The first time (April 8) of the "Crested Bows" story of spring in the West Causeway of the Summer Palace was when I stumbled upon them during my visit to the garden and caught my attention. The second time (April 13) was when I deliberately visited them. The park cue board tells us that it is currently the season for waterfowl courtship and hatching, which has aroused my great interest. The third time I deliberately brought a telephoto (600) lens to visit the incubation process of the "crested ibis".

Editor's Photo: Howling Wind

I rarely photographed birds before, but inadvertently, a kind of water bird in the Summer Palace caught my attention and interest.

The big crested ibis plucks the fluff from its own body and feeds it to the little pelican (for digestion). The big pelican in the nest carries four small pelicans on his back, and there are two eggs in the nest

It is called "Crested Ibis". The two words "䴙䴘", pronounced "pìtī", refer to a class of small water birds. The tip of the mouth and the position of the feet are particularly backward, which makes them very convenient to swim, and once on land, they are very clumsy, so they rarely go ashore, even if they reproduce, they also use water weeds to pile up a floating nest in the water to lay eggs and hatch.

Every year from March to April, the West Bank of the Summer Palace stages a scene of "crested", and many pairs of "crested crests" seek courtship, step on eggs, give birth to children, and build love nests together in the West Lake of the Summer Palace. Together, they catch fish and feed each other, and together they build a nest of grass leaf reeds.

Let's share with you my three dates with the "䴙䴘" people.

<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the first time (April 8) was when I stumbled upon them during my visit to the park and caught my attention. </h1>

Qingqing me and me

<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the second time (April 13) was when I intentionally visited them. The park cue board tells us that it is currently the season for waterfowl courtship and hatching, which has aroused my great interest. </h1>

Branches nest

Mandarin ducks take off

<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the third time I deliberately brought a telephoto (600) lens to visit the incubation process of the "crested ibis". </h1>

The crested is the most common in Beijing, and in the spring, the head turns brownish red, which is a signal to prepare for breeding. The cresteds, on the other hand, are larger and are known for their dancing courtship: in the spring, the male and female crests will face each other, shake their heads in unison, comb their feathers, and they will also dance with aquatic plants. After the dance, the male and female cresteds are ready to build their nests and breed. Unfortunately, I missed the wonderful courtship process.

What a mighty look

Love Nest

There were a lot of people on the road to the center island next to the West Causeway, and I walked over to see what everyone was filming.

It turns out that there is a story of a crested pelican family starring in the incubation process

The big partridge has a small crested ibis on its back

Shifts are changed (crested ibises take turns to incubate eggs for both male and female), and the little crags reveal their small heads on their mother's back

The big partridge caught a fish and fed it to the child who was waiting to be fed, but unfortunately the fish was too big for the little bird to eat

The little pelican came down from the back of the mother (father) and clung to the big partridge.

This time, the little partridge looked at the food in the big partridge's mouth with wide eyes and swam towards it, and the big partridge patiently fed the food to the little partridge

After feeding the big partridge, the little partridge looked at the figure of the big partridge, and also swam recklessly and burrowed into the back of the big partridge

The second little partridge is about to be born

The second small partridge also lay next to the big partridge

The crested ibis's story is over. Fun?

On the way back, I photographed another kingfisher

In recent years, Beijing's green environment has become better and better, and people and nature are more harmonious. We must protect the precious legacy left to us by our ancestors and sing the story of spring in the Summer Palace forever.

Past review: Watching the Peking Opera "Eight Sledgehammers. Broken Arm Storytelling", one person with two horns, former Wu Houwen Starring: Zhou Enxu