Springtime at Mai Po: It's the season of shorebirds

Mai Po Nature Reserve has just reopened after closing for 21 days due to avian influenza, and not a moment too soon because it's now shorebird-watching season at the otherwordly wetlands that are often overlooked in Hong Kong.

Although Hong Kong’s most beloved endangered species, the black-faced spoonbill, migrated away from Hong Kong en mass without a proper farewell, local bird-lovers need not despair. Shorebirds have descended upon the wetlands in a spectacular array of color and sound.

Reserve Manager Bena Smith said shorebirds are now the main attraction at the 2,700 hectare nature area sitting in the middle of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.

"Shorebirds are suffering the most out of all the birds in this flyway," Smith said. "Massive declines have been reported over the past 20 years. Something like 40 per cent have been lost, in terms of the population."

Smith placed responsibility on habitat destruction. Massive reclamation projects are consuming coastal wetlands in South Korea and China, especially along the Yellow Sea. Shorebirds migrate across huge distances, from Australian and equatorial locales to northern China and Korea. The birds need wetland refueling stations.

"That’s what Mai Po is so good for, it gives them a chance to fatten up their bodies and get energy to complete their migration. But slowly, there’s been an erosion of those middle bits all through the flyway."

Mai Po first gained protected status in 1976. The World Wildlife Fund acquired the reserve in 1984, and it became a Ramsar site in 1995.

Doug Meigs is a freelance writer/photographer based in Hong Kong. His curiosity for all things, particularly art, nature, culture and leisure, has carried his byline across myriad topics and countries.

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