October through March is the season for black-faced spoonbills and other migratory birds to spend their winters in Taiwan. The Taijiang National Park Management Office organizes the “Black-face spoonbill viewing season” with a series of fun activities. The festival’s opening event was the "2022 Taijiang Black-face spoonbill viewing season - SHOW Our Love For Spoonbills", was held on October 1 at the Taijiang National Park’s Visitor Center Plaza. The event kicked off the Black-face spoonbill viewing season and was attended by many guests including local conservation groups, government agencies, schools, community groups and temple associations.
The Xiangong Elementary School’s Taiwanese Music Orchestra opened the event with swaying melodies, after which Kun Shan University’s Department of Fashion Exhibitions and Performance staged a fashion show inspired by the beauty of spoonbills and sustainable fashion. Their rousing performance aptly conveyed the message of environmental conservation.
Wu Xinxiu, Director of the Construction and Planning Agency of the Ministry of the Interior, thanked the local authorities, organizations and residents for their long-term commitment to wetland conservation and education, and conveyed his agency’s best wishes for the festival. Director Zhang Dengwen of the Taijiang National Park Management Office noted: "This year marks the 10th edition of Taijiang’s Black-face spoonbill viewing season, which is held every winter when the black-faced spoonbills overwinter at Taijiang. We’re happy to see these beautiful birds forage in our homeland, but we do just as much welcome human visitors to come and explore our wetlands, move their bodies and stretch their minds, while taking in Taijiang’s beauty and integrating care for the environment into their daily lives.”
Already before this winter, Taijiang National Park had taken up improving the spoonbills’ habitat as part of its Spoonbill Friendly Habitat Plan. It called on fish farmers to optimize their drying times and methods to offer the spoonbills more foraging resources. After the opening event, the Spoonbill Tour Bus started taking visitors around the lagoon and explaining these migratory birds’ behaviors.
A host of other activities—from guided tours explaining the local ecology, culture and commerce to visitors that are young or young at heart, is planned. Detailed information on upcoming events is given on the Taijiang National Park website.