Picture perfect: Bird watchers of all feathers flock to Mingxi

During our recent visit to a migratory bird monitoring facility in Mingxi County, my eyes were drawn to the cover photo of the greater painted-snipe that seems to be dancing just above the water, with its wings widespread in resplendent colors, completed by its mirror image perfectly caught in the water.

Mingxi was one of our stops during our five-day press tour of Sanming City in southeast China’s Fujian Province.

As a matter of fact, this award-winning picture was so highly esteemed that it became the cover photo of a beautifully printed book containing photos of 145 birds documented in Mingxi.

In a sense, it was also symbolic of Shanghai-Sanming cooperation: It was taken by Shao Kaijian, a Shanghai photographer who has visited Mingxi for bird pictures over a dozen times in recent years.

In a subsequent telephone interview, Shao, who was at the time pursuing avian photos in Henan Province, recalled how the iconic picture was taken with amazing precision, down to the minutest detail, a feat that could only be explained by his ardent love for the birds.

Shao turns 70 this year.

Shao Kaijian

This iconic photo, featuring a greater painted-snipe spreading its wings menacingly, trying to scare away a common moorhen, was taken in Mingxi on January 1, 2015, by Shao Kaijian, a 70-year-old veteran bird watcher from Shanghai.

Prior to taking that photo, Shao learnt that bird watchers had been known to take pictures of the greater painted-snipe in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, but at a considerable distance from the birds.

Like all perfect pictures, it came about quite unexpectedly.

“When I went to the shelter by a lotus pond on the afternoon of February 6, 2015, the most advantageous left side had already been taken up by others, and I had to make do with the extreme right side,” he reminisced. After considerable waiting in vain, some of the enthusiasts began to leave.

“Bird watchers all have a hunch that whenever someone leaves, something unusual will happen,” Shao said. True enough, this perfect picture was shot soon afterwards, and it captured a moment when the snipe, while preying on snail and small fish, felt intimidated by a nearby common moorhen, and the greater painted-snipe began to spread its wings over the water menacingly, trying to scare away the moorhen, which was larger in size. It succeeded.

Ti Gong

Ornithologists from the UK and the Netherlands study the mating behavior of silver pheasants and other species.

Ti Gong

Bird lovers watch birds from a shelter.

The shelter in question was erected by a farmer explicitly for bird-watching purpose, and during the peak in 2017, this venue alone could draw nearly a hundred bird lovers, at a steep fee, and not including accommodation and meals.

Since Shao had a considerable following among bird watchers, he did not have to pay for the shelter. The shelter was meant to minimize human disruptions and intrusion.

Shao, a veteran photographer, started taking pictures of birds in 2012, and he began to embrace this with a passion not easily understood by laymen.

For instance, immediately after having the big meal on New Year’s Eve in 2017 (January 27), at about 9pm, he drove to Mingxi, arriving at about 6am next day.

“I like to go it alone, for you take better pictures. Being a non-smoker, I also do not want to be exposed to second-hand smoke by being in the company of smokers,” he explained.

Shao returned to Shanghai on January 31, as the next day was Fortune’s Day, when the sound from the many firecrackers makes it hard for birding. But he returned to Mingxi again on February 4, and then stayed there for over a month, booking a hotel room, where he cooked for himself.

Ti Gong

Mandarin ducks are symbols of conjugal fidelity in China. There are about 3,600 of them in Mingxi, in over 90 colonies.

Mingxi, like Shanghai’s Chongming Island, falls within the East Asia-Australia migratory route, though the migrants’ rigorous demand for pristine ecology, complete food chain, their preference for quietude, and their sensitivity to water and air make Mingxi an ideal pathway or habitat for migratory and resident birds alike. More than 300 wild birds have been identified so far, of which 130 are migratory, totaling over 3 million in number.

In a recent interview, Li Yi, chief of Mingxi County’s Forest Bureau, said that local authorities have put the whole bird passage and habitat under round-the-clock monitoring, making use of big data and Internet to know more about the birds’ behavior, to monitor any changes in the habitat, and investigate the impact of weather and human activity on the birds.

“We have entered into cooperation with a number of research institutes for guidance and suggestions. We also host study tours for students,” Li revealed.

Ti Gong

Photo of little egrets in Mingxi, Fujian Province.

The institutes include Beijing Forestry University and Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University.

By the end of 2020, the county had spent 65 million yuan (US$9.3 million) in protecting the birds’ habitat, and in launching six paths for bird-watching.

Li revealed that the payouts in enhancing local ecological awareness are enormous, to say nothing of the considerable economic returns in terms of accommodation and other consumption related to birding.

Each year, tens of thousands of bird watchers from at least 16 countries and regions flock to Mingxi for an intimate view of the rare birds.

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