Photo: Guo Geng
Today, Baihualing in Yunnan is a treasure trove for bird watching in the eyes of bird people.
Baihualing Bird Pond Lord Lao Hou
In the first quarter of this year, I went to Baihualing. I remember that morning, at the Baihualing Farm Where I stayed, the Erliu family had a full meal, and passed the stone stele of the Southern Silk Ancient Road last night, which was the village edge field of the night ocelot, the black and white flying squirrel, and the gray forest owl, and climbed along this road to enter the protected area of Gaoligong Mountain. I am no stranger to ocelots, but when I saw wild ocelots, it was the first time, in the middle of the mountain, the bird guide used a strong flashlight to search, so I recorded a faintly recognizable image.
Old Street Signposts
In my mind, the famous Gaoligong Mountain has two meanings, one is a natural biodiversity resort, and the other is the place where the expeditionary forces "Battle of the Clouds" fought bloodily during the War of Resistance. The old street we arrived at was the place where the Nationalist army had to go to attack the Japanese Nanzhai public housing stronghold, and we thought that the old street was a street. Unexpectedly, this is just a half-mountainous land, because there are several bird ponds nearby, which has become a parking lot, and there are no buildings at all.
In fact, as a former Tea Horse Ancient Road Station, there were once houses and people here, and now all of them have given way to nature. In view of the fact that soon after my surgery, I did not dare to follow the climbing team, and stayed in the old street with several group members who did not have good legs and feet.
Wild shoot brown-rumped grebe
Here, thousands of flowers bloom, hundreds of birds compete, incessantly, swallows and warblers. Those who have knowledge do not recognize or only know the major categories, such as so-and-so quail, so-and-so quail, so-and-so warblers, so-and-so birds, so-and-so sunbirds. It doesn't matter, my point is that one should be able to see, two should be able to shoot, three should be able to identify, do not know can also be photographed first and then said, completely will not affect the bird watching interest in bird shooting, and also retain a large number of (bird pictures) of the mystery, to be decrypted. So when people say, "Baihualing, a place to add new (not salary increases) to the bird people", it is not a proverb. In less than half a day, birds come and go, and the harvest is full.
Staying in the old street located in the middle of Gaoligong Mountain for half a day, I gradually became familiar with the terrain and landform. It was found that there were actually two bird ponds that were not guarded, so I brazenly entered, resolutely implemented the "rubbing pond", sat on a small bench, not only to achieve the purpose of rest, but also to see the birds nearby, and sure enough, I photographed some bird species that could not be seen in the wild, such as several gorgeous noisy storks, phoenixes, and hook-billed storks that walked through the dense thickets.
The so-called bird pond is artificially set up a water source, modeled on a mountain spring, for birds to drink or bathe, if there is a pond owner here to receive photographers, will feed some small insects, grain and fruit. But at this time, when people go to the house, only the babbling water is left, the effective hidden canopy also provides an opportunity to get close to the shooting target with as little interruption as possible, and we all have a lot of gains.
In the afternoon, down to the Dry Dragon Village (Natural Village), in the compound of the Mission Center of the Ganligong Mountain Conservation Area, a large kapok tree full of red flowers gathered many animals such as black-throated red-rumped cranes, sunbirds, and red-bellied squirrels, so they took pictures of flowers and birds on their backs. And in the surrounding areas, you will encounter birds such as gray-bellied embroidered eyes, Dai Sheng, and black-breasted plovers.
As an administrative village in Gaoligong Mountain, Baihualing has a unique and famous project, not to grow citrus, coffee, and potatoes, but to watch birds! Because of the development of bird watching, nearly ten villagers opened farms, there are more than a dozen bird ponds of different sizes, a group of villagers can act as bird guides, the formation of eating, living, traveling, bird watching one-stop ecological tourism, all thanks to the original "crab eating" person - Mr. Hou Tiguo (bird people commonly known as Baihualing Laohou).
About 30 years ago, when he was still an ignorant teenager, he happened to meet Mr. and Mrs. Chen in Taiwan, came to watch birds, inspired him and introduced some international bird lovers to Baihualing, and Lao Hou took him to watch birds. At first, he was just a bird guide, carrying a machine all over the mountain. Later, the birds found that the leaking water pipe on the side of the road always attracted birds to gather, so they hid nearby to shoot, and then used branches to set up a simple camouflage until they formed a bird pond with food and drink, camouflage sheds, and shooting holes.
Wild shoot gray forest stalks
The people and birds have their own pleasures, and there are sheds for people to hide rather than close the birds. The first time we went into the shed to photograph birds, we encountered a golden forest plover, entered the shed, and observed us.
Baihualing Laohou first opened the rural bird shooting business and drove and inspired many mountain villages with abundant bird resources near and far to carry out this industry, which can be described as the forerunner of the transformation of green water and green mountains into golden mountains and silver mountains. In the past, the villagers of Baihualing also played birds, and there was often friction with the protected areas for birds, but now the villagers take the initiative to protect birds and love birds, because the existence of wild birds is the guarantee of their income, and the government protects birds and the people love birds, and the goal has reached unity.
Rural bird watching has opened up a path for sustainable development for the revitalization of China's rural areas, not only protecting the ecology but also helping the poor and getting rich. With Lao Hou hurriedly, I gave him a set of bird-themed souvenirs, he gave me two boxes of tea produced by the family, he had a liquor bureau and was kindly invited, but unfortunately I had something to refuse, so I let his daughter Dongdong take a group photo of the two of us, both are bird people, I believe, come to Japan for a long time.
About the author
Researcher of Beijing Elk Ecology Center and Beijing Biodiversity Conservation Center, Vice Chairman of Science and Technology Association of Beijing Academy of Science and Technology. He has won more than 20 national science popularization advanced workers, published more than 20 books and won many awards, and has been rated as "popular science writer with outstanding contributions" by the China Science Popularization Writers Association.