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Birding Hongbenghe, Yunnan (Part 1)

10,000 Birds

Hongbenghe is directly at the border to Myanmar – before COVID-19, it was easy enough to walk across the border on foot, but now a monstrous long steel and barbed-wire fence separates the two countries. Some like Charles Vaurie have considered it so unreliable that they even suggested the destruction of his egg collection.”

Burma 195
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Birding Hongbenghe, Yunnan

10,000 Birds

Hongbenghe is a very small village in Yunnan, right next to the border with Myanmar. Even better, there is a wooden, unguarded, slowly decaying bridge over to Myanmar – so while I do not have the passport stamp to prove it, I can honestly say that I have been to that country as well. “It is not deep enough yet!

Birds 147
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Birding Hongbenghe, Yunnan (Part 2)

10,000 Birds

In Grey-backed Shrikes (at least those breeding on the Tibetan plateau), the eggs laid during one breeding attempt get larger with time – presumably an attempt to at least partly overcome the disadvantages the last chick faces ( source ). The species is also hunted for local consumption in Meghalaya (India), according to the HBW.

Burma 187