Wetland Park Volunteering: Get a free tour, go birdwatching and learn gross bug facts!

By Alyssa Leong

If you would like to do some voluntary work for service, volunteering at the Hong Kong Wetland Park is a great option. Their volunteer program is open to the public; classes are hosted once in a while, a requirement in order to join the programme. Volunteering happens on weekends and public holidays. Tasks include searching for animals, conducting workshops with kids (e.g teaching them to make badges and paper models of animals), and landscape maintenance.

As I’m fascinated by nature, this was a programme I was looking forward to participating in. The classes were not too difficult and mostly involved listening to the experienced volunteers. Unbeknownst to the general public, there is a secret volunteer house located in the Wetland Park that volunteers get to hang out in. This was a relief as it would get burning hot outside, especially during the summer months. There were also many books, documentaries, and expensive birding equipment located inside. Useful items such as bags, mosquito spray, and sunscreen were also available for loan if needed.

As one of the newer volunteers, most of the allocated tasks were to search for animals. This was an activity that aimed to expand our knowledge and interest in animals and biodiversity.

During my first volunteering experience, a more experienced volunteer took us on a tour around the whole park and pointed out different creatures. As we passed a stream, our guide spotted a Common Flangetail which the rest of us couldn’t see. We all looked around in confusion until he pointed out the dragonfly perched atop a branch sticking out of the river.

Onto our next destination, the hut, there was a model of a common kingfisher. Our guide explained how the female kingfisher has orange on the lower part of its beak, like lipstick, and that kingfishers dig holes in the ground for nests.

“This is not a female kingfisher!” He explained, gesturing to the model displaying the bird inside of its burrow, with eggs. Instead, it was most likely the father as both the male and female take care of the eggs. After this kingfisher discussion, we went on to the wetland bird hide, where you could look out of windows into the wetland. All I could see was an empty, blank expanse of water, broken up with grassy islands. It was completely still, the water gleaming in the sunlight.

“Oh, there’s a heron!” the volunteer pointed out abruptly as he was peering out of his spotting scope through the window. We couldn’t see anything, so he had to point it out to us— a small dark figure walking along the shore of one island, barely noticeable.

“It’s a Striated Heron,” he elaborated further. “That’s uncommon for this season.”

Once he had pointed the heron out it became evident there were more birds such as egrets and starlings as they were all dispersed near the heron. Although they were only common birds, we were still fascinated by the sight. Afterwards, we headed to the volunteer house in the hot sun and saw more dragonflies. The volunteer was always the first to spot them, and it took a while for the rest of us to find them. He assured us that once we had gotten used to it, we would be able to notice everything at a quicker pace.

For every volunteering session, such as for searching for animals like this, there was a different volunteer leading us. Sometimes, there would even be two volunteers leading us at a time.

In another memorable session, an interesting incident occurred— and it all started when we encountered a butterfly landing on a flower. Three of us were distracted by this and went to check it out whilst the more experienced of the two guides rested on a bench.

After we were finished viewing the butterfly, we walked back to meet the other guide, who appeared to be intently viewing something in front of him.

“See that,” he said, gesturing in front of him. Lying on its side in the grass was a green caterpillar. Around the caterpillar, a black wasp with a thin waist was buzzing ferociously. It landed and tried to drag the caterpillar away with its jaws, scuttling backward all the while with its legs.

“This caterpillar is soon to die,” the guide announced. “It has passed out after being stung by the wasp. Now the wasp is trying to drag it to a safe spot where the wasp will lay eggs on top of it. When the caterpillar awakes some hours later, it won’t realize what’s happened. But the wasp’s larvae will hatch and grow inside of the caterpillar, and eventually eat their way out from the inside.”

The other volunteers and I all agreed that it was a deeply disturbing experience— this was my first time encountering these harsh animalistic behaviors in person.

However, the first guide explained that this was a normal phenomenon in nature. “That’s just what nature is like.”

As I stepped away from the heavy heat into the comfortable air conditioning of the volunteer house, guilt began to swarm my mind. If that was how nature operated, then I was glad that I was not a caterpillar and subject to living under those conditions. While I felt remorse about leaving the caterpillar to its fate, I understood that without this process, wasps may go extinct. That concluded the ultimate job of the volunteers; to ensure that nature is preserved without disturbance and prevent extinction.

If you are interested in the volunteer program, please visit the following website: https://wetlandpark.gov.hk/tc/volunteer/ind-programme-index