During an afternoon stroll at Bai Da near the Red River/Hanoi in search of the famous Silver Oriole seen by Florian, I flushed an owl at close range, roosting a few meters amid the thick foliage of a small tree. After 30 minutes or so of hide and seek I finally managed to put my bins on it and immediately recognized a Northern Boobook.
This is my second record in the city - the previous one 2
years ago, interestingly also the 2nd week of April (1 individual seen very well from 19th to 23th April
2012, at Lenin Park, here).
Last week was rainy and overcast, so few photos opportunities. Just got some ok-ish shots of Ashy Drongos, Forest Wagtail and Radde's Warbler.
Three races of Ashy Drongos coming from China pass
through Hanoi during spring & autumn passage periods: hopwoodi (the darkest, blue-grey), leucogenis (pale grey, large white patch around the eyes) and salangensis (darker than leucogenis, less white on face).
leucogenis
Well done Sebastien, reminds me I really need to get round to writing up the 2012 sighting for Birding Asia: do we still think that one was a first for Vietnam? Best wishes, David Walsh
ReplyDeleteWell, David, I don’t know exactly, but I think that this record is in good position, maybe not the 1st one, but not very far.
ReplyDeleteNeed to ask the experts (if one of you is reading this page, please comment, thanks).
Assuming plumage features are reliable it is very likely that other records will emerge, identified from photographs (or from collection).
Sebastien