Waterfowl Count 10 December 2000
Summary Report

The December 2000 waterbird count took place on the 10th, and coverage of the Ramsar Site was complete. With regard to the Deep Bay area as a whole, all other sites were surveyed apart from San Tin.

A total of 52,692 waterbirds were recorded in the Deep Bay area (including Fu Tian, which is now being regularly surveyed), of which 36,750 were present in the Ramsar Site. Ducks and grebes easily formed the largest proportion, constituting over 40% of birds present in the bay. The total of ducks involved, 22,304, is a return to the high counts noted during the years of peak counts up to and including the winter of 1995-96. It is reported that active controls on the number of people accessing the intertidal mudflats on the Fu Tian side of the bay has encouraged many more duck to roost and feed there than has been the case for a number of years (Wang Yong Jun pers. comm.).

Gulls and terns comprised 24% of birds present, though Black-headed Gull numbers remained somewhat down on the high noted in 1996. The next two largest groups were waders at 14% and Great Cormorants at nearly 11%.