During the winter vocation, children, along with their parents, hop on the commentary shuttle bus to visit the main habitats of black-faced spoonbill in the coastal Qigu area, aiming either to get away from their studies and relax, or to seek materials to finish their homework. At the 1st Birdwatching Pavilion, the amicable and energetic volunteers instructed the children how to mimic the way a black-faced spoonbill paddles its beak in water for food and explain to them why black-faced spoonbills are called “la-pue” in Taiwanese Hokkien. At the 2nd Birdwatching Pavilion, volunteers already install the monocular early in the morning directed towards the most eye-catching birds in the main habitat, and explain the characteristics and habits of winter migrants, offering visitors with excitement and professional knowledge at the same time.
If bad weather prevents you from seeing flocks of birds playing and foraging in the water, the next stop of the commentary shuttle bus is the Black-faced Spoonbill Ecological Exhibition Hall of the Endemic Species Research Institute, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan. The hall is the best place where you can start exploring the ecological knowledge about migratory birds, in that it exhibits specimens and maps that fully present the dispersion, migration, and life history of black-faced spoonbills.
Different from the general tourists who drive their cars and enjoy whatever comes to them, many of those little bird lovers on the commentary shuttle bus came prepared. They brought their own binoculars, and searched for birds under the guidance of volunteers, perhaps for ecological observation during the winter vacation, for keeping a travel log, or more likely for seeing the long-awaited rare guests from the North. They had been unfamiliar with bird watching bases and traffic routes, and lacked proper transportation means. Now that they can take the commentary shuttle bus of Taijian National Park, the long-awaited bird watching tour was finally possible.
Hopefully bird lovers, little and big alike, take the first step towards the beautiful world of wing quills under the guidance of this commentary shuttle bus of the Black-faced Spoonbill Line!