Birding at Nam Sang Wai, Hong Kong

Nam Sang Wai is a wetland located at the northwestern part of Hong Kong, which is a part of inner Deep Bay area. It is a famous place for birdwatching which houses quite a lot of waterbirds including gulls, ducks, cormorants, avocets and egrets, particularly in winter. It worths you spending a day there to enjoy the fun of birdwatching as the diversity of the birds is usually satisfactory. Most birds could be seen at low tide, at about 0.5 to 1 m.

Even during the weekday, there are still quite a lot of photographers, carrying loads of gears, stationing at the estuary for bird-photography.

Northern Pintail is a common wintering duck species in Hong Kong. It is comparatively large to other ducks and is recognized by its longer neck, rounded head and pointed tail. Males are distinctive. They usually arrive Hong Kong in late October and leave in early April.

Northern Shoveler is another common winter visitor in Deep Bay. It is slightly smaller than Northern Pintail, reaching about 50 cm length. Its broad spatulate bill is diagnostic which makes it one of the easiest duck to identify.

Heuglin's Gull is the most abundant large gull wintering in Hong Kong. Identifying large gulls is always difficult even to the experts which requires intensive practices.

Nam Sang Wai is one of the magor night roosting sites of Great Cormorants, where generally holds over 3,000 Cormorants in winters.

Black-faced Spoonbill, a well-known endangered species according to the IUCN Redlist, could commonly be seen in Nam Sang Wai during winter. You should grap a chance to see this spectacular species if you haven't seen it yet!

Pied Avocets are feeding on the intertidal mudflat.

Birdwatching in a chilling winter could still be pleasant and enjoyable!