A village near Dalian has become a home away from home for a flock of rare Oriental White Storks. Zhang Xiaomin reports in Dalian.
About 80 Oriental White Storks stop and rest in Zhangjiacun village inDalian, Liaoning province, before flying northward. Photos by ZhangXiaomin / China Daily
Moved by the hospitality of villagers, about 80 Oriental White Storks rest their weary wings at avillage in Dalian, Liaoning province, as part of their northward migration. Zhangjiacun village inLushunkou district has never been so popular. Every day, dozens of visitors arrive to see the"graceful big birds" in a salt field near the sea.
It is the second time the birds have stayed from December to March, village head Leng Wanjunsays. Five birds first arrived a year ago.
"They were starving. We scattered fish on the ground to feed them. I think they remembered our treatment and brought their friends and relatives here this time. We won't let them down,"Leng says.
He has designated four villagers to look after the birds - feeding them, monitoring their health and preventing them from being disturbed.
The Oriental White Stork (Ciconia boyciana) is a large, white wading bird with black wing feathers and is under first-class State protection.
Huang Wenjuan, an ornithologist at Dalian Natural History Museum, says there are just 2,500 to3,000 Oriental White Storks, which live in Siberia and Northeast China. They migrate to thewetlands of Central China for winter.
"Lushun, at the southern tip of Liaodong Peninsula, is a transit hub for migrating birds. Usually,they rest here for about 10 days before flying across the Bohai Sea," Huang says.
Zhang Qiang, 38, is one of the birds' baby-sitters. Every day, from 7 am to 6 pm, he accompanies them on the salt pan.
"When it is good weather, they stand still and sunbathe. When it is windy, they hide among themountains," he says.
Zhang and his fellow villagers feed the storks in the early morning and at noon. They eat about 200 kg of anchovies a day, and the village was given a subsidy of 80,000 yuan ($12,700) bythe local agricultural and forestry bureau to pay for the food.
One Saturday in early February, dozens of photographers arrived at the salt field, waiting for the villagers to feed the birds.
Read on: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2012-03/13/content_14818470.htm
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