Reply To: China snowstorms n bird movements and deaths

[SImon D]

I’m not a birder myself, though I got a little bit into it when living / working in Tung Tze, Tai Po. I stick mainly to animals, but it seemed a waste when in the mornings / afternoons I would sit on the veranda and see all kinds of birds using the mature trees that surrounded the house. The long days at the computer would only be broken by the call of a raptor which would send me outside with my binoculars. The dead tree across the valley took 2 years to become ivy covered, but that tree was a goldmine being clearly visible from a comfy seat with a cup of coffee and a pair of bino’s. Learned a lot about raptors during my time there.
I only moved round the corner, but I’m out of the valley and I lost my view. But Plover Cove is still a haven for raptors especially during the winter months.
Now it may just be me, being better able to identify raptors at distance. So all those black-eared kites became 30% something else. But I could swear that the severe winter monsoon this year has created an unusually abundant diversity (and sightings) of some unusual birds of prey.
Especially interesting are my occasionally trips to Central. I get the bus which passes Kai Tak on the Kowloon Eastern Corridor. Of course I sit at top, front right, eager for the 10mins through Kowloon Bay. Not very good for a beginner like myself, but this winter there are plenty of sightings of the ‘that is not a black-eared kite’ type (too self-concious to use bino’s on the bus – sorry).