Something in the air…

A patch of winter sunshine and the welcome sight of a few birds over the fishponds of the New Territories.

Eastern Imperial Eagle  Aquila heliaca

Common Kestrel  Falco tinnunculus

House Swift  Apus nipalensis

And, if the day is overcast, any background except the sky will do, even if it IS the skyscrapers of Tin Shui Wai.

Western Osprey  Pandion haliaetus

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In other news, plenty of Dunlin around on the tideline at Mai Po this afternoon (Feb. 3rd), including this one with leg flags from Bohai Bay.  Found by John Allcock, not yours truly.

Dunlin  Calidris alpina

Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris

One of over twenty Great Knot present

Nordmann's Greenshank Tringa guttifer

And a lone Nordmann's Greenshank.

And the Baer's Pochard, last seen in mid-January, has done a bunk !

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Air Quality is a topic of constant discussion here in Hong Kong, especially when winter winds blow crud - er, sorry, "haze" - down from the north.  But a few particulates can give a certain extra glow to a sunset, and here are three examples from Nam Sang Wai earlier this week.

Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus

You need a particular concentration of pollution to avoid blowing the highlights of a setting sun, but don't ask me how many particulates per million it has to be.  Anyhow, nature and mankind were working in harmony to create this effect last Tuesday ! 

Great Cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo