many birds in breeding color. I've been visiting Mai Po every week, even through the summer, (although the locals thought I was mad ). If you want any specific news let me know and if you have any special spots you want me to check out I'm happy to do it as I'm retired now and have plenty of time. Neil.
How was the spring this year?I was there as far back as 1997 only one Spoon billed sandpiper was seen but i did mananage to see it.It was one of the high lights of my birding history.The two board walk hides were full to the brim with mostly groups of bird tour birders most of whom were due to leave HK within hours.When suddenly the guy next to me yelled "got one!".Forty or 50 birders suddenly got worked up into a frenzy after hours ( and for some days) waiting at Mai po.My legs still were shaking after leaving the hide what a bird.What are your highlights this year and which part of Oz are you from because after i left HK i spent 1 year down under?
 
mark ridsdale said:
How was the spring this year?I was there as far back as 1997 only one Spoon billed sandpiper was seen but i did mananage to see it.It was one of the high lights of my birding history.The two board walk hides were full to the brim with mostly groups of bird tour birders most of whom were due to leave HK within hours.When suddenly the guy next to me yelled "got one!".Forty or 50 birders suddenly got worked up into a frenzy after hours ( and for some days) waiting at Mai po.My legs still were shaking after leaving the hide what a bird.What are your highlights this year and which part of Oz are you from because after i left HK i spent 1 year down under?

Mark,
I had the same experience several times this year with people crying out there it is (Spoon-billed sandpiper ) but I couldn't find it . I tend to sit as far away from the others as possible as they set up a vibration in the wooden hides which is a disaster for digiscoping. Finally, in May I found one from Hide 5 on the inner main scrape and got this photo. It was about 80-100 meters away so I had to use 60x on the scope but I was happy to get it. This was probably up there in the top three for this year , with the Painted Snipes with juveniles and thousands of Curlew Sandpipers in various breeding colors. I have upgraded my camera since then so I'm hoping for better this next season.
I lived on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Neil.

ps you can see my Australian photos in the My Gallery here.
 

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Neil said:
Mark,
I had the same experience several times this year with people crying out there it is (Spoon-billed sandpiper ) but I couldn't find it . I tend to sit as far away from the others as possible as they set up a vibration in the wooden hides which is a disaster for digiscoping. Finally, in May I found one from Hide 5 on the inner main scrape and got this photo. It was about 80-100 meters away so I had to use 60x on the scope but I was happy to get it. This was probably up there in the top three for this year , with the Painted Snipes with juveniles and thousands of Curlew Sandpipers in various breeding colors. I have upgraded my camera since then so I'm hoping for better this next season.
I lived on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Neil.

ps you can see my Australian photos in the My Gallery here.
Good photo even with x60.Know what you mean about the disturbance in the hide.Other highlights for me at HK were the Nordmanns greenshank,i was expecting them to be mega hard to id but i found them very distinctive.Quite enjoyed the winter birding too as there was less birders (so more chance to find your own) and very different migrants.Particularly the gulls,being from N.E England and living on the coast it is possible to getover 10 species a year here.Almost all the species of gull were new so bonus!I to lived in Sydney for best part of 10 months(near Newtown).I enjoy my ozzy trip but without my own transport didnt get as many as hoped.My favourite places were Barren grounds N.R(NSW),Cairns,Lamington NP,and Mt Isa (Que).ps went to North Beach once for a non birding visit got my first Whistling kite there.
 
Neil said:
Mark,
Your cry for news from HK was brought to my attention. Ihave been back in HK since March this year so most of my gallery since then is of HK birds. It was so exciting to be there for the wader migration south Apr/May this year so see so many birds in breeding color. I've been visiting Mai Po every week, even through the summer, (although the locals thought I was mad ). If you want any specific news let me know and if you have any special spots you want me to check out I'm happy to do it as I'm retired now and have plenty of time. Neil.
Hi Neil so what interesting birds have you had in the last few weeks?Are the gull species mounting up at Mai po?Has Long Valley being any good this year?One of my favourite birds were the Bush warblers.A real bugger of a family to see but the year i was there i managed to get good views of brownish flanked(aka Mountain) and Spotted
......they werent easy but rewarding when i got decent views
 
mark ridsdale said:
Hi Neil so what interesting birds have you had in the last few weeks?Are the gull species mounting up at Mai po?Has Long Valley being any good this year?One of my favourite birds were the Bush warblers.A real bugger of a family to see but the year i was there i managed to get good views of brownish flanked(aka Mountain) and Spotted
......they werent easy but rewarding when i got decent views

Mark,
I haven't been getting any of the bush birds as I haven't been to Tai Po Kau and Long Valley for some time. I've been spending all my time on the Main Scrape (16/17). Some Saunders and Heuglins were seen out in Deep Bay last week. Here are a couple of eagles on the Main Scrape - an Imperial and Bonellis. Neil.
 

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mark ridsdale said:
Hi Neil so what interesting birds have you had in the last few weeks?Are the gull species mounting up at Mai po?Has Long Valley being any good this year?One of my favourite birds were the Bush warblers.A real bugger of a family to see but the year i was there i managed to get good views of brownish flanked(aka Mountain) and Spotted
......they werent easy but rewarding when i got decent views

Mark,
I haven't been getting any of the bush birds as I haven't been to Tai Po Kau and Long Valley for some time. I've been spending all my time on the Main Scrape (16/17). Some Saunders and Heuglins were seen out in Deep Bay last week. Here are a couple of eagles on the Main Scrape - an Imperial and Bonellis. Neil.
 
Neil said:
Mark,
I haven't been getting any of the bush birds as I haven't been to Tai Po Kau and Long Valley for some time. I've been spending all my time on the Main Scrape (16/17). Some Saunders and Heuglins were seen out in Deep Bay last week. Here are a couple of eagles on the Main Scrape - an Imperial and Bonellis. Neil.
Cracking photo!managed to get the Imperial at Mai po but never caught up with Bonellis there
 
hong kong is a cert for my need to go list.
thanks for the photos
p.s i hear that electronics are really cheap over there compared to here in england is it true?
 
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