Dulu River Nature Reserve in Heilongjiang Province's 200 Oriental White Storks 'Fully Occupied' with Artificial Nesting Sites
Life Report
Hu Zhenhui Photo
Early-arriving white storks greet home, late-arriving white storks wait for a house. This spring, the Duluhan River Provincial Nature Reserve in Luobei County, Heilongjiang Province, welcomed flocks of national-level protected animals, the oriental white stork, with an initial count exceeding 200 individuals. Due to the exceeding population, 40 artificial nests built by the management department of the protection zone are in short supply.
On March 29th, the reporter saw in the core area of the Duluhan River Nature Reserve that more than 30 artificial nests visible on both sides of the road were inhabited by oriental white storks, patiently waiting for a moment would see one or two oriental white storks fly over to snatch the nest; in the reed marshes and on the surfaces of the still-melting ice, flocks of egrets, black-crowned night herons and gray herons gathered, and occasionally one could see the silhouettes of mandarin ducks, white cranes and swans.
The director of the Duluhan River Nature Reserve, Zuo Yu Tao, told reporters that since the oriental white stork population of nearly 100 individuals was discovered in the protection zone in the autumn of 2017, the Duluhan River Nature Reserve Administration built 20 artificial nests in early February 2018 to attract oriental white storks. According to observations, that year there were three pairs occupying the nests, producing 10 baby storks all of which survived, and the Duluhan River wetland transformed from a migratory passage for oriental white storks into a breeding habitat.
This year, the administration of the protection zone added another 20 nests. Unexpectedly, this spring, flocks of oriental white storks actually flew to the Duluhan River Nature Reserve to inhabit, and now the administration of the protection zone is urgently building temporary homes for oriental white storks to ensure that the oriental white storks settle in. (Hu Zhenhui reporter Cui Lidong)
