Looks like I let the blog slip yet again. I'm going to try to throw up the last of the Taiwan pics as soon as possible. I was just in Cyprus two weeks ago and have plenty of shots from that trip as well. Quite on the homefront here so far with the only recent good bird being an adult American Golden Plover at Omey Strand.
Back to Taiwan. We spent the first half of 25th March around the Zengwun Estuary which is one the main areas for wintering Black-faced Spoonbills which we saw good numbers of. The estuary and adjacent shrimp ponds proved to quite good for waders. I managed to tick my first ever Long-toed Stint here. I spotted one bird resting on a dyke immediately adjacent to the bus. It quickly flew off before I managed to get any shots. Other notable waders seen in the area included a small distant flock of Great Knot, Pacific Golden Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Curlew Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint and Marsh Sandpiper. In all we recorded nineteen species of waders here. Another unexpected surprise was a single Chinese Egret. Easily overlooked amongst the local Little Egrets. This species is listed as Vulnerable by the ICUN and the global population numbers no more than 3,200 individuals.
No new endemics for the day but I did have the following four lifers - Chinese Egret, Long-toed Stint, White-shouldered Starling and Black-faced Bunting.
Back to Taiwan. We spent the first half of 25th March around the Zengwun Estuary which is one the main areas for wintering Black-faced Spoonbills which we saw good numbers of. The estuary and adjacent shrimp ponds proved to quite good for waders. I managed to tick my first ever Long-toed Stint here. I spotted one bird resting on a dyke immediately adjacent to the bus. It quickly flew off before I managed to get any shots. Other notable waders seen in the area included a small distant flock of Great Knot, Pacific Golden Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Curlew Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint and Marsh Sandpiper. In all we recorded nineteen species of waders here. Another unexpected surprise was a single Chinese Egret. Easily overlooked amongst the local Little Egrets. This species is listed as Vulnerable by the ICUN and the global population numbers no more than 3,200 individuals.
No new endemics for the day but I did have the following four lifers - Chinese Egret, Long-toed Stint, White-shouldered Starling and Black-faced Bunting.
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| Black-faced Spoonbill |
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| Black-faced Spoonbill |
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| Black-faced Spoonbill |
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| Black-faced Spoonbill |
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| Black-faced Spoonbill |
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| Black-faced Spoonbill |
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| Black-faced Spoonbill |
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| Chinese Egret |
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| Chinese Egret |
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| Chinese Egret |
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| Chinese Egret |
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| Chinese Egret |
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| Chinese Egret |
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| Little Egret |
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| Black-crowned Night Heron |
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| Green Sandpiper |
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| White-shouldered Starling with a Red Turtle Dove. |
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| Light-vented Bulbul |
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| Brown Shrike |
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| Javan Myna |
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| Pacific Swallow |
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| Pacific Swallow |
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| Pacific Swallow |
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| Male Plumbeous Redstart |
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| Male Plumbeous Redstart |
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| Female Plumbeous Redstart |
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| White Wagtail leucopsis |
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| White Wagtail leucopsis |
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| White Wagtails subspecies leucopsis (top) and ocularis (below). |
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| White Wagtail subspecies ocularis |
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| White Wagtail subspecies ocularis |
