30 Nordmanns counted in Kapar, Malaysia Feb 2008,

This year is again my anual rendezvous with the Nordmann's Greenshank at Kapar Ash Pond, Selangor, Malaysia.

On 12 Feb 2008, I counted at least 30 Nordmann's Greenshanks. It is my personal highest count so far. It seems that this site is attracting more of this rarity shorebird.

Possible explanations to the increase of number counted each year are:

1) The number of Nordmann's Greenshank has genuinely increased. This has to be supported by consistent increase in numbers at its breeding sites as well as other non-breeding sites along its flyway, which I do not have at the moment.

2) There are reclamation or deterioration of other nearby roosting sites and shorebirds are now more concentrated in Kapar Ash Ponds which is a protected Ramsar site.

If you have any data or observations that either support or contradict to my hypothesis, feel free to contact me at tunpin dot ong at gmail dot com.

Other interesting encounters are 1 Asian Dowitcher, 1 Great Knot with Black-over-White flag on its right upper leg - Chongming Dao, Shanghai?