Two days of birding magic followed. The first of these was in a fancy hide (coffee, snacks, comfy chairs, toilet, cushions for our binoculars and cameras through the slats – only lacking cocktails) while we waited for his feathered Majesty to arrive. It wasn’t a certainty but Mr Bulwer, King of the Pheasants, had been a regular in the display area. While we waited, we were assailed with birding delight as the light gradually improved.

Stella and I recently returned from over three weeks in Sarawak and Sabah in Malaysian Borneo. We joined Birdtour Asia on a tour run by our friends James Eaton and Rob Hutchinson.

Many of you know me from other roles I have had in Far North Queensland, perhaps more as an environmentalist than a birdwatcher. For your interest, I grew up in a birding family and my father was well-known in the Scottish birding community. We had a huge aviary in our back garden although, nowadays, they tend to be frowned upon. My father, brother and I also had big bird egg collections before those, understandably, became infra dig.