ajohn

Thanks for the comments, Kestrel. The bird was flagged at Mai Po on 22 January 2011.

To be clear, did the Red-necked Stint you saw at Yalu Jiang have Hong Kong leg flags? This would be a significant sighting, because we have never had a stint resighted at this site previously. Could you tell whether the leg flags were engraved?

ajohn

Yes, I agree that this is a HK flag.
The fact that the flags are above and below the knee suggest that this is an engraved flag on a bird trapped this spring (non-engraved flags have usually been fitted with both above the knee). The apparent freshness of the flag supports this. If you have any clearer photos thiese might allow individual ID, but I realise that it will usually be very difficult to get the detail on a stint.

Even without knowing the individual ID this is a significant observation. We have had only three previous resightings of HK-flagged Red-necked Stint - one in Japan (two sightings, but probably involving the same bird), one in Thailand and one in Indonesia. This is the first record of a HK-flagged Stint in mainland China. Thank you reporting this bird.

Please submit the details to the Australian Wader Study Group for inclusion in the database for the flyway.

[ Last edited by ajohn at 16/06/2011 17:35 ]

ajohn

Thank you for reporting these sightings from northeast China. I knew about the resightings of L9 already. Both L8 and L9 were flagged on the same night, 22 March 2012. L9 was seen in Hong Kong until 31 March, and then in Liaoning from 6-11 May. L8 was seen in Hong Kong until 28 April, but this report is the first sighting since then. L8 is a first-summer bird, which may explain why it has not continued further north to breed.
A shame that you were unable to read the engraved flag on the bird at Shuangtaizi, but thank you for the sighting, at another site on the Yellow Sea. These results show the importance of the Yellow Sea as a stopover for birds from Hong Kong - all resightings of Hong Kong-flagged Grey Plover have come from the Yellow Sea, mostly from Liaoning.

ajohn

Thank you for the photo, kestrel.

Yes, we have flagged Great Knot. There are two birds with engraved white over yellow leg flags, and several more with plain flags.

ajohn

Hi Kestrel,
Yes, we have flagged a Grey Plover with the combination J6, and I agree that this appears to be that bird.
J6 was flagged on 9th March 2012, at Mai Po. This is the first resighting of this bird, and reinforces the importance of this part of the Yellow Sea for Hong Kong's Grey Plovers.
Thank you again for reporting this sighting.

ajohn

Hi Kestrel
You may be interested to know that the Grey Plover L8, which you sighted in Liaoning in June and July this year, has returned to Mai Po - I saw the bird at Mai Po yesterday, 18th November.