It seems to me that many comments on this (slightly over-heated?) thread have been based upon a misunderstanding - although, of course, I understand the frustrations of those who would have liked to have known about the Smew earlier. I have no idea who Andy is, apart from the fact that his (very good) photographs of birds are posted here regularly. From this it is perhaps natural to assume (as I did) that he knows a fair amount about the birds that he is photographing and is aware of the rarity value etc. of the diferent species that occur in HK.
However, I think it is clear from his comments - which he didn't really need to make; why should he have to justify himself? - that he didn't identify the bird as a Smew until he returned home from work on Friday evening. And after he'd posted the photos on the forum and when others had seen the photos on Saturday morning and asked where he had seen the Smew, he promptly replied that he had seen the bird on Pond 20.
Which, to me, is a far more transparent response than some other photographers, who are perhaps better informed than Andy, sometimes make in this forum.
dave
[ Last edited by ddavid at 28/11/2010 23:10 ]
