This old friend was born in the polar day and I meet him every winter.

Many years later, in the winter, facing the whooping cranes by the Aransas Lagoon in Texas, I recalled the distant afternoon when I was first taken to Shenhu to see the white cranes.

Chenhu is a large freshwater lake swamp wetland in the west of Wuhan. When there is a lot of water, it is a lake, and when there is less water, it is a swamp. When I first arrived, I had not thought that in the next ten years, I would have countless fates with migratory birds.

No.1

Wetlands are their annual “gas station”

There are many wetland-type migratory bird wintering sites like Chenhu in China, including Shenzhen Bay, Yancheng, Rudong Xiaoyangkou, Chongming Dongtan, Leizhou, Poyang Lake, etc. They are not only wintering sites for migratory birds, but also stopovers for many cross-border migratory birds.

Every year, as early as August or September, migratory birds that live in northern Asia in the summer gradually begin their southward migration journey. They start from Mongolia, Siberia, and Northeast China. The relatively short-distance ones will land in the coastal areas and lakes in the south of China, while the long-distance ones will go to Southeast Asia, India, and even Oceania.

Turnstones and Mongolian sand plover crossing the border in Rudong | Capt.Z

Turnstone and Mongolian Sand Plover | JJ Harrison

Migratory birds with long migration distances generally cannot "fly directly", so it is very necessary to have a "gas station" along the way, such as the well-known Rudong Xiaoyangkou, where spoon-billed sandpipers from the frozen land area of ​​northern Siberia-Chukchi will rest. These spoon-billed sandpipers do not spend the winter here, they have to regroup and go to their wintering grounds in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The wintering grounds closer to us are in Leizhou, Guangdong, where people can see spoon-billed sandpipers busy paddling on the mudflats throughout the winter.

Spoon-billed Sandpiper wintering in Leizhou, Guangdong | Liu Chengyi

No.2

An annual agreement

Many winter migratory birds choose to winter in the northern part of the country. The white cranes I saw in Chenhu Lake were rare visitors from the northernmost part of East Siberia. The three white cranes were probably a newly arrived small family, two white and one yellow with some white feathers. This light yellow little crane was born in the polar day of the frozen soil in the north. Although its height is only 70% to 80% of its parents, it has flown over 4,000 to 5,000 kilometers to reach its wintering ground.

In fact, most winter migratory birds are born in the north and come to their first wintering ground with their parents or large groups. They are not only here to spend the winter, but also to learn how to migrate. The experience of the first year of migration will affect their lives. If nothing unexpected happens, they will return here again and again in the next few decades of winter.

There are only a few white cranes in Chenhu Lake every year, and it is likely that they are a small group with fixed members. If you come here every winter, you are actually meeting old friends again.

White Crane in the Lake | Capt.Z

No.3

In winter, it is lively

Poyang Lake also has white cranes, and it is much more lively. It is the largest wintering ground for white cranes in China. White cranes from Russia's Sakha Republic all winter in the wetlands of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and they particularly like Poyang Lake; while white cranes that spend the summer in some places further west will fly to Central Asia-North India or the Caspian Sea to winter.

White Cranes in Poyang Lake | Capt.Z

If you go to the shallows of Poyang Lake in winter, you can see the most spectacular freshwater wetland wintering ground in China. Endless geese and ducks line up on the endless grass beach, adding a grayish-white color to the wetland vista: the tall ones are white cranes, gray cranes, white-naped cranes, Oriental white storks and other tall wading birds, and the ones slightly shorter than them are some herons. The area closer to the lakeshore is full of slender small water birds, which are dozens of various species of plovers, which have completely lost their colorful breeding feathers. Their gray appearance often brings great trouble to identification. Of course, there are also many bird watchers who enjoy identifying plovers.

The bustling Poyang Lake | Capt.Z

White-naped cranes in Poyang Lake | Capt.Z

No.4

Nature in the lens

Due to the difficulty of maneuvering and the need for protection, the lakes and beaches where migratory birds winter are often difficult to approach. If you want to see or identify migratory birds clearly, you need certain equipment and considerable experience. A monocular with a magnification of 40 or more is the best choice, and low-magnification binoculars are much less effective; it is a bit difficult to see the birds on the beach with the naked eye, but experiencing the wintering place with migratory birds without any burden is also a good choice to get close to nature.

Bird watching at Shahe Reservoir in Beijing | Snowyowls / wikimedia

At least you can see the winter migratory birds eating and sleeping: on windy or cold days, the wintering geese and ducks are not active, and the plovers often bury their heads under their wings for the whole afternoon. I have watched them spend many days leisurely in the sunshine on the lakeshore. But you have to know that they have experienced too long a journey before this, and I don’t know how many dangers they encountered along the way.

The migration of migratory birds has greatly expanded their living space, but it has also brought them great risks. In addition to the constraints of physical fitness and natural enemies, human activities often disrupt the migration of migratory birds, and sometimes even seriously affect their survival. For example, the endangered status of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper is related to the shrinking of tidal flats on the Korean Peninsula and the coast of China. The poisoning of Oriental White Storks in Beidagang, Tianjin, and the mass killing of birds on the Millennium Bird Path in Hunan a few years ago are cases of direct harm to migratory birds.

No.5

Not disturbing is gentleness

Stopping or reporting to local forestry protection departments any behavior that threatens migratory birds (such as poisoning, setting up nets, or illegally occupying wetlands) should be part of citizens' ecological responsibility.

At the same time, the relevant agencies in the wintering areas of migratory birds are also constantly improving their responsibilities. Now some popular migratory bird observation sites have developed related industries (guides, food and accommodation, etc.), and the management of protected areas has gradually kept up. Some wintering sites and stopover sites with scientific research value have staff from conservation agencies on duty all year round or temporarily (such as Spoon-billed Sandpiper in China) - the wintering sites mentioned above basically have several of these items, and relevant information is also easy to find.

For the general public, in most cases, keeping a distance and observing migratory birds in a low-key and quiet manner is the best way to take care of them.

During the wintering period of migratory birds, some cities will send text messages to remind citizens of relevant precautions | Sandieji

After a terrifying and exhausting journey, the migratory birds that arrive at their wintering grounds are extremely tired and can no longer withstand the stress.

I have seen a flock of ducks on the lake suddenly explode, and even black-faced spoonbills fled, even though it was only a peregrine falcon that flew by quickly and disturbed their peace. But the migratory birds will no longer give up this hard-earned stable life. They run to the nearby mudflats for temporary shelter and return to their original place in a few hours.

They may be very clear that there are only a limited number of good places like this, and no matter how far they flee, they will have to return here. If they lose even the small piece of lake in front of them, God knows where they can fly to next.

We cannot withdraw from all migratory birds’ home territories, and their wintering wetlands often overlap with human activity hotspots. In other words, you can often encounter a variety of migratory birds in large and small waters around or within cities (especially in Wuhan, which has many lakes), and seasonal wetlands (such as rice fields, lotus ponds, fish ponds, and flooded deltas) are more favored by migratory birds.

Open the China Bird Watching Record Center birdreport.cn or ebird.org/hotspots to explore the bird hotspots around your home:

For as long as geological time has been recorded, the winter homes of migratory birds required no additional vigilance until people began producing food and building homes there.

For a long time, the people who borrowed this place did not realize the significance of taking good care of the wintering grounds of migratory birds, nor did they accurately explain this need from an ecological perspective. It doesn't matter. As long as we still look forward to coming to rivers, lakes and seas to look forward to a lively gathering when the weather gets colder, and there will be scattered rays of light passing through the clouds, bringing some distant greetings from the north.

This article comes from the Species Calendar, welcome to forward

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