Plane, Trains.....2 1/2 weeks in Hong Kong & a ship!

Back in Feb Simon and I set off on a bit of an adventure: we travelled overland to Hong Kong before returning home by sea. Well, almost. Although we had hoped to go all the way by train, getting from Exmouth to Moscow was so convoluted & expensive we gave up on that idea & flew with Easyjet to Moscow.  After a few days in Moscow we took the train across Siberia, which was pretty amazing, stopping off at Yekaterinberg & Lake Baikal en route. We then headed South through Mongolia, where we spent several nights at a ger camp in the middle of nowhere & Ulaan Bator before getting back on the train to Beijing. After 3 days we caught our last train to Hong Kong. That part of the trip took about 3 weeks and was a real experience.... the temperature went down to below -30 degrees; the food was 'interesting' (I wouldn't really recommend the mutton for breakfast, dinner & tea in Mongolia, but the native Omul fish from Lake Baikal was delicious!) & we met some really interesting people on the train. We then spent 2 1/2 weeks in Hong Kong. Simon's brother & family have lived there for over 20 years & we'd never been before. We had a great time with Shane & Julie, visited the touristy places & I added quite a few Lifers to my List! Then the final leg of our adventure...which really wasn't very adventurous! We came back in luxury on P&O's cruise ship Adonia, which took 6 weeks to get us back to Southampton via another 14 countries. The cruise was a real eye-opener as we'd never been to Asia before & again we met some really interesting people.  I took thousands of photos...hence the delay in posting - it's taken me this long to go through them! Here are just a few photos of the places we visited & the birds we saw...

Russia:

St Basil's in Red Square. We loved Moscow, one of our favourite places on the trip.

One of the Russian trains that pulled us across Siberia

At Lake Baikal. I was worried about the camera with temperatures  below -25 degrees but managed to get my first Lifer of the trip, an Azure Tit.

Mongolia:

Leaving the new Chengis Khan monument

Home for 3 nights....freezing outside, toasty inside. A man came in every 4 hrs night & day to stoke the fire.

My only Mongolian Lifer....a Mongolian Lark, taken through the dirty window of a moving train 

China:

A very smoggy Forbidden City, Beijing. 

Spotted Dove.....my Chinese Lifer

Hong Kong:

I managed to add 40 Lifers to my list, which I'm very happy with as this wasn't a birding holiday.... I just took my bins most places, and had an outing to the Wetland Centre & Long Valley.

Hong Kong

The Murphys on a day out at the Big Buddha....Shane, Julie & Simon

Common Tailorbird

Fork-tailed Sunbird

Japanese White-eye

The Wetland Centre amidst the tower blocks. 

The endangered Black-faced Spoonbill. Luckily numbers are increasing.

Oriental Magpie Robin

Hair-crested Drongo

Then off on the next phase...

Heading for 6 weeks of luxury on Adonia

Vietnam:
Halong Bay, Nha Trang & Ho Chi Minh City

Halong Bay in the mist

Striated Heron....not what I expected way out at sea!

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Cambodia:
Sihanoukville

It's a man's world. Dad has safety helmet, son has gun. The most we saw on a scooter! Only noticed the gun afterwards.....hope it was a toy!

Collared Kingfisher

Thailand:
Laem Chebang

Shuttle to Pattaya....the pits! Found a park to bird/paint, then back to bird at the port. Got 13 Lifers.

Asian Openbill

Green Bee-eater

Thick-billed Warbler

Singapore:

Raffles

Black-naped Oriole

Malaysia:

Kuala Lumpur, Penang & Langkawi

Kualar Lumpur from the KL Tower

Penang

Asian Glossy Starling

Pacific Reef Egret

Red-wattled Lapwing

Sri Lanka:

Galle

Pulling in the fishing nets

School or prison?

Southern Common Babbler

Brown-headed Barbet

India:

Cochin, Mangalore & Mumbai

Fishing nets in Cochin

The workshop!  

Laundrette in Mumbai

Blue-tailed Bee-eaters

Brahminy Kite: we'd been seeing them since Singapore, but not as many as here

Indian Pond Heron

Coppersmith Barbet

At Sea….

Flying fish…they travelled an incredible distance

Oman:
Salalah

Lots of sand…..

Tristram's Starling

Cinnamon-breasted Bunting

Sooty Gull

At sea…

Masked Booby…..I only saw this one & it was only in view for seconds!

This White-throated Bee-eater hitched a lift for a few days

Suez:

It took the whole day to traverse the Suez Canal

It was quite narrow in places

Spur-winged Lapwing

Israel:
Haifa

Looking over the city across the Bahai Gardens

Part of the impressive Caesarea Aqueduct

Palestine Sunbird

Pied Kingfisher

Cyprus:
Limassol

Thought I'd better put Adonia in somewhere!

This kind trucker gave us a lift to the wetlands….he was worried we may get bitten by snakes on the verge!
 Made Simon's day!!

Marsh Sandpiper…I think! The waders were all distant & I'm still trying to ID some of them.

Greece:
Athens

We went on an open bus tour of the city

I had a quick birding session in a couple of trees at the port…Subalpine Warbler

Monk's Parakeet

Tunisia:
Tunis

We were hustled into a carpet shop, but at least it had a good view from the roof

There were some great old buildings & alleyways

Pallid Swift

Common Bulbul

At sea...

This Whitethroat hitched a lift & hoovered crumbs from the deck

Spain:
Port Mahon, Menorca

An amazing mooring in the second deepest natural harbour in the world!

Audouin's Gull

Portugal:
Lisbon

The view from the top of the Elevador de Santa Justa, an impressive but expensive lift!

No birds in Lisbon….but a human 'statue'

England!
Southampton

A walk to the train station & then back to Exmouth….

…..and finally, after 12 weeks away, the bus home!

It really was an amazing trip….18 countries,  -30 to +35 degrees, over 100 Lifers (and still quite a few mysteries to ID)….and the worst that happened was that I lost my iPhone in week 2, I had mutton poisoning in Mongolia & Simon had food poisoning from a burger in Murphy's Bar in HK - not bad in three months of adventuring!

Summary: Retirement is FAB!!

A windy Grey Phalarope

Last night just before I went to bed I happened to look at the Devon Birds website & saw that there had been a Grey Phalarope on the Otter at Budleigh during the day. This morning it was blowing a hooley, but after a bit of early indecision I finally got myself in gear & headed for the estuary. Actually, I couldn't have been entirely in gear as I forgot my bins! Still, I had the scope & camera so it wasn't a complete disaster!

There were already a couple of people with a scope by the car park looking at the Phalarope, so I didn't even have to search for it. We walked along the top of the shingle bank, not wanting to get too close & scare it off, but then a couple of people & dogs walked right past it on the lower path & it didn't bat an eyelid…so we then went down the slope and had fantastic views of it feeding in the mud. It was definitely a bit of a show off, walking back & forth right in front of us. I'd called Libby when I first arrived, so she came along and got number 203 on her Year List, and brought along her friend Delia, a photographer, who took lots of photos which I have no doubt will be far better than mine!

It's the little white sport on the far side of the water ahead of my shadow!

Axe Estuary Wetlands

About 15 of us attended a meeting of the East Devon Birders at the Axe Estuary Wetlands today. Although the weather was a bit gloomy & chilly at first, we did have a bit of sunshine for a minute or two & more importantly, no rain. There was also a meeting of another birding group from Taunton, so we set off to start at Colyford Common so that we wouldn't be fighting for space.

Heading for Colyford Common. 

The group split into 2, half of us went to the platform & half to the hide. The birds were a bit thin on the ground, but I did get a 'first' for a birding trip. A bit of advice for anyone that lives next to a bird reserve….don't get out of the bath/ shower & stand in front of the French windows to dry off! I didn't manage to find the bird that had just landed in the top of a tree, but saw rather more than I wanted to in the house behind! We then swapped places & went to the hide where we saw a Green Sandpiper, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Lapwing & Stonechat.

Outside the hide at Colyford Common

We couldn't see the other half of the group at the platform, so assumed they'd headed back towards the information centre without us. However, when we got there & looked back towards Colyford Common, we discovered that they had in fact been in the reed beds & it was us that had left them behind! We added Snipe to the list,  made use of the excellent new toilet facilities, passed the Taunton group that was now heading for the Common & headed to Black Hole Marsh. Again, it was very quiet. There were a few Swallows & a Buzzard overhead, one Ruff, one Dunlin, some Oystercatchers, Lapwing & Teal.

The platform at Black Hole Marsh

After a spell in the Island Hide, lunch called & we headed back to the car park. About half of us then went back to the Tower Hide, where there was a bit more action. Several Water Rails made fleeting appearances, or one was moving about a lot! There was a nice Grey Plover, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Wigeon, Little Grebe & a very obliging Kingfisher. There were also lots of gulls on the estuary, mostly Black-headed, with a few Great Black-backed & a Med.

The Axe from the Tower Hide

I finished with 52 species for the day, plus a possible Cetti's Warbler in the reeds on the way back to the car park. A very pleasant day.

W Day

This morning I collected Libby at 8.30 & we went to Bowling Green Marsh for a few hours. It was really busy out on the marsh as the waders flew in on the rising tide. There were some nice birds including about 10 Curlew Sandpipers, Knot, Ruff, Spotted Redshank, Avocet & a Med Gull. Surprisingly for a Sunday morning, it wasn't too busy in the hide.

Despite there being no reports of the Wryneck at Dawlish Warren, we decided to go and give it a try. We paid our £3.50 for the car park, giving us 4 hours to walk out to Warren Point,  find the Wryneck & get back. By now a sighting had been posted on Birdguides, so at least we knew it was still about. Out on Warren Point we met a chap who had been walking along the path & flushed the Wryneck, so we walked a loop around the path and set up the scopes on the dunes overlooking the area where the bird had vanished.

Wryneck hunting

We saw plenty of Linnets, Stonechats, Juvenile Starlings, a few Wheatears & a Skylark, and then a rather nice Whinchat, my first of the year. There had been quite a few birders about when we arrived, but they'd gradually wandered off leaving only us and one other chap. We'd set a deadline for leaving, and as it approached we decided to wander back to the path where the Wryneck had been flushed earlier. We hadn't been there long when I heard a whistle & looked up to see the other birder waving at us. We dashed over & he pointed out a Willow tree where the Wryneck had just landed, having been flushed from the path again.

The Wryneck Willow....the right of the 2 trees in the centre of the photo

Luckily it was still there & we managed to watch it for several minutes before it dropped down out of sight. Not the best of views as it was partially obscured by foliage, but good enough to see all of its distinguishing features. It was a Lifer for Libby, and only my second ever, the first having been on the Scillies in 2004. We followed the path back towards the car park, and had a better view of it as it flew up into the Willow again. We were happy bunnies as we hurried back to the car park, having over run our ticket in our excitement.

A thoroughly good day......

Must try harder.....

I've been a bit lax in the birding department lately.....too many other things going on! I really must try & get out more.

I'm not really Year Listing this year, as evidenced by the fact that I'm on a measly 146. However, Libby is trying for a good list, and is rapidly approaching 200.  It's been fun joining her as she adds a few to her list, including the Caspian Tern, Temminck's Stint & Spotted Crake around the Exe. We've also been over to Black Hole Marsh a couple of times, the latest being on Friday in search of the Little Crake, which unfortunately failed to materialise. However, we went away quite happy with our Little Stint & Curlew Sandpiper. I don't think the chaps from Stoke & Leicester were quite as happy!

The Little Crake hunt at Black Hole Marsh.

I tried out the new hide at Bowling Green Marsh yesterday afternoon & saw my first Osprey of the year. It seems a bit odd to build a nice new hide & then make a large part of it virtually unusable for birders by fitting full height glass which isn't of sufficient quality to use bins or scope through. However, apparently that section may be locked up & used as a classroom anyway....what a waste!

Nightjars on Mutters Moor

On Wednesday I joined 18 other members of Devon Birds for a Nightjar hunt on Mutters Moor near Sidmouth. It was a clear dry evening with a nice bright moon to help the Nightjars hunt for supper, although there was a reasonably strong chilly wind which probably kept  some of their insect menu grounded. At least we didn't get nibbled by any mozzies.

We arrived at 8.30pm & wandered to the North of the moor for fantastic views as the sun set.

It must have been about 9.45pm when we first heard the Nightjar's 'churring', and shortly after that one was spotted perching in a nearby tree. Most of us got a decent look at it in the scope before it flew off. We then had good but brief views as a pair flew around not far from where we were watching.

Headed back to the car park in the dark after a good night out!