birding...

Japanese White-eye Zosterops japonicus ©Owen Chiang http://www.pbase.com/bluetitan/wildbirds

The Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong lies on the southern coast of China close to the Tropic of Cancer. Its 1,070 sq kilometres are divided into four main areas - Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the New Territories and the Outlying Islands.

Hong Kong`s tropical climate, typified by the unpleasantly hot and humid summer months with the occasional typhoon thrown in for good measure, is influenced by the continental landmass to the north so that temperatures can occasionally fall as low as 5ºC in winter. Autumn is the most pleasant time of the year weather-wise, being usually relatively dry and clear, whereas spring can be unsettled - and from an ornithological perspective, the more unsettled the weather at this time of year, the better the bird watching tends to be.

Hong Kong`s image as an intensely urbanised area is an accurate one yet roughly 40% of the territory is made up of country parks or special reserves, some of which contain excellent forest areas. The best of these is Tai Po Kau, an easily accessible reserve that offers excellent woodland birding. Sadly, however, many of the ecologically important sites in the territory are not found within the country park boundaries and the northern New Territories in particular, with its low-lying areas of fish ponds, vegetable farms and marshes, is earmarked for intensive development over the next few years. Fortunately the marshes and mudflats in the Deep Bay area, centred on the internationally renowned nature reserve at Mai Po, have been declared a Ramsar site and it is this area that is the main ornithological focus in the region.

Over 480 species of birds have been recorded in the territory. The vast majority of these are passage migrants and/or winter visitors and the best time to visit is from September to early May. Although Hong Kong lies within the Oriental region, it is perhaps most famous for the large numbers of eastern Palaearctic waders that occur on passage, especially in April, which is the main month for overseas birdwatchers to visit in search of such species as Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Asian Dowitcher and Nordmann`s Greenshank. The territory regularly attracts other Palaearctic species that are major rarities in Britain and North America. In fact approximately 80 species described in A Field Guide to the Rare Birds of Britain and Europe (Lewington, Alström and Colston 1991) occur here.

Most accommodation is located on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon. Although visiting birdwatchers will spend most of their time in the New Territories, this is no problem as the transport system is very efficient and access to the main birding sites is easy. For those wishing to be closer to the birding sites, there are two good hotels in Sha Tin in the southern New Territories and less luxurious, but perfectly adequate accommodation is available at Mai Po itself [Book in Advance].

Immediately to the north of the Hong Kong Semi-Autonomous Region is Guangdong Province. A number of sites in the province are accessible from Hong Kong provided the birdwatcher has a few days to spare. The best of these are Ba Bao Shan and Chebaling, both in the north of the province and both a day`s combined train ride and bus journey from Shenzhen, the Chinese city just over the border from Hong Kong. These sites have a number of enigmatic Oriental species not found in Hong Kong e.g. Cabot`s Tragopan and Silver Oriole (summer) at Ba Bao Shan, Blyth`s Kingfisher and the (very rare) White-eared Night Heron at Chebaling.

These and other sites in Guangdong, as well as the main sites in Hong Kong, are detailed in Where to Watch Birds and Other Wildlife in Hong Kong and Guangdong (Woodward and Carey, 1996). Birds of Hong Kong and South China (Viney and Phillipps, 1994) remains the essential field guide to the region. A new, very detailed account of the birds of Hong Kong, The Avifauna of Hong Kong (Carey et. al) is due out in the latter half of the year 2000.