Orange Persimmon Interactive Reporter Xu Huixing Correspondent Wu Ligao/Wen Tong Junlin/Photo
Nest courtship, egg-laying and hatching, breaking out of the shell......
Recently, the heron bird habitat and breeding protection base of Goushan Island, Qiangjiao Town, Ninghai County, Ningbo City has entered a concentrated incubation period, and the first batch of more than 1,000 heron bird babies have grown vigorously after coming out of the shell, forming an extremely rare bird island wonder, presenting an ecological picture of Blue Bay Green Island.
"It's the breeding season, and the island's egrets, night herons, cattle egrets, green herons, pond herons and other herons have entered the hatching period. In the past few days, about 50 baby herons will be added every day, and they will be waiting to be fed as soon as they are born, which can keep the parents busy. Wang Huabo, an "ecological vigilante" patrolling around the island, told the Orange Persimmon Interactive reporter that compared with previous years, this year, a large group of pond herons have come to settle down on Bird Island, and the red decorative feathers on the neck are particularly eye-catching.
As far as the eye can see, there are shallow butterfly-shaped nests on the tree branches of Bird Island, and the nests are full of various egrets, and the sound of birdsong comes and goes. Some sit peacefully in the nest to incubate eggs, some are busy feeding chicks, some are guarding on high branches, and thousands of herons are breeding on the islands.
April to July is the breeding season for Bird Island herons. Wang Huabo introduced that the herons during this period are the most beautiful of the year, they will change into bright breeding feathers, grow particularly beautiful spear-like feathers, and look like wearing a gorgeous wedding dress. The breeding feathers like "tufts" can not only attract the opposite sex, but also provide shelter for the baby herons.
"It takes about 23 to 25 days to turn from an egg to a chick, and each nest is usually hatched with two to four birds, and the adults take turns guarding it." Hu Shengjiang, a member of the Ninghai Bay Volunteer Bird Protection Team and the "Boat Boss", said that this period is also the busiest time for the bird protection team, mainly to do a good job in the monitoring and protection of heron incubation and brooding, so as to ensure that these herot babies pass the nursing period safely.
Goushan Island in Ninghai Bay, with an area of about 4.5 hectares, is located in the middle of the East Asian-Australian migratory bird migration route, and is an important passage and ideal habitat for migratory birds to migrate from north to south. At the beginning of April every year, the island welcomes an endless stream of herons, and a variety of herons breed and inhabit here, making this a paradise for the natural hatching of herons, also known as "Bird Island" by the locals.
"After the chicks are born, they eat a lot of food and will not leave the nest for a month, and they rely on the adult birds to feed them during this period." Zhong Wang, a member of the bird protection team, said that the good environment of the waters of Ninghai Bay, and the abundant food resources such as fish and shrimp, shell snails, and plankton are the main reasons why the heron flock chooses to breed here. "Is the environment good, the birds are here to vote!" Zhong Wang's face was filled with a proud smile.
It is worth mentioning that the number and variety of egrets on Bird Island are increasing year by year, thanks to the efforts and dedication of the local people to protect wild birds. In recent years, Qiangjiao Town has vigorously promoted the restoration of ecological wetlands and the conservation of biodiversity, and at the same time set up a volunteer bird protection service team composed of party members, police militia, fishermen's boat bosses, and mass volunteers to carry out migratory bird monitoring, inspection and management, science popularization and education, and picking up floating garbage activities on a regular basis, and the biodiversity conservation work has achieved remarkable results.
"The ecological environment is better, there are more tourists watching and photographing birds, and our tourism business is more prosperous." Hu Shengjiang said with a smile, relying on the sea to eat the sea, relying on the mountains to eat the mountains, now understand why it is said that "lucid waters and lush mountains are gold and silver mountains", these lovely elves have become a unique wealth given to people by nature, and loving birds and protecting birds have also become the consensus of the villagers.
Today, the number of members of the Ninghai Bay Volunteer Bird Guard Team has increased from 12 to 153, and the "circle of friends" of the local heron bird population and rare birds has continued to expand. It is expected that by the end of July this year, more than 3,000 new herons will be added to Bird Island, and from the beginning of August, there will be herons migrating and flying away, and some will stay and become "permanent residents" of Bird Island.
Editor in charge: Liu Hui and Huang Jie
Review: Jin Lipeng