I, as the voluntary activity leader of the trip, sincerely apologize for my decision of waiting for the 3 late participants.
The late-comers said they will arrive within 15 minutes. This is my second time to lead a boat trip (last trip on 1 May no participants were late), and i haven't encountered late participants in previous trips to Mai Po and other sites so i was inexperienced about the usual practice.
There were some complaints about the route arrangement and my performance. The boat didn't go directly to Po Toi because of several reasons. Sea birds are one of the targets of the trip, and there is little chance for bird-watchers to go sea-bird watching. This is one of the reason why many participants join the HKBWS boat trip instead of going to Po Toi directly by ferry. The time on Po Toi was also to suit lunch time. The boat trip on 1 May 2011 also had a similar arrangement. I have also discussed with some very experienced bird watchers about the arrangement.
Some said I was not enthusiastic on finding birds. But the fact is i spent a large part of time during the trip at the front of the boat looking for seabirds with my binoculars, while sometimes stay at the back of the boat to guide some less experienced participants. In the afternoon i spent more time at the back of the boat to look for seabirds passing at the back, and i did noticed two or three groups of terns passing and inform other participants. I did take a short sleep (not more than 20 minutes) near the end of the trip partly because i was too tired after searching birds for several hours.
I hope you understand that sea bird watching can be very boring and frustrating, and It is impossible for us (and of course for me as the activity leader) to guareentee good birds seen on the sea. However, I need to apologize again for the unsatisfactory trip leaded by me.
我作為當天活動的義務領隊, 決定等3位遲到參加者是我個人的決定, 希望藉此機會誠心道歉。
當天參加者稱會在15分鐘內到達, 該次是我第二次帶領出海的觀鳥活動 (5月1日的活動沒有參加者遲到), 而之前曾經帶領過的活動亦未遇到類似情況, 所以並不十分清楚活動恆常做法。
有參加者不滿當天的行程安排以及我的表現, 我覺得亦需要清楚解釋。當天船沒有直接開到蒲台島, 是因為當天活動其中目標是海鳥, 而很多觀鳥者亦很少有機會出海觀看海鳥, 這亦是參加鳥會活動而不直接坐街渡到蒲台島的原因。逗留蒲台島的時間為迎合午飯時間, 當天的安排亦與5月1日時的安排相約, 我亦有與更有經驗的鳥友相量過有關安排。
亦有參加者不滿我當天沒有熱衷找鳥, 事實上我有大部份時間在船頭位置用望遠鏡找鳥, 有時在船中間位置引導觀鳥經驗較少的參加者。在下午我較多時間留在船尾位置找鳥, 亦發現有幾群燕鷗在船尾經過及即時通知其他參加者。回程時我確實有小睡片刻休息,因為連續幾個小時找鳥實在太累,但沒有超過20分鐘。
我希望大家明白看海鳥是可以十分沉悶及令人沮喪的, 我們(或是一個活動領隊)沒有可能控制當天鳥況。不過得悉有參加者對我的表現不滿, 我希望藉此機會道歉。
[ Last edited by Beetle at 15/05/2011 13:30 ]
