Bright Culture Weekend: Hello, Birds!

【Chinese Story】

Authors: Tang Xiangyue and Yu Xiaowei (former senior reporter of Guangming Daily, distinguished professor of Xiangtan University, student of School of Literature and Journalism and Communication, Xiangnan University, respectively)

Every year, there is such a group of "air passengers", going back and forth from north to south. The journey is long and tortuous, full of life and death trials, but they sing loudly and tirelessly chase their goals.

You may not be fascinated by them, but decades or even centuries ago, the birds were not so lucky, and in addition to the tests of nature, there were also nets laid by humans waiting for them.

When humans began to realize that birds were not food and playthings, and when the word ecological civilization became the consensus of human beings, everything took a turn for the better.

In Guidong County, Hunan Province, China, we have seen changes related to birds and people.

Illustration: Guo Hongsong

The past cannot be traced

The route of the birds' long-distance migration is the same every year. Bird expert research has shown that migratory birds have a strong sense of direction and memory, and they use natural visual orientation, the Earth's magnetic field, and the position orientation of the sun and stars to complete long journeys.

In the long run, this migration route in the Luoxiao Mountains on the border of Hunan and Jiangxi in eastern Guizhou has won the hearts of migratory birds, known as the "thousand-year-old bird road", and it is also the second largest bird migration channel in the interior. The birdway in Guidong is more than 40 kilometers long from north to south and about 30 kilometers wide from east to west. The low and medium-to-middle mountains below 1,200 meters above sea level in the province form an irregular valley, which is a "natural pass" that migratory birds must pass through.

Year after year, millions of migratory bird flocks pass through Hankou Pass, Nanfeng Pass, Baisha Pass and other places in Guidong County, Hunan Province, to replenish their energy and embark on a long journey again.

In the early days of liberation, Guidong divided the fields and land into bird halls, and the bird halls, like the fields, were important means of production for farmers, and the government issued a business license.

"At that time, everyone thought that bird hunting was the same as picking mushrooms and wild fruits, and it was a very common thing. Chen Guoping of Qiuli Village, Lijiang Town, recalled.

One day in October 2012, a nightmare woke up the people of Guidong on the "Millennium Bird Road".

"It was a road through hunger and cold in search of warmth, but now it has become a point of no return for birds," because here await them with muskets, bird guns, bamboo poles, large nets, and the death that comes with them. A documentary called "The Death of the Bird" went viral on the Internet, and the reporter directly hit the "nightmare" on the thousand-year-old bird path.

"You can fly over this mountain, but you can't fly over that mountain. ”

People are starting to reflect.

Birds come here to survive, not to die.

Bath "pain" rebirth

This nightmare is a fact, and it is a wake-up call. It stung Gui Dong and reminded Gui Dong all the time: birds also hurt, and birds also need love.

Guidong was reborn from "pain" and formulated a set of mechanisms to combat indiscriminate hunting and protect migratory birds: hiring former bird catchers as bird guards, building a red alliance of "Millennium Bird Road" bird protection in Hunan and Jiangxi provinces, "grasping typical examples" to increase publicity, and departments to carry out "special actions for migratory bird protection......

At first, many people were puzzled: "Since ancient times, birds can be hunted, why can't they be hunted now?"

In the face of deep-rooted old thinking, Xie Qingkai, head of the Wildlife and Protected Areas Management Unit of the Guidong County Bureau of Natural Resources, and his colleagues went from house to house every day to publicize bird protection.

There are still people who defy the wind and commit crimes. In April 2013, law enforcement officers arrested four people, including Chen and Wang, who were hunting migratory birds, on the mountain. According to the identification of relevant departments, the hunted migratory bird is the night heron, a national "three haves" protected animal.

The case was transferred to the Guidong County People's Court for trial, and the families of Chen and the other four people approached Zhong Jiangwu, the president of the court: "Several 'bird hunters' are all the main laborers of the family, and they have learned a lesson, can they be exempted from the sentence?"

Zhong Jiangwu's expression was solemn: "I understand your feelings, but the case will be handled in accordance with the law." The "Millennium Bird Road" passes from Guidong, and we are not responsible for nature when we hunt birds. ”

Defendant Chen and four others committed the crimes of illegal hunting and illegal possession of firearms, and were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from 9 months to 1 year. This is the first criminal case of illegal hunting to be officially pronounced in Guidong County. "Whoever shoots a bird will go to jail, so that everyone really understands the seriousness of bird hunting. Huang Zhimin, deputy director of the county's Forest Public Security Bureau, recalled that 50,000 leaflets were printed and distributed to every household through the case.

"We were woken up by a slap on the stick, and we didn't expect to go to jail if we caught a bird, and we had a deeper understanding of bird protection. Chen Zhaoren, a bird keeper at Nanfeng Pass, slowly explained his transformation from a bird catcher to a bird keeper.

In 2014, Guidong County recruited bird protection inspectors, and Chen Zhaoren took the initiative to ask for help, and now it is his tenth year to join the bird protection brigade. "There are so many birds more than before, and at night they fly around and whine. Chen Zhaoren had a smile on his face.

At present, there are 20 full-time bird guards in Guidong County, who are distributed in 5 monitoring stations, guarding the "Millennium Bird Road" involving 500,000 acres of mountains and forests in Guidong. The former bird catchers have become the main force in rural development, with the support of poverty alleviation policies, planting tea and yellow peaches...... Gone are the days of making a living from bird hunting.

At present, the forest coverage rate of Guidong is as high as 81.97%, and there are 207 species of migratory birds, including more than 20 species of national first-class and second-class protected birds, such as yellow-bellied horned pheasant and white-necked long-tailed pheasant.

From the "death" of birds to the "paradise" of birds, Guidong has changed.

Love birds everywhere

The crisp sound of birdsong was endless, and Li Benchun, a villager in Baiping Village, Lijiang Town, Guidong County, walked on the mountain trail with a hoe. Li Benchun has been walking this trail for 36 years.

The Shangtie Mountain in front of him is lush and green, and no one would have imagined that it was a barren mountain before. "I'm going to Shangtie Mountain to plant trees!" In 1987, Li Benchun moved his family up the mountain, contracted 2,038 acres of barren mountains, and planted 1,966 acres of cedar trees.

Today, Li Benchun has contracted 4,000 acres of mountains and forests, all of which are planted with magnolia, fir trees, and bamboo. He also provided more than 30,000 saplings for the villagers free of charge to encourage them to plant trees.

In the process of starting a business in the mountains, Li Benchun began to reflect on the need for balance and protection of the environment. The tradition of bird hunting inherited from his father's generation, Li Benchun is determined to abandon it from his generation.

In 2012, Li Benchun became a volunteer migratory bird monitor, and his son Li Shuyong also became a bird guard and forest ranger. During the migratory bird season, patrolling the mountains has become a regular activity of the father and son soldiers every morning and evening.

At present, 73-year-old veteran party member Li Benchun is still continuing to plant forests, hoping to create more blessings for birds and future generations.

At 9 p.m. on October 10, 2023, a "rare guest" - night kite, came to the duty room of Nanfeng Pass Migratory Bird Station.

The glass door of the duty room let in some light and went out, only to hear a "bang", and a little guy hit his head. "We were terrified and rushed to check, and it sat motionless on the ground, as if it had fainted. Nanfeng Pass bird ranger Xiong Fuliang said.

Carefully picked up the night kite and brought it into the duty room, Xiong Fuliang and the others carefully checked whether the "little guy" was injured.

A few people looked around him, with its round head and gray feathers, and it was so cute! They fed it water, talked to it, tried to make it a little happier. "It began to move slowly, and its mouth made a 'chirp' sound, as if to thank you. It just happened to hit the place that protected it, and it was a wonderful fate. ”

Half an hour later, the night kite was almost recovered, and spread its wings on the hands of the bird keepers and flew into the sky.

"There was an owl that had a nest in the exhaust hole at home. In May 2017, villagers in the Donghua community of Lijiang Township called the forest police.

"At first, the owl had a fierce eye, but later when he took down his nest with a bird's net, he understood that there were two cubs inside. Worried that they would have nowhere to settle down, Huang Zhimin immediately contacted the carpenter to build a small house.

Huang Zhimin and others took the owl family to the Hankou Migratory Bird Protection Station, built the house on a big tree, and carefully put them in.

On December 29, 2022, a vehicle from Guidong County, Chenzhou City, bound for the Changsha Wildlife Shelter and Rescue Center, was speeding down the highway with a special "passenger" on board, a vulture.

Two days ago, the lone bird landed on a country road in Pai Village, Pule Township, Guidong County. A farmer found out about it and immediately called the forestry department.

Huang Gaorui, head of the wildlife protection unit of the Guidong County Natural Resources Bureau, and Li Chengyi, former director of the county forest public security bureau and now deputy director of the county public security bureau, drove to the farmers' homes. It was confirmed that this "big bird" was a vulture of the national first-class protected animal.

Upon closer examination, the vulture was not found to have obvious external injuries, but it was drooping its head and lacked energy. Huang Gaorui and his entourage couldn't help but be faintly worried and contacted the Changsha Wildlife Shelter and Rescue Center.

"There was a bird, motionless, as if it had been wounded. Villagers in Xinqiao Village, Zhaiqian Town, dialed the number of the forest police. A few hours later, the spotted owl was safely in the storage room of the county forest public security bureau. Knowing that the bar-headed owl likes to eat frogs, people made a special trip to buy fresh feeding frogs for it, cut the frog meat into small pieces with a knife, and then handed it into the bird cage.

On August 11, 2023, at Qiyunfeng National Forest Park, staff gave the spotted owl a final health check. After its release, it stopped on the branches of the tree for a long time, frequently looking back at the people who cared for it. "Let's go, let's go, you're free again!" Deng Renxiang, the commander of the bird protection battalion, waved to it.

There is a peaceful bird path in the sky, and there is also a way on the earth.

The light is the command

The sporadic light on the mountain could be a lit fire or a lit LED light.

"During the critical period of migratory bird migration, every bird protection action is important. Migratory bird stations will send special patrol teams out to patrol, sometimes at three or four o'clock in the morning. Zeng Linfeng, a member of the party group and chief engineer of the County Natural Resources Bureau, said.

Bird catchers usually hunt birds at the top of the mountain, and bird patrols have to rush to check on the situation as soon as they see the fire. Sometimes the light of the fire seems to be "close at hand", but in fact it is "far away", and when you reach the top of a mountain, you have to climb two or three mountains, and the patrol members can only walk in the dark in order to act covertly.

Bird-catchers love to pick up rainy and foggy days to go up the mountain, and when they choose a good spot, they only need to light a fire or light a strong light behind the net, and the birds will swoop down. However, the weather makes the steep trails even more difficult.

"The mountain road was muddy and slippery, and we took one step and three steps back, and we pulled each other with branches, and if we were not careful, everyone slipped down! ”

"Sometimes when I am bitten by a caterpillar, I will gasp, for fear that I will encounter the 'bamboo leaf green' entangled in the tree. Fang Zenan, a member of the bird protection patrol, recalled the bits and pieces of the patrol.

On the evening of September 27, 2023, the mountains and forests of Nanfeng Pass were filled with clouds and mist, and Fang Zenan and his three companions once again set foot on the bird protection road.

Suspicious motorcycle sounds are heard. The person driving the motorcycle was wearing a raincoat and insisted that he was "passing by". Leaving two people to watch him, Fang Zenan and another partner looked down the path, and as expected, another motorcycle came up with bird catching tools in the car.

"Don't move!" Fang Zenan shouted, so frightened that the other party fled from the motorcycle. "He crawled forward with all his might, and when he saw that he was about to fall off the side of the road, I grabbed him with my hands, but I couldn't catch him. I couldn't do it, so I grabbed his leg hard and rolled with him. ”

The other party has a lot of strength, but fortunately, Fang Zenan has been a soldier for 3 years and has developed the ability to capture. In 2001, he injured his waist due to sanda practice in the army, and unfortunately retired from the army with a disability certificate, and joined the team of bird protection in 2019.

In the face of justice, the suspect was obediently arrested.

In case of emergencies, the "intelligence officer" of the bird protection station comes in handy. "There's movement over there in Baisha Pass. On the evening of August 31, 2019, Xie Qingkai received a call and rushed to Baisha Pass with Li Yanhuang, former deputy director of the Bureau of Natural Resources and now full-time deputy director of the county National Defense Mobilization Office.

Seeing several strong lights illuminating the mountain, and the wailing of birds came and went, they immediately made a decision, signaled the driver to turn off the car and turn off the lights, and the two acted separately.

Xie Qingkai fumbled near the light source, quickly confiscated the birds, batteries and other tools, took out his mobile phone, and took photos of the suspect. They were in a hurry, desperately snatched Xie Qingkai's mobile phone, and pushed him down the steep mountain.

"I curled up in a ball, motionless, and faintly heard the voices of a dozen people, 'Get him, Kill him!' several times the light of the flashlight swept over me, thankfully the weeds helped me to cover. Xie Qingkai said.

Following the clues of the motorcycle, the suspect was arrested that night. While fighting with the suspect, Li Yanhuang's collarbone was broken. He said: "The light is the command! ”

Every escort of this group of people never thought about how far and rugged the road was, they just hoped that the birds could hover freely over Guidong and fall as they liked.

Birds fly, people chase

The birds of the sky flew and flew, and the people of the earth chased and chased. In the past, the purpose of chasing birds was to catch birds, but now chasing birds is to shoot birds and watch birds.

The birds were singing in the sky, and Deng Renxiang was listening carefully. Flying over geese, egrets, swans, etc., he can distinguish them one by one, such as a few treasures: "Birds are the singers of nature, and they wake me up with a symphony every day." ”

Deng Renxiang's camera has a lot of beautiful photos of birds, but photographing birds is a chore, and sometimes it takes a long time to "lurk" in order to get a good photo. Once, when a flock of egrets flew in from all directions, he quickly picked up his camera to take pictures. When I went home to take a closer look, I found that there were thousands of egrets in the lens.

Deng Renxiang often organizes volunteer service activities of "Millennium Bird Road Bird Protection", distributing materials to villagers and telling stories to villagers.

The story of persimmons and birds is often told by Deng Renxiang. Legend has it that once upon a time, when persimmons grew well, a rich man's persimmon was ripe and he was left with no persimmons. The wind was biting, and the birds that had nowhere to feed died in large numbers. The tree god was furious, and the persimmon tree would no longer bear fruit in the future, and the rich man's family gradually declined. Before he died, the old rich man told his descendants that the persimmons should not be picked when they are ripe, but should leave a few for the birds.

In fact, "leaving some persimmons for the birds to spend the winter" is a tradition left by our ancestors. The birds have winter rations, survive and can catch pests in the coming year, in today's words, to protect the birds and maintain the ecological balance.

During the escort, the red and green flags were particularly eye-catching on the hills. The bird protection camp also assisted in the rescue of a number of national second-class wild animals, such as sparrowhawks, small civets, white pheasants, bar-headed owls, sambar deer, etc., to help them return to nature.

In the past year, Deng Renxiang has organized more than 100 large and small bird protection actions. "It's a little tired, but as soon as the birds sing, all that tiredness is gone. He laughs.

In Guidong, there is a kind of bird song that sounds gracefully and tactfully, and it is the acacia bird. Small and exquisite, with a red mouth and a gorgeous feather coat, you will be even more excited when you see it. Legend has it that once a red-billed acacia finds a mate, it forms a "lifetime" relationship.

Lovesick birds in the sky, lovers on the ground. In the eyes of the people of Dongluo Village, Dongluo Township, Guidong County, Liu Qiuhua and Li Cui are a pair of "lovesick birds", they accompany each other, and the years are quiet. This year is the 15th year of Liu Qiuhua's illness and the 51st year she and Li Cui have been together. Time has witnessed their love.

In 2008, Liu Qiuhua suffered from "Parkinson's syndrome", and an accidental fall caused a fracture of her left thigh bone and joint, which aggravated her condition. The three children have been working abroad for many years, and the burden of taking care of her life falls on Li Cui's shoulders.

The weather was good, so Li Cui helped Liu Qiuhua into a wheelchair and pushed her out to bask in the sun and take a walk. There is a small slope in front of the house, and it is a bit laborious to push it up, and when the surrounding neighbors see it, they will rush to help.

One day in the early autumn of 2020, Li Cui went out to cut rice early in the morning, and only came home when the sun went down, and he was planted on the bed with a pale face.

"Old man, where are you uncomfortable?" asked Liu Qiuhua softly.

"I have a bad stomach. After lying down for a while, Li Cui wanted to vomit and go to the toilet again, but before he could reach the toilet, the blood clot slipped out of his trouser legs. Liu Qiuhua wanted to get up and help her husband, but she couldn't do anything. Touching the mobile phone next to the bed, he nervously dialed the number of the village doctor, "Please come here, my husband is sick." Liu Qiuhua's voice trembled.

The village doctor set off, and Liu Qiuhua also set off. It was late at night, the door was closed, and how to open the door was a big problem for Liu Qiuhua. The bedroom was only seven or eight meters away from the door, but Liu Qiuhua took a full 10 minutes, her staggering steps seemed extremely difficult, and every step challenged her limits.

When I got to the gate, I couldn't reach the latch. Liu Qiuhua knelt on the stool with his right leg, which could still exert a little strength, and his raised hands shook violently, a little bit, a little more...... The door opened, and the village doctor who arrived on a motorcycle also arrived, and Liu Qiuhua breathed a sigh of relief......

Li Cui once saw a pair of red-billed lovesick birds clinging to the branches tightly when they were working, shaking their little heads from side to side, and their mouths were red and bright. This pair of lovesick birds is also a true reflection of him and his wife for many years!

Every year on the first day of the lunar calendar, it is also a good day for Taoshuying in Dongluo Village to organize a New Year's tea party, with smiling faces from men, women and children. Dongluo Village, Dongluo Township, has been rated as "Civilized Village and Town" and "County-level Concentric Beautiful Village".

The birds soar happily, and the people are happy and healthy. For more than ten years, everything Guidong has done for birds and ecology has been seen by people.

In 2021, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration issued a letter to promote the experience and practices of the "Millennium Bird Road" Bird Protection Alliance established by Guidong County and Yanling County in Hunan Province and Suichuan County in Jiangxi Province.

In 2022, the Hunan Provincial Forestry Bureau awarded the Guidong County Forestry Bureau the "Outstanding Unit for Wildlife Conservation in the Province in 2022", and the Hunan Provincial Government commended Guidong County's wildlife conservation work experience and practices.

On October 27, 2023, the official website of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the "Announcement on Naming the Seventh Batch of Ecological Civilization Construction Demonstration Zones", naming 104 regions as the seventh batch of ecological civilization construction demonstration zones. Guidong County is among them.

Nowadays, more and more birds are rushing to Guidong, and more and more people are flocking to Guidong. This side of the water and soil, is not only a paradise for birds, but also a summer paradise for people, natural oxygen bar, Guidong combined with green genes to develop red tourism to get rich road will go wider and wider, and the birds two-way road will go farther and farther.

Recently, most of the migratory birds have migrated to the next stop. Soon after the separation, the people were looking forward to the next meeting. Looking forward to saying hello again like an old friend.

"Hello birds! Welcome to Guidong! Welcome to China!"

Guangming Daily (2024-04-26 Edition 14)

Source: Guangming Net-Guangming Daily