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        Discussion Area 討論區 >> Bird Identification 鳥類辨識 >>  Egrets on Green Island, near Kennedy Town
        
(Message started by: Forrest FONG on Jun 1^st, 2005, 8:58pm)

Title: Egrets on Green Island, near Kennedy Town
Post by Forrest FONG on Jun 1^st, 2005, 8:58pm

Below is a message received by HKBWS for bird ID. Anyone please help!

What kind of birds is on Green Island right now? Is it a special Species

Dear Sir,

I am not a professional bird watcher but am interested.

I am living in Kennedy Town overlooking Green Island, recently there are big group of birds gathering on Green Island. I use a 380x binocular to see them and quite sure they are some kind of Egret. There size is quite big, I think at least 3 feet tall.

I found on the internet, the species of Egret on Green Island should be Pacific Reef Egret, but however, they should be darkish grey in color, the group I found is pure white. Also, Pacific Reef Egret should appear single or small group, the group I found on Green Island is more than 500.

I am anxious to hear from you because maybe they will move very soon.

Best Regards

Michael Tsui

Title: Re: What kind of birds is on Green Island right no
Post by little_dolphin on Jun 2^nd, 2005, 10:46am

Maybe little egret? ???

Little egret is a bit small for the size described by Mr Tsui, but they are commonly seen flying above Victoria Harbour. They also aggregate in large colonies in egretries. Perhaps there are egretries on Green Island.

Great egret matches the size reported by Mr Tsui, but I've never seen one in Victoria Harbour. :-/

Title: Re: What kind of birds is on Green Island right no
Post by Carrie Ma on Jun 2^nd, 2005, 1:57pm

Dear Mr Tsui

Thanks for your message. I am also living in Kennedy Town. I am not as lucky as yours, I could only see some large flocks of white egrets flying towards the direction of the Green Island (Little Green Island) during the evening.

From the Egretry Survey conducted by HKBWS Egret Research Group last summer (in 2004), the Little Green Island is a breeding colony of 3 species of egrets (Great Egret, Little Egret and Night Heron). It also mentions that observation of breeding there was first noted when the colony in Stonecutters Island was abandoned, and there was a certain increase in total nest number between 2003 and 2004.

The report is available for download from the website of the Waterbird Monitoring Programme (http://www.hkbws.org.hk/waterbird/egretc.html)

Hope you would find the information helpful. It would be interesting if you could keep posting on this bulletin board your observation of any bird species nearby the Island.

Regards
Carrie Ma

Title: Re: What kind of birds is on Green Island right no
Post by me_domchan on Jun 3^rd, 2005, 8:22pm

Today (3rd June 05) at around 6:30, about 15-20 egrets were feeding in the football field of HKU Sports Complex at Sandy Bay.

At a glance, they are mostly cattle egrets or probably mixed with 1-2 intermediate egrets.

Will they be the resident on Green Island too? :D

Title: Re: What kind of birds is on Green Island right no
Post by Carrie Ma on Jun 4^th, 2005, 12:10am

Thanks, it seems that the football court a favourable feeding site which attracts the birds.

I have no idea where do the birds come form. Think the birds might move along the coastal area, say, from nearby area, or the direction of Aberdeen or Lamma Island (?).

Title: Re: Egrets on Green Island, near Kennedy Town
Post by kumanfai on Jun 12^th, 2005, 8:11pm

I went to see the egrets today at about 5:30 pm. I spotted about 130+ Little Egrets and also about 6 adult and 5 juvenile Night Herons. More are coming back to rest. It looks like that they have an undisturbed home.

Title: Re: Egrets on Green Island, near Kennedy Town
Post by Captain on Jun 27^th, 2005, 9:26am

Many thanks for the information. Can't make any reply as I was out of town in June.

Thanks Carrie for giving a very detailed information about the background of Green Island.

We know very little about the habitat use pattern by egrets and herons in the western HK Island but do know that they breed at two locations near in the highly urbanized Victoria Harbour.

Reporting observations of egrets and herons in this part
of HK will definitely enhance our understanding of their pattern.

Regards,

Captain Wong
Egret Research Group
HK Bird Watching Society