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| HK-Shenzhen |
I've done this before but this is a "HK-border-with-Shenzhen" photo… where the foreground is Hong Kong, and the city in the distance is Shenzhen, our nearest mainland neighbours.
The main reason for lack of development on the HK side was the "Frontier Closed Area" - a restricted Zone that was created in the early 1960s and lasted until well after the handover.
Even though there are development plans now for the HK side, there are still a few wild corners, and a few wild occupants, such as this Wild Boar, photographed earlier this month.
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| Wild Boar Sus scrofa |
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| Wild Boar Sus scrofa |
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| Wild Boar Sus scrofa |
Further east along the land border, Kong Shan Police Post towers on a hilltop near the village of Lin Ma Hang. These posts are informally know as "Mackintosh Cathedrals" after a Commissioner of the Hong Kong Police in the early 1950s.
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| Kong Shan Police Post |
But, the post, in turn, now seems to be overlooked by luxury flats on the Shenzhen side of the border.
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| Kong Shan Police Post |
Once upon a time, would-be illegal immigrants used to sit on the Chinese mountainside opposite this post (and the six others like it) and wait for darkness to fall before making their bid to cross the Hong Kong Border Security Fence.
Anyway, that's enough travelogue. As this is supposed to be a blog about birds, a couple of shots of Grey Treepie. Like most corvids, they are clever and alert.
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| Grey Treepie |
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| Grey Treepie |
These are the best shots I've managed so far of this species, but, obviously, there is plenty of room for improvement !
I ate Pecary one time, similar to Wild Boar. The toughest meat I've ever chewed. Anywhere. Ever.
ReplyDeleteMmmm…. perhaps it's all in the cooking. Anyway, Wild Boar are a protected species here.
DeleteI agree with Stuart, Peccary is gamey and tough. I also had no idea that treepies were corvids. nice photos.
ReplyDeleteThanks, John. I've never seen peccary on a menu, but next time I'm in the Americas, I'll look out for it !
DeleteWild boar is not a protected spp in HK.....
ReplyDeleteALL wild animals are "protected" in HK; - sometimes permits are granted to hunt wild pigs that have caused crop damage.
DeleteExcellent blog with great photos - I very much enjoyed meeting you on our border walk. We found three live Japanese 75mm artillery shells on Violet Hill last week and on Friday the EOD blew them up. There is a story on my Hong Kong WW2 blog: http://battleforhongkong.blogspot.com/2015/02/japanese-artillery-shells-found-in.html
ReplyDeletePhilip