• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Anyone else like Birds AND planes? (4 Viewers)

Could I ask ask how many others have an airport (or part of one) as their patch?

I have worked at Hong Kong International Airport for the last two years and started birding a well-wooded roundabout close to the North Runway as a way to add some interest to lunchtimes that would otherwise be spent mooching about the terminal buildings.

It's a somewhat odd patch as it is actively managed to reduce its attraction to birds in order to minimise the threat of bird strike - only shrubs and trees that are not fruit-bearing are planted - and the combined noise from the aircraft, trains, buses, taxis and sundry other vehicles all contribute to what would be a decidedly unpleasant spot - except for the fact that I have picked up 120-odd species (including a few distinctive races - mostly wagtails) in just over 2 years! My patch thread is in the China section of the website - see the link in my signature.

The aircraft here are mostly typical commercial jet aircraft with a smattering of private jets, but inside Terminal 1 hangs a replica of Spirit of Shatin, a 1910 Farman that made the first recorded flight in Hong Kong, and indeed in Asia.

There's a wonderful historical account of its maiden flight here:

http://industrialhistoryhk.org/sha-tin-airfield/.

Pix of the replica can be seen here:

http://travelforaircraft.wordpress.com/2013/12/20/spirit-of-sha-tin-沙田精神號-walkaround-write/


Cheers
Mike
 

Attachments

  • IMG_5721 Magic Roundabout @ HKIA.jpg
    IMG_5721 Magic Roundabout @ HKIA.jpg
    168.9 KB · Views: 74
Last edited:
Could I ask ask how many others have an airport (or part of one) as their patch?

I have worked at Hong Kong International Airport for the last two years and started birding a well-wooded roundabout close to the North Runway as a way to add some interest to lunchtimes that would otherwise be spent mooching about the terminal buildings.

It's a somewhat odd patch as it is actively managed to reduce its attraction to birds in order to minimise the threat of bird strike - only shrubs and trees that are not fruit-bearing are planted - and the combined noise from the aircraft, trains, buses, taxis and sundry other vehicles all contribute to what would be a decidedly unpleasant spot - except for the fact that I have picked up 120-odd species (including a few distinctive races - mostly wagtails) in just over 2 years! My patch thread is in the China section of the website - see the link in my signature.

The aircraft here are mostly typical commercial jet aircraft with a smattering of private jets, but inside Terminal 1 hangs a replica of Spirit of Shatin, a 1910 Farman that made the first recorded flight in Hong Kong, and indeed in Asia.

There's a wonderful historical account of its maiden flight here:

http://industrialhistoryhk.org/sha-tin-airfield/.

Pix of the replica can be seen here:

http://travelforaircraft.wordpress.com/2013/12/20/spirit-of-sha-tin-沙田精神號-walkaround-write/


Cheers
Mike

Farnborough (which these days is a proper business airport though not one for the charter- or scheduled- travelling self-loading cargo). Back when the biennial airshow was in September one often found passage Wheatears on the crowd barriers and could observe Peregrines overhead.

It's still often the place I get my first Wheatears of the year. It used to be good for Lapwings, but no longer. Sometimes there are Snipe.

The end of the runway still offers a very good view over the Farnborough/Aldershot/Fleet skies, with the best vista to the North-east where large birds can be seen as far away (almost) as Heathrow: certainly I reckon a large eagle or vulture would show up at that distance.

A few miles North is Blackbushe, which titles itself airport but is little more than a club airfield based on the old RAF Hartfordbridge. Being on top of a wide ridge with a fair amount of lowland heath, it is good for Stonechats, Woodlarks, in good years the odd Dartford and migrants in season: Wryneck, Ring Ouzel and Whinchat are occasional (the last, better than annual).

John
 
Last edited:
My patch, Riverside Nature Park is next door to Dundee Airport, and I do often scan over the airport for birds (and planes) from the highest point in the park. Also see a lot of arrivals/departures (relatively speaking - it is woefully under-utilised, though we did get Ryder Cup and Dunhill Cup jet traffic in recently) from the park. One of the air traffic controllers from the airport posted in the RNP thread a few years ago, which listed some of the birds he'd seen at the airport and nearby....

Hi Barry,

My Dundee Airport and environs (the 1500m radius response area to be precise) list currently stands at 121 species, a number of which might interest you.

Unfortunately what was probably the best spot for migrant waders within the Riverside park has been lost due to the council's remedial works but may reappear in time; there used to be a dip in the meadow nearest the road to the east of the swan pool. Each autumn it would fill with water and it gave me a steady trickle of goodies; Ruff, Little Stint, Snipe, Wood Sandpiper and Spotted Redshank being the high-lights.

Watch out for Whimbrel, they are regulars at the airport both spring and summer. Other bits and pieces over the years include Bean Goose (in the swan pool meadow), Canada Geese (regular fly-overs, a small flock went over the week before last), Kingfisher (at the burn mouth in Invergowrie bay), Yellow-legged Gull, Fulmar (again not unusual to see over-flyers in the autumn especially after a bit of a blow), Merlin, Hobby, Cuckoo and Short-eared Owl (sometimes up to four on and around the airport in good vole years). Additionally I have had a couple of dead birds turn up; Gannet (an immature that died of exhaustion by the runway after a very heavy storm) and Long-eared Owl which got thumped by a car just outside the airport (now in the Dundee museum collection).

Great to hear of the Mediterranean Gull, I hoped one would put in an appearance sooner or later. Nice find :t:

Now if a White-tailed Eagle would just fly up the Tay when I am on duty......

Cheers
Tim G
Dundee Airport

We've recorded 135 species at/from the park since it open just over 3 years ago (still missing a few that are on Tim's list), though it is getting trickier to add more, but we keep trying.
Some of my photos from the park (birds and planes, and a few landscapes) can be seen here...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stonefaction/sets/72157628116956133/
 
one of those ridiculous but rather wonderful Beluga things that Airbus parts get transported around in.

John

We see those over the house quite a lot, what with Airbus just down the road at Broughton, churning out wings that need transporting to Toulouse (I think?) to stick 'em on the planes.

James
 
We see those over the house quite a lot, what with Airbus just down the road at Broughton, churning out wings that need transporting to Toulouse (I think?) to stick 'em on the planes.

James

One record from Farnborough several years ago: you are lucky to have a migration hot-spot nearby! ;)

John
 
Did anyone watch Guy Martin and the Spit rebuild last night?
Answered the question that I asked two Fridays ago when we watched 2 Spits and a Mess 'dogfighting' over my garden!! Wondered what they were doing as there were no shows on or anything and a really odd place to be doing it, basically over Witterings village. Cool :)
 
Did anyone watch Guy Martin and the Spit rebuild last night?
Answered the question that I asked two Fridays ago when we watched 2 Spits and a Mess 'dogfighting' over my garden!! Wondered what they were doing as there were no shows on or anything and a really odd place to be doing it, basically over Witterings village. Cool :)

Chances are that was somebody having a Spitfire Experience: depending how much you pay you can fly in a chopper next to one, or a Hurricane etc. The ambition is to offer flights in a Spitfire but it requires some rethinking of the regulations which I believe is likely to happen, if it hasn't already.

http://www.intotheblue.co.uk/flying...VY0578l7f-e1k0Rl4xBPwHlg5yPonjNbZTBoCYQzw_wcB

Across the pond they have been doing this for years, which is how come Vera was offering rides when on tour (and I believe someone paid £70K to join them on the flight home.)

John
 
I thought I'd post a few fun ones from this past September.

The first 3 were flying over my house on the way to a municipal airport. B-17 and two of the B-24. The P-51 was part of the group two. Owned by these people. http://www.collingsfoundation.org/menu.htm

They were on tour.

The C-47 just happened to be flying out of the Bar Harbor, ME airport I think having returned from Europe from the D-Day remembrances.
 

Attachments

  • 2014 09 12 18 13 31.jpg
    2014 09 12 18 13 31.jpg
    114.2 KB · Views: 67
  • 2014 09 12 18 26 26.jpg
    2014 09 12 18 26 26.jpg
    276.2 KB · Views: 79
  • 2014 09 12 18 31 01.jpg
    2014 09 12 18 31 01.jpg
    76.8 KB · Views: 74
  • 2014 09 14 11 28 37.jpg
    2014 09 14 11 28 37.jpg
    50.3 KB · Views: 69
  • 2014 09 27 15 13 54.jpg
    2014 09 27 15 13 54.jpg
    90.5 KB · Views: 68
I thought I'd post a few fun ones from this past September.

The first 3 were flying over my house on the way to a municipal airport. B-17 and two of the B-24. The P-51 was part of the group two. Owned by these people. http://www.collingsfoundation.org/menu.htm

They were on tour.

The C-47 just happened to be flying out of the Bar Harbor, ME airport I think having returned from Europe from the D-Day remembrances.

Lovely stuff. Late model B24 and early model P51 - mega rarities!

John
 
Err I can't admit I'm into planes but I did photograph this...form of...air traffic. Don't know what it is, it looks quite peculiar.
 

Attachments

  • uhhhhhh.JPG
    uhhhhhh.JPG
    43.5 KB · Views: 83
Err I can't admit I'm into planes but I did photograph this...form of...air traffic. Don't know what it is, it looks quite peculiar.

It's Italian, a Piaggio P180 Avanti. Funny looking thing I agree!

Piaggio has a bit of a history with pusher propeller aircraft, their P166 with a gull wing as well as engines facing backward in an otherwise conventional wing-tail layout having been around since 1957.

This one is Luxembourg registered. Hint: put the registration of any aircraft into Google and you will immediately find out what it is.

John
 
Somewhat related ----- I just finished, 'A Higher Call' by Adam Makos. A revelation of sorts - for me concerning the German Air Force. A German Fighter escorts a crippled B 17 through the coastal flack zone which gives it a chance to return to England. Story of both pilots. The German's though ---- amazing. The American sent the author to him before telling his tale. Fantastic book.
 
Somewhat related ----- I just finished, 'A Higher Call' by Adam Makos. A revelation of sorts - for me concerning the German Air Force. A German Fighter escorts a crippled B 17 through the coastal flack zone which gives it a chance to return to England. Story of both pilots. The German's though ---- amazing. The American sent the author to him before telling his tale. Fantastic book.

I saw an article in Flypast about that. Interesting. An honourable man, or one troubled by his own self-image? After all, as Gavin Lyall's narrator character said in Shooting Script:

"Don't fall for that King Arthur knights of the air stuff. It's the one trade where the whole idea is to take your enemy by surprise and shoot him in the back."

The German had to go on being a fighter pilot. So what happened the next time he encountered a B17 in his 109? Had one good deed stilled his conscience, enabling him to open fire?

(Don't get me wrong, its a great story, especially since it's confirmed by both sides of the encounter: but it's very very odd on a lot of levels.)

John
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top