The "living fossil" of birds, the Chinese merganser duck, "the first visit", and the "tiger among the birds" white-tailed sea eagle "come again". Recently, rare birds have met in the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone to spend the winter, forming a beautiful and warm landscape in winter. "Pleasantly surprised and gratified, the birds commented on the biodiversity conservation work in Yicheng in their own way. Chen Qi, a staff member of the Beijing Elk Ecological Experimental Center (hereinafter referred to as "Elk Garden"), and his colleagues were extremely excited to see the precious pictures captured.
On the clear, cool water river, mergansers swim in flocks, setting off layers of ripples on the surface of the river. With the continuous improvement of the ecological environment, the water quality of Liangshui River is clean, providing a good habitat for water birds such as Baer's Pochard, Big and Small Swans, Mallards, Green-winged Ducks, Ruddy Shelducks, White-eyed Pochards, Boone-topped Chickens, Little Greises, Herons, Black Swans, and Wild Goose. The presence of these birds made Chen Ji and his colleagues have to take binoculars around the Liangshui River every once in a while to take a look.
And so the surprise appeared. "On that day, as usual, we were observing the birds on the river, and suddenly we noticed that a small group of 'raw faces' had 'mixed in' in a group of ordinary mergansers," Chen said. Their raised crown feathers and scaly markings on their thorax are distinguishing from the rest, which allows us to determine that this is the Chinese merganser. ”
Known as the "living fossil" of birds, the Chinese merganser duck is a species that survived after the Tertiary glacial period, which has been more than 10 million years ago, and is an endemic and rare bird in China, and has been included in the "IUCN Red List of Endangered Species" EN (endangered) level, and is included in the "List of National Key Protected Wild Animals" by China, which is a first-class protection level. Moreover, this is also the first time that the Chinese merganser duck has appeared in Yizhuang New Town, which has been useful for enriching the regional biodiversity dynamic database.
Just when the staff of Elk Park was rejoicing at the arrival of the Chinese mergansers, an "old friend" "visited" the Elk Sanctuary in Elk Park again and inadvertently appeared in Chen Qi's footage. At the beginning of 2023, the white-tailed sea eagle, known as the "tiger among birds", flew to Elk Park for the first time, and with its spirit of staring at the herd, it not only left a certain "psychological shadow" on other "indigenous birds", but also sent a classic picture to bird lovers. Now, the white-tailed sea eagle is here again. "Although I am not sure if it is the same one, it is certain that the ecological environment of the elk park has been recognized by the white-tailed sea eagle. Chen Qi said that after years of ecological protection, the core area of Elk Park Animal Protection has formed a surface flow wetland that stretches for several kilometers, and the good wetland ecological environment and many tall trees provide a safe place for the white-tailed sea eagle to survive, and there are a large number of wild animals here, providing it with rich food resources. More importantly, the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone has always attached great importance to biodiversity conservation, so that Yicheng Feiyu has a "sense of belonging".
White-tailed sea eagle. Photo by Guo Geng.
At present, a large number of waterbirds have flown to Liangshui River, Elk Park and other places to stay in the local winter. Therefore, we must show Yicheng's 'hospitality' and truly achieve civilized bird watching without disturbing at will. Chen Ji said that everyone has a responsibility to protect wild animals, and he called on the general public to strive to be practitioners of bird love and bird protection, so that Yicheng Feiyu has a free, quiet and safe world.
Editor: Xu Yi.