Bird race becomes learning opportunity

On the morning of May 29, a results-sharing event was held in Xining, where awards were presented to the participating teams.

A total of 175 bird species were recorded during the event, including six species under national first-level protection and 23 species under national second-level protection.

Professor Chen Zhenning from Qinghai Normal University highlighted that the bird species list compiled during the event essentially encompassed most of the bird species observable in the Qinghai Lake reserve this season.

Notably, the list included at least three new records for the nature reserve, marking a significant achievement. One highlight was the Asian desert warbler, observed and photographed by one of the teams. This species is a new record for the province and was chosen as the top bird of the event.

Wang Jianting, head of the Qinghai National Park Bird-watching Society, has participated in a few bird surveys around the lake over the years and is familiar with birds distributed in the area.

"Our traditional surveys usually focused on water birds living around the lake and sometimes neglected such habitats as small patches of woods or sparse scrubs, which produced many surprises for us this time," he said. "So the event has truly broadened our understanding and vision of the avian life around Qinghai Lake."

chenliang@chinadaily.com.cn