Wildlife, wild places, photography - plus Wild Scenes HK store
Wildlife, wild places, photography - plus Wild Scenes HK store
Indonesia’s Devastating Wild Bird Trade
Indonesia’s massive bird trade is especially rooted in Javan traditions Table of Contents Pramuka bird market, Jakarta – largest wildlife market in southeast Asia Songbird contests stimulate bird keeping President Joko Widodo Boosts the Bird Trade To some Indonesians, “conservation”…
Surat kepada Presiden Jokowi tentang Perdagangan Burung yang Mengerikan di Indonesia
Dear President Jokowi: Saya melihat di sebuah artikel Anda ingin memiliki lebih banyak burung liar di, misalnya, Kebun Raya Bogor. Besar. Namun mengapa tidak di seluruh Pulau Jawa, yang mana sangat sulit menemukan burung liar di banyak tempat, bahkan di…
Letter to President Jokowi about Indonesia’s Terrible Devastating Bird Trade
Dear President Joko Widodo: I see in an article you would like to have more wild birds in, say, Bogor Botanical Garden. Great! But why not across all Java, where it is very hard to find wild birds in…
Hong Kong Loves Cum
Now, I know there are proper uses for the word “cum”, and it can appear classy in text, as you might appear smart by dropping magna cum laudae into a sentence (I just looked it up, and find it means…
北戴河鸟类:自 1985 年以来情况恶化,但有巨大改善潜力
概括 1985年春天,我第一次访问北戴河,领导了一项候鸟调查,帮助将该镇作为候鸟的主要中心列入“全球观鸟地图”。此后我多次返回,领导了更多调查,共同领导了观鸟之旅;并倡导保护。 以下是 2024 年 5 月回访的一些记录,并得到了北戴河政府的大力支持。 简要总结:当然,自1985年以来,北戴河发生了很多变化,虽然鸽子窝(鹰岩)对湿地的保护值得欢迎,但也有一些变化是负面的,大大降低了北戴河观鸟的吸引力。 持续的负面影响可能导致北戴河成为历史记录中的鸟类栖息地;对我来说,会是多么的悲伤,巨大的浪费。 然而,改进的机会仍然存在;正如我在 2009 年所说,我们仍然有机会创建世界上最令人兴奋的候鸟保护区之一。 1985年以来的变化 当然,自1985年春天以来,情况发生了很大变化。然而,并非所有变化似乎对经济发展都是至关重要的:例如,洋河口的滩涂现在非常不适合鸟类生存;该镇南海岸的几条小沟渠无法进入;鸽巢北岸的沙滩已被摧毁,大量混凝土取代了这里以前的湿地区域。 从好的方面来说,奥林匹克公园是新的,吸引了鸣禽。鸽子巢沙坪的大片区域作为保护区受到保护;尽管湿地公园的林地太多,湿地太少,但其以西的地区也受到了保护,免受重大建设的影响。 机会 有多种改进机会。特别是在鸽子窝沙坪,一些景观美化可以吸引更多的鸟类;而且非常重要的是,合适的游客设施可以让很多人体验到北戴河的美妙鸟类。 哇 无为 在道教中,原则 哇 长期以来一直很重要。不是坐着无所事事!但与自然和谐相处。通过努力了解自然——例如什么样的湿地栖息地适合某些鸟类——并采取相应行动,保护区可以得到加强,帮助北戴河成为一个将人类和候鸟聚集在一起的地方,以造福双方。 利用北戴河作为大型候鸟中心和广受欢迎的度假小镇的独特优势,该保护区可以成为一个重要、持久的吸引力。 另外,酌情创建和改善湿地;同样,适合树林的地区也有林地。 Table of Contents 概括 1985年以来的变化 机会 哇 无为 减少北戴河对候鸟吸引力的变化 洋河口 戴河池 西山沟、学习沟、使馆沟 灯塔点=金山口 鱼钩点 鸽子巢公园、鹰岩和沙坪 Xinhe = Henghe reservoir surroundings – Beidaihe Wetland Park 神秘的水域,不是公园,也不是保护区 奥林匹克公园:北戴河观鸟胜地欢迎增设 北戴河作为观鸟目的地的潜在改进——以及,我该向谁推荐?…
Beidaihe and its Birdlife: Changes for the Worse, Opportunities for a World-class Wetland Reserve
Summary I first visited Beidaihe in spring 1985, leading a migratory birds survey that helped put the town on the “global birdwatching map” as a major hub for migratory birds. I have returned many times since, leading more surveys, co-leading…
China Registry domain name scam email
Here’s a scam email I’ve just received, as a few times before: If this seems rather weird and dodgy, that’s because it is; there are several online articles about this, such as Beware this domain name scam originating from China.
Enjoying nature including by birding is good for body and soul
Here, a page with snippets from studies showing ways experiencing greenery – even seeing trees, along with activities like hiking and birding – can benefit our physical and mental well-being. Birding can boost mental health I’ve met many birders, and…
Early warnings of climate change
While climate change resulting from human activities might seem a new-fangled concept, there have been on-point predictions dating back many years. For instance: Eunice Newton Foote’s pioneering experiments from the mid-1800s Though insufficiently recognised, it seems Eunice Newton Foote was…
Brief info on rampant fake Facebook accounts that send umpteen friend requests
While I have a page on this site featuring some of the fake Facebook accounts that have sent me friend requests – several of them quite absurd, it’s also interesting to delve a little into information on fake accounts. Here,…
Friend Requests from Fake Sexy Girls n Cuties n Tesla CEO etc Facebook Accounts ad infinitum
Over the past few months, I’ve received a succession of friend requests from Facebook accounts that are clearly fake. Often, they are accounts with photos of fairly young, attractive Chinese women – perhaps as I live in Hong Kong. Also…
Spam spam spam spam and spam emails
And now, it’s time for some spam; just posting some of the crap I and many others receive day after day after day. Yeah, no use to anyone really, unless someone finds this and somehow doesn’t take up one of…
Demolition Looms for Last Villages Below Lion Rock
Walking into the old part of Ngau Chi Wan Village, I’m soon on a path between two-storey buildings, which include a relatively grand old house, built in 1927 of grey bricks and mortar, with granite blocks around the doorway. Standing…
Spammers offering to write articles for website really wanting links
From time to time, I receive offers from people I’ve no connection with, offering to write articles for my websites. While this might seem a real fine service – with no monies required – these are really about having links…
On highly pathogenic avian flu issue, Birdlife should be voice of wild birds not defer to poultry industry
Email I’ve just sent Birdlife International, in response to a rather bland email from them to supporters about avian flu, and a follow up after I sent brief email enquiry in response [added headings to help make this an online…
Yorkshire to the Lake District, locales spanning Dracula to Peter Rabbit via Harry Potter and James Herriot
Photos from a trip to the north of England during winter 2023 Whitby, North Yorkshire – Dracula was here, just don’t ask about his grave In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a ship with the vampire aboard is wrecked at Whitby, and…
Diary of Cambridge Ornithological Expedition to China 1985
November 1982 [while I was studying for a PhD at Cambridge University]. I had been considering arranging an expedition to study bird migration, perhaps in South America or Asia. The two undergraduates – John Archer and Andrew Stoddart – who…
Spam email and crap reply about website SEO
I only run small websites, yet still get spam emails from people offering to boost search engine results and business; just generic efforts with no insights re my actual sites. A very recent one here, for instance; notice it’s from…
Choosing Print on Demand Service for Dropshipping to Hong Kong – Inkedjoy well worth considering
As a freelance photographer, I’ve long been interested in ideas for selling photos – perhaps as prints, or on other items. Traditionally, this might have meant having to create and stock many potential products, such as prints, or even mugs,…
Ignoring Science Makes Global Climate Disaster as Inevitable as Titanic Submarine Implosion
Climate change has been prominent in worldwide news this summer (2023), notably as we have just lived through the hottest week for perhaps 100,000 years. Given a series of global warming events, we should have alarm bells ringing, sirens sounding,…
Helicopter crews brave mighty winds and waves to rescue seamen during South China Sea typhoons
On the morning of 2 July 2022, as Hong Kong was lashed by gales and rainstorms from Typhoon Chaba, a Government Flying Services helicopter was on a rescue mission close to the eye of the storm. Approaching the vessel that…
Faster WordPress with free plugins and little hassle
While a website page can look simple as you view it, there might be a lot going on behind the scenes, especially using a content management system like WordPress: if you’ve reached this article, you’ve likely had a peek behind…
Japanese Yellow Bunting merits concern regarding status with low numbers recorded and vulnerability to trapping
After I saw two Japanese Yellow Buntings (aka simply Yellow Buntings Emberiza sulphurata) in Hong Kong this spring, I happened to notice that Birdlife has changed the species’ status from Vulnerable – as it was from 1994 to 2016, to…
DocMartin Photo Galleries
Bird photography with Olympus / OM System OM1 and M.Zuiko 300mm f4 PRO
Especially if you are looking for compact kit, which you can use with little need for a tripod, the Olympus OM1 and 300mm PRO f4 in the OM System – now from OM Digital Solutions, as Olympus camera division was…
Beidaihe revisited – seaside resort with magnetic appeal for birds and people
Just measured as the crow flies, the main Ming Dynasty Great Wall stretches some 2000 kilometres from west to east. For much of its length, the Great Wall dips and climbs through mountain ranges, until at last dropping to a…
Leizhou Peninsula, Guangdong – sandpipers, stone statues and culture
On a map, the Leizhou Peninsula looks like a spur of land thrusting south from the China coast towards Hainan Island. Since much of the peninsula has been designated within a geopark because of a host of volcanoes, and Hainan…
One Hump, One Road: Birds and History in Southwest Yunnan
There’s an “only in China” style to Lufeng Dinosaur Valley, with its combination of kitschy dinosaur models, dioramas, fun fair, zip line, and museum. In the museum, we find displays including tens or hundreds of mounted dinosaur skeletons, most or…
Cat Tien National Park and Ho Chi Minh during the rainy season
Though we might be barely three hundred metres from shore, there’s a real sense of adventure as my son and I, with guide Dat Ki, paddle slowly in a wooden canoe across the calm brown waters of a lake within…
Have you been bullied into health? Fear, quackery and Covid
So here we are with our modern-day wonder, the internet – where even with a smartphone, you can search for and read the latest scientific research on a host of topics, including diseases like Covid. And what do we have?…
Hong Kong landscapes photo gallery
China birds photo gallery
By Martin Williams
Hong Kong bird photo gallery
By Martin Williams
Never mind the antimask-o-sphere. Science shows face masks help reduce Covid spread
Just had one of those silly Twitter “conversations” with someone who had position so fixed, impossible to change with facts. Yeah, reminds me of adage “Don’t mud wrestle with a pig. The pig enjoys it, and you just get dirty.”…