From now till next January, Guangdong has entered a peak period of bird migration, according to the Forestry Administration of Guangdong Province. It is expected that over 300,000 migratory birds will arrive and rest in Guangdong's wetland parks, tidal flats, coastlines and coastal wetlands.
Black-faced spoonbills. 黑脸琵鹭 (Photo: Nanfang Daily)
Spoon-billed sandpiper. 勺嘴鹬 (Photo: Nanfang Daily)
Grey plover. 灰斑鸻 (Photo: Nanfang Daily)
As winter arrived, the temperature in the north dropped sharply. A flock of birds returned from the freezing northern areas to southern China. They foraged and played, sometimes danced and soared, adding vitality to the wetlands in winter.
In Shenzhen Bay, we can find red-legged sandpipers, pied avocet, white spoonbills, black-faced spoonbills, and other species.
Pied avocet. 反嘴鹬 (Photo: Nanfang Daily)
In Huizhou's Daya Bay, the Chinese Egret, a national first-class protected animal, was captured for the first time. The black-faced spoonbill, a globally endangered species, has also returned after a long absence.
Chinese Egret. 黄嘴白鹭 (Photo: Nanfang Daily)
In Foshan, the city's Yundonghai National Wetland Park has attracted plenty of migratory birds, including a national second-class protected animal, the eurasian spoonbill.
Eurasian spoonbill. 白琵鹭 (Photo: Nanfang Daily)
In Shaoguan, the scientific research team of Danxia Mountain National Nature Reserve Administration recently photographed two kinds of wild animals under national first-class protection; a scaly-sided merganser and yellow-breasted bunting. Local bird lovers even found wild mandarin duck groups in the waters near Nanling Mountain, setting a record for the number of mandarin ducks observed at one time in Shaoguan.
Mandarin ducks. 鸳鸯 (Photo: Nanfang Daily)
According to experts, the coastal wetlands in Guangdong are ideal habitats for migratory birds. Every year, hundreds of thousands of migratory birds arrive to spend winter. This natural phenomenon therefore attracts many bird lovers, carrying a variety of lenses, to travel around different wetlands and parks and observe birds. The Forestry Administration of Guangdong Province has also appealed to residents to watch birds in a civilized manner and protect the homes of migratory birds.
Read more: When and where to go birding in Guangdong?
"Yes, it's indeed the Chinese blue flycatcher, the 416th species recorded by the Shenzhen Bird Watching Society!" After seeing the photos, Zhang Gaofeng, vice president of the society, said with absolute certainty.
(Photo: Old Carp, Futian Mangrove Ecological Park)
This photo was taken by a bird-watcher nicknamed "Old Carp" in Shenzhen's Futian Mangrove Ecological Park on November 30. After identification by many bird experts, the bird in the photo was confirmed as the first Chinese blue flycatcher to appear in Shenzhen.
(Photo: Old Carp, Futian Mangrove Ecological Park)
"I was observing birds in a small wood of the Futian Ecological Park. Suddenly I heard a special fast-paced birdsong, a bird flew up to the branch after about 5 minutes. I didn't expect it to be a new bird species at the time. I just photographed it as usual," Old Carp recalled.
Back home, Old Carp carefully searched relevant materials and deduced this little creature was likely to be a Chinese blue flycatcher. "I have seen many photos of this bird on the Internet before. It is very similar to the brown-bellied blue flycatcher and other species of flycatchers. They all have a blue back and a brown throat. But the throat of Chinese blue flycatcher is brown-yellow. Later, I sent the photo to bird experts and finally confirmed its identity."
According to Zhang Gaofeng, Chinese blue flycatcher is a kind of bird separate from the blue-throated flycatcher subspecies in recent years. It is mainly distributed in the eastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China, up to 2,000 meters above sea level. When the temperature drops, the bird will migrate to central and southern China. It used to be recorded in Guangzhou and Hong Kong occasionally.
Bird lovers have captured different species of birds in Shenzhen this year. In addition to Chinese blue flycatcher, six more species, such as tiger shrike, manchurian reed warbler, and pechora pipit, have also been recorded in Shenzhen for the first time.
