HKBWS WY

It is with some sadness we have to announce the recent death at age 90 of A. M. Macfarlane.
Maxwell Macfarlane was a Captain in the British Army with prior knowledge of birds and birding before he arrived on his first posting to Hong Kong in late 1957. HKBWS had been founded in August 1957 just before he arrived and, with his birding expertise, he was soon enlisted to maintain bird records for the Society with the title of Honorary Recorder. He lived and worked in the New Territories so was able to birdwatch northern Hong Kong including the Deep Bay area on a frequent basis. In those days, with very limited resources such as good binoculars, telescopes and field guides, it was a major challenge for all Hong Kong birders to identify and record species, quite unlike today. But he professionally organised a formal bird recording system for all members of HKBWS and he was instrumental in producing the first two Annual HK Bird Reports, for 1958 and 1959. These are still available to be viewed on the HKBWS website* and are incredibly professional considering the limitations he was working under. The Society rewarded him with an Honorary Membership. He also produced the first Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Hong Kong in 1960, jointly with A. D. Macdonald.
He left Hong Kong in 1960 on another posting but returned for nine months in the years 1965 and 1966, during which time he produced an updated version of the Annotated Check-List of the Birds of Hong Kong with J. Caunter in 1966.  
HKBWS owes a debt of gratitude to original members like Maxwell Macfarlane who gave the Society such a strong and professional start. Our sympathies go to his family and friends at this time.
* https://www.hkbws.org.hk/cms/resource-tw/bird-report-tw?start=40

我們懷著悲傷的心情通知各位會員，本會榮譽會員Mr. Maxwell Macfarlane已於去年秋天離世，享年90歲。
Mr. Macfarlane於1957年後期抵達香港，時為英國陸軍上尉，已具豐富的觀鳥經驗。因此香港觀鳥會於1957年8月創立後不久，旋即邀請他擔任義務紀錄員一職。由於他居於新界，因此經常在香港的北部觀鳥，包括后海灣等地。相較今天，當年的觀鳥設備，包括單筒及雙筒望遠鏡、圖鑑等均極之缺乏，令辨認及記錄鳥類的難度大增，但得力於過去的觀鳥經驗，他立即建立了一套鳥類記錄系統，令所有會員可以統一使用，因此令1958及1959 年的香港鳥類報告得以應運而生，這些報告仍然可以在香港觀鳥會的網頁*上瀏覽，在各種限制之下仍然可以取得這樣成果，他正是功不可沒。為此，他很快便獲提名成為本會的榮譽會員，1960年更與A. D. Macdonald出版了第一份香港會鳥類名冊“Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Hong Kong”。
Mr. Macfarlane於1960年調任他處，但在1965至66年返港逗留了9個月，期間與J. Caunter更新了“Annotated Check-List of the Birds of Hong Kong”，並於1966年出版。
本會誠意感謝Mr. Macfarlane以及其他創會會員的宏大貢獻，令本會在成立之初，便能建基於穩固及專業的基礎上前行，我們謹此向Mr. Macfarlane的家人及朋友致以深切的慰問。
https://www.hkbws.org.hk/cms/resource-tw/bird-report-tw?start=40

Mr. Macfarlane has written an article in our bulletin No.206 in 2008 winter

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28/01/2021 15:47

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28/01/2021 15:51

Mr. Macfarlane 於2008年在本會通訊第206號上撰寫此文

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28/01/2021 15:42

wcaptain

感謝元祖級前輩貢獻與付出。

Much appreciated his contribution and effort. RIP

[ Last edited by wcaptain at 29/01/2021 14:04 ]