Cross the mountains and rivers, cross the ocean. Long-distance migration is a tough journey for birds. Overwork, hunger, illegal hunting... Countless migratory birds may fall in the middle of the way and cannot return home.
In recent years, our province has successively carried out hunting ban protection, source protection, linkage protection, tracking protection, supervision and protection, law enforcement protection and other aspects of work, established 43 migratory bird protection sites in the province, and actively carried out "government + volunteer organizations" publicity, patrol, reporting, rescue, net removal and other flight protection actions, and the protection of migratory birds has achieved remarkable results. The birding points formed by history have been changed to "bird protection points", and the title of "bird fighting pass" has become a thing of the past.
Behind this, there is also a group of "bird people" silently guarding the "waiting" - they love birds, shoot birds, protect birds for 10 years or even longer, and they stick to the migration routes and wintering places of migratory birds all year round to escort them to spring.
■ Li Chenghui, all-media reporter of Sanxiang Metropolis Daily
359 species of birds in Dongting Lake were recorded in 26 years
In late autumn, the water of Dongting Lake appears on the beach, and the wetland of Dongting Lake, which is rich in water and grass, has welcomed a large number of wintering migratory birds such as geese and ducks.
"The most active ones at the moment are spot-billed ducks and mallards." Yao Yi, chief engineer of the East Dongting Lake National Nature Reserve Management Bureau, made careful records, and he has been paying close attention to the dynamics of wintering migratory birds in the reserve. He said that in recent years, the number of wintering migratory birds has increased at an alarming rate, "there are more birds, indicating that the environment of Dongting Lake is better." ”
In 1995, Yao Yi came to work in the East Dongting Lake Nature Reserve, which has been until now. He has a deep affection for birds, which are like talking friends, accompanying him through the dry meadows and lakes of the East Cave Garden. In order to record the bird species, he often carried large bags and small bags, brought dozens of pounds of equipment, put on long rain boots, and looked for birds in the lake area one foot deep and one foot shallow.
Yao Yi was impressed that in 1998, among the waterfowl in Dongting Lake, a strange bird with a difference appeared. Experts believe that this strange bird is actually a very famous red stork in the world, also known as the flamingo. As soon as the news of the appearance of the great red stork in the Dongting Lake Area came out, it immediately attracted the attention of people at home and abroad. In order to track and monitor the "uninvited guests", Yao Yi suffered a lot.
"To track it down, a colleague and I contracted schistosomiasis." In the end, Mr. Yao said, he managed to manage to barely get a blurrier photo. Unfortunately, the following spring, when the lake rose, the flamingo disappeared.
Yao Yi will participate in the annual survey of summer migratory birds and winter migratory birds in the East Dongting Lake National Nature Reserve, rain or shine. In 26 years, he recorded all 359 species of birds in Dongting Lake. He wants more people to see these lively and cute birds, "When people see the beautiful figures of birds in nature, they will like them more, so as to protect them." ”
In order to photograph the natural life of birds, Yao Yi often observes the life habits of birds, sometimes squatting for half a day, all quietly. "Love birds, shoot birds, don't disturb birds", this is his principle. "I feel that the birds of Dongting Lake have become less and less afraid of people in recent years, in the past few years, they often run when they see people, and now you are shooting here, they are still very calm!"
"Isn't this a manifestation of the harmony between humans and birds?" Yao Yi said happily.
Listen to the birds
373 bird species were monitored for 13 years
In July this year, Tang Shengyi, president of the Elderly Association of Hujiashan Town, Shimen County, was walking by the river and found a bird entangled in a fishing line, and immediately called Kang Zujie.
Kang Zujie heard the bird calling from the phone, and he had a preliminary judgment, "I haven't heard the sound of this bird, and it should not have appeared in The Bottle Mountain." Hanging up the phone, Kang Zujie hurried to the scene and successfully rescued the birds.
Kang Zujie first consulted the bird atlas after he returned and found that the rescued bird was actually the Hainan seabird, "a national first-class protected animal, a world-class endangered bird, which belongs to the new record species of Hujia Mountain, and is also the first time to be found in the Changde area." ”
Kang Zujie, 52 years old, is a senior engineer at the Hunan Hujushan National Nature Reserve Management Bureau. Listening to the sound and identifying the birds is a hard skill that he has repeatedly observed and practiced listening to the sound for more than ten years.
In 2008, by chance, he embarked on the path of bird watching. Since then, he has carried 10 kilograms of bird watching equipment through the mountains and forests, taking more than 200,000 bird photos and recording more than 20,000 birdsong.
The trees are lush and difficult to see birds, and the sound of birds chirping is left in the ears. This was Kang Zujie's biggest problem in shooting birds at the beginning. Kang Zujie thought of a way to learn birds and lure them out. After that, whenever he heard birdsong, the first thing he did was record it.
If he didn't shoot it, Kang Zujie would listen to the recording and learn bird calls repeatedly after he went back. When you go up the mountain again, there are more birdsong on the mountain, and slowly the birds come. Of course, there are still birds that don't sell face. "The hardest thing to see is the gray-blue grebe, and the playback recording does not come out, and I crouched on the mountain dozens of times before I photographed it." Kang Zujie said.
"As long as you have nature in mind and respect animals, you can understand animals, and animals can read your feelings." Kang Zujie said, for example, birds, the same kind of bird makes different sounds, representing different meanings. Some calls represent chirping, some represent alarms, and some call to companions. "I learned a few bird calls and the bird came, and it was very happy."
"Bird monitoring uses the variable distance sampling line method, and 15 sample lines are set up on Huju Mountain, and each monitoring is completed in the same month." Kang Zujie stayed in the deep mountains and dense forests for a week, and often relied on instant noodles and biscuits for three meals a day. Once, he went up the mountain to monitor, forgot to carry dry food, his stomach was really hungry, so he turned out a moldy cake from his backpack, broke off the mold, and half of his colleagues.
In the past 13 years, Kang Zujie has monitored and recorded 373 species of birds, and found 22 new record species of Hunan birds such as gray-blue jibird and long-tailed mountain pepperbird.
Friends with birds, 23 years of bird protection
"Even though the birds have flown away, I can't resist coming to see." On November 4, the reporter contacted "Uncle Bird" Tan Dunshuang, who was patrolling the Yangjiagang Mountain Forest. On the days when migratory birds transit, every morning, he always put on a hat, put on his rain boots, picked up a wood knife, and went straight to the back hill, sometimes taking his puppy with him.
The mountain turned for a few hours to see if the birds were okay. That persistence is 23 years. Tan Dunshuang, a villager in Pengjiachang, Mengxi Town, Lixian County, said that his fate with birds can be traced back to his teenage years, "When I was in junior high school, I raised a myna, who could talk and played for two years. Classmates go to the mountains to fight sparrows, I never go, I will stop them. ”
Tan Dunshuang clearly remembers that the first batch of egrets settled in Yangjiagang Mountain Forest was in 1998. "At that time, the people's awareness of environmental protection was not enough, and there were many egrets, cuckoos and magpies in the back mountains of the village, but they were often hunted and killed." Looking at such a scene, he felt very uncomfortable and decided to shoulder the responsibility of protecting birds.
After that, whenever he saw someone hitting a bird, Tan Dunshuang would dissuade him, and this behavior did not take long to make the villagers resentful. Tan Dunshuang's neighbor Zhou Shangying is straightforward and quick-talking, she told reporters that every time the migratory birds migrate, there are countless birds roosting near the village, and the corn, rice and other crops planted by everyone are often reduced to their rations. As a result, some villagers set up nets to catch birds, and some shot birds with slingshots and so on.
Tan Dunshuang's dissuasion was seen by everyone as "against the guys", and the people in the village who hated him secretly called him "Bird Man". The villagers' incomprehension was nothing to him. Patrolling the mountains to protect birds is fraught with danger, such as often having to confront poachers.
One night during the Dragon Boat Festival, a harsh sound suddenly came from the mountain, waking Tan Dunshuang from his dream. Tan Dunshuang immediately woke up his sleeping son, and the two rushed out with flashlights and wooden sticks. "At that time, a group of poachers had already hit almost two snakeskin bags of birds, and we immediately reported to the Lixian Forest Public Security Police Station." In the process of chasing, the poachers fired fiercely at us, we dodged in a thrilling way, and then chased all the way to the junction of Hubei and Hunan before confiscating the migratory birds they were hunting. ”
There were also poaching gangs who called his house threatening phones, and his wife was extremely worried about his safety, and he completely ignored it. "To love birds and protect birds, we must not only not be afraid of suffering, but also not afraid of death." What makes him happy is that the villagers, under his influence, have also joined the action to protect wild birds and animals.
Due to the effective protection and the improvement of the quality of the local ecological environment, in recent years, there have been more and more birds in the mountains, especially migratory birds, and as many as 50,000 migratory birds inhabit here every year.
[Editor-in-Charge: Chen Shuyi]
[Source: Sanxiang Metropolis Daily]