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Subject: [Herons] Night Heron and Chinese Pond Heron 夜鷺 [Print This Page]
Author: lwingkay    Time: 9/08/2008 21:25     Subject: Night Heron and Chinese Pond Heron 夜鷺

CUHK
Aug 08, 2008 pm
The Swarovski 80ATS, the 30x-eyepiece and the Nikon C8400
ISO 50

1  A night heron




2  A Chinese Pond Heron



[ Last edited by BWA at 17/08/2008 22:10 ]
Author: kmatthew    Time: 9/08/2008 21:57

The Chinese Pond Heron is infact a juv Night Heron. Like the pose on both of them, nice shots!!
Author: lchunfai    Time: 9/08/2008 22:39

Quote:
Original posted by kmatthew at 9/08/2008 21:57
The Chinese Pond Heron is infact a juv Night Heron. Like the pose on both of them, nice shots!!
matthew 兄,上次同尋日我去左kowloon park 找白胸翡翠.....................都企得好高下重要大背光
matthew 兄教下禾

[ Last edited by lchunfai at 9/08/2008 22:40 ]

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Image Attachment: IMG_0003.jpg (9/08/2008 22:40, 145.85 KB) / Download count 555
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Author: lwingkay    Time: 9/08/2008 22:41

'The Chinese Pond Heron is infact a juv Night Heron. Like the pose on both of them, nice shots!!'

I have been thinking that the following is the juvenile because of the red eyes it has:



With your suggestion in mind, I did look up some books and a few websites and the findings are in line with what you suggested. So, then, what  are the features to differentiate the juvenile night heron in the previous thread from the Chinese pond heron? When, in general, do the yellow eyes change to the red ones and the juvenile plumage to the adult one as reckoned from the day of birth?
Author: kmatthew    Time: 9/08/2008 22:57

lchunfai, I was purely lucky when it flew down from the tall trees to a closer tree next to the road!! p.s try waiting til 5:30pm - 6:00pm when there are less crowds, it may come closer!!

lwingkay, the first juv shot was a younger bird, as you can see it have more spots on it's back. The second juv photo is starting to moult into adult plumage. You can see no spots on the back on that bird.

For me, Night Herons are more stocky, with a shorter and thicker beak. They also looks "humped back" a lot of the time. To split juv Night Herons to juv/winter Chinese Pond Herons can be done by eye colour; Night=red(always as i know), Chinese=Yellow. Night Herons seems to have larger eyes compared with Chinese. Wings of winter Chinese are white while Night are dark brown.

hope these info help a bit!!

[ Last edited by kmatthew at 9/08/2008 23:01 ]
Author: lwingkay    Time: 9/08/2008 23:13

Thanks. The eye in #1 is yellow and not red. When do the eyes change to red? I have the feeling that the dorsal side of the wings of the Chinese pond heron are white only in the breeding season; the other times, pretty khaki. As for the ventral side, the wings of both species are white as far as my memory goes. Peter

[ Last edited by lwingkay at 9/08/2008 23:36 ]
Author: lchunfai    Time: 9/08/2008 23:16

池鷺翼底是全白, right?

下是night heron

[ Last edited by lchunfai at 9/08/2008 23:19 ]

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Author: lchunfai    Time: 9/08/2008 23:19

matthew 兄,尋日落雨但牠正甘高......5驚比雷打中
Author: kmatthew    Time: 10/08/2008 00:16

Chinese Pond Herons have white wings in both breeding & non breeding plumage, not sure about juv... Night Herons have grey wings in adult plumage and dark brown in juv. birds ...as for the yellow eyes in your first juv photo, I checked again with some other bird guides and they say it can range from dark yellow, orange to red. I guess according to it's age but when it changes colour I have no idea. I personally don't recall seeing much Night Herons with yellow eyes...mainly orange or reds...

lchunfai,佢打雷都唔驚...你耐心D等啦!!只要有恆心,White-breast都行近!!

[ Last edited by kmatthew at 10/08/2008 00:20 ]
Author: lchunfai    Time: 10/08/2008 10:17

Quote:
Original posted by kmatthew at 10/08/2008 00:16
Chinese Pond Herons have white wings in both breeding & non breeding plumage, not sure about juv... Night Herons have grey wings in adult plumage and dark brown in juv. birds ...as for the ...
我驚丫 行雷企樹底,死左好5抵
Author: lwingkay    Time: 17/08/2008 18:35

The following night heron seems to be the same as the one that appears in the previous posting of this thread. Do have the feeling that it habitually spreads out its wings whenever it perches. And the second feeling is that it has wings way larger than its counterparts.

Photos taken in CUHK on Aug 17, 2008 pm
Gears: The Swarovski 80ATS with a 30x-eyepiece and a Nikon C8400.
ISO: 50


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