A cold front arrived with clouds and flurries of rain on November 22nd. The temperature in the New Territories was a nippy-for-us thirteen degrees centigrade.
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| Japanese Quail |
Jemi and I met up with friends in the fishponds south of Mai Po at Tai Sang Wai. The main reason to go there were reports of Rook and Carrion Crows among the Large-billed Crows so common around the fishponds.
We couldn’t make out any exotic corvids for certain,
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| Chestnut-eared Bunting |
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| Little Bunting |
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| Japanese Quail (f) |
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| Japanese Quail (f) |
but two species of bunting and a Japanese Quail were the highlights.
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| two Large-billed Crows |
A Black-shouldered Kite lent a tropical flavour to proceedings
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| Black-shouldered Kite |
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| Black-shouldered Kite |
..and pond life continued as usual...
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| Black Kite harries Large-billed Crow |
As we left, an odd-looking female duck was spotted in a grass-filled pond.
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| Falcated Duck (female) |
I had mistaken it for a Gadwall, but our birding companions pointed out that it was, in fact, a female Falcated Duck.
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| Stejneger's Stonechat |
Mmmm....some duck revision by me will be necessary as our winter wildfowl numbers build up.
It will be minus one here today, John, so thirteen degrees seems quite balmy! You may not have found the "exotic" crows but there was lots of compensation. Enjoy your winter study of winter female ducks. Even your wife won't object to the close attention paid to those females!
ReplyDeleteAh yes, female ducks, like female pheasants, only half a “tick” !
DeleteUseful reminder to check female gadwall here in the Netherlands instructive pictures
ReplyDeleteThanks, Paul !
DeleteIt has got cold over here too John - finally! Nice series of photos at Nam Sang Wai with some great birds spotted. Some interesting stuff around here too but still miss those HK birds.
ReplyDeleteI’m looking forward to continuing interesting birds from your “neck of the woods” Jeremy !
ReplyDeleteDo you get many Falcated Ducks in HK? They are fairly common in Japan, I sometimes see them in our local park in spring.
ReplyDeleteBecoming scarce, Stu, like some other winter birds they are not returning in the numbers they used to.
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