Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside

Vicky still hasn't given up on me, and sure as hell hasn't neglected me so it was more of the same today followed by a trip to the seaside.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle flew overhead as we arrived at the rice paddies. and was quickly followed by good views of a pair of

Long-tailed Shrike

The male putting in a particularly good performance showing Front,

Back

and Side.

Plain Prinia were in good voice along all the reedy margins,

while our second Cinnamon Bittern of the day was far more obliging than the first which had buzzed off in quick time. It was now time for a short break, and where better to take it than at Vicky's home. There

Mum (left) and Dad (second from right) along with a few Family Friends were there to greet us with fruit salad and a cool drink.

Ear-Lobe Larry was on hand to show us his 'party piece', after which we left again for the birds.

Again there were a lot of Waders to be seen, the best of these being a Marsh Sandpiper, but something a little more familiar was waiting around the corner.

For reasons best known to themselves, these 2 Hooded Cranes stray from the main flock, which is likely on South Korea, and have over-wintered here for a number of years now. Thought on as 'lucky' and with some fertility value, these elegant birds attract the crowds with over 100 people showing up during some week-ends.

After a short drive we reached the Lanyang River

where the fertile, Hooded Cranes you see, banks are sown with a variety of crops.

Vicky pointed out a couple of blooms of this most attractive flower, telling me that in childhood they would pick them for the house, but these days they are seriously depleted that we were lucky to see any at all.

If you haven't seen a Barn Swallow in UK yet this year, then it your lucky day, with double figures being seen daily during my stay here.

Both Cattle Egret

and Pacific Golden Plover are rapidly getting ready for the breeding season, but at our next stop there was something even better.

Getting out of the car, my first word was "Phalarope" and in a couple of minutes flat Vicky had the tripod and video camera set up ready to go.

Red-necked Phalarope

was a 'Lifer' for her and this juvenile was putting on quite a performance.

It continued to feed, spinning like a Dervish, for a full 15 minutes after out arrival

then decided enough was enough and got its head down!

All along the walls of the Fish Farms etc are these clusters of eggs which I was interested to find out about. There was no surprise that Vicky knew they are those of a South American edible Snail, imported to Taiwan for their food value. Unfortunately, once it was discovered that they really were not agreeable to the average Taiwanese palate they were simply tossed into the nearest water-course. Since then they have become a serious nuisance to much of the indigenous wildlife, but all attempts to eradicate them have thus far failed.

Our first look at the Pacific Ocean crashing in on the

North East Beach strewn with Motor Vehicles, Anglers and

an enormous amount of Driftwood.

Not a great deal to report from this neck of the woods, only a Fishing Boat making its way back to port,

a view through the mist and spume of Turtle Island (very good for birds I am told)

and a slightly closer look at Kentish Plover. There were also a few distant Black-tailed Godwit,

long with both Black-tailed Gull and

Slaty-backed Gull all 3 additions to the Taiwan List.

Finally, it can be reported that I am really being tormented as it has been promised that tomorrow will be a really special day, but without detail. All I know is there will be little sleep, a fairly long drive and an

ABSOLUTE EYE OPENER!

While a quick look at the Stat Counter reveals UK hitting the 40,000 mark plus Greece & the Czech Republic reaching the 3 figure zone. Thanks to all!

	Num	Perc.	Country Name
	40060	74.00%	United Kingdom
	3585	6.62%	United States
	728	1.34%	Canada
	617	1.14%	Germany
	544	1.00%	Estonia
	521	0.96%	Australia
	483	0.89%	France
	395	0.73%	India
	387	0.71%	Netherlands
	377	0.70%	Italy
	353	0.65%	New Zealand
	345	0.64%	Spain
	334	0.62%	Japan
	297	0.55%	Brazil
	297	0.55%	Korea, Republic Of
	247	0.46%	Taiwan
	239	0.44%	Poland
	217	0.40%	Sweden
	204	0.38%	Belgium
	188	0.35%	Russian Federation
	125	0.23%	Romania
	120	0.22%	Ireland
	117	0.22%	Switzerland
	116	0.21%	Mexico
	115	0.21%	Turkey
	114	0.21%	Finland
	114	0.21%	South Africa
	105	0.19%	Indonesia
	100	0.18%	Greece
	100	0.18%	Czech Republic
	94	0.17%	Philippines
	93	0.17%	Norway
	91	0.17%	Denmark