Thailand, Australia & China (Favourites & Tip's)

Favourite Wader photo from Australia was of this Wandering Tattler (above) taken from Caloundra, sunshine state. Favourite Wader photo from Thailand was of this Nordmans Greenshank (above) taken at Krabi estuary.
Favourite Wader photo from China was of this Spoon Billed Sandpiper (above) taken at Yangkou estuary, Yangkou near Rudong.

Other Favourites: Well music always played a big part whilst on the road and my iPhone "most played list" of late shows the following tracks:Kings of Leon=Sex on fire, Sam Sparro=Black & Gold (Al Usher remix), Moloko=Sing it Back-EP, Phil Collins=In the air tonight (why I got in to this track I will never know but I just did), The Beloved=Sun rising (An all tme favourite / classic)

Favourite moments:

Well again getting up close and personal / good decent prolonged views of the Waders above but getting the Saunders Gull photos was also a blinding moment.

Obviously seeing and spending time with and at the "Pickering household" and "nailing" an Owlet Nightjar on the track with Stuart beaming it was a great moment during our outback trip.

My first Southern Hemisphere pelagic resulting in my first species of Albatross and seeing a total of 6 Species of Albatross even in rough conditions was a very memorable moment especially being with Stuart and Dave Mitford.

Jumping on and off inter island ferry services in the Andaman Sea, Thailand is always Good value.

Down moments:

Getting food poisoning, having a fever and being sick wasn't so good but to be expected I guess.

The Heat and humidity really got to me at times on the last return leg in Thailand

Being hassled to buy goods on the street could grate on me at times especially when I wasn't feeling to good.

Seeing the huge destruction of the inter-tidal mudflats at Yangkou really did affect me in a way that that I didn't think possible.

The most downing point was missing my Son much more than I thought I would and I can't wait to see him upon my return even though no doubt there will be some kind of grief to bail him out of (again)

Thailand in brief: A great country for travel and would make a great first time introduction to Asia, great food, great islands & beaches, good forest's, good birding, great Wader watching and easy to travel around. However I noticed and detected an under-current this year of some what "greediness" and I was short changed several times and also had extra items added to my bill of which I always questioned, corrected and always got the correct change / bill in the end. An English guy in the room next to me had his room broken in to and all that was taken was the cash from his wallet but all of his gear was searched through and it must have been an inside job as there was no sign of forced entry. This made me panic and extremely nervous as I was in the room next door with all of my optics and camera gear of which I used to just leave in the room when ever I went out. After this I never let my optics bag out of my site but luckily for me this was on my full last night of this trip.

Australia in brief: There is nothing I can say that hasn't already been said before but just for the benefit of this posting if you are ever in Aus and are within a 100 KM's of Caloundra then drive the distance and pay it a visit as it is my favourite spot in Aus that I have been to so far. You won't be disapointed.

China in Brief: A very difficult country to travel in and around without being able to speak Chinese, a lot of red tape to get through and some times it was like swimming in treacle (very slow) I found it very difficult to acccept people spitting every where and I really do mean every where, on the streets, on the floor in side buildings, on the floor of shops, on the floor in restaraunts and even at the table where they would spit food and saliva on to the plate / table where they were eating from! also they smoke every where inside and out and they throw their cigarette butts on to the floor in doors and ash trays are difficult to get hold of. I found it difficut getting food I could actually eat but China is developing at an alarming rate and they are currently going through a huge economic boom and so much so they are going to change how the map of the world looks as they are reclaiming areas of inter-tidal land on a huge scale and at an alarming rate over the next 5 years. It has , what I believe to be one of, if not the best Spring-ward migrational site's for Spoon Billed Sandpiper's (Yangkou) in the world but this land and the birds could and will be lost if this expansion of land continues at the rate it is currently going. "Watch this Space"

Thailand, Australia & China = The End. I won't post any more pictures or tales of travel of this trip in order to hang it out. I now have the next trip / destination to prepare for. Hope you enjoyed the browsing over the past 8 weeks.