I work in travel, specifically global birding. This profession requires a few things - people with a desire to see birds, a team of professionals to ensure good logistics, tour leaders to find the birds and show off the attributes of each destination and a team of agents, local guides and drivers. We're awfully good at doing all this, and yet we're all stuck at home because the one thing that allows for this global synergy - the capacity to travel freely, is nigh near locked down by the latest coronavirus epidemic. At the moment, Meg and I do nothing else but deal with the effect of COVID-19 on our company, our guests and our amazing team every day, sometimes we even consider the impact it may have on our own family, but mostly we cannot wait for global pandemic to dissipate quickly enough. Not only would we prefer the world not to suffer too much more, but we'd also like to regain the freedom that has been lost. Unlike many of our guests, friends and family, we don't have a holiday in jeopardy, our flights haven't been cancelled, our visa applications denied - nor are we suddenly going to jet off anywhere when this is done - but just knowing that it were possible is enough.
Thinking about this one thing for so many hours every day is draining, so we are making a conscious effort to ignore the 'news and updates', even if only for a few hours a day. Rather we shall reminisce about the great travels we have had - some to the remoter corners of the globe, some in our own neck of the woods. In so doing, we hope to create a few spaces for 'other stories' on our social media streams, aside from the continuous scroll of doom, gloom and make believe - we encourage you to do the same!
Today's image is from Hong Kong, China. I am quite keen on waders - they aren't on the same level as my two favourite birding families - Antpittas and Larks, but they share some of the same attractive features. They require patience, careful study, an understanding of habitat and lots of perseverance.
I've been trying to find Black-faced Spoonbill for quite a while now, but have never been to one of its core wintering sites on my trips through southeast Asia. With Meg and Kaily keen to maximise their flight mileage en route to India on our last trip - I was quite happy to divert via Hong Hong and give us the best chance of finding this scarce species. Indeed, aside from finally seeing this bogey bird, it was also my most recent lifer of 2020.
Thinking about this one thing for so many hours every day is draining, so we are making a conscious effort to ignore the 'news and updates', even if only for a few hours a day. Rather we shall reminisce about the great travels we have had - some to the remoter corners of the globe, some in our own neck of the woods. In so doing, we hope to create a few spaces for 'other stories' on our social media streams, aside from the continuous scroll of doom, gloom and make believe - we encourage you to do the same!
Today's image is from Hong Kong, China. I am quite keen on waders - they aren't on the same level as my two favourite birding families - Antpittas and Larks, but they share some of the same attractive features. They require patience, careful study, an understanding of habitat and lots of perseverance.
I've been trying to find Black-faced Spoonbill for quite a while now, but have never been to one of its core wintering sites on my trips through southeast Asia. With Meg and Kaily keen to maximise their flight mileage en route to India on our last trip - I was quite happy to divert via Hong Hong and give us the best chance of finding this scarce species. Indeed, aside from finally seeing this bogey bird, it was also my most recent lifer of 2020.
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| Black-faced Spoonbill - Nam Sang Wai, Hong Kong. January 2020 |
