On the last day of this long holiday break, I decided to go check out a Zhishan Cultural and Ecological Garden mentioned in the traveling guides. However, the place was harder to find than I expected. But I still managed to find this pretty interesting geological landmark in the Zhishan Park, and it offers a pretty nice view of the city at its highest point of 52.8-m above sea level.
On the other side of the mountain is this nice-looking temple.
Along the way, there was this large
Cinnamomum camphora tree more than three hundred years old! It is the oldest tree in Taipei City - the reasons why it has not chopped down during all of this time were: the entire mountain was a military base during the takeover by the Japanese government of the island, and the
fong shui is excellent on this mountain so that nothing was disturbed.
Afterwards, I finally found the way to the garden that I was looking for. I came across another large tree along the way.
Near the entrance of the garden, several of these crawling bright red Leptocoris abdominalis were found all over their dead friends.
Finally, I had arrived.
Now, to tell you the truth, I don't think I would visit this place again as it was poorly run and very small. The entrance fee is less than $1 CDN, so it's not a big concern. The only thing I can justify for visiting this garden is its Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center which houses several injuried and sick birds.
When you first enter, you will cross over a small pond on a bridge. The first thing I saw was this King
Ratsnake (
Elaphe carinata) over 1-m long. It was very cool. It was looking for food and swam across the pond.
The Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center. In it includes several Magpies, Egrests, Herons, Owls, Doves, Pigeons, etc.
An injuried Black-crowned Night Heron.
An injuried but graceful-looking
Cattle Egret (
Bubulcus ibis).
Outside the cages was this wandering
Spotted Dove (
Streptopelia chinensis).
Touring the entire garden took less than 30 minutes as there was not a whole lot to see and learn. So sad. I hope this place will improve in the future.
Finally, back to work tomorrow!
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Since today was the first time anybody spent observing this pair, confusions arise when we try to distinguish the adult male from the adult female. In the end, the main identification difference between the two (of this particular pair) was the black-brow. The male (below) has a hook at the end of its left black brow towards the nape of his head.
The female's brows, on the other hand, are thicker and straighter.
One of the benefits of working at Botanical Garden is getting the most updated information about the birds living in it. Today, I learned the nest location of this Black-naped Blue Monarch. What a beauty!
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