More and more waterfowl elect to spend winter in Yichang

By Chen Si

Black storks are regular winter visitors to Yichang. But this year four other types of bird have been spotted in the Yichang section of the Yangtze River.



Zhou Zhenxin, the leader of Yichang Bird Watchers Animal Service Center, said that it was the first time they had seen the Asian open-bill stork, the little stint, the Pacific grey plover and the golden plover wintering in Yichang. Black storks have appeared in larger numbers than ever before, and been observed in Yichang's Yidu, Zhijiang and Yuan’an.



In addition to bird-watching experts, keen amateurs and finless porpoise conservation volunteers all took part in the bird survey. The survey was conducted in two waterfowl gathering areas and three national wetland parks in Yichang.



To ensure a safe winter for migratory birds, the Administration of Juhe National Wetland Park has carried out fixed point feeding along Juhe River. More than 50 kilograms of loach was released for the first feeding. Another 2,000 kilograms of grain, loach and fry will be added at different times.



In recent years, Yichang has made the environment a priority and the Yichang section of the Yangtze River has become a comfortable habitat for waterfowl. The number of different migratory bird species spending winter here keeps increasing.