The combed duck and spoonbill duck taken by ornithologist Nguyen Hoai Bao before the opening ceremony made the competition even more exciting as photographers all wanted to see them.
Bird Race is a very interesting competition.
Of course, its first goal is to create a playground for those who love to take pictures of wild birds.
But, the biggest goal to aim for is to preserve wildlife and protect the natural environment that has been and is being destroyed globally.
Night bird photography
Bird Race's competition content is compared to a sports competition by ornithologist Nguyen Hoai Bao, who is also the head of the organizing committee of the first Vietnam Bird Race.
Each team consists of four members (or at least three), and the winning team is the one that photographs the most birds.
In addition to the most prestigious award for the group, there are also a number of accompanying individual awards such as the award for beautiful photos (in terms of art), the award for photos capturing rare species, etc.
To win the competition's biggest prize, teams must have tactics, know how to coordinate teamwork, have knowledge of wild birds, and understand the terrain and characteristics of the competition venue.
This year, in the first time of organization, the organizers including the Wildlife Photography Club and Wild Tour Company decided to choose Tram Chim, Tam Nong, Dong Thap as the competition location.
After the opening ceremony on the afternoon of May 10, the competition began early in the morning of May 11, which is also World Migratory Bird Day (the second Saturday in May, when migratory birds begin to return to their breeding grounds).
From 6am, 20 participating teams (including two teams from Malaysia, the Philippines, Cambodia and two solo pilots from Peru and Norway joined the Vietnamese teams) boarded 10 ships departing 10 minutes apart.
This mandatory trip lasted until noon and then the teams were free to carry out their own strategies.
"Bird Saint" Bui Thanh Trung (right cover) and his young teammates go looking for owls at midnight - Photo: HT
Some teams continued to take pictures on the boat in the afternoon; some teams split into two to continue taking pictures on the shore and underwater; some teams hunted on the dikes surrounding Tram Chim...
The highlight of this competition is the appearance of two new migratory bird species, the combed duck and the spoonbill duck, in Tram Chim - an extremely rare event, and at the same time a good sign that Tram Chim is recovering quite well.
The photo hunt lasted almost non-stop! As I followed the group of "bird saint" Bui Thanh Trung and the very young members doing research on biodiversity such as Nguyen Le Phuong Ngan - 23 years old, working at the Research Institute of Aquaculture 2, MSc. Lam Quang Ngon - 32 years old, working on research projects on biodiversity in the Mekong Delta.
The trio led me through the cemetery in Tam Nong, weaving along the dikes to find and photograph the owls that inhabit the area. It was almost midnight when Ngon and Ngan returned to their lodgings, and then began to count the number of birds they had photographed that day.
The "bird saint" was still looking for the barn owl until... 3am! Not yet finished, the next morning, May 12, at 5am, they split into two teams to continue looking for and photographing birds that were feeding early.
At 8am, like all the teams, they ended their search to make final statistics and submitted to the organizing committee the results after two days of searching at 9am.
The judges, including ornithologists and famous bird photographers, worked hard to announce the results and award the prizes at noon the same day.
Play today, care for tomorrow
The most impressive were the foreign teams. Although they were guests and somewhat unfamiliar with the terrain, they were very professional.
Like the morning of May 11, I went on the same boat with the Philippine team, they had a clear strategy, one person used a 600mm telephoto (plus a 1.4 mount for a focal length of 840mm) at the bow of the boat, two people used a 100 - 400mm mobile lens and one person specialized in using binoculars to search for birds and point out for teammates to take pictures.
"We have been participating in competitions like this for more than 20 years now, so we are used to it," said 64-year-old Philippine captain Goel L. Lamela.
Four members of the Philippine team took very strategic shots, with one person looking through binoculars to point out the other three photographers - Photo: HT
After landing at Tan Son Nhat, this team immediately moved to Tram Chim and hired a boat to survey the terrain, making a very specific plan.
Mr. Goel added that Bird Race is a game that not only serves today's wildlife photography and bird watching enthusiasts, but also cares for future generations, with a variety of activities.
In that spirit, the first Vietnam Bird Race not only serves the wildlife photographer community, but also has a very interesting and meaningful activity, which is to invite wildlife artist Dao Van Hoang - founder of Le Petit Museé education center in Ho Chi Minh City - to teach crash courses to more than 70 primary and secondary school students in Tram Chim.
An elementary school girl is drawing - Photo: Dao Quoc Binh
Afterwards, the children drew beautiful pictures of birds. The beautiful pictures (judged by everyone present) were auctioned, and the proceeds were given to the Tam Nong Education Department for scholarships.
The auction of 8 paintings brought in 27 million VND. Canon representative donated 3 million more, photographer Doan Nhu Hoan - nickname Bay Hoang Da - donated 20 million to round out the number 50.
Students in Tram Chim participate in a painting contest - Photo: Dao Quoc Binh
Head of the Vietnam Bird Race 2024 Organizing Committee - Mr. Nguyen Hoai Bao said:
"I am happy with the successful results of the photo contest, but 10 times happier with the painting contest. The future of Vietnam's nature lies in these children, as artist Hoang said, he was very surprised by their spirit."
Auction of bird paintings by students, raising funds for poor students in Tam Nong, Dong Thap - Photo: HT
8 auctioned paintings were handed over to the auction buyers, and scholarships were also given to reach the full value of 50 million VND.
As in a recent interview by Nguyen Hoai Bao in Tuoi Tre Cuoi Tuan newspaper, the story of bird lovers in particular, and wildlife lovers in general, is not just about satisfying a personal hobby, but the main thing is to protect human life in the future.
Simply because, the living animals prove that nature is well protected; and from there comes many benefits such as a clean living environment, better human health, developed tourism...
First prize in the endangered species category went to “King of Landscapes” Hoang The Nhiem with a photo of a snake-necked bird at sunset.
Second prize in the endangered species category went to Vo Duy Thanh Tam for his photo of a flock of three combed ducks.
Third prize in the category of photos of endangered species went to author Vo Trong Tai, who took a photo of a lotus flower.
First prize for best photo went to author Pham Trung Kien with a photo of a pair of small kingfishers feeding each other.
Second prize in the best photo category went to author Le Hoang Men, who took a photo of a pair of fighting birds.
Third prize in the beautiful photo category went to author Huynh Thanh Danh with a sunbird.
The Philippines team won fourth place in the competition - Photo: HT
Crazy Bird Team won first prize
In less than 2 days, more than 70 photographers from 20 participating teams took pictures of over 100 bird species currently present at Tram Chim.
This, according to Mr. Bao, is extremely beneficial for Tram Chim National Park, because if a scientist were to search for that many species, it would take several years!
The joy of victory of the Crazy Bird team - Photo: HT
In the end, the Crazy Bird team (named after a rare bird species in the Con Dao area, which four team members including Le An Khuong, Duong Tran Hai, Duong Tuan Vu, and Truong Nguyen Anh Huy said they wished to photograph) captured 71 species.
Second prize went to the O Tac team (also the name of a large bird family) with four photographers Ho Phu Quy, Phan Minh Tam, Vo Trong Tai, Kevin Miguel (Peru).
Third prize went to the Spot-billed pelican team of "bird saint" Toby Trung with Nguyen Le Phuong Ngan and Lam Quang Ngon.
Fourth place went to the Philippines team with four photographers Loel, Alain, Don and Noberto.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thi-chup-anh-chim-quoc-te-dau-tien-tai-viet-nam-muon-con-hon-khong-20240512190040526.htm
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