And the North wind shall blow

Well of course it is mid November but still, a cold weather warning (it is a bitterly warm 13 deg C) so soon after a hot weather warning is something of a shock. So much so that it is very much a case of winter draws on. This is a rare early opportunity for the locals to besport themselves in their winter gladrags.

With a rare morning free I decided to wander further up the road behind the new house. Mid-morning is rarely birdy and so it proved today. I had excellent views of Scarlet-backed flowerpecker, a Grey wagtail was in the middle of the road and a White wagtail flew over the house. Best bird was a female or immature Red-flanked bluetail. If that turned up in Bishop's Stortford it would cause something of a twitch as would the next bird, sadly only heard, a Siberian rubythroat. A couple of late Barn swallows flew over.

After the initial steep section the road is quite easy. I followed the Maclehose trail a short distance to the Wong Chuk Yeung fire look out - a most unimposing edifice - and occasionally there are breaks in the vegetation and the viewer is rewarded with sweeping views around the area,all the way out to High Island reservoir. I have quickly worked out which islands are this side of the golfing paradise of Kau Sai Chau, the main ones being Kiu Tsui Chau, Pak Sha Chau, Tai Tsan Chau and its smaller sister Siu Tsan Chau and finally Cham Tau Chau.

Other than the ubiquitous kites there were no raptors to be seen this morning. However at the current house I yesterday saw one of the Sai Kung White-bellied sea-eagles hurtling around the Bayside Beach area. With a strong North-East monsoon blowing the birds are having a whale of a time (do whales have a bird of a time?) and there is pure adrenalin seemingly driving some of the spectacular wheels and dives.

Photography isn't really a great option at present. As the weather girls tell us, the UV reading is forecast to be about 3 today. That means grey skies and poor light. Bum is the word. Not "Grease".



If you have even the remotest interest in Hong Kong's birds I commend to you the works of Geoffrey Herklots. His book, Hong Kong Birds has some lovely plates (as illustrated) and is just generally a good browse. Ditto "The Hong Kong Countryside". You can pick up reasonable copies of these for under a tenner (GBP) at somewhere like www.abebooks.co.uk or you can buy a copy in very good condition with a dust jacket for rather more. I tend to use Picture This (Galleria or Princes Building) when I want copies to give as gifts. Chris Bailey will always have a decent copy in stock in my experience, even if not on display.