Mai Po Wetlands and the Dream come True

Dream Come True for me to firstly visit the wetlands of Mai Po and secondly, to birdwatch there for almost a whole day and finding the Black-faced Spoonbill. I've been to Hong Kong before to present at a Conference in 2004 (or was it 2005?) and was lucky enough to get a permit on-the-spot at the WWF centre building to enter Mai Po for less than 2 hours. I had a flight to catch later in the afternoon and with less than 2 hours, no map in hand, I cannot remember nor recall seeing any birds in that impromptu visit. The most memorable moment for me was being able to buy the Guide to Birds of Hong Kong and South China, by Clive Viney, Karen Philipps and Lam Chiu Ying at the WWF Centre. I had to wait until 2018, for the chance to birdwatch and to realize my dream of seeing the Black-faced Spoonbills.My friend Julianna and I arrived very early that November 2018 morning and the WWF Centre at Mai Po Wetlands was not opened yet. So we sat patiently outside the Centre to have our breakfast of steamed buns which we had bought from one of the MRT transit stations before our final MRT stop in Yuen Long (for the last mile transport, we went by taxi to the Wetlands). We listened to the chorus of bird songs and spotted a few garden birds that were also flying, skulking and hopping around the Centre. The Black-Collared Starlings were perched on a tree beside the building and its territorial calls were heard by us loud and clear. We finally had very good views of the perched Starlings (one of which is pictured above). There were a few Masked Laughingthrushes, hopping alongside one of the fenced areas nearby the Centre.

Masked Laughingthrush

A flock of Japanese White-eyes were also flitting quite low at the edge of the pond behind the Centre. The Chinese Bulbuls were also very active and perched out in the open for us to have a really good look of some of them. To me, it was a joy to be greeted by the Garden Birds of Hong Kong at the WWF Centre, even before the doors were opened to the public. After getting our permit checked by the personnel on duty in the Centre, with a map of the wetlands in hand, we were ready to enter the WETLANDS area! Some of the birds seen are as pictured below with the dream come true Spoonbill species at the end of this post.

Male and Female Northern Shovelers dabbling in one of the ponds

Cinereous/Great Tit (a pair) in the mangrove trees

 

Little Grebe which is quite common in Malaysia but not so in Hong Kong

Little Grebe which according to eBird Hong Kong checklist was rare for Mai Po in November, so I had to justify the sighting with additional notes and comments. Common resident species in Malaysia and I've seen it before in Malim Nawar, Perak. The other rare sightings flagged by eBird for Mai Po, were the Pond Heron species and Striated Heron. I did not capture pictures of the Striated Heron which was hunting for prey along the edges of the shrimp pond. Its stalking and slow movements reminding me so much of the Striated Herons which are commonly found in Peninsular Malaysia.
I've seen quite a few Striated in the coastal areas of Port Dickson, Tanjung Tuan and even in the rivers and streams of marshlands in the District of Segamat, Johor.   

Little Grebe of Mai Po

The Pond Heron species was seen clinging dearly on the railings of a house behind a pond. It was a very windy and blustery morning with the Pond Heron battling against the winds. It just did not wish to budge from the railings. Eventually the winds went against the wishes of the Pond Heron which was blown off the railings onto the grounds of the pond. Claws on this Pond Heron species make me ponder on their ancestral links to dinosaurs such as the Pterodactyl, below:-One of the many shrimp ponds in the wetlands

Common Kingfisher - always a sight to behold amidst the greenery of the wetlands.

A Great Cormorant perched on a wire in the wetlands

 

A Flock of Great Cormorants out sunning themselves. Mai Po wetlands was alive and bustling with their calls, with a few flocks flying in circles quite low above us. The rarer Japanese Cormorant is like the Great Cormorant but has a naked facial skin which comes to a point and white area behind the eye is larger. It seems the sub-adults of Japanese Cormorant cannot be safely separated from the Great Cormorants........I confess, time was not on our side for me to try and single out whether there was indeed a Japanese Cormorant in this flock.Wooden gates of Mai Po wetlands, beckon us to swing it open and enter into the Kingdom of the Black-faced Spoonbills!

Great Egret wades in the shallow waters of this riverGrey Heron perched on top of a tree, with a grand view of the surroundingsSolitary Asian Pied Starling perched on lines with White-Vented Mynahs and a Great Cormorant, which stood out like a sore thumb due to its size and shape.Skyscrapers of Shenzhen, China can be seen along the horizon of Mai Po wetlands. The concrete pavement to birding happiness. The Chinese Bulbul. A flock was heard singing away in one corner of the wetlands. Look and sound so different from our Bulbul species in Peninsular Malaysia. The olive wash on the sides of this Chinese Bulbul's wings and tail, remind me of the Olive-backed Bulbul's. Plain Prinia, obscured by the tall reedbed grasses of wetlands.White Wagtail was hunting for food along edges of shrimp pond.

Yellow Wagtail was also out and about on dried edges of the pond. 

Black-faced Spoonbill (above and below as it took flight, with black tips on its wings). This was the bird of my dreams, one that I had waited so long to see and observe. This Black-Faced Spoonbill individual was the first one spotted mid-morning, standing so tall and elegant, amongst ducks in the middle of a lake. It is an indescribable feeling of happiness when I first saw it. I was literally stunned for a few seconds before I pointed my camera as steadily as I could to focus on it, since it was quite a distance away. My friend Julianna was in a different corner of the park and I didn't want to move an inch for fear of spooking this Spoonbill by my sudden movement. A flock of Black-faced Spoonbills was sighted later on in the morning, together with Julianna. That flock deserves a separate post.