Speaking of egrets, the beautiful picture of "two orioles chirping green willows, a line of egrets on the blue sky..." in the poet Du Fu's "Absolute Sentences" will come to mind.
Recently, in Puwen Town, Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, the author photographed tens of thousands of egrets dancing with the afterglow of the sun in the Longshan forest of Chengzi Village, and the scene was extremely shocking.
On this hill, which has a total area of only 23.8 acres, egrets are like snowflakes, more like white flowers blooming in the forest, sometimes soaring in the air, sometimes staying on the branches, as if rehearsing the chorus of the beautiful ecology of green water and green mountains, interpreting the magnificent scenery of late autumn and early winter.
Longshan, with tall trees in the forest and rubber trees planted in the past, is dense and lush. In the past, egrets occasionally frequented, but such a large number of egrets have only been inhabited here for two years.
Why are so many egrets gathered here? Residents walking along the riverside trail explained that Puwen Town is mainly located in the dam area, the ecological environment is good, especially after several years of treatment, the forest and river ecosystem have been reasonably preserved, especially the development of local aquaculture, which are all important reasons for attracting egrets to stay here.
Egrets are rare birds, like to inhabit woodlands, lakes, swamps, shoals, reed ponds and other wetlands, mainly prey on small fish and shrimp, insects, molluscs, and like to live in groups. Where the environment is good and food resources are abundant, they will stay there.
In recent years, the local area has vigorously strengthened forestry construction and environmental improvement, and relevant departments have continuously increased their protection efforts, so the water quality is excellent and the ecological environment is beautiful, attracting a large number of egrets to nest here, and a picture of harmonious coexistence between people and egrets has appeared.
Egret dressed in white feathers, slender body, frolicking in groups, leaving the nest early in the morning in the rice fields, swamps, rivers or fish ponds on both sides of the Puwen River to feed, fishing is extremely elegant, can stand in the water for a long time, closely watch the movement of the water, sometimes the toes touch the surface of the water, attract prey, when you see the prey, the head plunges into the water, you can see that it has a small fish or shrimp in its mouth. These egrets are still good friends with people, and when they see people working in the fields, they often have a few egrets around them, and when insects are alarmed, the intelligent egrets take the opportunity to prey. Sometimes egrets stand on the back or head of a buffalo, looking relaxed.
In the evening, they fly back into the woods in groups from different locations, chattering and frolicking until the night quiets.
Egrets are national protected animals, they are very "picky" about the growth environment, both good water quality, good air, and rich food, known as "monitors of atmospheric and water quality conditions". The continuous improvement of the local ecological environment, and the gathering of 10,000 egrets in Longshan is the best portrayal of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.
Yunnan net correspondent Li Wensheng photo report