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| Bridled Tern - Onychoprion anaethetus |
Hong Kong’s two commonest breeding terns are Bridled Tern and Black-naped Tern. At this time of the year, both can be found on remote, rocky outcrops in HK waters.
We got the public ferry to Tap Mun, and hired a smaller boat for a trip around the tern islands in Mirs Bay. All of these photos were taken from the boat; - we didn’t land on the tern islands.
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| Bridled Tern - Onychoprion anaethetus |
Right now there is some courting and nest-site selection activity going on, but it seems the terns have not laid their eggs yet.
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| Bridled Tern - Onychoprion anaethetus |
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| Bridled Terns - Onychoprion anaethetus |
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| Bridled Tern - Onychoprion anaethetus |
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| Bridled Tern - Onychoprion anaethetus |
The presence of anglers on the same islets can cause some disturbance, so the government has fenced off some sections and posted signs to advise the humans to be considerate, and not disturb the breeding birds.
Some artificial nesting shelters have been paced on some of the bare islands to encourage the terns to stay and breed. We saw several of these already were occupied by paired terns.
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| Nest shelters |
So far, so good - this year it looks like four hundred or more Bridled Terns are preparing to breed. There are also smaller numbers of Black-naped Terns in the same area.
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| Black-naped Terns - Sterna sumatrana |
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| Black-naped Tern - Sterna sumatrana |
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Black-naped Terns - Sterna sumatrana
It's easy to forget just how elegant "Sea Swallows" can be....
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| Bridled Terns - Onychoprion anaethetus |
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Nice photos John. Terns are one of my favourite groups of birds but are surprisingly very scarce in Hokkaido...........
ReplyDeleteThanks, Stu - we're lucky here with umpteen tern species, but then, we are in the tropics...
DeleteWonderful! Some great pics - especially since the Black-naped is my favorite Asian Tern! Also great that some artificial nesting boxes have been placed on the island - wasn't aware of that. Hope that they are left in peace to breed undisturbed this year.
ReplyDeleteYes, Jeremy, "fingers crossed" for tern success this year!
DeleteIt's a continuing education to discover all these birding locations of Hong Kong. I had not previously heard of artificial nest boxes for teens.
ReplyDeleteHi David, the natural tern nest cavities are very susceptible to damage by typhoons, hence the nest shelters !
DeleteHi John, Great photos!
ReplyDeleteI am wondering if you know what month black-naped terns had laid eggs (were actively breeding)? What about the bridled terns?
- Stephanie
The eggs are usually laid by June. Sorry I didn't see this comment earlier.
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