Wong Chuk Yeung

Last time I said I would walk to Wong Chuk Yeung on my next outing. Being a man of my word, I did so this morning and took Mrs. Ha with me. In fact she led the charge.

The walk itself was disappointing on the bird front but we had some nice scenery to look at and chatted to a number of passing strangers. As Mrs. Ha observed, they were all gweilos and Chinese wouldn't engage in such casual chit chat with strangers. But we did and I find it enjoyable and rarely come across anybody, gweilo or otherwise who doesn't respond to a cheery good morning or jo san. Dog walkers, I observe, are particularly chatty and most people are vaguely interested when I explain I am birdwatching and even show them a picture or two. The Daurian redstart, the only "decent" bird today, is always good to engage people as it is colourful (male only I am afraid) and they instantly see its aesthetic appeal, even if their eyes glaze over if I start to go into detail. Little brown jobs do not as a rule impress non-birders. Much to Mrs. Ha's relief we saw no mammals (pet dogs excepted) and no reptiles.

WCY is not quite deserted as there is one sole resident, who walks three dogs each day. The rest however, as you see from the pictures, is pretty derelict and nothing to write home about. I wonder why it is deserted. If my reader knows, do tell. Maybe it is the Hong Kong equivalent of Fatehpur Sikri. I have visited the Indian site and I have to confess it is marginally more imposing than WCY. If you can't be faffed to follow the link, Fatehpur Sikri was a stunning Mughal city abandoned because it basically ran out of water.

Nevertheless we were surprised to find what appeared to be recent washing lying out to dry. A pair of shoes was also on display. Look carefully in one photo you can see crockery. I suspect Goldilocks isn't living here and the congee bowls are empty. Perhaps, Mrs. Ha speculated, there are IIs around. Hmmm. Perhaps seems the mot very juste. Reviewing this I have now realised that I did not upload the crockery picture so look in vain but it was indeed there. Honestly.

Leaving WCY we followed a trail through what was described by a friendly guide as a bamboo forest. It really is a quite enchanting short walk and takes you back to the main road and the climb back to the fire lookout. Birds were thin on the ground. We heard little, saw less. But after 3 hours we arrived home, hungry and satisfied with an invigorating walk. And I hope next time there will be a richer avifauna to enjoy.