Siberian Crane, Mai Po Nature Reserve, Hong Kong, December 2016
Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Danzhou Bay, Hainan, March 2024
Yellow-breasted Bunting, Tai Sang Wai, Hong Kong, April 2024
Photos by Matthew Kwan
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I was recently birding in Finland when a question about the possibility of finding Yellow-breasted Bunting came up. Our guide told us, no, seeing this bird was not possible. Further, he added, “it’s a sad story.” Yellow-breasted Bunting had been extirpated from Finland and he told us the story of its extirpation. Sadly, I cannot now remember the details and, therefore, cannot share them here. He did say that it’s a completely spectacular bird. I went to my 2009 edition of Princeton Guide Birds of Europe and looked the bird up. Truly beautiful. My 2009 book still showed a tiny blip of orange at a corner of NE Finland where migrant Yellow-breasted Buntings were once found. I don’t know if this orange blip has been removed from the 2023 edition.
They used to be relatively easy to see at Nanhui, Shanghai during autumn migration until just a few years ago. Now that the place is getting destroyed, no longer.
Sadly the destruction of habitat continues despite the government lip service!