Eleven-year-old Cheung Ho Lam (Lam) fell in love with birds at the age of eight, when his mother bought him a few field guides on birds. At nine, his mother signed him up for bird watching activities to help him learn the basics of using binoculars, field guides and surveying skills. Since then, Lam has been birding every weekend. Passionate about this hobby, he has even launched the Bird Channel Newsletter, a beautifully hand-drawn zine, to share with his friends and family. Seven issues of this zine have been published to date.

The column “Bird’s Classroom" in Issue 2 talks about ways to distinguish Little Egrets and Great Egrets. The illustrations clearly capture two key features - the body shape and the colour of the beak and claws - that set them apart. Lam, who is especially fond of raptors, included a painting of the Eurasian Eagle Owl as the cover of Issue 4, accurately depicting the colours of the owl's eyes, patterns of the feathers, and thickness of the legs. He has also included a regular column "Rare Bird Report", giving an account of the date, location, and number of birds observed; this includes species like the Verditer Flycatcher spotted on Lung Fu Shan on January 12, 2019, and the Yellow-streaked Warbler recorded on November 7, 2020 in Long Valley. Aside from recording the traces of the birds, he also noted his own birding footprints.

Lam’s advice for aspiring amateur naturalists:
Children interested in bird watching can start doing so at Hong Kong Park or Kowloon Park. There are many different birds at these urban parks, ranging from the Black-crowned Night Heron to the Yellow-crested Cockatoo.