251,000 waterfowl recorded at Qinghai Lake in 2018
Grasping a telescope, Wang Yanming carefully observed the types and populations of birds in the distant wetland.
"The number of brown-headed gulls has increased significantly. This month, the number of red-headed ducks is relatively stable," said Wang Yanming as he made his observation.
Wang Yanming is an observer with the Nature Preservation Department of the Qinghai Lake National Nature Reserve Administration Office.
When we spoke, he was observing bird species at a wetland habitat in Xiaohong Lake in Mo're New Village, Jiangxi Ravine Township, Gonghe County, Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Qinghai Province.
"At the end of each month, my colleagues and I circle around Qinghai Lake to monitor and record the migrations of different bird populations. Whenever I see waterfowl swimming on the water, I feel at ease. These small beings make Qinghai Lake more spirited," Wang Yanming said.
Cai Jinlong, director of the General Office of the Qinghai Lake Nature Reserve Administration Office, said that in 2018 they monitored and recorded six orders of 12 families of 51 bird species, and there was a total of 251,000 waterfowl. According to observation statistics from recent years, ten bird species such as black-neck cranes, ruddy shelducks, and bar-headed geese have become the dominant bird species of Qinghai Lake.
"Qinghai Lake has become the convergence point of the migration paths of waterfowl from Central Asia and East Asia. The ever-improving ecology has made it a habitat for birds, and many migratory bird populations nest here," He Yubang, director of the Qinghai Lake Nature Reserve Administration Office, said.
"Now this highland lake is getting more and more beautiful. You can not only see many kinds of fish and birds, but the number of Przewalski gazelles has increased as well. Qinghai Lake has become a veritable animal paradise," said Gyanmutso, a Tibetan herder whose family has lived on the shores of Qinghai Lake for generations.