Blue sea oasis Birds fly fish leap
——The story of Beilun Hekou National Nature Reserve in Guangxi
Guangxi News Network-Guangxi Daily reporter Yuan Lin correspondent Li Peng Yang Xiaoling
At the beginning of this year, Guangxi Beilun Hekou National Nature Reserve welcomed 3 new "guests" - black-necked falcon, boot falcon eagle and small sandpiper.
Why say "again"? Because in recent years, the reserve has continuously welcomed "guests" of birds that have never met, and the total number of bird species visiting the reserve or even settling down has been refreshed every year, with the largest number of new species being added 22 species in a year.
With high-quality mangrove ecosystems and biodiversity advantages, the reserve has been included in the list of wetlands of international importance and approved by the United Nations Environment Programme as the only international mangrove demonstration area of the GeISH project in China. Recently, the reporter walked into the protected area of the oasis of the blue sea and the birds flying and fish leaping, and indulged in the original ecological story of the harmonious coexistence of man and nature.
Bird Story:
Distinguished guests have come to visit the feast and the birds are happy
The story of the reserve is told by 3 small water birds with short-billed mouths.
On December 27 last year, when Tang Shangbo, a staff member of the reserve, conducted daily bird monitoring, he found three small water birds in the grassland and took a set of photos and videos. Later, it was identified by Professor Jiang Aiwu of the College of Forestry of Guangxi University and confirmed as a rare bird - the white-browed field chicken.
The white-browed pheasant is characterized by olive-brown eye-piercing stripes, a white eyebrow stripe above it and a white stripe below, and its main residence is Southeast Asia and northern Australia, which is difficult to find in China. Judging from the current number of domestic records, guangxi records are relatively large, but there are only 3 times.
Such a "distinguished guest" visit has made bird lovers across the country flock to it. Knowing that the baimei field chicken appeared in the reserve for the first time, the netizen "Tingcao", who was watching birds in Chongqing, flew to Guangxi that night and went straight to the reserve. Every weekend in the following half a month, all kinds of "spear cannons" were set up on the field, and once the birds were found to appear to feed, it was a "wild bombardment".
Located in the southwesternmost part of mainland China, this protected area is located on the passage of the "East Coast of Asia" bird migration route and the "Central Siberian-Central China" inland bird migration route, and is a relay station for international migratory birds, with more than 100,000 birds passing through or flying to the reserve for wintering every year.
The oasis blue wave flock of birds flying is a classic shot of the reserve. In mid-February, in the banyan head area of the reserve, even at the unfavorable time of bird watching at low tide, our cameras recorded postcard-like beauty everywhere we looked.
The Pearl Bay area in the reserve grows the largest contiguous mangrove forest, pure forest and rat community on the coast of mainland China, which is a typical bay mangrove forest and a rare large area of mangrove forest below average sea level.
Good ecosystems have bred a richer variety of species, with 155 species of macrobenthics and 58 species of fish. This green ecological barrier built on the southwest maritime border of China has become a "paradise" for all kinds of waterfowl and birds.
"Last October, a group of black-winged long-legged sandpipers who flew in from the north and transited, when they first arrived at the reserve, were thin and hairy, and after more than ten days of 'gluttony', they became healthy and bright." Su Bo, director of the Protected Area Management Office, said.
Beilun Hekou Conservation Area has welcomed more and more "distinguished guests". At present, there are 278 species of birds, which is 1.5 times that of 2010, and the number of mangrove reserves ranks first in the country. Among them, the spoon-billed sandpiper, which has a global population of less than 100 pairs, is on the verge of extinction; the black-faced spoonbill discovered in 2014, known as the "giant panda of the sea"; and the giant swan, a national second-level protected animal visited in 2016, filling the gap in the bird record in Guangxi.
Human Stories:
Defenders stand firm and do not fight to make friends just to gather strength
The protagonist of the story changes from a bird to a person, and it is certain that you cannot miss the Guangxi "bird man" - Tang Shangbo, who occupies a place in the national bird watching circle.
Tang Shangbo is responsible for the monitoring of birds in the reserve and has been paying attention to birds for more than a decade.
At about 10:00 a.m. on February 12, due to the low tide level, the birds flew to the depths of the beach to feed, which was not a good time for bird watching. Driving to Xinji Village, Jiangshan Town, Fangchenggang, Tang Shangbo stopped and pointed to the shrimp pond 200 meters away and said that there were birds there. We looked in the direction he was pointing, but we found nothing.
He got out of the car and took out "a short gun and a long cannon" from the rear compartment and set it up properly. With the help of the high-powered telescope, we can see the black-winged sandpipers neatly arranged around the shrimp pond, which is spectacular. Counting, as he estimated, there were more than 300 of them.
Along the way, Tang Shangbo first smelled the sound and identified the birds, and then let us use the telescope to confirm, without a single mistake.
"Photographing birds has become a habit, and if you don't shoot one day, you will feel lost and lost." Work to develop habits, become interest, the reserve of 278 species of birds, Tang Shangbo photographed nearly 200 species.
It is this spirit of making fun and striving for excellence that has become a legacy, and the old, middle-aged and young staff of the conservation area management office can tell their daily work into fascinating stories, the protagonists of these stories are not them, they are flying birds, swimming fish and shrimp, lush mangroves, lovely volunteers... But this medal in praise of "perseverance" should be awarded to this group of guards who silently guard the mangroves.
The defenders were low-key but not lonely, "To protect this public resource, it is difficult to rely on one's own strength, and it is necessary to have many friends and few saboteurs." Su Bo figuratively called it "finding friends."
Through various publicity and education activities, the management office of the protected area has made many "friends". The masses of the surrounding villages and communities have participated in the protection and management, and have also spontaneously formed a guard team to patrol regularly; people from all walks of life, such as various organs and units, scientific research institutions, schools, enterprises, officers and men of the army, have jointly carried out the ecological restoration of the protected area through colorful activities.
Gunfire can no longer be heard in the reserve; illegal oyster pillars and bird nets have been demolished; the destruction of mangroves is hidden and reported by the masses; students from all over the country have come to carry out research activities...
Over the years, the three major ecosystems and related resources of mangroves, seagrass beds and coastal transitional zone plants in the reserve have been effectively protected and restored. The area of mangrove forests has increased from more than 1200 hectares at the beginning of the establishment of the reserve to more than 1300 hectares, and the area of seaweed beds has increased from more than 50 hectares to more than 90 hectares.
Water Story:
Water purification mud fat fish shrimp like wind and waves meet the tree turn gentle
In the warm spring sun, we followed the boardwalk into the Pearl Bay Mangroves. I saw that the silt between the mangroves was densely covered with small holes, and from time to time I saw the mud fish jumping around, "boo-boo-boo-boo", similar to the sound of snapping tongues.
"It's the sound of a drum shrimp in the mud." Tang Qiao, a girl who collects research data from the beach sample, thinks that this is the most beautiful music.
Tang Qiao is a staff member of the scientific research office of the reserve, and in order to take samples, he has to walk barefoot into the muddy mangrove forest, use a flat shoulder to pick out the 25 kg of sampling mud per barrel, and then rinse the sludge to pick out the organisms. According to the monitoring, the intertidal benthic animals in the ecological monitoring area of the reserve have an average of 462.4 per square meter, "the biodiversity is very prominent." Tojo said.
Seagrass beds and mangroves are important habitats for marine animals to feed, reproduce and grow. "The seagrass bed itself is a biological purification site for offshore seawater, and mangroves also have a purification function for seawater quality, so all areas of the reserve are of the same type of water quality." Su Bo said that the lush mangroves and abundant benthic organisms and fish are enough to prove that the water quality of the reserve is good.
According to the national "2016 Bulletin on the Environmental Quality of China's Coastal Waters", the excellent rate of seawater quality in Guangxi is more than 85% on average, ranking first in the coastal water quality of coastal waters in coastal provinces and regions of the mainland. This achievement is inseparable from the role of the natural "purifier" of mangroves.
Mangroves are also known as "coast guards" and "land pioneers", with strong wind and wave resistance. "Remember, in the Indian Ocean tsunami that shocked the world in 2004, a sudden disaster hit the village of Puyu, but 172 families were lucky enough to escape the disaster because there was a dense mangrove forest on the nearby coastline." Luo Zhengshun, who is in charge of mission work in the reserve, said.
Within the jurisdiction of the protected area, shrimp ponds can be seen everywhere, and behind the office of the management office of the reserve is a large shrimp pond. For decades, these shrimp ponds have been sheltered by mangroves and have never been disturbed by typhoon waves. All kinds of birds also leisurely settle at the edge of these artificial water bodies that create economic value for human beings.
To protect the ecological environment is to protect the productive forces. Because the protection of Mangrove Natural Forests in Guangxi is very strict, the quantity and quality are enviable, and its area and the area of coastline distributed per kilometer are ranked first in the country. "Mangroves are a special gift from nature to the coastal cities of Guangxi." Su Bo said that there must be "zero tolerance" for the destruction of mangroves, protecting the ecological environment like protecting the eyes.