Yangtze River Daily, August 20, "A lot of egrets are flying, it is so beautiful!" "Due to the getting better and better ecology, Wuhan Shahu Park attracts hundreds of egrets to inhabit. This kind of bird gathers in large numbers and flies every day, which has become a scene of sand lake, attracting many citizens to stop and watch every day.
According to experts, the egret is a large heron, the size of which is between the great egret and the egret, slightly larger than the egret.
Snow white throughout the face of high value large-scale appearance in sand lake
Heron birds in the waters of Sand Lake Park Heron Park (Zone D). Photo by Li Yonggang, a reporter from the Yangtze River Daily
On the morning of August 20, the Yangtze River Daily reporter came to Shahu Park Heron Garden (Area D), on the clear lake, the turquoise lotus leaves are swaying with the wind, only to see the low sky, floating islands, on the shallows of the lake, are all white elves, they either fly and circle, or stop and stand, or prey, making people mistakenly think that they are in the countryside wetland.
Shahu Park, which is close to the Yangtze River, is a lake green space in the downtown area of Wuchang and a model park for biodiversity in the center of Wuhan. In recent years, the ecology of Shahu Park has gradually improved, especially after the treatment of water bodies, the number of various water birds has increased significantly. "You can often see wild ducks, black water chickens, small hooves and so on on the lake."
However, such a large-scale egret appeared in Shahu Lake, which is the first time in the memory of Zhang Qian, a staff member of the park. Zhang Qian told reporters that the most concentrated place in the egret is near the Heron Garden (Area D). The eco-island located in Heron Garden is a small independent island with only a path connected to the outside world. This small island is the ecological conservation observation demonstration area of the park, which adopts simple and scientific ecological conservation and management measures, rich in biological diversity, and the plant landscape is full of wild interest.
According to Sun Shuhai, a photography enthusiast who often visits Shahu Park, at the end of March, he had seen egrets frolicking on the lake. The number has increased recently, with the highest number per morning. "It's very interesting that there are green fences on the lake, which were set up by the lake's water zoning and are now the most common places where they stand."
Mr. Li, a citizen who lives in Wuchang Tea Harbor, told reporters that not only Sand Lake, Fruit Lake (part of East Lake) but also egrets are often seen gathering.
In the administrative sense of the "Fruit Lake Area", near the today's densely populated East Lake Shahu Connecting Area, there is a street called "Egret Street", which has been around for some years. Mr. Li pointed out, "It can be seen that this area has historically been an ecological treasure that attracts egrets to gather, and it is a good place for people to watch this kind of bird; but in the process of urbanization development in Wuhan, it has rarely been seen for a while."
Came to the center of Wuhan city for a summer stay for nearly half a year
Yan Jun, president of the Wuhan Bird Watching Association, said that the largest number of birds in this group is the middle egret, not the egret that the public is more familiar with. The egret is a summer migratory bird in Wuhan, flying to Wuhan from the south to breed around April, and then flying back to its warm hometown in September. They prefer to inhabit and move in rivers, lakes, estuaries, shallow waters and river beaches on the banks of seashores and ponds, and their diet is more mixed, which is very common in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
"At present, they have just passed the breeding period and are now gathering and resting to prepare for migration. This should be the reason why they appear in groups. ”
They are the opposite of the characteristics of the egret - although both are snow white, the mouth of the middle egret is mostly yellow, the feet are black, while the egret has a black mouth and yellow feet; the middle egret in Wuhan is mainly a summer migratory bird, while the egret is partly a summer migratory bird and some is a resident bird.
Wuhan is a city with wetlands as the main ecological landscape, the distribution of egrets is widespread, Andu Lake, Houguan Lake, Tongjia Lake, Baiquan and other places are more common, and thousands of them can be observed when the number is large. In the Yangtze River beach, east lake, south lake and other central urban areas often appear in small groups.
"The egrets appear in flocks in the center of the city, and there are hundreds of them at once, and the number is quite considerable." Yan Jun said.
The lake water becomes clearer and the environment becomes better, and more birds inhabit
The number of "bird dwellers" in many lakes in Wuhan is increasing
"In the past, the surface of Sand Lake was full of water hyacinth and duckweed, and in some places you couldn't even see the surface of the water." Zhang Qian said that since 2020, Wuchang District has carried out large-scale water remediation of Shahu Lake, including barge transformation, sediment dredging and in situ restoration, and restoration of river and lake water ecosystems. "Now, the water quality of the lake is much better, the naked eye can see the submerged plants and small fish under the water, and there are reeds and other aquatic plants on the shore of the lake, so it is no wonder that so many egrets have come."
In Yan Jun's view, the improvement of water quality is indeed one of the important reasons for attracting the egrets to inhabit. Where the egrets are concentrated, there must be two major elements, one is a good water environment, and the other is trees. "Water provides them with plenty of food, and trees provide an environment for them to inhabit and reproduce."
Citizens watch herons and birds on the shores of Sand Lake. Photo by Li Yonggang, a reporter from the Yangtze River Daily
Wang Xuelei, a member of the National Wetland Science and Technology Committee, also believes that the emergence of so many egrets in the center of the city with a concentrated population shows that the overall ecology of the city, including the water environment and surrounding habitats, is developing in a good trend.
Wuhan is the city of 100 lakes, and in recent years the government has been taking effective measures to purify water quality. "In the lakes of Wuhan Jiangxia, Caidian, Dongxi Lake and other new urban areas, it is more common to see flocks of birds. However, lakes close to the city center, such as East Lake, Townsenh Lake, South Lake, etc., after the water treatment, birds are increasing, and groups of birds can also be seen in areas with better ecology. ”
(Yangtze River Daily reporter Yang Xiaoyu Zhan Li intern Li Rui correspondent Zhang Hong)
【Editor: Deng Laxiu】