Birding the Shenzhen Mangroves

Perhaps the most interesting part of Shenzhen for the naturalists is the Futian Mangrove Ecological Park. As far as birds are concerned this is part of Deep Bay and effectively an extension of Mai Po. Surprisingly perhaps, once can get closer to the mudflats here than at Mai Po (unless one has access to the hides in the restricted area, that is). Beginning at the Shenzhen Bay Park metro station (深圳湾公园站), the park juts out into the bay. At the southeastern corner of the park, the sea wall abruptly turns a corner and the mangroves begin in earnest. At this point, it is possible to use the mangroves as a hide to observe birds on the mudflats. Shortly before or after high tide, shorebirds forage quite close inshore, especially at migration times. On September 28th there were black-tailed godwits, curlews, spotted redshanks, greenshanks, common and marsh sandpipers as well as hundreds of avocets, stilts, egrets and herons.
Among the mangroves are whiteyes, dusky warblers, red-billed starlings and white-throated kingfishers. Meanwhile, there are some interesting birds to be found in the inland areas of the park, such as plaintive cuckoos and speckled piculets.

Note: some caution is needed in negotiating the mangroves, where the ground varies between sand and mud, and even the stepping stones can prove unstable!

Posted on 29 de setembro de 2019, 07:58 AM by stephenmatthews