wgeoff

Here is a photo of the Tufted Puffin seen for 10 minutes at Oare Marshes, Kent in the UK on Wednesday.



As I said in my Po Toi report, unless it has escaped from a zoo somewhere (are there any free-flying birds in captivity?), this bird is several oceans and thousands of miles from where it should be.

It is already being talked of as UK Bird of the Decade 2000 to 2009, and ex UK birdwatchers will understand why.

What would Hong Kong's Bird of the Decade be? Siberian Crane? Japanese Murrelet? White-tailed Tropicbird? Great Thick-knee? Or has it yet to be seen?

[ Last edited by wgeoff at 21/09/2010 18:09 ]

yyattung

I nominate my bird - Yellow-billed Loon!

This is also reported by BBC.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/8260386.stm

[ Last edited by yyattung at 18/09/2009 13:22 ]

kmatthew

WOW!!Amazing finding for UK...no doubt a brand new bird for Europe??!!

ajohn

In fact Tufted Puffin has been seen before in Europe, in Sweden.

In Hong Kong, I think the Pterodroma petrel at Mai Po would have been a good candidate, if the ID had been sorted!
But who knows what will turn up this autumn...

handrew

The question is, did Ron Johns get to see it?????

John Holmes

Yes, only three-and-a-bit months to go before the end of the decade.

What WERE HK's "Top Ten" in the past ten years... ?

I agree with all those named above..  and also nominate Whooper Swan, Lesser Whitethroat, Malayan Night Heron,
Short-tailed Shearwater and Lesser White-fronted Goose.

And there must be some "goodies" I've forgotten

John

tmichael

Hong Kong's bird of the decade? One of Japanese Murrelet or White-tailed Tropicbird certainly - probably the former?

Would have been the pterodroma petrel at Mai Po on 17 March 2001, if only we'd managed to nail the id.

Don't listen to any claims for White-billed Diver.

I thought Geoff's Ortolan was a pretty amazing record too - up there with Grey-necked Bunting (17 March 1990, also at Mai Po, by staggering coincidence - the luck of the Irish, I guess!)

Mike Turnbull

John Holmes

Ooh... !  Ooh...!   and   and  

Ruddy Kingfisher

Masked Booby

any of this century's Collared Kingfishers...  ????

:-P

ajohn

How about the Black Scoter? I'm surprised you missed that one Mike ;-)

The Cotton Pygmy Geese were also one (well, two) of my personal favourites.

tmichael

In fact let's all hope the best is yet to come - Crested Shelduck off the Boardwalk?? - but this impromptu review of the "noughties" to date shows there have been a lot of pretty amazing records in these years.

Black Scoter was, I would have thought, one of the more forgettable ones; that's how I try to treat it anyway!

Mike Turnbull

wgeoff

I quote
'I thought Geoff's Ortolan was a pretty amazing record too - up there with Grey-necked Bunting (17 March 1990, also at Mai Po, by staggering coincidence - the luck of the Irish, I guess!)'

I would like to point out that I am not Irish, or even Welsh, despite the name. I'm pure English.

However, I agree the Grey-necked Bunting was a great record, seen by MT I believe, but unfortunately not in this decade.

I think we must have a competition for 'Hong Kong Bird of the Decade 2000-2009' at the right time (about 1 Jan 2010).

[ Last edited by wgeoff at 22/09/2009 03:01 ]