It was a very cold day with the golden sun shining in the sky; Tom Che was waiting nearby the wetland in Coloane, holding his professional camera tightly. His eyes had never moved away from them, his shutter followed every movement of them. What intoxicated Che so much? They are Platalea minor.

Platalea minor, is one of the endangered migratory birds which are usually found in Southeast Asia. The length of the body is about 71-83 cm, its whole body is white with only its long mouth in black, hence it is called black-faced spoonbill as well.

Black-faced spoonbills come to Macao for wintering at the end of October every year. They usually stay in the wetland protection area, the Cotai ecological protection zone for six months, then fly back to the north for breeding.

"There are not many black-faced spoonbills left in the world," said Che, "so I would like to use my camera to record all their beauty. But I hope they will not disappear. "

The black-faced spoonbill was classified as "critically endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Taiwan government in 1992. So far there are over 2,300 all around the world, of which Taiwan has the largest number, more than 1,200 wintering, while Macao has over 50.

Although Macao has a protection area, but the construction around the area has been going constantly in recent years. Most of the bird lovers like Che are afraid that the noise and other pollution would cause a reduction in the quantity of black-faced spoonbills for wintering in Macao.

"The casino does not have many effects on the black-faced spoonbill," said Mr Gou, the manager of the protection zone who has been working there for more than six years. "In the period of the reclamation of the Venetian, dust and sand were flying everywhere, but the black-faced spoonbills still ate and played as usual."

Gou explained that the black-faced spoonbills are highly protected in the first class protection zone, this area is completely closed and nobody can come near them. "The quantity of the black-faced spoonbills that come to Macao has been quite stable in recent years. They feel comfortable in staying in the protection zone," Mr Guo said.

However, threats to black-faced spoonbills still exist. With the reclamation of land and prosperous development of the economy, there is less and less space for them to stay. Gou hoped that the government can provide more resources to keep a comfortable home for the black-faced spoonbills. "There are lots of things the government can do," Gou said, "I think the most important thing is to educate the public about the dangerous situation of the black-faced spoonbill and the things they can do to protect them."