Birds Mooching from Fishermen

     Only a few years ago, birds were quite shy of humans.  Then Shuangshi Creek Park was developed, and birds gradually overcame their fear of people.  As time went on, birds and fishermen developed a sort of relationship.  In the photos below, a black-crowned night heron and a little egret wait for a fisherman to throw them a fish that's too small to take home.

     In the photo below, you can see that there were two birds.  The heron and the egret watched until a fisherman threw a fish to them.  Each raced to get it before the other could.  The night heron got it.  The birds then resumed their patient wait for the next fish to be thrown their way.

     For more photos of black-crowned night herons, click here.  For more photos of little egrets, click here.  For more photos of birds keeping company with fishermen, click here.

Shuangshi Creek Park

     Many of my photos were taken in Shuangshi Park, but I've posted most of them among photos of birds.  Here are a few exceptions.

     I frequently see birds keeping company with fishermen.  Sometimes they're waiting for the fisherman to throw away a catch he considers too small to keep.  In the photos below, however, I saw no indication, that the little egrets and black-crowned night herons were waiting for a meal.

     Below is a single black-crowned night heron keeping company with a fisherman.  Only a few years ago, I found it impossible to get close enough to a night heron to get a clear photograph.  Now it's easy.

     For more photos of black-crowned night herons, click here.  For more photos of little egrets, click here.

Little Egret

      Because Taiwan has the steepest mountains in East Asia, Taiwan receives 2 1/2 times the world average rainfall.  For that same reason, most of the water quickly runs off, by way of countless rivers, creeks, and streams.  As a consequence, water birds of various types can be seen almost anywhere in Taiwan.

     The photos on this page are of little egrets I saw in along Huang-shi Riverside Park in the Shih-lin District of Taipei, the 228 Peace Park in downtown Taipei, and along the Tamsui (Dan Shuei) River between Shih-lin and the city of Tamsui. 

     Here are a few photos of little egrets in the 228 Peace Park:

      The hardest photos to take were the ones along Huangshi Riverside Park in the Shih-lin District.  Only rarely was it possible to get close enough to take clear pictures.  Of the many photos I took, I was satisfied with only these three.

     Huangshi Creek runs into the Tamsui River, which flows into the Taiwan Strait.  From the point Huangshi Creek empties into the Tamsui River, it's all wetlands.  

    Just before you reach the big temple near Guandu, a stream flows under the biking path and wends its way to a creek that runs parallel to the Tamsui River.  It's at that point you find an opening in the mangrove swamp, and you can see the stream and creek below.

     That's a nifty place to get close enough to get close enough to a little egret to take pictures.  Once in awhile, an Oriental ibis frequents the place, but I haven't gotten close enough for a clear photo of that fellow.

      I saw this little egret in a tidal stream in Danshui. 

     I took the next picture while I was hiking a few miles from the city of Guanhsi, in Hsinchu County.  It doesn't clearly show the little egret, but I like the overall effect of the rice field, the forest, the reflection of the sky on the rice field, and the egret.

For more information on the little egret, click here.