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Modern Express News (reporter Cai Mengying Wang Yi/Wen) In the steel forest of the busy traffic, after the heavy rain, a small puddle was accidentally formed, brown-backed Burrow, gray magpie, mountain spotted dove... Dozens of species of birds inhabit here, bathing, drinking water and courting. A weasel came here to forage for food and returned months later with its family. In the deep night, a hedgehog rummaged through the dirt with its round ass in search of food... From the early summer when the water and grass are abundant to the early spring when the ice and snow melt the following year, the nature blogger "@Jiamei Cat" uses infrared cameras to record the four seasons of life of wild animals in the city.
△ Birds bathe in puddles
A 9-and-a-half-minute video condenses the spring, summer, autumn, and winter of the small puddle
At the moment when short videos are popular, this 9-and-a-half-minute-long film seems a bit long. There is no high-definition 8K camera, no cool transition editing, no beautiful and romantic filters, and the tone of the picture is full of pristine gray fluttering. But it was such a video, less than 24 hours after its release, received nearly 30,000 likes, more than 2,000 comments, and more than 20,000 retweets. Judging from the forwarded comments, it has not only attracted popular science authors, animal protection bloggers and other people who pay attention to wild animals, but also received praise from film critics, illustrators, education bloggers and other cross-border big Vs, and the circle breaking layer has attracted the attention of a large number of netizens.
△ The grey magpie heard the news and rushed
When you look at it, the camera is focused on a small puddle of water, floating dead branches and falling Privet leaves. In the commentary, "@Jiamei Cat" tells that the continuous rain in early summer contributed to the formation of this small ecological circle, a gray-backed Burrow landed here, gray magpies, mountain doves, white-headed grebes, white-bellied plovers also heard the news, and more than a dozen birds drank water, bathed and foraged here. As night falls, birds return home, a weasel takes a leisurely bath in the water, and in the infrared camera lens, it is slender and its eyes are shining. In the vertical mirror experiment placed, the gray-breasted bamboo chicken constantly emits a threatening chirp to another figure in the mirror. Little hedgehog, weasels and a family of four, South China rabbits... New friends keep visiting this little puddle.
△ The Weasels came to drink water
From winter to spring, the time on the infrared camera jumped from May 2020 to March 2021, and the camera captured 34 species of birds, 3 species of mammals and 1 species of amphibians. Many netizens have therefore ignited their interest in wildlife observation, some people said that they wanted to take advantage of the spring light to enter nature, and some people said that this short film is as romantic as a fairy tale.
The first record is full of rewards! Photograph 8 different species of birds in less than 24 hours
△ Tai Mingshu went to Qinghai Bujiagangri Snow Mountain self-driving tour Interviewee provided a picture
"@Jiamei Cat" is a nature lover, real name is Tai Mingshu, who previously worked in a public welfare organization and likes to travel and photograph flowers and plants in his spare time. Earlier, she was a pure plant lover, patting flowers and trees everywhere. In 2017, because I met some friends who were committed to protecting the giant pandas in Qinling, I began to pay attention to wildlife protection.
The video recording the wildlife neighbors in front of the house was first inspired by Zhang Dongsheng, an associate professor at Shanghai Ocean University. At the beginning, in order to test the infrared camera used for scientific research, he set up a camera near his home, and as a result, he captured the picture of a small hedgehog hiding under the wall and drinking water. "At that time, when I watched Teacher Zhang's small video, I was particularly envious, thinking that the small animals were particularly cute, if only I could shoot them."
△ South China rabbit
Coincidentally, more than a month later, she received an infrared camera from a friend, and the shooting plan was gradually put on the agenda. She chose a small forest next to a factory in Nanjing's Qixia District, across the wall from the main road, not far from residential areas and commercial streets.
In the early summer of May, it rained continuously, and a small puddle naturally formed here. "We all know that if there is a water source, it will be easier to attract animals." The camera was set up, and as for what she could shoot, her heart was bottomless. "I also asked people who had lived here for five or six years, and they all said that there were no wild animals here, at most rats and snakes."
△ Magpie
A week later, she retrieved the camera for the first time, and the result was completely unexpected. In less than 24 hours, the camera captured 8 different species of birds playing in a puddle drinking water. "I was so excited, I saw weasels, I photographed seven or eight species of birds, and then I photographed stray cats coming to drink water. I used to love mammals like giant pandas, and for the first time I felt that the little birds were so cute and exciting! ”
△ Weasel
In the words, you can also feel Tai Mingshu's excitement at that time, she vividly shared the bits and pieces in the picture: "The birds like to bathe in the water, and the hairs of the little magpies are wet, like chickens in the soup, and then they shake their heads and tails there." There are also weasels that also bathe in small puddles, making people feel relaxed and comfortable, as if they also have a human personality. ”
She recorded all these feelings and posted them on the public account, which attracted a lot of friends to watch. "Some of them do urban wildlife conservation research, and some of them are bird watchers. They all thought that my approach was very good, encouraged me to continue to insist, and made some suggestions, and I felt that this could be filmed. Wang Fang, a researcher at the School of Life Sciences at Fudan University, is an expert in conservation biology. When he saw it, he suggested that she do some vertical mirror experiments to better observe the animal's behavior.
△ Hedgehog
Spotted doves, squids, and magpies often live in small puddles, and they love to be in a daze under the lens
"There was no experience at first, the camera may be too far away, or too high, or the angle is not right, and it has been adjusted many times. Coupled with the unfamiliarity with the camera function, it is a relatively stable state after half a year. "Every week or two, she has to go get the data, change the camera battery, etc. Every time the memory card is almost stuffed, "every time there are one or two thousand pieces of data, about six or seven thousand a month, every week to delete, otherwise the computer will not be able to save." Almost every weekend, I spend an afternoon or two watching the video. Every time I watched it, I was particularly tired, and I felt that myopia had to deepen by 100 degrees. ”
△ Black-collared starling
The collected data actually has a lot of repetitive shots. Gradually, she found the residents by the small puddle, "for example, the spotted dove is in a daze here, and the crow is in a daze when the crow comes, or the magpie is there in a daze." ”
Time passed slowly, and the excitement at first faded. For amateurs, persistence is harder. Every time she travels, she remembers the small puddle and asks her friends to help collect data, replace batteries, and so on.
△ Wyeth's Tiger Plover
From the early summer of May 2020 to the early spring of March 2021, two cameras have recorded the four seasons of the small puddle. Tai Mingshu said: "My biggest touch is that in the main urban area of the big city, around us, there are still so many wild animals living with us. But we all ignored them. Tens of thousands of records saved in the computer drove her to edit a video and tell more people what she saw. In the early stages, she spent a long time sifting through the footage, then spent 2 days editing and 1 day recording the narration herself. After the release of this video of "Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter of a Small Water hole", it quickly became popular across the Internet.
"Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter in a Small Puddle" is out of the loop and praised as "an ecological documentary in the backyard"
Because a video suddenly "went out of the circle", this was something that Tai Mingshu did not expect. The popular science big V "skinny camel" is even more praised as "a model of ecological record, ecological documentary in the backyard".
In the comment area, netizens wrote down a message with a sense of truth. "After carefully reading it, it is really heartfelt, healing and touching ~ Although it is only more than 9 minutes, behind it is a continuous record of the year, watching the rotation of the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, birds and animals enjoying this small world in the cracks of the city, you can understand how important it is to leave them living space." "It's so fun and innocent, it feels like I'm back in my childhood in my language class, and nature has become our best friend again." "So interesting, very much appreciated! In fact, there are wild animals in the parkland in the city, but the pace of life is too fast and too fast, and there is no opportunity to calm down and observe carefully. Paying attention to the wildlife around you is the best individual can do for ecological conservation. "This can be shown to the children, so that they know that in addition to humans, there are many small creatures living in the city." Due to the environment and the way of parenting, today's children lack understanding of plants, trees, birds and beasts, and if they can really understand and contact these, they will definitely be more interested in learning. ”
Today, next to the small puddle, two infrared cameras are still working, recording the bits and pieces of what happens at all times. Because of this video, she has a lot of followers. Tai Mingshu said sincerely: "So many animals share this piece of homeland with us, and they are also the masters here." I hope that through this video, more people will understand this. When we carry out urban construction, can we also think that cities are not only human beings, but also many animals? When building cities, should we also think more about them, reserve some space that is conducive to their lives, and enrich the biodiversity of the city. ”
(Image is a screenshot of the video Provided by the interviewee)