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8 March 2011

Red River island - Hanoi 8/03

Today, at noon, short visit at the same patch than last Sunday.
Spotted some new guests :

- 2 Little Buntings perched on dried corn plants
- 1 bulky Peregrine Falcon flying at low altitude and disappearing behind the “forest”
A flock of 15 Red-throated Pipits too. Possible Richard’s Pipit (harsh “tchriiipp” flight call, more strident than Paddyfield) ; but I have 0 experience of this species, need to send an expert to confirm !

The male Pied Harrier exploit a lot this patch, especially the dried corn field. I saw it resting on a ploughed parcel. Perched on a tall bush too. Difficult cohabitation with the local pair of Black-shouldered Kites which don’t tolerate the intrusion.
Really a wonderful bird, and good opportunities of nice photos.

Crap pic of the Buntings, taken from a long distance. Please don't zoom in ;-)

Sebastien

2 comments:

  1. Hi Sebastian,

    I visited your excellent cornfield this morning (10th March) and found 2 Little Buntings, 3 Black-faced Buntings and five buntings which were too fast or distant to identify. This area is excellent and worthy of regular attention. The stunning male Pied Harrier, 2 Bluethroats, 7 Greenfinches, and 1 Yellow-legged Buttonquail were also in attendance. Nearly 100 Grey Herons flew over.

    Cheers,

    Simon

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  2. Hi Simon

    How did you ID the Yellow-legged Buttonquail ? I presume you flushed it.
    I also flushed a Quail or Buttonquail in this area, in the sandy parcel with a vegetation composed of horsetail. It seemed to me less noisy (?) and upperparts more yellowish than the Barred B. Just an impression...

    Happy birding,
    Sebastian

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