Sanxiang Metropolis Daily reporter Li Chenghui Yang Jiegui video clip Wang Jue picture courtesy of the correspondent For details, please refer to the pictures of each picture
(Migratory bird migration.) Peng Qingmo Photography)
Every year in the autumn, flocks of migratory birds take off from Siberia, the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, the North China Plain and other places, and fly to southern China for wintering through the three roads of east, middle and west. Hunan, Jiangxi and other places located in the central region have formed extremely narrow migration channels, which have become the "thousand-year bird road" that must be passed through by migratory birds from the central route to the south.
Recently, on this "millennium bird road", migratory birds have successively ushered in the transit of migratory birds. In the verdant and hazy mountains, flocks of migratory birds fly high through the valley. Such a spectacular scene of thousands of birds flying together has attracted many tourists from inside and outside the province to come and watch.
(Sandpiper herd.) Photo by Yao Yi)
Scene: The Millennium Bird Trail welcomes the first migratory birds of this autumn
Recently, in the Blue Mountain Cloud Iceberg Scenic Area of Yongzhou City, thousands of migratory birds flew through the mountains without hurrying, soothing and calmly, presenting a beautiful picture of "green mountains and beautiful water egrets flying".
Yun Iceberg is located in the Nanling Mountains, spanning the four main peaks of Dupangling, Xifengling, Dongbianling and Hululing, with an average altitude of more than 1200 meters, which is the outlet of the north-south air flow and the migration of migratory birds.
At this time of year, tens of millions of migratory birds migrating from the Luoxiao Mountains and the Xuefeng Mountains migrate south and north at the pass under the Yunbingshan Bird Watching Platform, which is very spectacular.
When the local forestry department and bird-loving volunteers conducted bird surveys, they found that the cloud iceberg gathered nearly 20 kinds of birds such as red-billed acacia birds, blue-throated tigers, thrushes, common eagles, large-billed crows, and black short-legged plovers, accounting for about 20% of the birds found in the Blue Mountains.
The Cloud Iceberg is one of the most important passage points in the Blue Mountains' "Millennium Bird Road". According to reports, the Blue Mountains transit more than 100 species of migratory birds every year, and when they migrate south, they will pass through Maojun, Pulp Cave, Nanfeng Pass and other places in Lanshan County.
(Hunan Shuangpai Riyue lake national wetland park - China Autumn Sand Duck.) Cao Jianjun)
Bird Shooter: Wait only for that moment
Located in Vulture Peak Village, Xiacun Township, Yanling County, Niutou Pass is also a necessary passage for migratory birds to cross the two provinces of Xianggan and Gansu. Every autumn, there are more than 200 species of migratory birds that migrate through the Niutou Pass in Xiacun Township. Among them, there are 126 species of rare and precious birds protected by the state, and 36 species of 6 orders and 6 families that are under national key protection.
"It's done, it's filmed." At 4 p.m. on September 8, at the edge of a pond in Tangwang Village, Luyuan Town, Yanling County, more than a dozen whiskered floating gulls flew in, and in a flash, the camera shutter sounded, and Liu Weiwen, a bird enthusiast, locked the target with a "small steel cannon" - a telephoto lens, and kept pressing the camera shutter.
"Two yesterday, four today." The whiskered gulls make crisp cries, and they either circle back and forth or stand in the pond, which are all fixed by Liu Weiwen on the camera display.
"Bird shooting is a challenge, there is a lot of excitement and the joy of success, once you come into contact with bird shooting, you will fall in love with this activity and will love birds more." Liu Weiwen, 54 years old this year, is a bird photographer who has been in the industry for more than 2 years, and as long as he has time, he will come to the pond to photograph birds. In order to get closer to the birds and better capture the various forms of migratory birds, often "hiding" in the tent, aiming at alert birds tens of meters or even hundreds of meters away with a camera with a long lens, so that a stay is a few hours, the longest stay is 12 hours, but if you can take a wonderful moment, he will feel that "everything is worth it."
In Liu Weiwen's view, if you want to shoot birds well, you must first understand them and find out the habits, and now he can almost call out the names of all the common birds in Hunan and even in China, and say their characteristics.
Liu Weiwen told reporters that with the increasing improvement of the ecological environment in Yanling County and the enhancement of people's awareness of loving birds and protecting birds, the number and variety of birds in the county have increased significantly, in addition to the whiskered floating gulls, black-winged sandpipers, white-waisted grass sandpipers, black water chickens and other birds have also stopped in Yanling County. These migratory birds generally stay for about three days, rest and replenish food, and then continue to fly south through the bird path to winter in coastal areas or Southeast Asia.
Nowadays, more and more foreign photography enthusiasts have rushed to Yanling to capture the agile moments of migratory birds. The tourism authorities of Yanling County also intend to launch bird watching photography tourism routes to attract more tourists and promote the tourism industry of Yanling County to a higher level.
(Hunan Taoyuan Yuanshui National Wetland Park - China Autumn Sand Duck.) ）
Data: There are 288,000 wintering migratory birds in the province
Hunan belongs to the main passage provinces for migratory birds in the country, and every spring to May and autumn from September to November, migratory birds mainly travel along three routes: Xuefeng Mountain Range, Luoxiao Mountain Range and Wuling Mountain Range.
Some experts said that there are more birds migrating through our province, and there are hundreds of historical statistics. Hunan, where the ecological environment is getting better and better, a large number of migratory birds come here every autumn to spend the winter, and the Dongting Lake area is their main wintering habitat.
In recent years, with the return of forests to lakes and the demolition of a large number of dwarf enclosures and net enclosures, the ecology of Dongting Lake wetlands has been rapidly restored, and the number of migratory birds in winter has begun to rise year by year. In January this year, a synchronous survey of wintering waterbirds in the middle of the Dongting Lake Area surveyed a total of 53 species of wintering waterbirds in 7 orders and 12 families 288157, an increase of 41,089 year-on-year, an increase of 16.6%, and the number and species of birds were the highest in the past decade.
The top three are ribbed ducks, bean geese and green-winged ducks, accounting for about 22.5%, 20% and 8% of the total respectively. More than 10,000 birds of 7 species under national key protection have been monitored, among which the national first-level protected birds include black storks, white cranes, white-headed cranes, etc., and national second-level protected birds include white spoonbills, baby swans, white-fronted geese, gray cranes, etc.
(Photo by Li Jianzhi.) ）
Protection: Migratory birds move south, hand in hand "escort"
For migratory birds, migration requires a lot of physical exertion and overcoming difficulties to finally reach their destination, which is a difficult journey. While battling overwork, hunger and cold, and illegal hunting, it has created one of the most magnificent natural scenes on the planet. The good news is that in recent years, our province has set up a safe "passage" for migratory birds with practical actions.
Entering September, Qiu Hanbing was busy again. Qiu is a staff member of the Wildlife Conservation Station of the Lanshan County Forestry Bureau, and his skin has become darker in the past 10 years of going up the mountain to protect birds and the wind and the sun. Regardless of the wind and the sun, every year during the migration season of migratory birds, he and his teammates will board the South Wind Pass on time and cross more than 10 miles of mountain roads to patrol the mountains and protect birds and publicize the knowledge of bird protection.
Since 2012, Lanshan County has increased the protection of migratory birds, organized the Wildlife Protection Station of the Forestry Bureau, the law enforcement brigade and the forest public security personnel to set up a bird protection patrol team, which has now grown to more than 50 team members. During the migration period of migratory birds in spring and autumn every year, they are divided into three groups according to the migration route of migratory birds, and all-weather bird protection patrols are implemented, and at the same time, volunteers are guided to set up a civil bird protection team to jointly protect the migration of migratory birds.
At present, the Yanling County Forestry Bureau has also entered the "special protection period", and the staff of the Forestry Bureau, the forest public security and the staff of the Xiacun Township have been arranged to adhere to the 100-day all-weather and all-round patrol duty at the Niutou Pass Migratory Bird Protection Station in Xiacun Township. At the same time, it has also established a joint defense mechanism with neighboring counties to severely crack down on illegal hunting, poisoning and purchasing of migratory birds.
It is understood that since 2012, our province has established 43 migratory bird protection stations in the key areas of migratory bird migration in the Dongting Lake Area, xuefeng mountain range, Luoxiao mountain range and Wuling mountain range to achieve full coverage of key areas for migratory bird protection, and to implement 24-hour on-duty patrol throughout the migratory bird migration season. All localities in our province have also actively organized ecological rangers to stop and investigate illegal hunting of migratory birds, and carry out activities such as net clearing, sleeve clearance, clipping and removal of poisonous bait on a large scale. The long-term continuous patrol and crackdown has greatly reduced the illegal behavior of destroying bird resources such as bird hunting in the province, and the historical bird fighting points have been transformed into "bird protection points" and "bird watching points".
In addition, the province has established a total of 586 nature reserves of various types at all levels, with a total area of 2.3852 million hectares, accounting for 11.3% of the province's land area, providing a good ecological protection for migratory birds to roost and forage.
It is worth mentioning that the forestry departments at all levels in our province have also joined hands with public security, market supervision and management, and other relevant departments to supervise and inspect artificial breeding units, places of operation and utilization, transportation and delivery enterprises, e-commerce platforms, etc., strictly investigate the illegal sale of prohibited hunting tools and poisonous bait in accordance with the law, and strictly investigate criminal responsibility once illegal hunting, trading, transportation, eating migratory birds and other wild animals violate criminal laws.
(Photo by Li Jianzhi. ）
Story: He spent 5 years of protection in exchange for the safe migration of migratory birds
On September 2, "Birdman" Liu Weiwen took on a new identity - a volunteer of the Yanling Escort Team of the China Wildlife Conservation Association. The 55-year-old Zhou Xinwen, as the captain of the Yanling Escort Flight Team, has 6 years of experience in bird protection, and at present, he is making preliminary preparations for the "Millennium Bird Road" Xianggan Migratory Bird Guardian Support Patrol Joint Guarantee Linkage launched at the end of the month to ensure the safe transit of migratory birds.
The relationship with birds originated in 2015. In August of that year, Zhou Xinwen passed through Xiacun Township in Yanling County, and inadvertently learned from the mouths of local villagers that someone went up the mountain at night, lit a bonfire at the mountain pass, set up a strong light, used bamboo poles and nets, and hunted birds. Zhou Xinwen admitted that his most heartache is to see someone catching birds, beating birds, and harming birds, and all he can do is to do his best to protect the safe migration of migratory birds.
Since then, Zhou Xinwen has become a flight escort volunteer, often driving a vehicle, leading the bird protection volunteers to patrol the thousand-year bird road in the Shennong Valley, Dayuan Farm, Xiacun Township Niutou Pass in Yanling County, and Changping Township, Yingpanwei Township and Daijiapu Township in Suichuan County, Jiangxi Province. "The county seat is 60 kilometers to Xiacun Township and 100 kilometers to Yingpanwei, and in some places the car cannot be walked, so you have to walk and climb the mountain."
Zhou Xinwen recalled the last time they participated in the crackdown on illegal bird hunting, at 2 a.m. that night, they heard the mournful cries of migratory birds and found that someone hunted migratory birds with strong lights. We crouched at the intersection of the downhill hill until the poachers came down. ”
In addition to daily patrols, in the spring and autumn, flight protection volunteers will also cooperate with the Wild Protection Station of the Forestry Bureau and the Law Enforcement Brigade of the Forest Public Security Bureau to carry out publicity, patrols and late-night squatting activities in the "Millennium Bird Road" and the areas under the jurisdiction of the county to escort the safe transit of migratory birds.
"Birds are the 'barometer' of the ecological environment, and more and more migratory birds are gathering, indicating that the environment in Hunan is getting better and better." Zhou Xinwen said that with the improvement of laws and the increase of people's awareness of protection, the phenomenon of illegal bird hunting has been greatly reduced in recent years, and now not only on the "Millennium Bird Road" but also in Yanling County, birds can be seen soaring freely under the blue sky.
Bird experts remind that migratory birds are nationally protected animals and are easily frightened, and tourists should keep quiet when watching birds, and a little wind and grass may scare these elves away; Tourists should not feed on migratory birds, which are an important link in the biological chain, and human food will also break this balance and destroy the ecological balance. Love birds and protect birds from me, civilized bird watching and bird shooting, do not interfere with the normal habitat and migration of migratory birds.
Link: Bird watching map
East Dongting Lake: The first bird watching can start with water birds. Because the waterfowl is large and the habitat is open, it is easier to observe and identify. East Dongting Lake is suitable for water birds. Dongdongting Lake is located in Yueyang Junshan District, which is an internationally important wetland with extremely rich biodiversity. T-shaped causeway and Caisang Lake are the main winter migratory bird habitats of Dongdongting Lake, known for geese and ducks and sandpipers, especially small white-fronted geese, threaded ducks, white spoonbills, and regurgitated sandpipers, and grey cranes, white-headed cranes and white-naped cranes can be observed along the levee.
West Dongting Lake: Located in Hanshou County, Changde, West Dongting Lake, with a total area of more than 35,000 hectares, is one of the most biodiverse areas of freshwater wetlands in China. Tens of thousands of acres of natural reed forests here are the favorite of migratory birds. Every winter, thousands of migratory birds overwinter in the area, of which more than 20 kinds of birds are protected by the state first and second level, with rare and endangered species such as black storks and white cranes being the most unique.
South Dongting Lake: Flooded lake, water falls for the continent. Due to the confluence of the Xiang, Zi, Yuan, Li and Yangtze Rivers, the wetland appearance of Nandongting Lake, located near the city of Yuanjiang in Yiyang, changes significantly with the amount of water. South Dongting Lake is a natural labyrinth and a biological genetic pool. The 24,000-hectare Lake Island reeds are the world's largest reed community and the best habitat for birds, with nationally protected animals such as white cranes, white-headed cranes, and Chinese autumn sand ducks observed.
Of course, there are also many good places for bird watching near Changsha. For example, Songya Lake, Yang Lake, Meixi Lake, Qianlong Lake, Daze Lake and Changxing Lake in Liuyang.