Nature photography sites in Hong Kong

[steve_graham]

As my wife and kids are back in the UK during the school holidays, I've got a few weekends free. I quite fancy trying some wildlife photography, as it's not an area I've done much of to date - landscapes and portraiture being more my thing.

<P>

I don't have much in the way of long fast glass - the longest lens I have here is a 80-200 F2.8 with a 2x TC - but I'd like to give it a go, and I don't mind the results not being of publishable quality, as good enough for my web page will do.

<P>

I live on Lantau island, but don't mind travelling to the New Territories if necessary (as long as I can get there by bus or taxi). Any advice of locations and what I should be photographing?

<P>

[Note: I did a search but it didn't fill me with optimism, as all the mentions of Hong Kong have been by me!]

[don_baccus]

Well...it's going to be hard. The New Territories includes a WWF-managed site known as Mai Po. I was there one April and saw about 45 species of shorebird, including the very rare spoonbilled sandpiper - it's a migratory hotspot. It's not set up for photography, though, the blinds are far, far away. I don't know what fall migration's like, but on a general note it's hard for me to imagine being into the natural world, to live in Hong Kong, and to not at some point go check out this feeding waystation for migrating shorebirds which is of international significance.

 

<p>

 

Wading birds and shorebirds can be found along the river separating the New Territories from the PRC - near where the new highway bridge crosses it (under construction when I was there several years ago). It also wasn't good for photography, as a security fence, a proper cold-war artifact in my eyes, separates you from the river. However, the fact that the PRC now runs HK means that in principle that fence might, perhaps, be gone???? Probably not, but you can always hope. The river's a running sewer, though, and stinks to high heaven. Great birding!

 

<p>

 

The only non-avian wildlife I remember seeing was monkeys in a forested park.

 

<p>

 

My suggestion is that you call the Mai Po visitor facility or the World Wildlife Fund office and ask for suggestions. They should be able to give you some ideas. My impression was that HK would be a hard place to photograph birds, and that there's not much other wildlife.

[charles_koh1]

Right. I've been living in HK for the last 2 years and there is not much place to do wildlife, except in Mai Po. Which by the way is easy to get to but VERY difficult to get out of if you do not have your own transport.

 

<p>

 

I would suggest that a day trek in one of the parks. I'm planning to do the Pokfulam (Hong Kong Trail) trail this weekend.

 

<p>

 

If you still want to try Mai Po, you must have a 600mm. The birds are so far away. Good luck.

 

<p>

 

Charles

[steve_graham]

Don & Charles,

<P>

Thanks for the advice. I'll try and give Mai Po a visit, but it sounds like there will be no point taking the camera with me, as I don't have a long enough lens to be of use.

[steve_graham]

I've found some

<a href="http://www.wwf.org.hk/en/mp_visit.htm">vistor information</a> for Mai Po, but It's made me reconsider whether I want to visit the place, as according to the details there I'd have to:-

<P>

<i>

1.You have to join up as a member of WWF HK if you want to used the facilities in the reserve, such as birdwatching hides and the Floating Boardwalk.

<P>

2.You will also need a 'Mai Po Entry Permit' to enter the Reserve which you can apply for by writing to: The

Director, Agriculture and Fisheries Department, Canton Road Government Offices, 393 Canton Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong. You should enclose photocopies of the relevant pages from your passport and the Department will also require you to send proof, such as photocopies of membership card of a birdwatching society and/or WWF, that you are a keen naturalist. These permits are free and normally take about 4 weeks to be processed.

3.If you wish to go out through the Frontier Closed Area (FCA) Border Fence and onto our Floating Boardwalk and Hide to see the birds on the Deep Bay mudflats, you have to apply for a separate 'FCA Permit' from the Police Headquarter. However, we can apply for the permit on behalf of you, but please send us the relevant pages from your passport. These permits normally take about 4 weeks to be processed and there will be a handling fee of HK$100/person for each permit.

</i>

<P>

Wow! Guess I'm not that dedicated...

[ives]

Wildlife in HK? When I first saw the title for the question I almost thought it was a joke! Didn't even know there was a WWF bird watching site there, though.

 

<p>

 

So much red tape for the Mai Po site! Guess you could always shoot dolphins at Ocean Park (the HK equivalent of Sea World) for a start. Don't need permits there.

 

<p>

 

The eleven years living in Hong Kong as a kid the most exotic wildlife I have seen were always in Cantonese restaurants, in a cage or on a plate. Nowadays whenever I get a chance to visit HK I always admire the herd of business people charging down a busy Central street with cell phones in their hands. That's wildlife to me!

[willio]

Yes, like said above and I think we all know that maipo is the only place to go for wildlife, but maybe I can suggest you something a bit different, why not go out to take city shots, I spent a week or some before I flew back to Indonesia, taking some of the city lifes pictures, and it turns out pretty good, I found that places like central(lan kwai fong), temple street, tsimshatsui, victoria peak, etc, are some good starters. Maybe this is a bit irrelevant from your question, I've tried maipo but I give it a rest after knowing the procedure to done with, so I just took out my gear and shoot something that the city provides best , the city life,.

[don_baccus]

Actually, as forbidding as the Mai Po entry stuff sounds, it's really just a formality. We mailed our info from here and just pointed out we were flying from the US to bird, which de facto meant we were pretty gawdamned fuckin' serious. It was no problem. They have a few blinds there, and among other things this allows them to control the number of people in the reserve. I think if you join WWF HK you'll have no problem, and of course you need to anyway.

 

<p>

 

It is one of the most important shorebird stopovers in Asia, and given the heavy pace of development in coastal areas, and the long history of dense population, it is crucial that productivity for shorebirds be kept as high as possible. And that means ensuring limited disturbance.

 

<p>

 

As far as the floating boardwalk, note that you need to get the Police permit because apparently you still (despite the PRC takeover) are not allowed by law to go past the Security Fence (that's there to keep the PRC from taking over?) I think the main reason they offer to do the Police bookwork for you for $100 HK is that many visitors are from overseas and don't have a clue as to how to do this.

 

<p>

 

I do find it humorous that HK, renowned for having virtually no restrictions or regulations on business, makes getting permission to go birding a bureaucratic process that would've made the old Soviet government proud!

[steve_graham]

Don,

<P>

I think this may be one of these cases where the procedures are actually easier to follow if your overseas than if you're here - HK loves those tourist dollars (especially at the moment)!

<P>

My main problem with the Mai Po stuff is that I've had to deal with so much paperwork here (work permits, taxes, getting a bloody phone connected etc) that I just can't be bothered with any more. By the time I got permission I'd either be back in the UK, or the wife and kids would be back anyway.

<P>

Maybe I'll take Bills advice, use my new Contax G1 with it's 28mm and 90mm lenses, and make like I'm Cartier-Bresson. I know I've got some Tri-X lying around somewhere - wonder what'll it look like pushed to 1200?

[don_baccus]

There is one bird species you may be able to photograph with your setup (80-200+2x) - fork-tailed kite. These are the big vultury type birds you see soaring all over, even in downtown Hong Kong. They seem to fill the garbage-eating niche filled by gulls here. No need to go to Mai Po to see 'em, in fact you probably already have.

 

<p>

 

Also, I had great fun photographing fish in markets. The markets have a somewhat strong odor, but there were a couple dozen species of interesting fish piled all over. Not exactly wildlife shooting, more like cadaver shooting, but it was fun anyway.

 

<p>

 

And Kowloon is just an amazing place, visually. If nothing else, shoot the "no spitting" signs on the Star Ferry. :)

[willio]

Steve, for a fast lens like the one you have for your contax system, rating your film to 800 will give you the best result, tri-x is a grainy film, pushing it to 1200 will give you an acceptable image(a well developped one) I suggest you to use it at 800 as I always do with mine, it gives an excellent result.

[alex_que]

Probably your free weekends were over. 8) Anyways.

 

<p>

 

I agree with most of the posts above that there's not much wildwife

photography you can do in HK, but that doesn't mean there's no

wildlife at all. Some trailwalks are really great for day outs though

probably not much for photography.

 

<p>

 

Maipo's difficult to get into procedurally, but WWF has its reasons:

Maipo is probably one of the best places in the world to see birds in

right seasons (do you know there're more species of birds you can see

in HK than in the UK?), and the location is just too important to

become a tourist area. Hence the procedures.