Wintering Birds in Mai Po Nature Reserve

I was a bit worried about missing the wintering birds in Mai Po Nature Reserve this year as I have been away a lot lately.   Luckily, there are still plenty of them around in the Reserve and the birds don’t even seem to mind the recent air pollution.

I thought the Black & White images might look less depressing because of the poor air quality.

 
It makes me wonder how long these birds will be able to spend the winter here, as more and more residential buildings are being constructed every year on the other side of the mudflats in mainland China. 

Beautiful Sunset

The wet and misty weather hasn’t been ideal for birdwatching lately. But it hasn’t stopped the birds enjoying themselves on the mudflats.

Watching them feeding in the sunset makes me feel very lucky to have the opportunity to relish the beautiful scenery.  

Sunset at Mai Po Nature Reserve

I really enjoyed watching the sunset at Mai Po Nature Reserve. I hope you like it too.

Frustrated Little Egrets

In addition to Cormorants, Egrets are common visitors in the Mai Po Nature Reserve too.  

The day the Cormorants enjoyed their feast was actually a disappointing day for the Egrets, especially the Little Egrets. Most of the fish offered were close to 1.0lb (0.45kg) in weight and were too heavy for the Little Egrets (0.35-0.55kg in weight) to pick up from the water.

They were flying over the water back and forth,

trying so desperately to pick up the fish on the surface . 

Some of them even tried to stand on the water to find a smaller fish without success. It was very frustrating to watch.

Luckily, some of the Intermediate Egrets, which are a slightly bigger than the Little Egrets, 

managed to pick up some fish.

On the other hand, the Grey Herons, being much bigger and heavier (90-100cm tall, 1-2kg in weight) than the Little Egrets, were having as much fun as the Cormorants.