Follow the West Coast Expressway and after passing Zhuwei Fish Harbor, go towards south. You can visit the coastal land where Laojie Creek and Shuangxikou Creek meet. The ocean and the sky are blue. Shrikes fly in the sky and mudskippers relax on the shore. Time feels slower here like the windmill rotating on the shore.
Xucuogang was a deserted military base. With abundant water flows and favorable landscape, it became a haven for migrant birds. Being 961 hectares in size and 10.5km in length, MOI named it one of the national-level important wetlands. If you look around, you will not see much development besides the bike trail and the mangrove boardwalk. The nature preserved here in its primitive form is full of surprises.
BirdLife International categorized Xucuogang as an important wild bird habitat. In October to May the following year, bird watchers come here with the hope to see black-faced spoonbills, Chinese egrets, Saunders’s gulls, and little terns. Blessed with intertidal zone, wind-break forest, fish farms, and paddy fields, it has become a midway stop for the migrant birds traveling south. More than 200 species of birds have been found here, taking up about 41% of the 560 total species in Taiwan. The birds feeding and dwelling here make a beautiful natural painting. Using telescopes and cameras without rushing or disturbing the birds is the best practice.
Xucuogang is not only the best wild bird habitat in Taoyuan but also a great natural classroom to learn about intertidal ecology. With hundreds of plants such as the Taiwan giantreed, Chinese Hackberry, bayhops, and Japanese dock; as well as amphibians such as the rice field frogs and spectacled toads. Many Taiwan-specific species can be found here.
