Egret Island, Pat Sin Leng Country Park

The Lure of Egret Island

An English Seagull...

Believe it or not, when I came to Hong Kong, one of the things I missed were the seagulls.  Well..., honestly, what is the sea without a half a million chorusing seagulls?  And there should be lots of them here, because it's just the type of habitat they enjoy...scavengers that they are.

...and a group of Hong Kong Egrets roosting for the night.

Now, doesn't that egret have a lot more grace and class?

No, we don't have seagulls, but we do have egrets.  Lacking the brassiness of the seagull, they exhibit grace and style, which is why they live in Hong Kong, I suppose.  And they're a lot quieter, in fact, they hardly make any noise at all.  But when they do, it's kind of like "BRAAWK!"  It's okay though, because, like I said, they hardly every make any noise.

There's Shenzhen, your first glimpse of China around the corner of Egret Island on the left.

I'm sure there are several nesting spots around Hong Kong, but the one that's closest to us is in Pat Sin Leng Country Park.  It's called Egret Island and it's on the North end of the park, closest to China.  In fact, you can see the East side of Shenzhen, China from the beach opposite Egret Island.

Egret Island, the green mass in the middle.  Isn't the scenery stunning?

The thing we like about it is that it's quiet and the birds feel safe on their little island which we can see from a distance.  They are kind of shy birds and seem to have an uncanny sense that they are  being spied on.

Difficult to make out the dragon heads, but this is what the temple looks like below at the sea level.

Ahhh....there they are...see?  They have dragon heads.

On the shore there is a small temple facing the sea where the locals pay respects to their gods. It is unique in Hong Kong.  There are five figures with dragon heads on human bodies.  I'm not sure what the significance is, but some say it's has something to do with the sea and the weather.  If anyone knows why they're there, I'd be happy to be corrected.

A RARE sight in Hong Kong...no people to be seen.

In this area, there is a wonderful long, country road with hardly any houses on it.  I still remember the day we found it. I was thrilled because it reminded me so much of home.  And there were NO people!  Ha Ha!!  The first time we were there the grass was tall beside the road and you couldn't see over  it.  It was easy to think you were the only ones left in the world.  Just us and the birds singing and the breezes softly blowing on the grass.  There is a little village at the end of it and a temple where the villagers worship their gods.

A little temple nestled in the wild wood.

The next time we went the sides of the road were mowed.  It's just not the same, but it's still nice.  Maybe it's because we were there in the Spring.  The grass is definitely taller at the end of summer and in the winter.

Mango Lollies

And here is the wonderful little shop that serves up instant noodles and homemade iced lollies!

Another great discovery we made was that at the little store, at the beginning of the road, beside the car park, you can buy homemade iced lollies.  Yes!  Homemade!  With real fruit juice!  And they are delicious.   They have coconut, mango, strawberry, grape, kiwi, guava and some mixed flavors, half and half.  Here is a picture of the iced lollies.

Mooo...

One day when we were there, we met some of the wildlife!  Feral cows or water buffalo are everywhere in the country side.  They've made themselves right at home in the seaside town of Sai Kung.  They used to be used for farming, but then the farmers stopped farming and essentially abandoned their livestock.  Now they are a protected species in Hong Kong.  Occasionally, they attack people, but it's rare and only when provoked.  They're quite tame, really.

You can see how old the houses are because the big one is displaying the date it was built, a common practice in those days.  Some are still lived in, but newer, more modern styles are being adopted.

There are lovely old village houses dotted around this area.  I particularly like the one with the green roof!  That's carrying it into the 21st century, eh?

If you go, I would advise you to take a taxi as the mini bus is sporadic and the 275R, the double decker, only runs on Sundays.  If you have your own car, drive to Tai Mei Tuk and continue into the park on Bride's Pool Road .  If you don't turn off this road, it will take you to the little hamlet of Nam Chung where you can see the egrets doing their feeding thing and roosting on Egret Island.  The road gets narrow in parts, but there are passing areas.  There will  be times when you will feel like sucking your breath in as you pass breast to breast where there is only room for one!  Just close your eyes.  ...er, maybe you'd better not do that, you might end up in the bay.

The Bride's Pool Road becomes Luk Keng Road and comes out on the Sha Tau Kok Road that will take you to Sha Tau Kok, if you turn right and to Fanling, if you turn left.  The Sha Tau Kok Road is a bee line to the Fanling MTR station.  

I almost forgot to mention there is a public toilet facility at Nam Chung, as well as several along the journey.  Might be a little bit of useful information.