white-winged tern
"Travel thousands of miles through the desert, and fight for the Xiongnu for the king." The road is poor and the blade is destroyed, and the soldiers are destroyed by the name of the tui. The old mother is dead, and though she wants to repay the favor, she will return safely! "The Book of Han and the Biography of Su Wu records that after the death of Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Zhao of Han ascended the throne, and Han and xiongnu were friendly, and the envoys of the Han Dynasty hoped to release Su Wu, who had been detained in the early years, and only allowed Su Wu to return to Han. 3 years ago, Li Ling, who attacked the Xiongnu on the orders of Emperor Wu of Han, fell due to a fiasco, and his mother, brother and wife were all killed by Emperor Wu of Han, at this time he sent off Su Wu with wine, felt it, danced and sang, and there was this "Other Song" that has been passed down through the ages. The historical entanglement between the Central Plains Huaxia and the grassland tribes is a tragic epic, and the winding Great Wall is only to block the horseshoe in the north, but in the end it cannot be stopped.
General Bubbles
Nowadays, Beijingers go to the grasslands in the summer to take a nap, out of the Great Wall, and it takes less than a few hours to arrive. Along the way, you can enjoy the scenery of Yanshan Mountains and grasslands. Xiongguan Mandao, the desert sand field, the smoke cloud of history only when the story is told, as a pastime. Luo Xin, a professor of history at Peking University, was curious that the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty moved north and south between Dadu (Beijing) and Shangdu every year, spending winter and summer, and once used the summer vacation to hike for half a month and measure between the two capitals, and then someone asked: What did you find? Luo Xin replied: Nothing was found. However, he wrote a small book "From Dadu to Shangdu", which is very readable. When we returned from the Ulanbutong grassland to the west, we really wanted to fork out and see the only remaining Yuan Shangdu in the ruins.
Overlooking saihan dam in the distance
Distant view of grassland desertification
Today's Ulan buton grasslands are still beautiful and sad than they were seen 5 years ago. The beauty of the grasslands benefits from the favorable time and place. It is said that this year's rain is particularly good, and it is a good time to go in late July, and the wildflowers in the field, from near and far, can not see the edge. The grasslands protected by seine seines are not up to the level of "wind blowing grass and low cattle and sheep", but they also make people who watch them praise and linger. A few years ago, I went to Hulunbuir, the arid grassland, which really can't be flattered. From Chengde and The Paddock through Saihan Dam into the Ulan Butong Grassland, all the way to the scenery. The most beautiful grassland has the most fertile land. It can be seen from the small ravines washed by the rainwater that the thick black soil will not be desertified as long as it is not overgrazed. In the surrounding areas of severe desertification, the topsoil is only a layer, and a foot below is sand, as long as this layer is destroyed, desertification is like a scar on people's skin. Although the treatment of grassland desertification has achieved initial results, no one who has seen the scars will forget, unless you are the one who is insensitive.
ruddy shelduck
General Baozi, a famous ancient battlefield in Ulanbutong, is said to have been fought here when the Kangxi Emperor personally conquered Geldan. In the evening, I came to see the water birds in this area of water. The haze receded, the blue sky and white clouds were exposed, and the light was sprinkled on the surrounding sandy land, which was particularly dazzling. Strict grassland protection, the path leading to the blisters can only be passed by one person in one row. It was late afternoon and there were not many tourists. The surface of the water still seems to be so large, because there are abrupt mountains in the distance, and the flat landscape becomes three-dimensional. From a distance, there are several wild ducks on the water, and the species is not easy to confirm. Extending south to the southeast of the blister, there are large shallow swamps, lush water grasses, and the ancient "jagged watercress" with small yellow flowers, flowing left and right, and the land plugged here is dotted with sparkling water waves. It's suitable for water birds.
Red-headed diving duck female
The first thing you see is the white-winged floating gulls flying on the water, all of which are single, back and forth, and are not afraid of people. There are 3 kinds of floating gulls in China, the common ones are gray-winged floating gulls (whiskered floating gulls) and white-winged floating gulls, the breeding area of gray-winged floating gulls, from the south of the Yangtze River to Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang, the area is vast, almost all over the eastern half of China; the distribution of white-winged floating gulls is relatively sparse, mainly in the northeast and northwest of Xinjiang. In late May, off the coast of the Yellow Sea in Shandong Province, small flocks of white-winged floating gulls were observed, and in Beijing's Summer Palace, two species formed large flocks of about 30, operating on the surface of Tuancheng Lake. Back in Beijing a few days later, while watching the white pelicans at the Shahe Reservoir, several of them skimmed over the water. This is the breeding season, and the white-winged floating gull will build its nest on the flowing water in the habitat in front of it as a floating nest. Judging by the signs, there does not seem to be a nest nearby, otherwise, if someone approaches, it will fly over and attack. Defending their homeland, terns (floating gulls belong to the tern class) have strong behavior.
rook
Japanese Pine Sparrowhawk, too far away
Across the water, there is a pair of red hemp ducks in the middle of the wild grass. The red hemp duck is roughly orange-yellow, and when one of them flies, the small half-black wings are particularly striking against the background of the golden grass. The breeding area of the red hemp duck is continuously distributed from eastern Inner Mongolia to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It was seen in July 2019 in Namtso, Tibet, and now it is seen again in the summer of the Mongolian plateau. On the ancient battlefield, looking at it from a distance, it was so holy. The couple did not go deeper into the grassland, where they were in a safe corner and did not know how they would breed this year. On the surface of the water, a female red-headed diving duck flies, her abdomen appears white, and the inside of its wings is white, which is particularly dazzling, and its wings are powerful. Wild ducks always appear so robust. In the aquatic weeds, there is a female duck with two young birds, dodging and dodging. After all, the neighborhood is full of tourists every day, and there is no way to hide a large group here.
Morning dove
A red-footed sandpiper rose in the air, and its chirping was far enough to break the silence of the steppe. Only to see it fly a few times back and forth, and then I don't know the end. A single bird, flying in the air and even a little frightened, seems to be very out of proportion to the peaceful grassland. Birds are rarely heard in the summer grasslands, except for the loud voices of crows. White-winged floating gulls are usually silent, and they spend time with a red-footed sandpiper, whether it is short or long. The red-footed sandpiper appears here, right on the southern border of its breeding area. So it's not unusual to meet. Most of the plover breeds further north, before they migrate south. This lone bird may be wandering here. Sub-adult birds that do not participate in breeding tend to do so.
redshank
Black-necked pelican
Of course, there are black-necked pelicans and small pelicans in the water. Small-necked pelicans are common everywhere, but not black-necked pelicans, which are easier to see in grassland waters during the breeding season. These two small species of birds are migratory birds with weak flight ability, and for many years, I have always wondered how they have migrated over long distances. It seems ridiculous to think of the stupidity of man and the stupidity of the worried bird. There is also a white bone top in the aquatic grass. There are all kinds of occurrences, and the variety and number are limited. Continuing to walk, a yellow wagtail comes to the eye with its tail feathers, which turns out to be the southern boundary of the breeding of this partridge. The subspecies of the Wagtails are very complex, and when I came back, I watched this one for half a day. At that time, it was thought to be a gray wagtail, the throat of the gray wagtail was black or white, and most of the subspecies of the yellow wagtail had a yellow throat, which was this one, but its eyebrow pattern features were not typical. Another feature that distinguishes the Yellow Wagtail from other Wagtails is that the tail feathers are shorter. Bird watching and bird watching, recognizing subspecies of partridges is the real kung fu.
Yellow Wagtail
I also want to get closer, expect to find something, accidentally step into the water under my feet, and quickly retreat. Farther away, a wild duck with a group of small dolls, whether it was a mallard or something else, could not be seen clearly. Looking back at the western sky, the sunset is imminent, and in the middle of the sky, there are tourists riding a carriage to see the large blisters that are said to have been shocked by a cannon blast of one of the Kangxi generals. In the sunset, the horses scattered, brown-red, gray-white, chestnut-black, and the male horses hissed with their noses, which could not help but remind people of the red-maned horses on the ancient battlefield, and the full riders in the fight. A nation on horseback is a heroic nation. The so-called Han nationality in the Central Plains of China has long been integrated into the genes of the steppe peoples, and it has begun before the fight against Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.