Long Valley

25/2/2023 - Long Valley

Following the local TakeAction initiative started by HKU for secondary schoolers, we visited Long Valley to study the biodiversity and ecological importance of the single largest piece of wetland in Hong Kong. Made up of various crop fields and ponds, Long Valley attract an impressive number of migratory birds each year which depend heavily on these very fields to stock up on food and energy before continuing their migration

After a 10 minute walk from Sheung Shui MTR station, we arrived at the wetland. However, Long Valley is currently under renovations as the government is planning on building an ecological park similar to the wetland park at Long Valley, and visitors are restricted to a vehicle path that surrounds Long Valley, and entering is prohibited.

On the road that leads to Long Valley, there are a few flower-bearing trees that were growing on the side of the bicycle path. One of the instructors spotted a small flock of grey-capped greenfinch on top of the trees, feeding on the insides of the flowers.

A **grey-capped greenfinch** feeding on the insides of flowers

An **olive-backed pipit** jumped up onto a tree by the path that leads down to the vehicle road

The view from the vehicle road beside Long Valley only covers like 1/5 of the whole place’s perimeter and shows very little of the potential that Long Valley holds

While walking along the path, we saw very little other than scaly-breasted munias (which I didn’t bother taking photos of), neat and handsome amur stonechats and some yellow wagtails

A very handsome-looking male amur stonechat

After crossing Sheung Yue river on the bridge, the instructors led us to Ho Sheung Heung. There is a smaller patch of fields that is open to visitors and birders 24/7. As the habitats that these two places provide are similar, birders often opt to visiting Ho Sheung Heung instead of Long Valley as it is under construction at the moment

At the fields, I saw a small and agile body of black and white swiftly dash over my head. As I followed the bird over the crop fields and over on top of a small tree, the pied kingfisher was finally revealed to me. I’ve been looking for this kingfisher for a very long time across many sites in Hong Kong, and seeing it made me gasp so loud that my classmates beside me jumped

The bird flew off after about a minute or so. Even though I only managed to get a record shot, I was very very satisfied

A **cattle egret** by some cattle beside the crop fields, another first for me!

We walked back from Ho Sheung Heung, and as we were passing by Long Valley again, our instructors suddenly stopped dead in their tracks and signaled for us to be silent, before pointing to our right, where a common kingfisher was sitting on some wire by a pool, looking for food

The bird was at perfect distance for my camera to zoom all the way in and take several very detailed shots of the beautiful bird

This encounter was the best possible way to wrap up an already fruitful trip, extremely happy!

Would you look at those vibrant colors of the **common kingfisher**!

This juvenile flew up to a nearby tree soon (juvenile distinguished by its grey feathers, fully grown common kingfishers’ feathers are all light blue)

It’s always a pleasure to see the bird that got me hooked into bird photography! (Read previous blogs to get the reference)

11/3/2023 - Long Valley, again

Long Valley proved to be extremely efficient the last time I visited, so I decided to visit again on a Saturday morning

An **Asian koel** I saw on my way to Long Valley

A **green sandpiper** that was wading his way through a pond

The place was quieter today. No birds-of-prey were circling overhead, most of the ponds and fields are empty. However, a small figure on top of wooden electricity post caught my eye. When I zoomed in, I was looking at a white-shouldered starling, a common spring migrant in Hong Kong. But the time was still a bit early for this bird to show up, so I was a little surprised.

The **white-shouldered starling** just sat there…

Walking down to the vehicle road once again, there were several interesting birds that I saw

While I was walking, I caught sight of movement on the branches directly above me in my peripheral vision

Another **olive-backed pipit** landed on some branches above of me

A **white wagtail** was a few steps ahead of me and an idea struck me, to photo it at a low level

As I kept on walking, I got more and more bored and impatient, as it was a really quiet day and there was not a lot to be seen

However, two encounters immediately cheered me up and made my day

A common snipe was feeding peacefully at a shallow pool. I immediately recognised the species as it has been on my mind since I first laid my eyes on snipes on Matthew Kwan’s ‘As the crow flies’ blog. Although the common snipe is nowhere as colorful as the greater painted snipe (painted snipes sits at top 3 on my to-see bird list), the common snipe was a very good start

The lengthy beak of the **common snipe** is hard to miss

What shocked me is how tiny snipes actually are, they’re only slightly bigger than plovers

The snipe flew off farther away from the road soon after to rest in the shade

I scanned the muddy banks for other signs of birds, and that is when I finally noticed a little-ringed plover straddling towards me. By the time I saw the bird, it was already pretty close to me. I was so completely mesmerised by the snipe that I missed this confiding individual, and in order not to scare him off, I kept very still and very very slowly raised the camera up to my eyes

The **little-ringed plover** was another bird that I wanted to photograph up close

This bird eluded me constantly at Mai Po, it was always wholly far away from the hides

Stayed with this little guy for quite a while, admiring those adorable eyes

A **little bunting** was also presently, however too far away

I even caught the bird’s call on video!

I left the bird after 20 minutes of shooting, as my presence have disturbed it enough. It is important that we keep in mind when birding, to not disrupt the well-being of the birds, even for an especially confiding individual such as this plover