Doing our homework
After a ten-week trip there is always a lot of material to post, but also a risk that this blog could be re-named “John’s What I did on my Trip Blog”. So, some Hong Kong birds this time. We have tried...
View ArticleA Cruise around some of the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)
Galapagos Sea Lion, Floreana We had a few days to bird around Puerto Ayora and Santa Cruz Island itself, while we looked for a suitable cruise to do some of the outlying islands. Magnificent...
View ArticleTangjiahe NNR in Sichuan - a February flying visit
Takin - Budorcas taxicolor Just before Lunar New Year, (10th - 14th February 2018) we had five-day break to visit Tangjiahe, a Chinese National Nature Reserve on Sichuan’s border with Gansu. The...
View ArticleCool Winter weather - February in Deep Bay, Hong Kong
A month for exotic gulls in the tidal reaches of Deep Bay, here are three shots of "scarce winter visitor" (HK Bird Report 2015) Vega Gull from the Mai Po boardwalk... (foreground) Vega Gull - Larus...
View ArticleSouthern Ecuador
It's lucky that this blog isn't read for its topicality. Here are some shots from the final leg of our South America trip, in southern Ecuador, back in November 2017. We booked through Mindo Bird...
View ArticleIn praise of - Oriental Pratincole (Glareola maldivarum)
In spring, Oriental Pratincoles pass through Hong Kong between the end of February and mid-May. A couple of days ago, I had the luck to come across a pond with twenty or more of these birds wheeling...
View ArticleUshuaia, southern Argentina
23rd to 28th March 2018 Having booked the “Atlantic Odyssey 2018” voyage we returned to Ushuaia again. Hotel Tolkeyen, where we stayed Chilean Skuas - Stercorarius chilensis One of the faster...
View Article"Atlantic Odyssey 2018" - Part 1 To South Georgia
Wandering (Snowy) Albatross - Diomedea exulans We finally boarded the MV Plancius -operated by Oceanwide Expeditions- on the afternoon of 28 March 2018. There were old friends, new friends and...
View Article"Atlantic Odyssey 2018" - Part 2 Exploring South Georgia
South Georgia King Penguin - Aptenodytes patagonicus We arrived at South Georgia after four full days at sea. This 170km-long island of spectacular mountains and bays was named and claimed for King...
View Article"Atlantic Odyssey 2018" - Part 3 To Gough Island
To Gough Island and beyond Broad-billed Prion - Pachyptila vittata The waters close to South Georgia gave us a last chance to get to grips with separating South Georgia and Common Diving Petrels....
View ArticleTerns from the Tap Mun Island Ferry - July 2018
Black-Naped Tern - Sterna sumatrana A couple of days ago (16th July 2018), I got the ferry from Ma Liu Shui to Wong Shek Pier in Sai Kung. Tap Mun Island Tap Mun Island It’s a four-hour round trip in...
View Article"Atlantic Odyssey 2018" - Part 4 Around Tristan Da Cunha
Tristan Island group Spectacled Petrel (Procellaria conspicillata) - breeds on the Tristan Island group "Edinburgh of the Seven Seas" A pre-landing briefing by Expedition Leader Sebastian Arrebola had...
View Article"Atlantic Odyssey 2018" - Part 5 St Helena
St. Helena St. Helena is known as the place where Napoleon Bonaparte lived out the last few years (1815-1821) of his life. Population about 4,500 people, 121 sq km and since 2002 a "British Overseas...
View ArticleAtlantic Odyssey 2018 - Part 6 Ascension Island
Ascension Island Frigatebird - Fregata aquila Ascension Island - flag, frigatebird We approached Ascension from the east, with the island’s first highlight being Boatswain Bird rocks. The “Bo’sun...
View ArticleAtlantic Odyssey 2018 - Part 7 To the Cape Verde Islands
Bulwer's Petrel - Bulweria bulwerii On and around Ascension Island we were in warm, tropical waters and there were far fewer seabirds to be seen. Our fellow voyagers, not distracted by birds As we...
View ArticleIn praise of - Whiskered Terns
Whiskered Tern - Chlidonias hybrida There’s a tropical depression to the south of Hong Kong, and the Typhoon “No.1” signal has been up all day. Cooler, dusty air has drifted down from the north, and...
View ArticleAn East China Sea "pelagic", 14 - 17th Sept 2018
Typhoons can be shared experiences in a place the size of Hong Kong. With concern about danger outdoors, and worries of damage to property at home, people tend to stay indoors and sit them out. So...
View ArticleTai Hang “Fire Dragon” - 25th Sept 2018 (off topic)
Birders notice the seasons passing more readily than, well, people who don’t bird or take much interest in wildlife. Here in Tropical South China, the weather has only just started to cool but we...
View ArticleLate September birding, Mai Po and Long Valley, Hong Kong
Pied Kingfisher - Ceryl rudis Yellow-bellied Prinia - Prinia flaviventris Here we are - umpteen pictures in search of a theme. Some migrant and some resident birds at Mai Po. (Asian) Brown Flycatcher...
View Article"Reed Warbler Week"
Manchurian Reed Warbler - Acrocephalus tangorum But first... Common Kestrel - Falco tinnunculus Common Kestrel - Falco tinnunculus Ma Cho Lung Police Post The Hong Observatory prediction of mostly...
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