So much for the new cycle path

One of Mui Wo's coolest residents shows his complete indifference to petty regulations by walking on the newly opened cycle path.  

Lightning and more lightning.

Lightning strikes in the past hour.  It's been a little noisy to say the least.

One of the chicks has disappeared.

Alas, this morning one of the chicks has disappeared!   There is no way it was developed enough to escape on its own so we are none the wiser as to what has happened.   We cleaned out the nest box to make sure it was not buried in the bedding and as there are no remains or obvious signs of it being eaten?   We fear a rat may have discovered the nest.    Luckily the remaining two others appear unharmed, healthy and active.  

On loan - but for how long?

"Harley", a five year old Yellow Crowned Amazon has recently come to stay with us while her owners / parents try to sort out how to get her to join them in their new home in Canada.   Because of the ongoing bird flu scares in and around Hong Kong it seems that there are very few countries that will accept importing a pet bird, even if it has been quarantined, vet checked and so forth.   So for the time being at least Harley has taken up station on our balcony and is slowly beginning to get used to her new surroundings.   Pecan nuts appear to be the answer to most issues with her.   She craves them like a crackhead craves crack.   This bird will sell her soul to the devil for a pecan nut!

New additions to the menagerie

Spring time is certainly upon us.   The cockatiels have successfully hatched 3 of their clutch of 5 eggs.    In January they had had a trial run and laid 4 eggs, none of which turned out to be fertile.   We closed off the nest box to let them have a rest but soon discovered that we had not closed it off well enough as the sneaky birds had managed to get back in and lay a second clutch.  

Here is Dad guarding the nest while Mum is out feeding.

And here he is again, this time with a tiny, newly hatched chick sticking out from under his wing.

Chick number 1, aged 5 days.  
The eyes are still closed but you can see it will not be long before they begin to open. caption

Chicks number 2 and 3, aged 3 and 2 days.   They are much much smaller and delicate.   They are a bit tangled up but you can just make out their heads on the left side of the picture.

Pond digging

In our efforts to be good ecological folk we use a natural spring filled pond to collect water to use to irrigate the garden and the veggies.   The pond, or muddy, frog and crab infested swampy hole is halfway up the hillside and has about 200m of pipe to carry the water down to the garden.    The pond end of the pipe is a right angled piece with a 2cm opening that is as close to the bottom of the pond as we can get it without it sucking up mud.  

However, over time the pond fill sup with dead leaves that slowly rot away and drop to the pond floor and yes you have guessed it, eventually they get sucked into the pipe and bung it all up so we have to drain the pond, clear it up and then unclog the pipe.

In the photo you can see Nuch trying not to fall in as she rakes the leaves from the bottom of the pond and also the end of the pipe (with the right angle turned up to stop it sucking up the mud.We came back a few hours later and the pond was completely filled again.

Camping and pond digging

Had a great two days of camping fun at the house,   Five tents and three bedrooms full of tired kids and slightly drunk adults after treasure hunts, digging in the sand, making fire from rubbing bamboo sticks together (nearly), bonfires on the beach, shell collecting, goat hunting, exploring and an enormous amount of food and drink cooked, eaten and drunk.  

Cockatiel nesting

Despite the nest box having been in the flight for over a year the cockatiels had never really given it any interest.    Then on the 4th January I went up to the roof to feed the birds and saw the cockatiels were missing.   At first I thought they had escaped somehow but could not see any holes in the wires and then just as I was about to walk away I heard a scratching sound from inside the nest box and yep, lo and behold there they both were.  Today we were able to open the box when neither bird was inside to see what they were up to.  

 

A good day for twitching and fishing

First treated to a real close up viewing of three kites and juvenile white bellied fish eagle at Man Kok Tsui today.   The birds were wheeling around over head for a good five minutes before drifting off downwind towards Peng Chau.   Then as we were sitting at the pier we sighted a very optimistic grey heron attempting to fish from a floating buoy in the middle of the bay plus a two kingfishers (white in colour) possibly pied kingfishers, that were being much more productive fishing from the shore line rocks.  

Large owl of some sort spotted in South Lantau Road

A rather large owl of some sort decided to take flight from the trees at the side of the road as I came down from Nam Shan to Mui Wo on my motorbike last night.   It was brown, big and just seemed to cruise in front of me for a couple of seconds before disappearing into the trees on the other side of the road.    Great to see it but just too dark and quick to be able to get any detail.   Its back and tail feathers seemed quite light brown but that may have been the effects of the street lighting.  I guess t was either a fish owl, a brown wood owl or possible an eagle owl.

They call it stormy Monday but Tuesday's just as bad...

Check out this water spout that formed just in front of Man Kok Tsui today.
According to the observatory they are quite common.
Never seen on before though.
You can just see the outline of the hills behind Kowloon to the left while Hong Kong Island is hidden in the clouds and behind the island.

And here is the radar image

And here is the rainfall map 

New Territories Primary School Swimming Competition

This year was Arthur's last year at the primary schools competition as he moves on up to secondary school next term.   Despite breaking the Islands District 50m record in 2014 and 2015, the elusive New Territories record remained just out of his reach.   Matthew on the other hand has two more years to beat his brother's records. 

Here they are with the New Territories regional combined points trophy for fourth place (just squeezed out of third by one point)   Not bad for a very small district with only 12 schools when competing against other districts with 50 or more schools to select a team from.

 

This video is the 50m final, Arthur is in lane 2.   A great race but with less than 0.5 seconds between 3rd and 5th places, I reckon for the next big competition he needs to let his nails grow longer.  

50m Freestyle winners (Arthur 4th)

4 x 50m Freestyle winners (3rd place)

Districts' combined points winners  (4th place)

Well done boys and well done Islands' District too.

Our new toy for the summer

20 feet of fun.    A rather elderly Flying Fifteen, FFurious FForties, sail number HKG 3469.
All we have to do is patch up some collision damage on the deck and then sail it through the harbour from Causeway Bay and across to Lantau.   Now that is going to be an interesting trip.    Will need to time the journey to maximise the tides so they push from right to left to get me out of the harbour quickly and then hopefully a reach all the way over.  

Hong Kong tidal atlas

As soon as I am over the shipping lanes and long as I keep heading West the route is relatively safe.    There a few pictures below that I have found on the internet.