Tourists feed red-billed gulls at the Kunming Haigeng Dam on Feb. 11. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Guansen
Kunming, 12 Oct (Xinhua) -- On the shore of Dianchi Lake, light rain poured down on the shores of Dianchi Lake. Occasionally, birds flew over the water. Zhao Xuebing, secretary general of the Kunming Bird Society and doctor of the School of Ecology and Environment of Yunnan University, held up binoculars in his hand and looked far away in the direction of the sky.
The city's business card of the south of the clouds
"It's not coming yet. They don't arrive exactly the same time of year, but around mid-to-late October. Zhao Xuebing said, as if looking forward to a long goodbye reunion with a group of old friends.
Zhao Xuebing's waiting old friend was a group of red-billed gulls from the far north. Since 1985, these "little elves" weighing only about 300 grams and with white bellied and red beaks have flown from Siberia and other places in Russia to Kunming for more than 30 consecutive years. Dianchi Lake is one of their main habitats in Kunming.
Zhao Xuebing introduced that Kunming has a warm winter climate, rich food such as Dianchi Lake and Cuihu Lake fish and shrimp, coupled with the spontaneous feeding of citizens all year round, which is very suitable for red-billed gulls to overwinter. In 2020, about 41,600 red-billed gulls came to Kunming for the winter.
Every March, when the red-billed gull is about to embark on the journey home from the north, many Kunming citizens come to Cuihu Park, Dianchi Haigeng Dam and other places to say goodbye to these little guys who have come from afar.
From curiosity to love to attachment, Kunming people and red-billed gulls have gradually established an inseparable emotional connection. "The red-billed gull has become the calling card of the city of Kunming." Zhao Xuebing said.
In winter, the Five-Star White Crane Conservation Area in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, becomes a wintering paradise for white cranes waiting for birds. Birds fly and forage in the protected community, making the protection community lively and becoming a special scenery in Poyang Lake District. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Vientiane
A messenger of happiness on the shores of Poyang Lake
Like the red-billed gulls, flocks of white cranes depart from Siberia and fly thousands of kilometers each autumn and winter, eventually settling on the shores of Lake Poyang in Jiangxi, China.
The white crane, also known as the Siberian crane or black-sleeved crane, is a "living fossil" that has survived on the earth for 60 million years, with a global extant population of 3,500 to 4,000, assessed as a critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and listed as a national protected wildlife in China.
In the early 1980s, the white crane was on the verge of extinction. Today, the number of white cranes wintering in Poyang Lake is close to 4,000. Thanks to the unremitting efforts of the Chinese government and people, on the shores of Poyang Lake, the scene of cranes dancing in groups has become the norm.
When Ms. Ushkanova, from the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) of the Russian Federation, where the white cranes breed mainly, witnessed the sight, she was so excited that she almost burst into tears. "I finally realized my childhood dream of seeing a dancing white crane."
In a letter of thanks from the Ministry of Foreign Relations and Ethnic Affairs of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) forwarded by Ushkanova to the Chinese side, he wrote: "The Sakha people believe that the white crane will bring happiness, and we sincerely hope that the outstanding work in protecting the white crane will bring happiness to you and all the Chinese people!" ”
In the Pinglu Yellow River wetland in Shanxi, several white swans frolick on the water (photo taken on March 1). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Feihang
"Swan Lake" on the banks of the Yellow River
In the Pinglu Yellow River Wetland in Pinglu County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, white swans also from Siberia have found a paradise to inhabit.
This 6,000-hectare wetland is one of the three major wintering habitats of The Chinese white swan. Every winter, tens of thousands of white swans come from Siberia to spend the winter, turning it into a huge "Swan Lake".
In order to protect the white swan, Pinglu County has successively shut down polluting enterprises around the wetlands, invested hundreds of millions of yuan to improve the ecology, and set up a protection team of more than 100 people and installed a remote video surveillance system. In the past 10 years, the government has invested 400,000 yuan per year to compensate the people around the wetlands for returning farmland to wetlands.
Every March, tens of thousands of white swans end their wintering trip in China and fly back to Siberia in droves. Provinces along the route in China have issued emergency notices to crack down on bird crimes, and specially arranged personnel to make observations to escort these "old friends".
"In addition to introducing protection policies and increasing capital investment, China's continuous improvement of the ecological environment is the best 'escort' for the migration of white swans." Zhang Jin, director of the Wildlife Conservation Station of the Pinglu County Forestry Bureau, said.
The first phase of the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity was held in Kunming from 11 to 15 October. When the first batch of wintering red-billed gulls will visit Spring City this year, all parties will discuss a new strategy for global biodiversity governance and jointly start a new process of global biodiversity governance.
In recent years, China and Russia have continued to deepen cooperation in the protection of migratory birds, and signed a series of bilateral and multilateral agreements on biodiversity conservation, such as the Memorandum of Cooperation on White Crane Research and Conservation. The number of species in the Sino-Russian cross-border nature reserve continues to grow, and wild Siberian tigers have begun to migrate freely between Chinese and Russian protected areas. The level of conservation of endangered species and biodiversity in the two countries has been continuously improved.
"Migratory birds know no borders, and they need common protection when they travel between two countries." Zhao Xuebing said that he expects that the conference will further promote cooperation between China and Russia in the field of migratory birds and other various animals and plants protection. (Contributors: Liu Shuchen, He Chunhao, Lv Mengqi)