HAIKOU, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- A three-day simultaneous monitoring survey of wintering waterbirds was carried out in the tropical island province of Hainan in south China recently.
Hainan attracts large numbers of migratory birds that rest and feed there thanks to its suitable climate and abundant wetland resources.
As the island is warm in winter, with temperatures mostly above 20 degrees Celsius, Hainan is located on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, which stretches from Russia's far east and Alaska in the north of the U.S. to Australia and New Zealand. The route spans 22 countries and is the busiest of all migratory flyways.
Luo Lixiang, 50, was one of the leaders of the survey. He led a team of volunteers including high school students, forest rangers, college professors, animal protectors and doctoral students. They conducted the survey at seven observation sites in Hainan.
Luo is a ranger at a national wetland park. His daily routine includes bird monitoring and patrolling of mangroves.
Zeng Xiaoqi, a professor at the Fisheries College of Ocean University of China, went on a business trip to Hainan recently. On a weekend, he joined Luo's investigation team as a volunteer and took his camera and telephoto lens with him.
"At first, I just watched birds near my home. The more I got into it, the more I liked it. Later, I went to more places to watch and photograph birds, and my photographic equipment has been gradually upgraded from entry-level cameras to professional ones," said Zeng.
He believes bird surveys are useful in providing basic data on species, which is conducive to analyzing the causes of changes in bird habitats. Such analysis enables more effective protection of biodiversity.
Li Jing is the director of operations for Spoon-billed Sandpiper in China, which is an organization focusing on biodiversity conservation, especially spoon-billed sandpipers and other waterbirds found along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.
She traveled from Shanghai to Hainan to join in the survey and to look specifically for spoon-billed sandpipers, a critically endangered species.
Spoon-billed sandpipers are migratory birds that breed in Russia's far east. There are only a few hundred left in the world. This winter, someone photographed a spoon-billed sandpiper with a C2 tag on its leg.
According to bird experts, the bird with the C2 tag was artificially bred in Russia back in 2021. It was released into the wild on July 26 of the same year.
Spoon-billed sandpipers have been seen in Hainan for five consecutive years. The birds have a long migratory journey. They fly through several countries and stop to rest in multiple habitats, said Li.
Whether or not birds can safely arrive at their wintering grounds depends on the joint efforts of countries along migratory routes, Li added.
Cai Ting, project director of Haikou Duotan Wetlands Institute, one of the organizers of the wintering waterbird survey, told Xinhua that the survey used a total of 61 simultaneous monitoring points and attracted 10 survey teams.
In recent years, local authorities and conservationists have kept working on wetland conservation, with initiatives such as pond reclamation and coastline protection. The ecological environment of major waterbird habitats in Hainan has continued to improve.
World Wetlands Day falls on Feb. 2 every year, and this year's theme is "Wetlands and Human Wellbeing."
Bird watchers are calling on the public to join in activities like bird watching and wetland conservation. People can get involved in beach cleanups and mangrove planting to help protect the environment. ■
