Liu Lu
Words written on the front:
Dreaming, looking forward to wearing, impatient, stepping on iron shoes, thinking about twilight, looking forward to it, not giving up when you can't find it, etc., these exaggerated words are not enough to accurately express the ups and downs and unexpected experiences that I specifically want to find a bird, obsessed with a bird, and many times can not see.
There are more than 1,400 species of wild birds in China, and I photographed more than 900 species and seen more than 1,000 species. In this 9.6 million square kilometers of land, if you want to see these 1,400 birds in complete nature, it is almost impossible to devote your life's experience.
If you walk into the habitat of more than 1,000 birds with your own will (it covers all habitat types in China), you will have a life experience that cannot be matched by the word "tourism". Whether it is bird shooting or bird watching, everything rises with the heart and follows the fate. Most bird species are not intentionally sought and are accidentally encountered.
As more birds are encountered, people's curiosity begins to expand: how to identify, the distribution of birds, the wisdom of birds, other unsolved mysteries of birds, and so on. Suddenly, I found that there was still so much knowledge to learn. The longer you contact birds, the more attractive you will find more birds: some are bursting, some are cute and cute, some are haunted, some have explosive INTELLIGENCE, some are fierce, some are cold and handsome...
The first bird, the long-tailed broad-billed bird
I built a list of my favorite birds, and it was getting longer and longer. I began to consciously search for the bird of my choice. In the process of pursuit, I experienced all kinds of unexpected things, these twists and turns often frustrated me, after despair I seem to have been reborn, there is an experience that can not be replaced, that is, when the birds of interest are in its homeland, and at the same time in front of me that vivid, vivid scene, this is the dream into reality.
The long-tailed broadbill is the first bird on my favorite list, and it's not the time (you have to look at it in 2013, when birds are all over the country today, when the rare birds are in full view), and it sounds particularly ridiculous to look for a bird, but behind the ridiculousness is that it really happened at that time.
In 2013 and 2014, each time I drove 3,000 kilometers to Yunnan, in The Nabang Xima Ancient Road, Ruili's Nanjing, Ruili's Molly Rainforest Botanical Garden repeatedly searched. Every day, when the sky is just dark, buy tickets to enter, look closely with binoculars tree by tree, and listen to sounds in possible areas, but find nothing.
I, collapsed, unfavorable, the first battle ended in failure.
At this time, when I saw a bird friend and told me that he especially wanted to photograph the long-tailed broad-billed bird, I burst into tears and was speechless. "Not in China, but you have to photograph it when you go to Thailand," he said. "My heart suddenly brightened, why not this is a good idea, to go to Thailand, for the long-tailed toucan."
After returning home, there are many daily life chores, and slowly put aside the search for long-tailed broad-billed birds.
Long-tailed broad-billed birds
The picture above is the long-tailed broad-billed bird I dreamed of seeing, is it unique? Is it pretty? Is it worth your specific pursuit?
In the early morning of February 15, 2015, at the top of the Nabang Xima Ancient Road, while waiting for three species of hornbills, in the dark, the first picture (above) obtained by inadvertently holding a camera pressed the shutter was so sensitive that the picture did not have any clarity at all.
It was such an encounter, such a picture, that the emotions of the years were released at the moment when the shutter was pressed. This may be what people call the pursuit, the heart is full of passion to pursue things, how many times in a person's life?
From June 15, 2015 to June 22, 2015, I came to The Nonggang National Nature Reserve in Guangxi, originally to photograph the brown-crowned falcon, but the result was completely unexpected, and at this time I could only use one sentence to express "stepping on the iron shoes is nowhere to be found, and it takes no effort at all." The long-tailed broad-billed bird nests on the power line on the side of the main road in the reserve, there is no bit of obstruction left and right, this time, I am even more strange, this bird is too strange, it is a bird deep in the forest, its whereabouts are sneaky, and it does not make a sound all year round, except for chance encounters, it is not good at all, can it be a change of place, the nature has also changed?
Through a week of observation, I also found many incredible things about the long-tailed broadbill:
Such beautiful birds, the nest is like a pile of garbage, messy and ugly, they are like handsome guys who do not trim the edges;
Why choose such a bare place to nest;
Why build such a large nest;
Such a small bird, how does it carry so much and so heavy nesting material to it? And how to hang it up and be so strong?
In the summer, the subtropical forest is densely packed, and there are many birds hidden here, and only the birds themselves know. It chooses to nest on the edge of the forest, the water's edge, the road, there are many mosquitoes, the most important thing is that its natural enemies are difficult to reach its nest, this is a tactic "it seems that the most unsafe place, in fact, is the safest", do not underestimate the birds, they also have wisdom and ability that we can't imagine.
On February 11, 2016, when I was shooting "The Falcon" on the mountain with Teacher Yi YongXiongfeng, in a long wait all day, the tired two of us lay down on the ground and slept, and the bird woke up immediately when there was movement, you said, this is not an occupational disease of the bird and the illness is not light!
Just when we were both sleepy and ready to retreat, a wave of birds swept in, and the long-tailed broad-billed birds, the red-headed biting crane, the white-headed partridge, the brown-headed hook-billed partridge, etc., unexpectedly came uninvited and brought them to my camera.
Although I did not take a satisfactory picture of the long-tailed toplout bird that I had been pursuing for a long time, I saw it up close, and my heart was enough.
About the Author:
Liu Lu, post-80s, loves to photograph birds in pure natural state, wildlife photographer, photographed 920 species of wild birds in China, and is a member of the Scientific Expedition Committee of the China Wildlife Conservation Association.