Today was my first free weekday in over a month, and the fact that the weather finally cleared up enough for birding led to me gathering up my gear and hitting the road early to make it to a bucket-list birding spot for me: Long Valley. I set out to find the elusive Japanese Quail and colorful Greater Painted-Snipe, two species exclusive to this area of Hong Kong.

This patchwork of marshes, woodland, vegetable fields and abandoned fish ponds nestled between the Sheung Yue River and Shek Sheung River is the largest agricultural wetland in Hong Kong and is quite diverse in terms of bird activity. Because of its location near the migratory bird stopover of Mai Po, and because of its collection of unique habitats, Long Valley is an avian hotspot with over 336 species having been recorded!

The area was always popular among local and foreign birdwatchers but it became known to many other people in the year 2000, when the government purposed building an MTR line above the wetland which would’ve destroyed it. The public backlash was strong enough that the railway was instead built in a different location. Because of this successful environmental campaign, birders like me can still enjoy the ecological highlights of Long Valley.

After a nearly 2-hour commute via public transportation, I arrived at a small village outside the wetland around noon. It was chilly, but the omnipresent cold rain that had lasted three days prior had finally ceased the night before and the prospects of nice weather were looking up. I navigated through a maze of smaller paths, seeing some common birds as I strolled along. A Collared Crow flew overhead.

After about fifteen minutes, the land suddenly opened up into a patchwork of flooded rice paddies, marshes, trees and vegetable gardens. The sky was full of Barn Swallows and House Swifts on the hunt for insects.

A flock of mainly ordinary, often-seen birds flew into the trees nearest to me. An interesting species I did see was a group of Common Mynas, a bird I’d never observed in Hong Kong before. About five minutes later, I crept up to a flooded rice paddy after seeing some waders fly in. Here I observed some Black-Winged Stilts– small but handsome birds with long, red legs.

I startled a bird on a nearby muddy embankment, which turned out to be a Wood Sandpiper, my first lifer of the day.

As I started to venture into the heart of Long Valley, the sheer quantity of avian residents was immense. Everywhere you looked, there seemed to be huge flocks of birds, many you didn’t have time to identify before they took to the wing. Egrets were commonplace around marshy areas, and the species I saw today included Cattle Egrets, Little Egrets and one Great Egret.

Around 40 minutes into my birding expedition, I saw some movement in a marshy area about 20 meters (60 feet) away from me. With the help of my binoculars, I made out the outline of my second lifer of the day: a shy White-Breasted Waterhen as it retreated into some reeds.

I continued walking for some time searching for my two target species, and the weather really started clearing up as the afternoon progressed, with the clouds melting away under welcoming sunshine. There were copious amounts of both White Wagtails and Crested Mynas pretty much everywhere, and in the grass I often saw Olive-Backed Pipits. About an hour in, I came across another pond with some Black-Winged Stilts and my third lifer of the day, some pretty Little Ringed Plovers

Directly in front of me was a female Chinese Pond Heron, a common species which made for some decent photo ops.

At this point, I’d walked about two miles over uneven mud paths and my legs needed a rest. I propped up my portable chair near some trees and sipped on a Coke, letting the sunshine warm me for a few minutes. Near my resting spot was an abandoned fish pond with some migratory Northern Shovelers. Farther on was a marsh with some Eurasian Teals alongside a Common Moorhen.

I headed back to the main wetland/agricultural area I was before, and saw some Eastern Yellow Wagtails, my fourth lifer of the day. There are actually 3 races of Yellow Wagtails in Hong Kong, the ones I saw were of the dominant race, taivana.

I searched for Japanese Quail in some tall grass. While I didn’t see one of these elusive gamebirds, I did see some interesting Stejneger’s or Amur Stonechats, my fifth lifer of the day. Shortly after, I saw a very large Grey Heron perched on a telephone wire.

A bird wave passed overhead, and in the nearby grass I noticed a noisy Plain Prinia and a cool-looking Little Bunting, my sixth and seventh lifers of the day.

At this point, around the two-and-a-half hour mark, I had walked across nearly the entirety of Long Valley. I was told by several people that the area was under construction, but after seeing some waders arrive at a marsh adjacent to the road that circumvented the wetland, I decided to stick around a little. Overhead, a sapphire-blue White-Throated Kingfisher zipped past. A large flock of Pied Avocets arrived alongside another decently-sized flock of Black-Winged Stilts providing some nice observations of these common wetland birds.

A large pack of Feral Dogs started to cross the paths nearest to me. One big male sat in the middle of an empty field, gazing over his turf.

The dogs startled a snipe in some grass, which took to the wing and splashed down into a pond with a single stilt in it. I later identified the snipe as a Common Snipe, not my target species but still a lifer nonetheless with pretty markings that help it camouflage from potential predators.

I decided to leave afterwards, with a big grin on my face after a very decent birding expedition. Today was my biggest single birding haul so far, and I saw 33 species and 8 lifers in total. Without a doubt Long Valley is one of the best locations I’ve birded at in Hong Kong, and the sheer abundance and diversity of birds is definitely noteworthy. Thank you for reading as always,

-Bennett

Bird Species Recorded: (33 total, including 8 lifers)

Common Snipe (Lifer)

Wood Sandpiper (Lifer)

Stejneger’s Stonechat (Lifer)

Little Bunting (Lifer)

Little Ringed Plover (Lifer)

Plain Prinia (Lifer)

Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Lifer)

White-Breasted Waterhen (Lifer)

Collared Crow

Black-Winged Stilt

Black Kite

White-Throated Kingfisher

Grey Heron

Chinese Pond Heron

Red-Whiskered Bulbul

Chinese Bulbul

Pied Avocet

Common Myna

Crested Myna

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Great Egret

Cattle Egret

Little Egret

Common Moorhen

Northern Shoveler

Eurasian Teal

White-Rumped Munia

Barn Swallow

House Swift

White Wagtail

Yellow-Browed Warbler

Olive-Backed Pipit

Spotted Dove