Short visit to Van Long Natural Reserve last Sunday.
The marsh was full of Egrets of 4 species (Cattle ones seems the most numerous). Behind the dyke, the flooded rice paddy fields hold many wetland birds, notable species were 14
Pheasant-tailed Jacanas, 1
Citrine Wagtail and 18
Black-winged Stilts. I flushed some waders but failed to identify them. Many
Fork-tailed Swifts were also hunting insects above the water.
No ducks. It seems that the french expression “il fait un froid de canard” = it’s biting cold (literal translation is “it makes a cold of duck”, a sentence which comes from the hunters) doesn’t work here…
A smart Grey Wagtail sitting on one of the few perches available
White-browed Crakes were in good numbers
Those Black-winged Stilts were a nice surprise, but this species is probably regular here
A huge flock of Egrets congregating at dusk, looking for somewhere to roost for the night.
They chose the eucalyptus trees and the rocks around. It was truly an amazing sight enough to justify this motorbike trip, despite the brass monkey weather.
Sebastien
A short stroll along the sandy/muddy channel between the Red River Island and the town produced some waders, but less than expect : some Green and Common Sandpipers, 2 first winter Black-winged Stilts (a patch tick), 6-7 Little Ringed Plovers + 1 Cinnamon Bittern, many White Wagtails (but not a single Citrine or Yellow W.).
