About 150 bird enthusiasts are to participate in a birdwatching competition in central Taiwan’s Dasyueshan (大雪山), an area known for its avian diversity, an organizer said.
The participants, including five from Canada, are to compete at the fifth Dasyueshan Bird Race today and tomorrow, the Chinese Wild Bird Federation said.
During the event, which is the largest and longest-running competition of its type in Taiwan, birdwatchers will compete in teams to see or hear the greatest number of bird species over 24 hours in the Dasyueshan National Forest Recreation Area.
From 10:30am today until 10:30am tomorrow, the competitors could be treated to courtship displays by Mikado and Swinhoe’s pheasants at the nation’s top birdwatching site, campaign manager Chiu Po-ying said.
“Hopefully we will be able to record more bird species than ever this year,” Chiu said, adding that 172 bird species have been recorded over the past four events, including 23 of the nation’s 25 endemic species.
The competition is also aimed at monitoring bird populations and their conservation in Taiwan, with data generated during the event to be added to a global database on eBird.org, Chiu said.
Since the first Dasyueshan competition in 2011 the event has attracted more than 600 participants, including teams from the US, Canada, France, the UK, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong and China, Chiu added.
Although event registration is already closed, those interested are welcome to go bird watching with the competitors, Chiu said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is aware that Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong has weakened any possible sentiment for a “one country, two systems” arrangement for Taiwan, and has instructed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politburo member Wang Huning (王滬寧) to develop new ways of defining cross-strait relations, Japanese news magazine Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday. A former professor of international politics at Fu Dan University, Wang is expected to develop a dialogue that could serve as the foundation for cross-strait unification, and Xi plans to use the framework to support a fourth term as president, Nikkei Asia quoted an anonymous source
LUCKY DATE: The man picked the 10th ‘Super Red Envelope’ in a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10 A man who recently broke up with his girlfriend won a NT$1 million (US$32,929) prize in the “NT$20 million Super Red Envelope” lottery after picking a card based on the date of their breakup, Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The man, in his 20s, bought the 10th ticket at a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢), because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10, the store owner told the lottery company. The “Super Red Envelope” lottery was a limited offering by the company during the Lunar New Year holiday, which ended yesterday. The cards, which cost NT$2,000 each, came with
TOURISM BOOST: The transportation system could help attract more visitors to the area, as the line is to connect multiple cultural sites, a city councilor said Residents in New Taipei City’s Ankeng District (安坑) said the local light rail system might have a positive influence, but raised questions about its practicality. The Ankeng light rail system, which is to commence operations after the Lunar New Year holiday, would cut travel time for commuters from Ankeng to downtown Taipei or New Taipei City by 15 to 20 minutes, the city government said. According to the initial plan, there would be one train every 15 minutes during peak time and additional interval trains would run between the densely populated Ankang Station (安康) and Shisizhang Station (十 四張). To encourage people to
CHAMPION TREES: The team used light detection and ranging imaging to locate the tree, and found that it measured a height of 84.1m and had a girth of 8.5m A team committed to finding the tallest trees in the nation yesterday said that an 84.1m tall Taiwania cryptomerioides tree had been named the tallest tree in Taiwan and East Asia. The Taiwan Champion Trees, a team consisting of researchers from the Council of Agriculture’s Taiwan Forestry Research Institute and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), in June last year used light detection and ranging (LiDAR) imaging to find the giant tree, numbered 55214, upstream of the Daan River (大安溪). A 20-member expedition team led by Rebecca Hsu (徐嘉君), an assistant researcher at the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, set out to find the