Watching Swans

Luo Ninghua

At a get-together at the beginning of the year, some friends asked me to join them on a bird-watching trip to the Mengjin Wetland Reserve in Luoyang, Henan, a central province of China, where one can see great bustards and swans. Then the first thing that jumped into my head was the gorgeous scenes in the ballet "Swan Lake." Though I had been going birding for three years, I had never seen swans in nature. "Then you will definitely enjoy the trip!" said my friends.

We arrived at the southern bank of Mengjin at the lower Xiaolangdi Reservoir of the Yellow River on the morning of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. With various telescopes set up, the sixteen of us, who were from Beijing, Wuhan, Taiyuan and Luoyang, started to work. It was chilly, but fine and clear, a perfect condition for bird-watching. Several little grebes were swimming and searching for food nearby while countless other birds were scattered on the water in the distance.

Zhong Jia, our team leader, asked us to count the number of each species of the birds. The number of ducks was amazing: 288 mallards, 800 ruddy shelducks, 12 common shelducks, 44 falcated ducks, 10 northern shovelers, 11 northern pintails, 61 gadwalls, 31 common pilchards, and 1 white-winged scoter. There were also other birds, such as 187 bean geese, 54 graylag geese, 20 little grebes, 100 great cormorants, 45 herring gulls and so on¡­ I was just holding the binoculars to watch the birds in the distance when one fellow shouted: "Look! Swans! Over the Yellow River Bridge!" We immediately began to search with our telescopes. Great! About 2000 meters away near the Yellow River Bridge were two white swans. However, due to the long distance we could hardly tell whether they were whooper swans or whistling swans.

We went to the other side of the bridge to watch birds after lunch. Surprisingly, a swan couple was still there, about 600 meters away from us this time. I could hardly think about other birds and the task of counting birds but only focus on watching the swans with my telescope.

After checking an illustrated handbook and discussing with my friends, we decided that they were two whooper swans. Separated from others, they were just enjoying their own sweet time together to their hearts' content. Swimming side by side leisurely, they became a special scene on the water. They would plunge their heads into the water to search for food or turn their heads back to comb their snow-white feathers. When one swan moved forward, the other would follow closely. What a happy and admirable couple!

We planned to watch great bustards the next day. After having a breakfast of dumplings, we set out again in three minibuses. As we traveled on the winding country road, we saw in the heavy fog forty or so ring-necked pheasants, which were disturbed as we approached. The females were as big as small-sized hens while the male moved around with a phoenix-like tail. The white rings around their necks were very conspicuous. Great bustards are timid by nature and also have protective color, making it even harder for us to find them in such misty weather. We found nothing after spending two hours searching. So we decided to change the plan and went to the Yellow River to watch birds.

By the time we arrived at the bank of the Yellow River, the sky had nearly cleared up. In winter, the Yellow River was clearer than usual due to the conservation of water in the upper-reach reservoirs. The surface of the river sparkled with sunshine. At a distance, we saw flocks of birds frolic in the river as well as on the bank. Most eye-catching among them were swans, white, beautiful and dignified. There were altogether 21 swans. They were all whooper swans like those we saw yesterday, but we got much closer this time. Through the telescope we watched the swans: some of them seemed to be chatting; some repeating themselves in the mirror of the river water; still some sleeping soundly while others swimming enjoyably.

Then, over there, there were four swans swimming in a queue, necks upright. The classic scene of the four little swans from the "Swan Lake" was being staged just before us with nature being the director. How marvelous!

Two cars stopped and a family with two kids got out. When they saw us standing in the chilling wind with back packs and watching something attentively through telescopes, they were so curious that they came over to have a look. Then we had the following thought-provoking conversation.

"What are you doing?" they asked.

"Watching birds," we replied.

"What kinds of birds?"

"Many kinds, like ducks, seagulls, herons, and swans."

"Who raises them?"

"Nature does."

"Wow, the swans are so clear in the telescope. They are beautiful. Can we take some home, Daddy?"

"Why take them home? Now they live freely in the river and fly happily in the sky. Could anything be better for them?"

"¡­¡­"

Although we didn't get the chance to see great bustards, we had watched and recorded 69 kinds of birds during our trip to Mengjin. I was greatly impressed by the well-protected environment of the reserve and the local people's tolerance of the wheat-eating wild geese. I felt lucky that I had seen the swans. Their beauty, dignity, and elegance struck me deeply. I'll go back and see those swans next year. I believe the environment will get better and better, and the public will be more aware of environmental protection, and thus, people will able to watch more swans in more places.

(Translated by Ma Yanling and Fu Ruijuan)

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