The flared cowl of a startled cobra would be a highlight of any David Attenborough wildlife documentary.
They are pretty gripping in real life, too, as I discovered in a quiet corner of Mai Po Marshes Nature Reserve yesterday. Cycling slowly towards a bend I entered a carpet of dry leaf litter and - right beneath my front tyre - saw the sudden movement of a large black snake.
The snake's head flared as I looked down and the white cobra nape "spectacles" were clearly visible.
"Goodness !" I exclaimed; - or words to that effect. The writhing snake was lost to view behind me as the momentum of the bicycle carried me onwards. But then there was a loud, hissing, scratching sound from the rear of the bike...
"It's coming to get me !" I panicked and jumped off the bike, only to discover that the snake was well away and the "hissing" was caused by a dry leaf stuck between the tyre and the rear brake pads.
And all the birds were pretty distant when I got to Ponds 16/17…. still, at least I'd had some exercise !
Anyway, I recovered my composure sufficiently to return to Mai Po this morning (Oct 28th). The only movements along the track to the boardwalk were the flittings of Japanese White-Eyes and a lone Daurian Redstart. Nothing more sinister than White-breasted Waterhens scuttled into the undergrowth at my approach.
At the farthest Mai Po boardwalk hide, a couple of "surprise" birds, namely Large White Headed Gulls and fear of a different kind ... - how to identify these things when one is seasonally out of practice ?
And there is the business of negotiating the ever-shifting sands of gull taxonomy...
Heuglins is our commonest LWHG, but it has yellow legs. For the pink (ish) legs and white-tipped outer primaries (even though this would be an earliest winter record) I'd have to go for Yellow-legged,
er, Mongolian, er, "Caspian Gull"...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga359rZmPaSLICxhJ1pz_T7IDQIGcizT3p2asnvMOioGKudvb7CeU4VAJa8AZwnF16URslf_uYeCWJWODVvmJ4rToy7ChCIHK6E3l2OshKmROJoy-0Vo_EbyJtQjE0DkBjbX6GP6ygaCCT/s1600/131028blog_jjholmes01-01.jpg) |
Larus (cachinnans) mongolicus ?? |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDxzsZ7ZifOC6GTnZLdg8_XD9PdILb14DgZBxUVm6oYJyHwVtgKaYXtzah2V0HlW-7WTuJyJfpO-ODoAzYpEdlGNJ2YnJLk7UAqAPgKN9lHJb9tGUqciFXY1nzUNXIJSBPPlqP_KT5aoPC/s1600/131028blog_jjholmes02-01.jpg) |
or Larus cachinnans (mongolicus) ?? |
I'll get back to you on this one, after I've asked around.
Meanwhile, here are some easy waders !
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQ0FCjWVKwE0jS1NwA9OewDg2Qd6sqMnRFJu41J0RmxhqrB4Mi7xzfEJOK2bBrAvoGaNPy4b1-VNzfGfctWCbElxtuLnm7E6iKwt3T9TbC7whHybf8_Jk6pTtAJPcgWa4_BY2T-uAP2ij/s1600/131028blog_jjholmes03-01.jpg) |
Common Redshank - Tringa totanus |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8jz5V_aSjgeZ-QMy8VYVLL1VWJlfcr2QyepaTmMuAVizLcwZMj4HD3ID6DV4PIPY0B8K-J5QvxRe0LqrfbWPo9l4IPZvNUeUwy4UR31rFYhCgVYjILy6G5lZA-c5URFvImZke1iTx5fS1/s1600/131028blog_jjholmes06-01.jpg) |
Common Redshank - Tringa totanus |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhepbHUP7EoMwY4ilRX_6HSuP30VAfDQ1R79Krr25wsVrQOk9NNjP0CEek4UyekwZ1fTFKrN4zcB3TfMwe-zbsxcCaGqoxT3uqXDODK4gAuYl2hJCdAdfrWDhO99mq-7QK2F1JQBn_cHW5/s1600/131028blog_jjholmes09-01.jpg) |
Common Redshank - Tringa totanus |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8CVa7mZD-f8ho5HpdBeJthVz2xK5XVL49h_-dkDRnHS3VAJ_VYQ1v3cpNd2pOwiuLrbo7lPlBcTkj7xHwXl2Eo6GysxRClM5GbPgX4dlAR4MOYBI0GGxEO-4EwqId__TmjlSbc82JV3D/s1600/131028blog_jjholmes10-01.jpg) |
Common Redshank - Tringa totanus |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-BhS2XJqxFT6-2SIz7G2XcSFCZp1IQH0KT-sp_5o1M6GOQKndThlVacpXj8A7WZZHUjdxV1-MpCltHGjSR_FzK06D5cOkQhdcv_uEuxXz47-AGAi3Tbp_sK11gxn7eGVb-r4FCBWCGtq3/s1600/131028blog_jjholmes07-01.jpg) |
Common Greenshank - Tringa nebularia |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5dT54F0b19YJlwfcCDj7g39orK4Bo0UFPn4ymXairWTey5p5IhpL7P-q_P0xHrwxeNCX5RAu8Vk0WfcGJcSbN4d_879j1VImeEP7qKzhKAghKV6l6krzy2hVoON0Fwg-p-FnSt66hm6C4/s1600/131028blog_jjholmes11-01.jpg) |
Common Greenshank - Tringa nebularia |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh62vLEDAhg_TPvkFoEQHaV0-d_8VOtzyMueiFZqcqXQUETm6ocdRE9EO6fOICdvruUTqo3yYbYwL_zJ8V7EKELmBolRccHt1y87A9vf0u5ZDBBXS6IVhNJ3k2JhDM1BVzGgnErVbSN1QTR/s1600/131028blog_jjholmes05-01.jpg) |
Common Greenshank - Tringa nebularia |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYiZEkOe_9mah2Bt6ENItcebzg5QyZ_svRnWpW-2Cqg60Ig3qrN9er_uCbWt10YA6wSzdZrZ81ihJ517vEJ-bUXAAQWZEnZKzEpxdJX6gid26yod4rUm-r2arRgtH7-t9eRRkpXLbJ0c1a/s1600/131028blog_jjholmes04-01.jpg) |
Common Greenshank - Tringa nebularia |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPxv0zTO8u7nI4whpTxJf2wf9sDgm7R5Q2QDEAkHfR8kEJAfQFQShyphenhyphenrMoOOzMPy2sJXpiEVgeJxAph85jh5H_QR3RfPChb58Zj49bHk1i4c5bzwtXwigujIo-DLm2OXswifbARIeRmSVA0/s1600/131028blog_jjholmes15-01.jpg) |
Great Cormorant - Phalacrocorax carbo |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU4DWZscgShYaT3d-PO-EDRpczo5M2a6ZPogfKgH0VWTRaK7wtepV0grCIkxWWLnpFvTbLYn7cGFHSxrodbxMaCrUzgfPm0rbZU8NCqwX0vS509MWf5HWBZJKnxidDp0RAwj_YgpMYIAgK/s1600/131028blog_jjholmes13-01.jpg) |
Temminck's Stint - Calidris temminckii |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX4qcNoEs3sn7e3fHe7IZupEggYotiQ5Kyylly6vttXOJKOPBJ3f44evCwYEgiWqMPdK044_o5aW2xhCZzsLlzO8Lk-ph89UDxs0tS3Vj_MXT6HW6N2Jvh3zUyc9wqX51M68r2VaLzWbRG/s1600/131028blog_jjholmes14-01.jpg) |
Temminck's Stint - Calidris temminckii |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNOvFZcRXzqwaXDN8g72qDlY7mdtN_qKhiphHhnSZJcihslfc76Lb9G5VTHFlKewh-ceylat3XBspApPKyjJWejqVh8u57hInBCadqp9i03JbGeiR7dpb8wZnET5Cs5aKWd7ihhbOVP3rK/s1600/131028blog_jjholmes12-01.jpg) |
(Top right) Black-faced Spoonbills - Platalea minor |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy8sGakQ3DaNXEk61GEKOlIjp-FIAynBQwD49Zc4EqZTPcFd4w0m1PVu86TgAEfA70cVRWbTFtFOdR20vvDkcXjEgM0Dbr4D0nkZXNn6sx9bI9dR27dFfgRXlTsoadZY6YRuHCTy1UfmSp/s1600/131028blog_jjholmes16-01.jpg) |
Black-faced Spoonbills - Platalea minor |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf5LTfUUwfrEXHtv69y8GQf3NSzr7SFqEWtEP9hHgSreZBTVuaf7rEZtDVtbsX7xyC8HgZqagUjXpcq2P9aonzh6EEykCj1q29n4GRwNKsDT_kQn3_WFoa0LVLxfr1ZHHwXwRLJIiVA8tE/s1600/131028blog_jjholmes08-01.jpg) |
Black-capped Kingfisher - Halcyon pileata |
I tried to exude waves of warmth and friendliness, but the Kingfisher wouldn't come closer than about forty metres from the hide.