The
day started damp with light rain as I drove north from Tainan. On
arriving at Aogu at 10am the weather was dry and cool - perfect for a
full day my first full day of birding this year.Most birds were seen from the road running alongside the South, West and North levees, the roads and viewpoint in the center were relatively unproductive.The inner section of the reserve is not yet officially open to the public, some creative navigation is needed to get around the closed entrance.
Aogu is a wetland jutting into the sea in Chiayi County. Originally farmland reclaimed from the sea, it is now being being turned into a wildlife reserve and forest recreation area.
It is easily accessed from Chiayi or Tainan. The very empty and fast Expressway #61 (or an extension of it) starts near the Black-faced Spoonbill reserve in Qigu (Chigu, Cigu). If driving north, exit at the sign for Dongshr, follow the road alongside the highway for a couple kilometers, turn left at the bilingual sign for Aogu Wetlands. Coming south on #61, the exit for the Wetlands are well signposted in English. Be aware some of the roads in the middle of the reserve are unsurfaced. I suggest following the circular road - clearly marked as a cycle route.
East-west Expressway #84 now links inland Tainan County (Yujing etc) with Freeways #1 and #3, with Guantien (Pheasant-tailed Jacana Reserve, exit Xizhuang). When finished it will link up with #61 at Beimen. Very useful for birders in a hurry - but not many other people!
Be sure to pick up the free maps at tourist information counters: entire Taiwan, and 4 regional maps.
Several possible candidates, but the bird of the day must be the Pacific Reef-Heron - obviously the dark morph, generally uncommon and rare on Taiwan’s west coast I think. Only one seen but it behaved very well at close range.
The list below is fairly typical. Aogu is best in winter and migration time. Happy to guide visitors there - if short on time coming from Taipei, meet me at the High Speed Rail station in Chiayi.
Birds seen in Aogu Wetland:
Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna
Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope
Eastern Spot-billed Duck Anas zonorhyncha
Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata
Northern Pintail Anas acuta
Garganey Anas querquedula
Green-winged Teal Anas crecca
Common Pochard Aythya ferina
Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula
Greater Scaup Aythya marila
Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis
Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus
Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo
Cinnamon Bittern Ixobrychus cinnamomeus
Gray Heron Ardea cinerea
Purple Heron Ardea purpurea
Great Egret Ardea alba
Intermediate Egret Mesophoyx intermedia
Pacific Reef-Heron Egretta sacra
Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax
Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus
Black-headed Ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus
Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia
Black-faced Spoonbill Platalea minor
Black-shouldered Kite Elanus caeruleus
Eurasian Kestrel Falco tinnunculus
Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus
Eurasian Coot Fulica atra
Pacific Golden-Plover Pluvialis fulva
Greater Sand-Plover Charadrius leschenaultii
Snowy (Kentish) Plover Charadrius alexandrinus
Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula
Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus
Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta
Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus
Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia
Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis
Common Redshank Tringa totanus
Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus
Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris
Sanderling Calidris alba
Red-necked Stint Calidris ruficollis
Dunlin Calidris alpina
Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea
Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago
Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus
Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida
Red Collared-Dove Streptopelia tranquebarica
Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis
House Swift Apus nipalensis "Taiwan Endemic Subspecies (A. n. kuntzi)"
Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis
Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus
Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach
Eurasian Magpie Pica pica
Bank Swallow Riparia riparia
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
Yellow-bellied Prinia Prinia flaviventris
Plain Prinia Prinia inornata "Taiwan Endemic Subspecies (P. i. flavirostris)"
Japanese White-eye Zosterops japonicus
Javan Myna Acridotheres javanicus
Common Myna Acridotheres tristis
Black-faced Bunting Emberiza spodocephala
White-rumped Munia Lonchura striata
Also birds from yesterday - Rock Pigeon, White-backed Woodpecker, Black Drongo, Light-vented Bulbul, Little Egret, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Daurian Redstart.
