Hong Kong's rare dolphin, spoonbill, tree frog, and a dragonfly

There are some parts of the world whose names evoke images of both wildness and teeming cities. Florida, say, conjures visions of swamps with lurking alligators, and the oceanfront and bustling downtown stretches of Miami.
          Hong Kong, by contrast, is typically seen as a metropolis and little else: it’s the place where east meets west, where neon signs overhang crowded streets, and junks drift through a harbour surrounded by concrete jungle. This typecasting is unfortunate, as there is far more to Hong Kong than city – indeed, 40 percent of the land area is designated as country park, and the SAR supports a rich diversity of wildlife, including roughly the same number of reptile and amphibian species as Florida.
          To a fair extent, Hongkongers have themselves to blame for the stereotyping. They’ve been content to market clichés – east meeting west, the sailing junks that are all but extinct in reality. And until very recently, few could have even hazarded a guess at the names of any of the world rarities and unique species found on their own doorsteps. Happily, this situation is changing, with moves underway to promote green Hong Kong, and a growing awareness among local people of the importance of Hong Kong’s wildlife.
          There are even a few stars emerging among local species. Only a few are large enough to be noticed by novices – Hong Kong long ago lost the elephants, tigers, crocodiles and others that once inhabited much of south China – but all are interesting, and deserve to be more widely known. Here is a selection of four of these wild stars.

Strange Case of the Black-faced Spoonbill

Birders thought these East Asian birds were abundant, until they found out they were almost extinct

I climb a short, rough track to the top of an earth embankment, a high spot amidst the Chiku wetlands, some 16 acres of fishponds, creeks and lagoons on Taiwan's southwest coast.A half-hour drive from the nearest city, this big, broad landscape usually feelsremote. But not today, as group after group of brightly dressed kindergartners pour out of coaches, swarm over wooden platforms and queue up at telescopes for a look at the most famous bird species in Taiwan.

"These are black-faced spoonbills and they are very rare," explains local wild bird society chairman Chiu Nan-an, while a boy peers through a telescope at the white wading birds, each around two-and-half feet tall and standing motionless on long, black legs. Asleep, they bury their heads in feathers behind their necks. But one awakens, looks around and walks a few paces along the mudflat, showcasing its long spoon-shaped black bill with its mask of black skin at the base.

In recent years, the black-faced spoonbill has become something of a celebrity in parts of East Asia, especially Taiwan and Hong Kong.