The idea of BAD was to try and force me out a little more without the sole goal of taking photos. I wanted them to be more incidental than a goal in themselves. At last it felt warm enough for my ageing bones to walk along the sea path at Nai Chung. I only had my 400 F5.6 lens.
There were plenty of birds but nothing out of the ordinary. A Grey-backed Thrush popped up at one point and I tried in vain to photograph a very active Pallas’s Leaf Warbler. A female Daurian Redstart was present as usual and a Yellow-bellied Prinia was in the same patch of weeds. A Collared Crow stood on the tide line – this seems to be a regular haunt – and a single Little Egret stood on a stone.
A couple of Red-billed Starlings were on bamboo poles. I have seen a lot this year, even in our garden. I saw several Barn Swallows and a single House Swift. A pair of White Wagtails cavorted on the shingle and the only bird to allow me close (surprisingly) was a Common Sandpiper. Still distant at first…..
But then I walked round the other side and snuk up on him by the mangroves.
A quick shake and he was off. My surprise for the morning was a lizard, Calotes versicolor. CV should be hiding away in a state of torpor but this one had not read the script. I thought at first its lack of motion was due to oil but it was just its winter garb and sloth.
I continue to hope something splendiferous will turn up in the garden but nothing yet. I had a Peregrine Falcon flying past yesterday. That was the highlight. Not even a sea eagle to cheer me up. So here endeth the lesson, full of habitat shots for Rod. Warm again tomorrow says the Observatory, then back to winter drawers on.
All downhill from here 
I generally don’t care for special effects and photo finishing touches…yeah, yeah, I know-I’ve been doing those drop shadows on neutral backgrounds lately…but that first one I find quite appealing. I love the line of stones and the little egret adds such a sweetness to the picture-or maybe it is a bit forlorn all alone there. I doubt any emotion we may attach toi an egret is misplaced.
And what’s this about aging bones? Had I been a bit more of a cad in school I could have a son your age. Maybe I do.
Steve, age is in the mind they say but I do find the aches and pains increasing fast. I have had this image in my mind for a while. Sometimes it seems to work and sometimes it doesn’t. I am waiting for the waders to return (I may check this afternoon) and the tides to be a bit higher then maybe there will be some opportunities with stints and tattlers. Fingers crossed.
They all look splendiferous to me. I am surrounded by robins and many sorts of tits and sparrows, so birds from your neck of the woods seem highly exotic. I love the egret shot and the fluffed-up sandpiper.
Thanks for the habitats – a very nice collection of bird and reptile in-situ. I was a little puzzled by your final comment – are you putting your winter drawers back on, or does the season linger too long? or could it be both?
You seek out the most interesting shots, Andrew. The group creates an almost foggy, natural, movie-setting scene. This is one time I can’t choose my favorite; it’s perfect together.
I commend you for your herculean efforts to find a photo opt that would make you really happy and everbody writing oooh and aaah. Truthfully, I like these photos for it shows some habitat. I didn’t know that mangoves are part of the vegatation there. I like all the photos and the black lizard is impresssive. I’ve never seen one that color so all in all this post was like a science field trip.
listen
Those look pretty splendiferous to me, Andrew.
Just reading through the comments, (and your blog photo’s n’ words of course Andrew, loving the word splendiferous 🙂 ) and I hold my hand up too, my first picture, headwise, of HK is ‘wall to wall’ Highrise, and nary a sign of greenery. soulless type of thing. I shudder, to think that your area (New Territories) will/could be built on, for profit, gain, housing … I hope to high heaven there’s a way to keep ‘them’ at bay. Sometimes I think our foosteps on this planet should never have happened, just sometimes, when another shoe falls with a loud ‘Bang’ xPenx
I’m hoping to disappear before the next really big bang, Pen. Keeping ‘them’ at bay is hard work.
Yes, I’m with our Gerard. I thought the same as he did, that it was just one almighty giant concrete jungle – Oh how wrong was I. These posts are certainly an eye-opener into what a beautiful part of the world you live in. The black Lizzy is rather fine and I like the ruffle feathered sandpiper, strutting his stuff. I love the silhouettes in the top photo, very nice.
Thanks Lottie. Every bit of greenery is fair game for developers here. So whilst some parts indeed remain idyllic it is only because people fight to protect them. A developer told me once – our core competence is not building houses it is getting land rezoned. In other words, they want to turn SSSIs, conservation areas and green belt into the very concrete monstrosities you see on TV. The lord preserve us.
I hope so too, it would be a crying shame for humans and wildlife alike if the developers took over and had free rein. It’s such a shame that everything to do with developers and planners is always such a battle. Fingers crossed that the green areas remain green for many years to come.
All I see of HK are jungle like surroundings with birds and reptiles. I always thought it was a block land chockers with people living in high density blocks of flats…
Great shots.
Well parts of HK Island and Kowloon are exactly as you describe, Gerard. Once you get beyond Kowloon and into the New Territories (where I live) it is predominantly rural. That doesn’t stop constant efforts to build on the green bits, including the protected country parks.
I may be easy to please, but that black iguana (?) seems plenty splendiferous to me…
I think this is turning into a VAD month looking at the top picture. Next you will be putting soft edges and fancy frames around. I like the lizard but I am fan of all things lizard type.