{"id":1754,"date":"2013-08-26T20:02:36","date_gmt":"2013-08-26T20:02:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/?p=1754"},"modified":"2013-08-26T20:02:36","modified_gmt":"2013-08-26T20:02:36","slug":"mai-po","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/?p=1754","title":{"rendered":"Mai Po"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A few weeks ago, Brooke signed us up for a &#8216;Mangrove Walk&#8217; at <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mai_Po_Marshes\">Mai Po nature reserve <\/a>through the WWF.\u00a0 It was only the night before that we figured out the scope of what we were in for&#8230; a four hour tour over the China\/Hong Kong border through an that required multiple sets of permits.\u00a0 Great to have a tour guide, otherwise we never would have seen any of this stuff.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1764\" style=\"width: 490px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo10.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1764\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1764\" alt=\"Me in front of the Mai Po entry\" src=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo10.jpg\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo10.jpg 480w, https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo10-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1764\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Me in front of the Mai Po entry<\/p><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HI7fgEcBenA\" height=\"315\" width=\"420\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nThe first bit of the walk was alongside some working fish farms.\u00a0 The guide explained that a lot of this wetland was landscaped and carved into farms by refugees in the 40&#8217;s.\u00a0 Much later it was set aside as a wetland preserve (mostly as spoonbill habitat) but the farming is allowed to continue as long as the farmers don&#8217;t alter the landscape or change their farming practices.\u00a0 There were lots of shorebirds (mostly egrets and herons) patrolling the edges of the fishponds &#8212; the guide had a telescope on a tripod and he kept setting up perfectly-framed views of various birds for us to peer at.<\/p>\n<p>Of course my camera skills aren&#8217;t good enough for bird photos.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1755\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo01.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1755\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1755\" alt=\"Hungry mullet gathered around a feeder\" src=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo01.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo01.jpg 640w, https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo01-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1755\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hungry mullet gathered around a feeder<\/p><\/div>\n<p>After the fishponds there was some less-intensively managed wetland, used to cultivate tiger prawns but mostly managed by the preserve for shorebirds.\u00a0 All along the shoreline were these weird pink blobs.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1756\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo02.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1756\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1756\" alt=\"Apple snail eggs\" src=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo02.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo02.jpg 640w, https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo02-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1756\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apple snail eggs<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Apple snails were introduced into Hong Kong as a food species but turned out to be both a) not very delicious and b) full of parasites.\u00a0 So, useless as a food crop, they&#8217;ve invaded all the wetlands in the area.\u00a0 They lay their eggs above the waterline, giving this pink styrofoam look to everything.\u00a0 Sometimes the WWF people go on snail patrol and try to thin out the population in an area&#8230; seems like a hopeless task.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1757\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo03.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1757\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1757\" alt=\"Snail hazmat bucket\" src=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo03.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo03.jpg 640w, https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo03-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1757\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Snail hazmat bucket<\/p><\/div>\n<p>After the shrimp and bird ponds were a couple of great-looking lily ponds, followed by a nice shady patch of mangrove.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1758\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo04.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1758\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1758\" alt=\"Slightly snail-chewed but still pretty.\" src=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo04.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo04.jpg 640w, https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo04-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1758\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slightly snail-chewed but still pretty.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1759\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo05.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1759\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1759\" alt=\"Mangroves\" src=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo05.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo05.jpg 640w, https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo05-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1759\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mangroves<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1761\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo07.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1761\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1761\" alt=\"Female wood spider living in the mangroves.  Bigger than the palm of my hand, with a web big enough to catch small birds\" src=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo07.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo07.jpg 640w, https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo07-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1761\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Female wood spider living in the mangroves. Bigger than the palm of my hand, with a web big enough to catch small birds<\/p><\/div>\n<p>After that patch of mangroves things got weirder.\u00a0 First there was this scary border fence:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1767\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo22.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1767\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1767\" alt=\"Hong Kong border fence\" src=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo22.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo22.jpg 640w, https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo22-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1767\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hong Kong border fence<\/p><\/div>\n<p>And then a very wobbly walk along this floating, very narrow pontoon boardwalk:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1760\" style=\"width: 490px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo06.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1760\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1760\" alt=\"Floating boardwalk\" src=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo06.jpg\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo06.jpg 480w, https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo06-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1760\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Floating boardwalk<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The boardwalk ended in what looked like a fence, but was actually the side of a bird-watching blind.\u00a0 The blind was dark and stifling.\u00a0 But, the view&#8230;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1762\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo08.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1762\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1762\" alt=\"Bird blind, inside view\" src=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo08.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo08.jpg 640w, https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo08-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1762\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bird blind, inside view<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1765\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maiposhenzhen.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1765\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1765\" alt=\"Bird blind, outside view\" src=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maiposhenzhen-1024x339.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"211\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maiposhenzhen-1024x339.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maiposhenzhen-300x99.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1765\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bird blind, outside view.\u00a0 Click to enlarge!<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In that last photo you can see little lumps on the mudflat in the foreground.\u00a0 That&#8217;s hundreds of mudskippers rushing around, flashing their fins and doing their clumsy, leaping territorial dance.\u00a0 Among the mudskippers are thousands of little fiddler crabs.\u00a0 And, off in the distance, that&#8217;s Shenzhen.\u00a0 There weren&#8217;t a ton of birds, but I didn&#8217;t mind.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1763\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo09.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1763\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1763\" alt=\"Nervous fiddler crab\" src=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo09.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo09.jpg 640w, https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo09-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1763\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nervous fiddler crab<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1766\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo21.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1766\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1766\" alt=\"Tree frog eggs.  When the eggs hatch the tadpoles drop into the water, same as the baby apple snails.\" src=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo21.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo21.jpg 640w, https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maipo21-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1766\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tree frog eggs. When the eggs hatch the tadpoles drop into the water, same as the baby apple snails.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few weeks ago, Brooke signed us up for a &#8216;Mangrove Walk&#8217; at Mai Po nature reserve through the WWF.\u00a0 It was only the night before that we figured out the scope of what we were in for&#8230; a four &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/?p=1754\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-critters","category-infrastructure","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1754"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1769,"href":"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1754\/revisions\/1769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bogott.net\/unspecified\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}