Spoonbills, storks and falcons brave smog and poor visibility
Rare birds have returned to the city despite the smog and poor visibility. About 100 globally threatened black-faced spoonbills have arrived in Mai Po, along with hundreds of shore and migratory birds, jamming the nature reserve.
Among these new arrivals is the rare black stork, which travelled thousands of kilometres from its breeding places in northern China.
Listed as threatened in China, only 20,000 remain in the world - and just 500 on the mainland.
In Hong Kong, the highest count was 15, but sightings dropped to around five in the 1980s and not one has been spotted in recent years.
'Its rare sighting could be due to habitat degradation as it demands extremely clear and shallow water,' said Carrie Ma Ka-wai, project officer of the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society.
