2nd trip to Nam Sang Wai

Dec 11

After being idle for a week or so, I decided that it is about time to venture out into the field once again

Having seen my first-ever common kingfisher at Nam Sang Wai earlier this month, I woke up early on a Sunday morning and headed to the wetlands for the second time

My main focus for the day was to head to a patch of fish ponds/farms located in the middle of Nam Sang Wai, that was where I encountered the last kingfisher. I didn’t get to explore the whole place during my first visit due to the sheer size of the ponds, as well as not having enough time

As I got off the bus which picked me up at Yuen Long MTR station, I walked up along the Kam Tin river just like my first visit, to get to the fish ponds located halfway up the river

A new species - the **common redshank** (thought this was a **common sandpiper/greenshank**, they all look very similar)

**Pied avocet** burrowing on the riverbed

Although I wanted to get to the fish ponds as quickly as possible, I was stopping along to way to photograph some of the new species I spotted, including the common greenshank, Indian pond heron and the Eurasian wingeon

Slightly windy, but this shows the pied avocet searching for food with its upturned beak along the riverbed

Look closely, and you’ll notice the difference between an **Indian pond heron** and a Chinese one (their difference is more noticeable with breeding plumage)

Looks just like a **northern shoveler**, but the **Eurasian wingeon** has more vibrant colours

Finally got a decent picture of the **great cormorant**

A **female scaly-breasted munia** on stalks of grass

Size comparison: **grey heron** and **black-winged stilt**

Oh look, a familiar face (**tawny-flanked prinia**)

After devouring a sandwich along the walls of the riverbank (my lunch), I headed into 黎就漁場 (the Chinese name of the fish ponds, they unfortunately do not have an English translation)

Perhaps it is because I visited at an earlier hour, but there were birds everywhere on the farm. I saw dozens of swallow-like birds darting around the closest pond as I was walking into the farm from a smaller branched-off path, wagtails were wagging across the gravel and occasional cries from cormorants and egrets filled the sky. I was reminded of the wave of birds I encountered at Tai Po Kau, where they completely overwhelmed me and I didn’t even know where to point my camera (check my previous blogs)

During these situations, the best thing that you can do is to focus on a single species of bird, and then narrow it down to an individual to photograph, otherwise you’ll end up with an empty camera and guts filled with regret

My goal here was to find common kingfishers. After reminding myself, I started looking along the banks, as they are most likely perched on some branch near the water’s surface, watching for food in the water

Surprisingly, I managed to spot a few. But they were either too far for me to get a quality shot or I wasn’t careful enough and scared it off. Even though they are a common species, their beauty always takes me by surprise. Their glistening blue feathers shine as sunlight bounces off of them and my heart skips a beat every time I see them skim across the surface of the water

After failing miserably a few times, I wanted to switch things up, which made me turn my focus to the swallows I saw on my way in, I could tell that they are swallows from the way their triangular tail is split in the middle

However, the swallows themselves were hell of a challenge to photograph. Despite there being a group of them, not only do they dash around, but they also never stop for a break on branches or structures. This makes them impossible to video/photograph

Although discouraged, I strolled around the rest of the property, as there were still plenty of opportunities for me

Sure enough, birds started to appear left and right as soon as I started to walk around the massive ponds. The whole farm consists of 4 ponds, each the size of half a football field. That should give you a perspective of how massive the entire area is

There were water birds, such as ducks, egrets, and cormorants, feeding in the lakes; forest birds such as magpies, flycatchers and the most common bulbuls, were foraging in the woods surrounding the whole place

This **olive-backed pipit** dropped down into a tree next to me

A male **scaly-breasted munia** in contrast with the female one earlier

This lil guy was perched right next to me, but I could only capture the back of his head before he flew off

An **asian brown flycatcher**, my 2nd species of flycatcher so far

**Black-backed wagtail**, the cooler wagtail

A gorgeous **eurasian magpie**, showing off its colours

However, as I circled back to my starting point, after going around the whole farm, I saw a glowing body of blue perched on a string on the edge of one of the pond. I slowly crouched down, put down my bags on ground and literally crawled forward, while hiding behind a small pile of sandbags that is placed on the side of the gravel road in between two ponds. The kingfisher was so focused on the water below it that he didn’t even notice me inching towards it, until I was only around 2 meters away from the bird itself. I turned and sat down on the ground, then balanced my elbows on my knees, and lifted the lens to my eyes.

This bird, is about the size of my index finger

The kingfisher still hasn’t noticed me after I moved closer

Amazed by the kingfisher’s beauty, I took a moment to duck behind the sandbags and peek at the photos I took

But when I moved back to continue shooting, it has got a tiny fish in its mouth!

The **common kingfisher** just went from being one of my favourite birds to my favourite bird

Isn’t it incredible how such a tiny bird is capable of catching fish

It flew off soon after catching the fish, probably going somewhere else to eat it

But it stayed at the same spot for 2 minutes or so, and that is the longest I have ever interacted with a kingfisher and it was like a miracle

Here’s a video of the kingfisher (I love the way its head bobs up and down)
FYI: it does this to gauge the distance of the fish underwater, and helps them to pick at them more accurately

However, just as I turned around to leave, a barn swallow was sitting on a rope right next to a roof of a small house right behind me, and it was sleepy