Taiwan Birding Trip — November 7–16, 2005
Bill Keay
Lions Bay, British Columbia, Canada
I don't
remember who shouted "Painted Snipe" first, but I do remember
George Clulow showing me the opening in thick grass where this
magnificent bird was last seen. Focusing the scope produced not
only one, but 15 (or so) Painted Snipe running through this small
opening. For me, it was the bird of the trip - It is one thing to
see Painted Snipe paintings in birding guides, but to see it close
and personal is breath-taking! For 10 minutes we watched this
incredible bird. Just one of the 107 lifers I saw on this trip.
Although
not in the same class of most birders in our group (many who
sported world bird lists of 2000 plus) headed by Simon Liao,
Honorary Chairman of the Wild Bird Federation of Taiwan, I did
pass the 1000 world bird mark on the first day (9 day trip). About
85 percent of our Taiwan birding adventure was active bird
watching — the other part included press conferences, school
visit, temple visits, and dinners with Taiwan government
dignitaries. Avian Flu was BIG news in Taiwan, and the sight of
an international birding group here to purposely watch wild birds
and not be worried about (or catch) Avian Flu, got the attention
of the Taiwan press. Fortunately, we had our "experts" explaining
that watching wild birds posed NO threat to anyone. Our story and
pictures appeared in several papers and on Taiwan television. (As
a member of the Vancouver media, it was interesting to see how the
local Taiwan
press handled the event, and what questions they asked.)
Simon,
and Jo Ann MacKenzie put on a wonderful tour, and their knowledge
of Taiwan birds is impressive. Great birds I will remember
include Spot-billed Duck, Malayan Night-Heron [Tiger Bittern],
Crested Serpent-Eagle, Swinhoe's Pheasant, Black-winged Stilt,
Black-tailed Godwit, Saunders' Gull, White bellied [Japanese
Green] Pigeon, Common Kingfisher, Flamecrest, Steere's Liocichla,
Golden Parrotbill (my second favorite bird of the trip), Yellow
Tit, Formosan Magpie, and of course Black-faced Spoonbill — just
to mention a few.
As the
only vegetarian of the group, I was more than a little worried
about what I could and couldn't eat. But Simon took charge - and
made sure I was looked after at every meal break — whether it be a
quick 7/11 stop, or a special meal put on by a Taiwan Senator.
Thank you Simon!!!!
A
special word to those bringing long lenses and hoping for
close-ups of many of these incredible birds. You might want to
follow the example of Allan Ridley of California, who is the king
of "digiscoping" — (taking digital pictures through a telescope).
They were great!
Thank
you all for such a great birding experience in wonderful Taiwan!
Again, special thanks to
Jo Ann MacKenzie,
Rob Butler and Simon. And Rob, you are right... Simon is a
god!!!!!
http://www.keaywildlife.com/pages/TAIWAN.html
台灣賞鳥之旅
Bill Keay
我已經不記得是誰第一個驚呼”
Painted Snipe”了，不過George
Clulow所指給我看那從濃密草叢的空隙中，所目睹的令人嘆為觀止鳥兒的最後一瞥，卻深深烙印在我腦海中。在那塊小小的空地中，我們看到了不只一隻，而是十五隻左右的Painted
Snipe。對我而言，這隻鳥就是這次旅行的意義---在賞鳥指南上看到Painted
Snipe的圖片是一回事，如此貼近且私密的觀賞它卻是令人感動到喘不過氣來。我們觀賞著它達十分鐘之久，而這只是我這次旅行所看到107種鳥類的其中一種。
儘管我和我們賞鳥團(由Simon
Liao—中華民國野鳥學會榮譽理事長所帶領)中大部分的賞鳥者身處的領域不同(many
who sported world bird lists of 2000 plus)，I
did pass the 1000 world bird mark on the first day.這趟台灣賞鳥冒險之旅中，實際賞鳥活動大約就佔了85%，其他包括記者招待會、學校訪問、廟宇欣賞以及和台灣政府官員共進晚餐。禽流感目前在台灣是非常大的新聞，而我們這個國際賞鳥團體卻完全不擔心會受到感染，專程飛到台灣來觀賞野鳥，此舉著實引起了台灣媒體相當大的注意。幸運的是，我們有專家向所有人解釋—觀賞野鳥是絕對不會對任何人造成威脅的。於是我們的故事和照片被許多台灣報章雜誌和電視節目刊登及報導。(身為Vancouver
media的一員，觀察台灣本地媒體如何處理此類題材以及聆聽他們所問的問題是相當有趣的)
此次由Simon和Jo
Ann MacKenzie主辦的賞鳥之旅相當美好，而他們兩人對於台灣野鳥的豐富知識更是令我印象深刻。那些令我牢記在心的鳥兒包括Spot-billed
Duck，Malayan Night-Heron(Tiger Bittern)，Crested
Serpent Eagle，Swinhoe's
Pheasent，Black-winged Stilt，Black-tailed
Godwit，Saunder's
Gull，White
bellied(Japenese Green)Pigeon，Common
Kingfisher，Flamecrest，Steere's
Liocichla，Golden Parrotbill(這趟旅程中我第二喜愛的鳥兒)，Yellow
Tit，Formoson Magpie，and
of course—Black-face Spoonbill，這邊只概略提一些。
身為團中唯一的一位素食者，我其實有些擔心此行中的飲食問題，但是Simon卻已全替我設想好了—無論是在7-11中的短暫停留，或是在由台灣議員所招待的晚宴中，他都仔細的替我確認我的每一餐。感謝你，Simon!
一些特別的話要給那些帶著長鏡頭，盼望能夠更近距離捕捉到動人鳥兒倩影的朋友:你們可以試試數位攝影高手—加州的Allen
Ridley的方法，用望遠鏡拍攝數位相片，這個方法的效果相當不錯喔!
在這令人驚艷的台灣，謝謝你們給了我如此美好的賞鳥經驗!再次感謝Jo
Ann MacKenzie，Rob Butler和Simon。你說的對，Rob…Simon簡直像神一樣!!
Bill Keay
Bill Keay
was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and raised in the small
Alberta prairie town of Castor. Following two years of Journalism
at S.A.I.T. in Calgary, he started as a reporter for the Calgary
Albertan newspaper. In the next 5 years, he worked for various
newspapers throughout Alberta and British Columbia. In 1973-74,
he (along with several friends) spent 6 months backpacking around
South America. On his return, he joined the Vancouver Sun
newspaper in Vancouver as darkroom technician, and then as Staff
Photographer. He has worked at the Sun as Staff Photographer for
over 30 years.
In 1984, Bill and his wife Wanda started their wildlife
photography business. Their artful creations have been sold as
fine art around the world. This work takes them on exciting
adventures, such as a trip to film Polar Bear that required
slogging 600 km over the frozen Arctic Ocean on a sled with an
Inuit guide. In 1992, Bill and Wanda put out a book titled
The Wildlife of Bill Keay. It became a Canadian best
seller. The book was forwarded by the World's most famous
birder, Dr. Roger Tory Peterson. Bill and Wanda have also
photographed wildlife in Africa and recently in Ecuador, South
America. Bill, Wanda, and daughter Serena recently returned home
after photographing "Spirit Bear”, Black Bear, and Humpback Whales
in northern British Columbia.
Their wildlife photographs are displayed and sold at shows across
Canada. Exhibitions of their work have hung in many prestigious
galleries, and a selection toured the country in the "BEST of
Canadian Bird Photography" co-sponsored by the National Museum of
Natural Science and the Canadian Nature Federation. Their work
has been presented to three heads of state, many dignitaries, as
well as a Royal Family. Bill and Wanda were asked to exhibit
their photographs for Prince Philip at a World Wildlife Fund
Dinner held in Vancouver. Currently, people from 104 countries
have logged into their
www.keaywildlife.com web site to view their wildlife
work. Bill, Wanda, and their daughter Serena are now producing
wildlife Calendars for Northwest Wildlife Preservation
Society, which teaches school children about the value of
wildlife.
Bill has won the Canadian "National Newspaper Award"
for feature photography, an "Award of Excellence" in
the photograph-of-the-year competition held by the National Press
Association in the United Sates, and 6 Canadian Press Awards.
In 1994, Bill received an award from the British Columbia Council
for the Family for his photographic work on "Children of
Poverty". He received a "Citation of Merit" award
in Toronto for a photograph from that series. In Toronto, May
1999, he received a "Citation of Merit" for
taking one of the three best news pictures in Canada. In 2000, he
won the "Jack Webster Award" for his "Wheat
Farming" feature (photographed over a one-year period). In May of
2001, he was nominated for a "National Newspaper Award"
for a feature on drugs in the inner city. Recently, Bill joined
with other Canadian photographers to photograph "Children of
Poverty" project in Canada. They won the "Community Service
Award" in Toronto for their efforts. Bill is now
listed in "Canadian Who's Who".
Bill and Wanda live in Lions Bay, British Columbia. They have two
daughters - Serena & Angela - and one granddaughter, Ayyah.
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