ajohn

Hong Kong leg flags (using the colour combination White over Yellow) have been used for about 10 years. In this time, we have received some useful information about the movement of waders from Hong Kong due to resightings of birds here and overseas.

Because all waders from Hong Kong use the same flag combination, however, it has not previously been possible to recognise individual birds in the field. This limits the potential information which can be gained about the movements of individual birds and the duration for which an individual remains in Hong Kong. For example, we still do not know whether Marsh Sandpiper individuals remain in Hong Kong all winter or whether there is passage through Hong Kong, despite the fact that good numbers of this species have been flagged.

During this summer, the Hong Kong Ringing Group (HKRG) has obtained some engraved leg flags. These will allow individual birds to be recognised, so that we can gain this additional information. Engraved leg flags like these have been used successfully elsewhere for several years, and some Australian birds with engraved flags have been resighted in Hong Kong.

Last night, the HKRG was able to trap waders at Mai Po and we have fitted the first of the Hong Kong engraved leg flags. So far, 39 birds have been ringed: 22 Common Redshank, 9 Marsh Sandpiper, 5 Common Greenshank, 2 Greater Sand Plover and 1 Common Sandpiper. As usual,all have been fitted with the Hong Kong combination of White over Yellow. Both flags are engraved with a single letter followed by a single number (e.g. A1, B2, etc.) - the combination is the same on both flags. Photos are attached for Common Redshank, Common Greenshank and Marsh Sandpiper.

If anyone is at Mai Po over the coming weeks and months, I would like you to look out for these waders (and for any waders with leg flags). You can report them on the website, or by contacting me directly (jallcock @asiaecol. com.hk) All reports will be useful to gain a pattern of the birds behaviour in Hong Kong, and to see how long birds stay in this area. We hope that there will also be sightings from overseas. We plan to continue trapping over the course of the autumn and winter, so expect to see more of these birds (hopefully including more species) turning up in coming months.

As always, thank you to WWF-HK and Mai Po staff for their help with managing the reserve and giving permission for us to visit the site to conduct this research.

WWF Mai Po

A New Chapter Opens on Wader Migration Research in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Bird Ringing Group (HKBRG) in collaboration with WWF-Hong Kong kicked off the bird ringing season at Mai Po Nature Reserve this month by employing a bird marking technique new to Hong Kong.... Read more


米埔自然保護區涉禽遷徙研究展開新一頁

世界自然基金會與香港鳥類環誌協會組成的研究小組，在米埔自然保護區剛展開今季的鳥類環誌工作，當中用上「新型足旗」，在香港是一項新嘗試。... 更多

msamuel

Is it common redshank?  Its legs are orangey red but the bill is yellowish green not red at the base that I know
Thanks.  Samuel

ajohn

Samuel,
As you guessed, your bird is a Common Redshank. It is a young bird (hatched this year), which often are not particularly red on the bill. Can you please let me know when and where you photographed the bird, so that I can add it to the list of resightings.
Thanks, John

msamuel

John
Sorry, forgot it.  The bird was resighted on 26Sep2010 outside Mai Po HKBWS bird hide.
Samuel

ckuifai

B5 & C4 at Mai Po Boardwalk 米埔浮橋 07-Oct-2010 .

John Holmes

From the boardwalk, MPNR 2010-Oct-07

I had imagined that Whimbrel "A1"  would have been the first bird flagged here....
but perhaps the first flags out of the box were "A0" ?

ajohn

Thanks John. In fact, A0 was the first Whimbrel combination - about 30 minutes before A1 was used (on 14th September)

madcat

D0 Greater sand plover @ Mai Po Boardwalk 2010-10-20




[ 本帖最後由 madcat 於 22/10/2010 09:58 編輯 ]

madcat

A1 Common Greenshank @ Mai Po boardwalk - 2010-10-21

ajohn

Thank you for continuing to update the records. Please continue to post sightings of these leg-flagged birds. The Common Greenshank has been in Hong Kong now for about 2 months (flagged on 26 August) and the Greater Sandplover for over 1 month.

Sze

FYI! someone took a photo of a flagged bird at NSW!

http://www.hkwildlife.net/viewth ... mp;page=1#pid288103

ajohn

Sze, thank you for drawing this to my attention. I have looked at the photos on HKWildlife. The flag number is very difficult to read, but appears to be A2 - this is another Greenshank ringed in late August.

madcat

The following photos were taken by Philip Tang, a HKBWS member, and were posted here with his permission.

E3 Common redshank @ Mai Po Boardwalk 2010-10-20




A9 Common Greenshank (???) @ Mai Po boardwalk - 2010-10-21

lchunfai

24.10.10  Mai Po (B/W)

Greater Sand Plover  [D0]

ckuifai

Common Redshank 紅腳鷸 A6, B0, B7, D0, D3 & E0 at Mai Po Boardwalk 米埔浮橋 25-Oct-2010

John Holmes

Redshank "D8" was at the boardwalk this morning, 3rd Nov. 2010

lkatherine

Common Redshank D0 at the boardwalk this morning (5-Nov, 10:00).

Katherine

ypakwai

Common Redshank 紅腳鷸 B6, B7,at Mai Po Boardwalk 米埔浮橋 11/4/2010

Stonechat

A 2 resighting
From  Kam Tin Nov 13 2010. It is doing well and very active.

[ Last edited by Stonechat at 19/11/2010 08:03 ]

Sze

Marsh Sandpiper B6 was seen at Nam Sang Wai on 05Dec2010 around 08:30-09:45

sdavid

Greenshank (A0)

Grey Plover (B2)


Also 16 HK leg-flagged (not engraved) Grey Plover outside the Boardwalk Hides yesterday.  

One of the godwits also looked like it was carrying flags, but was too distant to confirm.

sdavid

Mai Po Boardwalk

10-Mar-2010
Common Greenshank A0

11-Mar-2011
Common Greenshank A8 and A9
Common Redshank (HK Flags unmarked)

lkatherine

Pied Avocet A5 photographed by cosmos on 11-Mar-2011:

http://www.hkbws.org.hk/BBS/viewthread.php?tid=13674

John Holmes

At the Mai Po boardwalk, Saturday 19th March 2011

These photographs attached plus a Redshank with plain HK leg flags, a Broadbilled Sandpiper with plain HK leg flags and a Common Greenshank "A9"

The photos are Black-tailed Godwits "B1" and "B4" and Redshank "D7"

[ Last edited by John Holmes at 19/03/2011 15:22 ]

ajohn

Thank you for the resightings John. The Redshank and Greenshank were flagged in September and the Godwits were flagged in January.  The Broad-billed Sandpiper resighting is perhaps the most interesting of your observations: only 11 have ever been flagged in Hong Kong, all in April 2004. I have not heard of any previous resightings of flagged individuals of this species.

Please keep these records of engraved flags coming, as they will provide interesting information on the behaviour of waders in the Deep Bay area. We hope to put more flags on over the next few weeks as waders stop over in Hong Kong.

[ Last edited by ajohn at 21/03/2011 09:12 ]

wcaptain

Hi John,

Is it possible to post an excel file of the flag no and the ringing details on the forum (or the download section)? So birders (both local and int'l) can view the details about their resightings without too much disturbance to you.

This file can be regularly updated in accordance with the resightings reported here.

Just a suggestion. Pls don't mind.

Cheers,

Captain

ajohn

Thank you for the suggestion, Captain. One reason I have not been doing this is that I am concerned that by providing the information publicly, people may just look up the date on which their bird was flagged and may not report the details to me. If this happened it would be counter-productive, as we could end up receiving less details about the observations. I will reconsider this position and may post something in future.

I am also considering ways in which we can make it easier for people to report resightings and increase observer awareness of the various marking schemes taking place in Hong Kong and elsewhere along the flyway. For the moment I am happy to respond to any observations which are reported to me, and if anyone has any questions about a particular individual I can provide details directly. Either post questions here or send me a PM. I will respond to any PM (or email) and will also respond on the website for any sighting which I consider to be significant.

I intend to post an update summary on the engraved flags in the coming weeks, to let people know about the resightings received so far and what these tell us about the waders in Deep Bay.

HKBWS WY

Report bird No. A5
Time : 1700 hrs. on 5/3/2011
Location: No. 17 of Mai Po Marshes

Cheung Wai-leung

IMG_86310.jpg (347.73 KB)

21/03/2011 13:53

John Holmes

From Saturday 19th March, a record shot of the Broad-billed Sandpiper mentioned
- only 11 flagged in HK, reports John Allcock !

John Holmes

From the boardwalk, Monday 21st March -

Black-tailed Godwit "B7"  - still in non-breeding plumage

(Not photographed by us)

J & J

Tony

Gei Wai #11 @ Mai Po
2011/3/21

Pied Avocet Flag A5

hkinni

20/02/2011
Mai Po boardwalk

hkinni

20/02/2011
Mai Po boardwalk

lkatherine

Black-tailed Godwits photographed by hkinni on 21-Mar-11:

http://www.hkbws.org.hk/BBS/viewthread.php?tid=13702&pid=39265&page=1&extra=

lkatherine

24-Mar-11  Gei wai #11

Black-tailed Godwit B1

dick

MP Pond#11 2011/3/23
Black-tailed Godwit B1

sbena

Curlew Sandpiper D3. MPNR Gei wai #16/17, 13:15

lkatherine

25-Mar-11: Black-tailed Godwit B1 at Gei wai #11 again.

Interesting to see it coming back to the same area everyday, I wonder how long it will stay in Hong Kong before migration.

Katherine

ajohn

I agree, it will be interesting to see how long some individuals stay.
For example, Black-tailed Godwit B1 was flagged in late January, so we know that this is an individual from the wintering population - does this mean it will depart earlier than the passage migrants currently arriving?
In this respect, keep a look out for Curlew Sandpipers. I am surprised that Bena's sighting is the only report so far - we flagged a large number of these earlier this week (so hopefully more sightings this weekend).  These are obviously migrants and it will be interesting to know how long they stop over in Hong Kong.

ajohn

I saw the following at Mai Po today:
Pond #11
Black-tailed Godwit B1
Common Greenshank A5
Also another Godwit with engraved flags (but I couldn't see the combination) and at least 2 Marsh Sandpipers with plain Hong Kong flags.

Pond #16/17
Curlew Sandpiper D3
Curlew Sandpiper E2
Common Greenshank A1

lida

On 26/03/2011(Sat.), a HK-flagged Black-tailed Godwit "B7" was seen on mudflat. Also seen was another HK-flagged Marsh Sandpiper, but could not see the number properly.

hkinni

Mai Po
26/03/2011

[ Last edited by hkinni at 2/09/2012 00:40 ]

madcat

2011-03-25  Mai Po Pond #11

Back-tailed godwit B4

[ 本帖最後由 madcat 於 29/03/2011 20:13 編輯 ]

madcat

2011-04-03 Mai Po Boardwalk
Terek sandpiper D2

[ 本帖最後由 madcat 於 4/04/2011 12:12 編輯 ]

lkatherine

This is D2's first resighting photo, it was flagged on 21-Mar-11.

But it is a Terek Sandpiper rather than a Curlew Sandpiper, the bill is up-turn and legs are bright orange.

Cheers, Katherine

[ Last edited by lkatherine at 4/04/2011 10:33 ]

madcat

Name's corrected... Thx...

ajohn

Thanks for the continued sightings being posted here. We have now flagged over 250 birds using the engraved flags, and there are plenty to see.
Yesterday (5th April) at Mai Po I saw:
Boardwalk:
Pacific Golden Plover J0
Greater Sand Plover E8
Marsh Sandpiper A8, B0
Common Greenshank A6
Red-necked Stint A5
Curlew Sandpiper A4, B9, D7, J1, J5, L8, M4

Pond 16/17
Curlew Sandpiper B9, C2, J7, L1, L5, L8

lkatherine

6-Apr Gei wai #16/17
Curlew Sandpiper C2

Katherine

lkatherine

10-Apr from the mudflat:

Marsh Sandpiper: B0, D1 (plus 2 plain HK-flagged bird)
Grey Plover: C1

Katherine