After several days of planning and viewing satellite weather radar cloud maps, analyzing the weather situation, it was finally determined that the 17th self-driving Zhalong.
On September 17, 2021, the alarm went off at 3 a.m., and the curtains were pulled open to look out the window, and the sky was still dark, and people were still sleeping. The sky is full of stars shining brightly, heralding a clear day.
Carrying equipment: Nikon D850 fuselage, Sigma 150-600mm S version, Sigma 28mm, 85mm fixed focus head, and Manfrotto Italy heavy tripod, together into the outdoor cannon camera bag (with pulley pulley bag), a total of more than 30 pounds.
"Bird fighting" refers specifically to the photographer's use of super telephoto (cannon) lenses to shoot birds, rather than really using a shotgun to load bullets to hit birds.
At 4:10 a.m., the vehicle started and drove out of the quiet Xuefu Road Harbin Medical University Campus Family Area, along the second ring road of Xuefu Road, through the Highway Bridge and Songbei Avenue into the G10 Suiman Expressway toll station entrance. Suddenly stunned by the sight in front of me: the toll booth was silent, no vehicles came in and out, as if time had frozen, as if entering no man's land... At this time, the on-board ETC buzzer "beeped" and woke me up violently, and the vehicle had passed the ETC channel. So I pulled over, drank a can of "Red Bull drink", got up, and then pedaled all the way northwest along the G10 Suiman Highway. The more cars run on the highway, the brighter the sky and the fewer the sports cars. Aside from a few tanker trucks and large trucks, it is difficult to see a single private car, presumably due to the severe decline in the population of the Northeast. There is also a huge change, entering the two sides of the Daqing section of the G10 Expressway, missing the habitual scene of the past: the endless "kowtow machine" in the field has disappeared. ......
Poplar leaves on both sides of the highway have begun to yellow, heralding the change of seasons. On both sides of the highway, golden ears of rice beckoned to me. Rolls of straw baled like giant cake rolls in the rice fields can be seen from afar, creating a scene of autumn harvest in the northeast. I wonder if this year's farmer uncle will still burn straw?
After 4 hours and 20 minutes, 375 kilometers by car, we finally arrived at the parking lot of Zhalong Nature Reserve. A scenic ticket is 65 yuan a piece, and a battery ticket is 10 yuan a piece. Photographic and press cards are not easy to make.
According to the official introduction, the Zhalong National Nature Reserve is a rare waterfowl distribution area dominated by large waterfowl such as cranes in China, and is the world's largest breeding ground for red-crowned cranes. Located in the western part of Heilongjiang Province, the southeast of Qiqihar City, songnen plain, the lower reaches of the Wuyuer River lake reed grassland belt, the boundary plane is irregular olive shape from northeast to southwest, 80.6 kilometers long from north to south, 58.0 kilometers wide from east to west, with a total area of 210,000 hectares. It belongs to the nature reserve of the wetland ecosystem type.
In 1979, the People's Government of Heilongjiang Province approved the establishment of the Zhalong Nature Reserve in Heilongjiang Province and the establishment of the Zhalong Nature Reserve Management Bureau.
In April 1987, the State Council approved the promotion of Zhalong Nature Reserve to a national nature reserve.
In 1992, China acceded to the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, Especially as Waterfowl Habitat, and the Zhalong Reserve was included in the List of Wetlands of International Importance.
In 2001, Zhalong National Nature Reserve joined the Organization of Man and the Biosphere in China.
In December 2020, it was selected into the list of the "Seventh Batch of National Ecological Environment Science Popularization Bases".
The red-crowned crane is inviting a dance
According to the official introduction, the Zhalong National Nature Reserve belongs to the nature reserve of the wetland ecosystem type. The reserve is located in the western part of the Songnen Plain, a depression basin that has developed since the Late Mesozoic Era. The landform type is mainly the type of river and lake impact landform in the plain area, the river valley and river channel are extremely inconspicuous, the water flow is slow, and there are both wind-formed sand dunes and sandy land.
The water sources for the Zhalong Reserve are the Uyur River, the Shuangyang River, the Xinnen River Canal and the "Bayi" Happiness Canal, of which the Water of the Uyur River is the main source of supply for maintaining the wetland ecosystem of the reserve.
The soil of Zhalong Wetland is composed of six types, namely black calcium soil, meadow soil, alkaline soil, saline soil, swamp soil and sand soil, mainly black calcium soil, meadow soil and swamp soil.
The Zaron Reserve is located in the mid-latitudes and has a mid-temperate continental monsoon climate. The average annual temperature is 3.5 °C. The coldest month is January, with an average temperature of -19.2 °C and an extreme minimum temperature of -39.5 °C. The hottest month is July, with an average temperature of 22.8 °C and an extreme maximum of 39.9 °C. The annual evaporation is 1506.2 mm; the average annual relative humidity is 62%.
The reserve is 65 kilometers long from north to south and 37 kilometers wide from east to west, with a total area of 210,000 hectares, of which 70,000 hectares are core areas, 67,000 hectares are buffer zones, and 73,000 hectares are experimental areas. There are only a few areas that can be explored.
The reserve consists of a large area of permanent seasonal freshwater marshland in the lower basin of the Uyur River and countless small shallow lakes with a maximum water depth of 0.75 m and a maximum water depth of 5 m in the lake. The wetland is surrounded by meadows, rice paddies and artificial fish ponds, where six species of cranes breed and rest each year, accounting for 40% of the world's crane species. The protected area is lined with rivers, lakes and swamps are dotted, and the wetland ecology is well maintained.
Rare birds and wetland ecosystems such as red-crowned cranes in the Zhalong Nature Reserve are the most complete, pristine and open wetland ecosystems in China and even in the same latitude of the world.
According to the official introduction, there are about 260 species of birds in the Zalong Reserve, belonging to 17 orders and 48 families. Among them, there are 35 species of birds under national key protection, the most famous is the crane, there are 15 species in the world, there are 9 species in China, and there are 6 species of red-crowned cranes, white cranes, white-headed cranes, white-naped cranes and feathered cranes in the region. Zhalong is worthy of being the only "crane town" in the world. Qiqihar City was thus named "Crane City". There are four breeding birds in the reserve, grass heron, heron as the dominant species, egret, bone-top chicken (white bone-top) as the common species, red-crowned crane, white-naped crane as a rare species.
There are 2,000 red-crowned cranes in the world, and 346 breeding stocks of Zalong, accounting for 17.3% of the total number of red-crowned cranes in the world, and are now listed as endangered species in the world. There are 34 white-naped cranes, the grey crane first found its nest in 1986, and there are more than 50 cranes. There are 35 species of birds protected by the national first and second class, and there are red-crowned cranes, white-naped cranes, white spoonbills and so on. Great bustards are commonly found on the edges of swamps and in adjacent farmland. In addition to the abundant bird resources, there are 20 species of mammals, including wolves, red foxes, roe deer, badgers and yellow sheep; four species of amphibians, including Chinese forest frogs, black slash frogs, rain frogs, flower-billed toads; 3 species of reptiles, including lizards, freshwater turtles, etc.; 40 species of aquatic fish, of which crucian carp is the most abundant.
Zhalong Wetland is the first in Asia, the fourth in the world, and the largest reed wetland in the world. There are 15 species of cranes in the world, 9 in China and 6 in Zalong; there are less than 2,000 red-crowned cranes in the world, and there are nearly 400 Zalong.
The formation and evolution of natural wetlands takes a long time, and the forces of nature are incomparable. After a long process of geographical change, many special geographical landscapes have been created, and natural wetlands are also the products of this action. The most common wetlands occur at the mouth of a river; or along the banks through which the river passes. The wide sea outlet produces mudflats due to long-term siltation; at the edge of the continental shed, because of the rising and falling tides, beaches will be formed; mangroves growing on the coast of the estuary have the function of blocking sediment, which will also cause wetland ecology; and the lagoons surrounded by coastal drifting sand, as well as uplifted coral reefs, skirt reefs, barrier reefs, tidelands, etc., are the causes of the formation of wetlands; on plains and mountains, they will also breed various wetlands because of the phenomenon of water accumulation of different factors. For example, after the backfilling of seawater, the accumulation of water in the lower strata along the coast; the diversion of the river in the old age, the residual large amount of water in the old river channel; the silt of the inland lakes after years of silt; or the accumulation of a large amount of water after the alpine ice water recedes and the formation of mudflats, are all natural forces for the formation of wetlands.
The red-crowned crane is singing in the lead
The signature action of the red-crowned crane
Wetlands are known as "the kidney of the earth", "species reservoir", "water purification device", "climate regulator" and so on. It plays an irreplaceable and important role in protecting the ecological environment, maintaining biodiversity and socio-economic development.
In the northern part of China, in the northwest direction of my place of residence, I am very happy and proud to have such a vast wetland resource!
The park releases red-crowned cranes four times a day for visitors, and stocks crucian melon seeds (crucian carp), and red-crowned cranes compete for food for tourists to enjoy and take pictures.
As the saying goes, "people die for money and birds die for eating", and the red-crowned crane is no exception, and when competing for food, they also do not give in to each other and chirp...
The red-crowned crane on the left seems to be saying, "What are you looking at?" The man on the right said, "What do you think?" ”......
This red-crowned crane seems to be saying: Zaron welcomes you!
Wetlands are a precious wealth left by our ancestors, and we must take good care of them and protect them. Avoid ecological damage that may be caused during construction. Wetlands that have been reclaimed must be returned to wetlands; for degraded wetlands, degraded or disappeared wetlands are restored or rebuilt through ecological technology or ecological engineering. Heilongjiang Province should base itself on its unique advantages in ecological resources, so that the development of wetland parks will take fewer detours, and ecological protection and tourism development will complement each other. Wetland protection, the task is heavy and the road is long!
Yan Guangwei
2021.10.01