Yangtze River Daily, April 2, if you look closely in the community, you will have unexpected gains. In addition to the most common birds such as sparrows, magpies, and gray magpies, water birds such as egrets and black water chickens, as well as birds of prey such as crested eagles, they are actually "neighbors" in the same community as us! On the evening of the 2nd, the launch ceremony of the book "Birds Outside the Window: Wuhan Home Bird Watching Report" will be held in Deba and Rainbow Bookstore. This book, compiled by the Wuhan Bird Watching Association's 50 community bird observation notes, presents the integration of people and birds in the city from a unique perspective.
Crested Eagle. Zhong Yongle took a photo while watching birds on the balcony
18 communities, 50 species of birds
A unique bird watching experience
The book was born out of a unique bird monitoring campaign.
During the epidemic prevention and control period in 2020, the members of the Wuhan Bird Watching Association stayed at home to fight the epidemic, and the monitoring of birds in key areas of Wuhan that has been uninterrupted since 2016 has been suspended. After a brief pause, they began to think about what to do, as a bird protection non-profit organization, could they take a special period of alternative bird diversity monitoring?
Since February, more than 20 members have set up cameras on the balcony, holding telescopes, and capturing the smart figures outside the window.
egret. Wang Lin took a photo while watching birds on the balcony
Member Hao Lijuan said that at that time, she was deeply worried and worried, and she was very shocked to see the news in the WeChat group of the association. "When is it, and how come these bird lovers are still in the mood to watch birds?" But seeing the vivid photos sent by everyone, she also joined the home bird watching activities a few days later, "Look at the birds outside the window, waiting for spring to return to the earth, it feels much better." ”
Bird watching on the balcony sounds beautiful, but in practice it is very "sadistic". Yan Jun, president of the Bird Watching Association, told the Yangtze River Daily reporter that some members live on a high floor and are far from the ground, making observation difficult; some windows are very small and there are many blind spots. But fortunately, there is enough time to calm down and wait for a long time every day; at the end of February, as the temperature rises, when the sun is shining and the weather is clear, the singing of resident birds such as crows and strong-footed tree warblers will rise and fall.
Magpies photographed on the balcony. Photo by Yan Jun
Member Bright said that bird watching from the balcony, and bird watching in the wild, is a completely different experience. "Birds in the wild always have to look up, but looking at the birds in the green belt of the community from the balcony is a kind of downward looking 'God perspective', seeing them jumping around on the branches, like a beating note."
Finally, after more than a month of hard work, they observed and recorded 50 species of wild birds in 18 communities such as Wuhan Poly City, Poly Qingneng West Coast, and Ivy Yijing Garden.
New and unique, vivid and interesting
This book takes you into the nature around you
Because he had previously edited books related to birds, in March 2020, Gao Ran, the editor of Hubei Science and Technology Publishing House, became interested in bird watching, so he often took his son's toy telescope and looked east and west on the balcony.
Yan Jun is watching birds. Photo courtesy of Yan Jun
On March 4, he saw news reports on Yan Jun's balcony bird watching on the Internet and was touched by the spirit of this group of volunteers. "The previous bird watching books were too popular, and if there was a bird watching book on the balcony, it would be of great benefit to ordinary citizens to know the birds around them." With this idea, Gao Ran contacted Yan Jun and proposed the idea of publishing a related book.
The members of the association find it very meaningful to use a book to record a special period. With the help of Gao Ran, after nearly a year of meticulous polishing, "Birds Outside the Window: Wuhan Home Bird Watching Report" was finally officially published.
Birds Outside the Window: Wuhan Home Bird Watching Report.
The Yangtze River Daily reporter opened this book with exquisite binding and design, and saw that the whole book was composed of 50 observation notes of more than 20 members, which were divided into 6 parts according to the types of birds, such as songbirds, climbing birds, land birds, wading birds, game birds, and birds of prey. Each handwritten note is a bird, which not only records the process of observing each bird, the physical characteristics and life habits of each bird, but also interesting stories about this bird, including some of the author's own thoughts.
Red-billed blue magpie photographed on the balcony. Photo by Yan Jun
This book presents pictures of you and me. For example, the mynah who makes a home in the exhaust pipe, the white-cheeked noisy stork that wakes us up every day, and the sparrow that bounces around the branches of the community to eat fruit. The language in the book is also very vivid, such as the red-headed long-tailed, because of its sharp eyes, it is jokingly called Angry Birds; the gray magpie's bright black head is wearing a helmet, which is likened to masked Zoro, and the crow's call has a metallic texture and is called Black Golden Song King... Children will not feel difficult to read.
"This book records the birds outside the window during the epidemic prevention and control period, as well as the people inside the window." Sun Lili, president of the Alxa SEE Ecological Association, commented on the book, saying, "These observers have long been involved in the public welfare undertakings of bird rescue and bird habitat protection, showing the Wuhan spirit of 'dare to be the first'. I hope more people fall in love with the birds outside the window through this book. ”
Yang Rui is bird watching. Courtesy of Yang Rui
Be "neighbors" with red-billed gulls and egrets
Wuhan is truly a city on a wetland
"50 species! The result surprised each of us. Yan Jun said frankly that in everyone's expectations, the birds observed in the community should be about 30 of the most common species in Wuhan.
Among the 50 species of birds, there are 6 species of nomads, namely spot-billed ducks, green-headed ducks, small plovers, crested ibises, common cormorants, and red-billed gulls; there are 3 species of wading birds, namely gray-headed wheat chickens, black waterfowl and egrets.
moorhen. Vermilion swallow photographed while bird watching on the balcony
Inland, water birds composed of gamers and waders mainly inhabit various wetlands such as rivers, lakes and ponds. "To find so many water bird 'neighbors' in the community, I have to say that Wuhan is really a 'city on the wetland': the water network is dense, there are many lakes, and the wetland resources are very rich." Yan Jun said.
However, after careful analysis, it was found that the appearance of these water birds also had a regular pattern to follow. Located in the Yuyuan Community of Huazhong University of Science and Technology on the edge of the East Lake, the Donglin Wailu Community on the edge of the South Lake, the Vanke Golden Mile Blue Bay near the Triangle Lake, the Napa Valley and the west coast of Poly Qingneng on the edge of The Townsen Lake are all close to the lake, so they have become the main observation points for water birds.
In addition, some hunting masters, such as crested eagles, sparrowhawks, kestrels, etc., have also appeared in the community and become our "good neighbors".
"More bird species have been observed than expected, is there any relationship with reduced human activity?" The Yangtze River Daily reporter asked a question. "It doesn't matter much." Yan Jun answered. He went on to explain that the reduction in human activity would not change much in the range of bird activity, but only the ease of seeing birds. In fact, they used to be around us, but they may be hiding in places we can't see, and when human activity decreases, they may appear in everyone's field of vision for a longer time, and it is easier to observe them. "Through this special observation, we found that the nature around us is so colorful." (Yang Xiaoyu, reporter of Yangtze River Daily, correspondent Zhao Xuan, Zhao Yinfei)
【Editor: Deng Laxiu】