Birding is Cool
by Thomas Gomersall
One of the joys of birdwatching is that anybody can do it, regardless of age or experience. That’s why this year’s Big Bird Race, WWF-Hong Kong’s longest- running birdwatching event, has been extended to include a new secondary school race.
The inaugural Big Bird Race secondary-school team has generated strong response, attracting students aged 12 to 17 from 11 local partner schools to sign up for the 23 February race. They will compete alongside the professional teams to see who can spot the most bird species. While many of them have some birdwatching experience, extra training is available to enhance their birding skills and knowledge.
“It is [meant] to get [the students] familiar with the race, its background and to teach them how to identify birds in Mai Po because since Mai Po Nature Reserve is a restricted area, students rarely have a chance to visit. We feel students may not be that familiar with the distribution of birds in Mai Po,” says Jason Lau, WWF Senior Education Officer.
Apart from the introductory lecture and field training session, held in January, two more self-arranged field training sessions will be offered in the weeks leading up to the race.
“Birding is about practice,” Lau says. “If they really want to learn about the birds in Mai Po and win the race, they need to come to practice.”
For extra incentive, teams that take part in the self-arranged training sessions will gain extra points apart from the ones they earn on the day of the race itself. The top team in the youth category will also win a five to six-day trip to the Habitat Penang Hill in Malaysia.
But judging by the enthusiasm displayed at the January Mai Po field training session, the points and prize are just added bonus. During the introductory session, students appeared caught up in the excitement of learning about the race itself and in the reserve’s natural history. By the afternoon session, armed with cameras, telescopes and binoculars, they were ready to start honing their birdwatching skills.
The smiles and excitement continued well into the ensuing three hours as the students got their first look at cormorants, egrets, spoonbills and ducks of Mai Po. They were even treated to sightings of a shy purple heron and moorhen skirting along a mangrove channel.
The strong response and general enthusiasm displayed during the field training session augur well for this new category at the February Big Bird Race.
WWF plans to extend the programme to more secondary schools at future events. Looking beyond the race, Lau hopes that the experience will have a lasting impact on how young people value nature.
“I really hope that after the bird race, they will go back to their schools and talk to their friends or classmates and invite them to come to look for more birds and enjoy the environment more. After they develop a love for nature […] they can take up the responsibility to protect it.”
