Between November and February, many waterbirds migrate from Siberia and Northern Asia to Hong Kong for the warm weather. The marshes and the mudflats in Mai Po Nature Reserve provide an ideal feeding place for those migrating birds.
One of the common visitors is the Pied Avocet.
One of the common visitors is the Pied Avocet.
Sometimes, thousands of Pied Avocets can be seen in the reserve and I was very fortunate to have witnessed a spectacular display by these beautiful birds.
The celebrity migratory bird in Mai Po is the Black-faced Spoonbill, an endangered species. In January 2008, just over 2000 Black-faced Spoonbills were recorded worldwide. Hong Kong recorded more than 400 of them in Mai Po Nature Reserve during the winter season.
The Black-faced Spoonbill usually rests during daytime,
and hunts for fish in small ponds in the afternoon till morning.
Note:The Black-faced Spoonbill grow to about 80cm in height. Their spoon-like bills are about 17-19 cm long and their wings about 36 cm long. Grown-up birds weigh about 1.6-2.2 kg. They can only be seen in East Asia and there is little known about this bird. They breed mainly in the West sea of Korea and it is a protected species in North Korea. http://www1.korea-np.co.jp/pk/048th_issue/98062404.htm
7 comments:
Great shots of these beautiful birds, we are lucky if we get 3 or 4 Avocets here in the winter and European Spoonbills in only single figures. Nice to see them all.
This is a spectacular sight and I cannot imagine what it must be like to actually be there to photograph it.
OMG! There sheer number!
What a sight, the numbers are extraordinary.
Just astonishing - what an amazing sight to have captured on camera!
OMG!!! their is so many avocet! I never tought their could be so many at one place. Wonderfull images ;)
Wow that's very impressive to watch these pictures so I cannot even imagine what it is to see such flocks!! Incredible! I've not seen an avocet for years, well since I've been in Iceland! Never managed to see them back to France!
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