Mandarin duck, alias "official duck", is a national second-class protected animal. In early spring, in the Yuanyang Lake in Changji Village, Donggong Town, Nanzhang County, groups of Mandarin ducks are playing in the water and foraging, forming a beautiful scenery that attracts many tourists to watch, and records the beautiful moments of Mandarin ducks playing with cameras.
Every day around 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., when the mandarin ducks are most active, flocks of mandarin ducks play and play on the water, flapping their wings for a while, circling against the lake for a while, falling on the surface of the water to play for a while, and whispering under the shade of the trees by the river when they are tired...
Changji Village, Donggong Town, first found mandarin ducks to roost in 2008, because wild mandarin ducks are colorful, lively, and uncommon, in order to make these cute "elves" stay permanently, local villagers spontaneously joined the team of bird lovers and bird protection, and took good care of the mandarin ducks.
"We have set up the Mandarin Duck Protection Association, with the village secretary as the leader, other deputy cadres as deputy leaders, and some party member representatives as members, regularly organizing villagers to pick up garbage by the lake, dispose of waste, and put corn, rice, rice, rice, etc. at feeding points to ensure that the Mandarin ducks are rich in food, so as to attract more Mandarin ducks to settle here." Wang Xiuzhang, secretary of the party branch of Changji Village in Donggong Town, said.
"The mountains are greener, the water is greener, the traffic is smoother, and every winter and spring, more and more tourists come to watch the mandarin ducks, and the business of the farmhouse is getting better and better." Talking about the great changes in the village in recent years, the villagers' joy is overflowing.
At present, the number of mandarin ducks wintering in Changji Mandarin Duck Lake has reached more than 5,000 every year, becoming one of the three major concentrated habitats of Mandarin ducks in China. Some Mandarin ducks choose to stay in the local area for many years to survive and reproduce, which plays an important role in promoting the local development of tourism, extending the tourism industry chain, driving economic development, and promoting villagers' income. In 2014, the China Wildlife Conservation Association awarded Nanzhang County the title of "Hometown of China's Mandarin Ducks". (Hubei Daily client correspondent Nanrong Media Wang Wei Wang Ding)