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Bird news from Vietnam, from Vietnam's resident and visiting birders.

27 October 2012

Ducks on the Red River/Hanoi


Today 27th October a flock of c.70 Garganeys + 1 Tufted Duck (the first one on the left in the pic below) on the Red River, 20km north of Hanoi. My first sighting of dabbling ducks at Hanoi !


+ 4 Asian Openbills searching a place for landing at dusk, some Pied and Eastern Marsh Harriers, 50 Kentish Plovers...


Not a great shot but my first Pied Harrier of the season, an interesting subadult male. This bird shows vestigial brown colouring on the secondaries, the upperwing coverts, the mantle and the nape, the iris isn't bright yellow, the sign it's a `young adult` not yet fully mature. But 3rd cy or 2nd cy ? That's the question !
I don't know how long it takes for a Pied Harrier to reach adult plumage.


A part of a flock of c.50 Kentish Plovers. A mainly costal species but also a rather common sight on the sandbars along the Red River (passage migrant & winter visitor).

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