Where in wild Hong Kong do you want to explore?

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Mai Po Marshes Nature Reserve

Hong Kong’s Mai Po Marshes Nature Reserve is like a natural theatre, a place where you can enjoy impressive wildlife spectacles. Visit during the hot, steamy days of summer, and you will find it quiet: the main players, migratory birds, are mainly at breeding grounds far to the north. But Mai Po will soon be busy again, as shorebirds begin passing through, on journeys that may take them from the high Arctic to beaches around Australia.

Migrations of Hong Kong ducks revealed by satellite tracking

WWF Hong Kong press release, on study showing ducks wintering in Hong Kong travel impressive distances, with one wigeon flying 2000km in a single flight:

Quote:
The first phase of a multi-partner project to track the global movements of Hong Kong's wild ducks has ended successfully. The 12-month period of satellite tracking discovered that coastal regions of the Yellow Sea are critical staging areas for Hong Kong's ducks within the East Asia-Australasian Flyway (EAAF), and that these ducks require a diverse range of wetland habitats scattered across many countries to complete their migration.

"The Hong Kong ducks clearly undertake epic migration journeys and rely on a wide range of inland and coastal wetland habitats. The Yellow Sea in particular appears crucial as a staging area for over 90% of the duck, and we observed the importance of protected wetlands to complete their migration," said Bena Smith, WWF-Hong Kong Mai Po Reserve Manager.

Two cheers for the Government

The government has designated some of those lovely old waterworks buildings at the reservoirs as 'statutory monuments'.  So that's a good thing, even if the associated legislation to protect them isn't as watertight as the Tai Tam Reservoir Dam.

Gov't press release:
http://www.news.gov.hk/en/category/infrastructureandlogistics/090918/htm...

Explore Wild Hong Kong!

I think the first week of April is just a bit early for beaches.

You might have a spell of warm or fairly hot weather - indeed, the coming Monday (15 March), it's forecast to reach 27C. Yet can be chilly at times; I've even worn gloves when birdwatching on a day or two at the beginning of April! Even if air warm/hot, water is a little on the cool side.

That said, some people swim then; tho have some people who swim year round.

is it too cold to go in the water in hong kong beaches the first week of april? I'm looking to go there for holiday, but want to go to the beach, sunbath, and swim, willl that be possible then?

I just came back visiting relative in Tsuen Mun and taken some photos with Google Map links.
Along Tsuen Mun River and further afield there are plenty of dedicated cycle path painted red in color.
Some parts are as wide as a 2 lanes road. I am pleasantly surprise at the commitment of the government
to promoting cycling. Here is the photo album.
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/mr.yhtan/201002HK?feat=directlink

My wife and I have been regular visitors to Sham Chung for several years. Nowadays, we cycle down from Fanling on a Saturday morning to see our friend Tom Li, who is a native of the village. Some comments:

The golfing area was an arm of the sea until the 1920s and could be restored as a wetland.

I am strongly opposed to any construction of a "proper" cycle track to Sham Chung. The path from Yung Shu Au is perfectly adequate, and lots of people already cycle there.

"Hong Kong's premier alfresco dining area": it already is. Have you tried any of Tom's food? His normal fare is noodles and congee, but he'll make anything you want if you book in advance. And his pan-fried noodles are the best you'll find. The man is an experienced professional chef.

The following link describes a recent visit:

http://dennishodgson.blogspot.com/2010/01/our-friend-tom.html

You can click on the "hong kong" label for other accounts of the Hong Kong countryside.

Global warming is raising the danger from typhoons, Taiwan experts warned Monday, saying the island may be hit in a year or two by a powerful storm like the one which killed more than 700 last August.

Typhoon Morakot dumped a record 3,000 millimetres (120 inches) of rainfall and caused massive mudslides in the south of the island, and the government should be prepared for similar disasters in the future, they said.

"A typhoon as powerful as Morakot is very likely to strike Taiwan in a year or two," said Wang Chung-ho, a research fellow at the Institute of the Earth Sciences at Taiwan's top academic body Academia Sinica.

Global warming raises Taiwan typhoon danger

 

- If indeed such a threat to Taiwan, surely means Hong Kong will face greater impacts from typhoons.

This is a wonderful article.thanks to share this article.. ================= Ema

I did try Sun Hung Kai again, via BEC: they're not interested in doing anything re nature tourism at Sham Chung.

They were Black Kites - indeed common here, especially over and near the harbour, with significant roost on south slopes of hills near the Peak.

Hello. I will be visiting HK in February and I am hoping to buy TNF daypacks. Anyone know of shops that sell them aside from the ones already mentioned here? Thanks!

I stayed at a harbour view hotel in Hong Kong last week and was fascinated by the large birds circling over the harbour. They looked the size of a buzzard - would love to know what they were!

Paul Smethurst

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