Wonderland

Long ago, when I first visited Long Valley in the northern part of Sheung Shui, I was fascinated by this astonishingly beautiful freshwater agricultural wetland habitat. This is virtually synonymous with birds' paradise.

The little and great egrets, grey herons, white wagtails, and sandpipers have kept me coming back with my camera. Arguably the cutest water bird, the black-winged stilt is a species that is delightful to watch and take pictures. I enjoy hearing them calling, watching them swing bills side to side in water for meals. Viewing the long-legged waders is comforting beyond words: elegant in poise, earthy and mysterious all at once.

All of which sounds just dandy. But when I went again two years ago, the construction site workers told me off. My heart skipped a beat after seeing the "ongoing construction" sign. I began to wonder what this might mean in the context of endangered ecosystem. It's no secret that North America has lost 3 billion birds from habitat loss and climate change in the past 50 years. It is no better in Hong Kong. The proposed San Tin Technopole near the border with mainland China could have threatened the survival of up to 117 bird species. That means the loss of a bird habitat area nearly 7 times the size of Long Valley.

I don't remember how I trepassed the enclosed area for a quick farewell to black-winged stilts. It hardly matters. I'd felt the same jolt of disappointment as Alice's wonderland adventure when she came upon a great hallway lined with locked doors. She happened to find a key to open a small door, and began to cry after she realised she could not fit through the door. 

The pool of Alice's tears somehow led her to shrink and enter the garden. The same can be said of the voice of Hong Kong environmental groups: that's more or less similar to the crying of Alice. Tears might or might not work in real life. I returned to Long Valley this weekend after the good news that it's now reopened and established as the Long Valley Nature Park. That seems promising, but I told myself to get prepared for unpredictable future, like what Alice encountered after falling down a rabbit hole.