Pond 21 has been cleared of much vegetation and clutter, resulting in far more open space and water at the south end of the reserve.
It was a time-consuming and expensive job, so "Well done" to the WWF HK managers and staff at Mai Po.
The open area has proved attractive to both duck and cormorants, the latter roost by the hundreds there in late afternoon. (The duck use 20/21 overnight, mostly)
The site is also popular with various raptors as well..
Female Peregrine
Peregrine "harries" a Harrier
Immature Imperial Eagle (thinks it's a harrier !)
Cormorant
So Monday morning found me in the scaffolding and canvas "Conning Tower" hide at the NE corner of Pond 20.
These shots were taken there.
It was a time-consuming and expensive job, so "Well done" to the WWF HK managers and staff at Mai Po.
The open area has proved attractive to both duck and cormorants, the latter roost by the hundreds there in late afternoon. (The duck use 20/21 overnight, mostly)
The site is also popular with various raptors as well..
Female Peregrine
Peregrine "harries" a Harrier
Immature Imperial Eagle (thinks it's a harrier !)
CormorantSo Monday morning found me in the scaffolding and canvas "Conning Tower" hide at the NE corner of Pond 20.
These shots were taken there.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteare you sure of the falcon ID ? looks like a hierofalcon to me (e.g. lanner, or given the repartition, saker ?): very long tail and long roundish wings, small mustache and dark underwing coverts
Hi "Anon",
ReplyDeleteI'm never totally sure about raptor IDs, but conventional wisdom here in HK is that our big female Peregrines can look a bit like Saker Falcons. A confirmed Saker would be a "First" for HK... but Peregrine is fairly common.
Thanks for bringing this up... I do mis-identify birds on a regular basis, but I'm reasonably confident about this one.