Hong Kong

April 19^th

New day, new country. A fairly leisurely start, and then off to Mai Po, at last! We successfully met all eight Wykehamists we were expecting to meet (nice chaps to a man), issued bins and marched off with our guide, Kathy. In the end, we only really visited the floating hide at the end of the boardwalk, on account of the weather (see later!), but the hours we spent in there were simply a revelation. I shall save species listing for tomorrow (since the only bird we saw today but not the next was Saunders’s Gull – a grotty 1^st summer but still a Saunders’s Gull – cool!), but suffice to say it was simply one of the greatest bird/wildlife spectacles we have ever seen, anywhere.

1000s of waders, terns and herons pushed up tight to the mangroves by the tide, and then wheeling about and feeding frantically as the waters receded. Unbelievable views of a fabulous range of (some) near-mythical species. And the boys were lapping it up, eagerly enjoying the rarities and the common birds, marvelling at the migratory stories on show, impressed by just how fantastic this bit of habitat right in urban south China really is.

At about 1130, rain began to fall – then thunder and lightning – then nothing short of biblical downpours. And we were walking back across the bunds! Everyone was drenched, and having eaten an early lunch in the education centre, we decided discretion was the better part of valour, and called it quits a little early, having seen over 60 species, including 25 waders! Everyone seemed happy (if damp) and had enjoyed their day.

We retreated for a shower and brush-up, and then headed into Kowloon for some urban tourism at about 1700 – we “did” a street market, we “ate” a Cantonese meal, we “enjoyed” (actually, very much) the spectacle of the light and laser show in Victoria Harbour at 2000, and we successfully negotiated the MTR and light rail there and back again. What a long but fantastic day!

April 20^th

An earlier start still, and back to Mai Po on our own – 0715 departure, and in the reserve by 0800. Snappy. Brisk walk via Masked Laughing-thrush, Azure-winged Magpie, Black-collared and White-shouldered Starlings, Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Siberian Stonechat and Long-tailed Shrike, and then back to the coal face in the floating hide.

We were arguably just a bit late for the rising tide, and many of the birds left quite promptly for the scrape inland, but we decided to wait it out and enjoy the turn of the tide and the coming rush as the mud was re-exposed. And the rush began – and then stopped as yet more cataclysmic deluges fell, with lightning striking the skyscrapers of Shenzhen across Deep Bay, the water less dancing and more rioting with falling raindrops. It was simply stunning – most of the birds just gave up and sat facing into the rain, bills held skyward. And the falling tide seemingly reversed! Once muddy bits were resubmerged as perhaps 2-3 inches of rain fell over an hour – but still the birds poured in. It’s really hard to estimate numbers, but we reckon we saw nearly all the waders of Deep Bay over these two days (we certainly checked every one we saw!), and there must have been 25,000 if there were a dozen. And never mind the numbers – feel the quality! Mai Po is a holy grail destination if you like waders, sure, and it has four or five really special species, sure, but could we really have expected to see this lot in just two sessions?

Black-faced Spoonbill, Saunders’s Gull, Asiatic Dowitcher, Nordmann’s Greenshank, Mongolian, Greater and Lesser Sand-plovers, Long-toed Stint, Sharp-tailed, Broad-billed, Terek, Curlew (1000s), Marsh and Wood Sands, Pacific Golden and Kentish Plovers, Red and Great Knot, Red-necked Stint (100s), Oriental Pratincole, Far Eastern Curlew, Grey-tailed Tattler plus Caspian and Gull-billed Terns, and lots of herons and egrets – incredible diversity and sheer numbers – a melée of fabulous birding. After the heaviest of the rain, we transferred to the northern floating hide, and set to work again with Annika (Forsten) and Joe (Beale), sifting through the 1000s of birds at ever greater distance. Silence reigned. We knew what we were after. Two had been seen the last two days.....sift, sift, sift. Our chance was ebbing with the tide. Joe: “Er...what’s this stint? Oh hang on. It’s....it’s....SPOON-BILLED SAND!” Oh crikey! Ten seconds of panic, and all were onto it – what a crippler! It stayed, sadly mostly in messy drift vegetation and weed, and often a bit elusive, for about an hour – what a privilege to see one of the world’s last 400 Spoon-billed Sandpipers here at a classic site. The world’s most endangered long-distance migrant – against a backdrop of the mushrooming Chinese city of Shenzhen. A sobering moment.

And there it was – we had achieved the mythical, near-impossible “clean-up” on our very first visit to Mai Po, and in just two days. Unbelievable – and among the very best birding experiences we have ever had.

Satiated on seven hours of wader-watching, we trudged damp but happy back to the gates, and taxied back home for a well-earned bath, rest and celebration. That was a day to remember, by any measure.

April 21^st

With our birding effectively done (bar a few local items we might bump into, we did a bit of “regular tourism” today, visiting The Peak on Hong Kong Island, and taking the circular walk around the hill – busy, and misty, but pleasant enough and with a few birds to look at too – such as Black-throated Laughing-thrush and Fork-tailed Sunbird. After a picnic lunch among the civilian tourists, we made our way back to Tin Shui Wai to do what we never do on our trips – dress up in smart kit (suits, frocks etc.) and head into town for a formal (Winchester College) dinner, at the Western Market, a colonial era building in amongst the skyscrapers, restored and turned into a banqueting venue. An interesting and enjoyable evening was had, featuring a brief address to the assembled guests from SKW and Mr C.Y. Lam, Honorary President of the Hong Kong Birdwatching Society – a few more people in HK now know that their city/SAR is a genuinely important place for birds and wildlife.

April 22^nd

After a midnight finish (ouch), we somehow made an 0630 start today, and after breakfast went for a gentle stroll (with an awful lot of other people, it turned out!) at Tai Po Kau, a nice little area of woodland in the east of the New Territories. As hoped, we turned up a decent selection of new species for the trip, such as Great Tit (!), Scarlet Minivet, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Silver-eared Mesia and Orange-bellied Leafbird, plus some lifers: Hainan Blue Flycatcher, Yellow-cheeked Tit and (for Julia) an Arctic Warbler.

Now exhausted, birded out and just fractionally hung over (or is that a mild viral infection we both feel today?), we are packing up our room on the 26^th floor, and getting ready to head home.

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