| Mai Po Nature Reserve Birds and Birdwatching (Part I) |
| Introduction Mai Po Nature Reserve, famous for being an important wintering site for the endangered Black-faced Spoonbills, among many other tens of thousands of migratory waterbird, and recognised as a RAMSAR site is undisputely the best waterbird watching location in Hong Kong. On top of its rich diversity of birds (Some 70% of Hong Kong's 400 over species have been recorded), it also boasts an active field research centre with good facilities, and lastly, it provides a good insight into the many kinds of wetland habitats in Hong Kong, from mangrove forest to freshwater reedbeds. |
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| A view from the main hide. The city of Shenzen is in the backdrop, on a clear day, the 'Eiffel' tower can be seen. |
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| Reedbeds in Mai Po Wetlands is one of the dominant forms of vegetation. Note that the black silhoettes on the trees in the background are all roosting Great Cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo |
| The Birds As Mai Po is predominatly wetlands, the bird fauna that you find here will be mostly waders, wildfowl, reptors and many passerines, especially warblers and bulbuls. Many species familiar to us being common Singapore waterbirds (especially birds in Sungei Buloh, Krangi) are also to be found here, after all, Mai Po is not too far away from Singapore and also belongs to the Oriental zoogeographical region. Common species that can be seen almost all year round are such familiar birds like Black-crowned Night-Heron, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, White-breasted Waterhen, Spotted Dove, Scaly-breasted Munia and Barn Swallow, to name a few. On top of these widespread oriental species, there are also birds atypical of the southern China region. That includes species like Black-eared Kite, Light-vented Bulbul, Black-faced Laughing-Thrush, Crested Myna and Collared Crow. However, it is during the migration period, from October on to April-May (During return passage) that Mai Po becomes really exciting. Many thousands of waders, ducks, gulls and even the occasional pelican and stork descend over Mai Po, in particularly the Deep Bay area, so much so that the entire reserve is teeming with birds everywhere. A walk on the wooden boardwalk out to the large hide overlooking the Deep Bay mudflats, beyond the border fence road (a police permit is needed to acccess this), on a day of hide tide, one can look out through a scope and see many thousands of feeding birds gathering. It is important to visit during high tide because, the tide will help force the bird nearer to the hide, making observations much easier. Otherwise, all the flocks during low tide will scatter so far out beyond the hide, so much so that one sees merely great specks of white masses. Closer inspection of the feeding flocks will reveal Great Cormorant, Dalmatian Pelican, Grey Heron, Oriental White Stork (rare), Shelduck, Widgeon, Shoveler, Black-tailed, Vega, Yellow-legged, Saunder's Gull, Black-faced Spoonbill, Pied Avocet and many other waders. As one walks along the trails, the groves of small trees and the reedbeds should not be overlooked becasue they too, are teeming with birdlife, thought not so conspicuous. During the migration seasons, apart form waterbirds, a good diversity of migrant passerines also utilises the reedbeds abd groves, for feeding and roosting. Patience is the key here. One should try to follow calls or waiting silently near the reedbeds, where he or she will eventually be richly be rewarded with good views of Olive-backed Pipit, Daurian Redstart, Bluethroat, Siberian Stonechat, Dusky Warbler, Oriental Reed-Warbler and Chinese Bush-Warbler. The groves contain 3-4 species of starlings (Silky, Grey-cheeked and Black-collared being the commonest), doves and the occasional thrush (Grey-backed thrush is the commonest). Comparing Mai Po day species count totals(67) with wetlands like Sungei Buloh (52), Kuala Selangor (48), Muara Angke (42), Bharatpur (120) and Yamuna in Delhi (70), Maipo is definitely ahead of the first 3 in terms of bird abundance and diversity. What it lacks compared to the last 2 are large waterbirds, like cranes, pelicans, flamingos and storks. Population of these birds are very much decimated in China and throughout east Asia thanks to hunting, habitat loss and a carnivorous diet of the general population. Certainly, the last strongholds of large waterbirds must be in India because of the benign religious attitudes bestowed upon wildlife in spite of a burgeoning population.. Main Index Next Page |