Mangrove Eco Park Blog Post

When the opening of the Mangrove Eco Park was announced, I knew I had to go and bring my new camera. It was about a 25-minute drive to the park, and the guides there had told us to come at high-tide, and we wondered why. When we got to the park, there were millions of mangrove trees planted in the water. As we walked out on the boardwalk, we didn’t see any birds, but the water was pretty. As we reached the end of the boardwalk, I scanned with the scope first but only saw 5 or 6 Greater Flamingos, which is not what they said we would see. On several different signs, it showed many different shorebirds, but the water level looked low in those pictures. When we got back to the main building, we asked a guide why they wanted us to come at high tide. The reason why, apparently, was because it was prettier. Wanting to see more birds, I asked when the best time would be to watch birds, and the guide said at medium tide, in between low and high tides. The next weekend, we came back about halfway between the two tides, and started scanning for birds. Without good equipment, you wouldn’t be able to see any of them. Whiskered Tern that kept swooping and diving near us

We first saw little Terek Sandpipers running, then stopping, running then stopping in the sand, occasionally poking their long bills in the sand, sifting for sand fleas and other tiny creatures. After scanning a bit more, we found a sandbar with two huge gulls and several Dunlins and other sandpipers. Because the Dunlins were so far away, it was hard to get a good shot, even with a high-tech camera and lens, but there was a Pied Oystercatcher, AKA Eurasian Oystercatcher on the sandbar, digging in the sand like the curlews. A funny, but not too unusual sight was 8 Gray Herons huddled up against the wind near a mangrove, because it was too windy for them to hunt.

Besides the herons, there were some little sandpipers and some flamingos out in the water on a sandbar, but it was impossible to get a close-up picture without it being super grainy. That was pretty much it, though that was many birds compared to the first time we came, where we saw only flamingos. The landscape was flat, and at low tide it was mostly mud, and behind us past the water were mangrove trees until they stopped and became the desert. In front was water and sand speckled with sandpipers and other waders and a few mangroves.

As of the writing of this post, It is the first day of the Great Backyard Bird Count, and I want to go to the Mangrove Eco Park again by the 21st, so if we see the same birds and new species, the data can be a part of the GBBC data. For more pictures and captions, check out my new section on my website for the Mangrove Eco Park, once I get a few more pictures.