White swan flew back to Sanmenxia again as promised. On October 14th , the first 18 white swans flew to Qinglong Lake to spend winter in Swan Lake Urban Wetland Park in Sanmenxia. At the end of February of each year, these white elves fly away from Sanmenxia and fly back at the end of October. Where have they been in the middle few months?

According to Gao Ruyi, director of Sanmenxia Wildlife Rescue Station, thousands of white swans fly from Siberia to Swan Lake National Urban Wetland Park in Sanmenxia for winter from the beginning of November to the middle of March of the following year. In order to study the migration route of white swans, the park has been equipping white swans in batches with rings and signal trackers every year since February 2014. At the end of September, the reporter learned that there were about 4 white swans equipped with rings in Sanmenxia in Wuliangsuhai when interviewing in Bayannur City in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous region.

“If the white swans stay in Sanmenxia for overwintering, how do they come? How do they go? where do they breed? where do they stop for a rest and where do they replenish physical strength and forage? There will be very detailed data about these questions in the future.” Gao Ruyi said.

“C00, C02, C07, C08... are currently in Wuliangsuhai. Information feedback shows that the first batch of white swans that moved north will depart at the end of February and arrive at Wuliangsuhai, Baotou Yellow River National Wetland Park and Mongolia. The latest batch will fly away in the middle of March.” said Ru Wendong, deputy director of the Management Office of Sanmenxia Swan Lake National Urban Wetland Park. 

“Here is an important transfer station for white swans. They fly here twice during their migration. In early March, the white swans fly here for food, and then fly to Baotou, Ordos, Mongolia and Siberia. From September to November every year, when moving to the south, they will pass by us again. Some white swans even stay here.” said Ma Haiming, director of Management Station of the Wuliangsuhai Wetland Waterfowl Nature Reserve.

In addition, according to Gao Ruyi, in 2015, a pair of white swans left behind in Sanmenxia naturally bred 6 native swan babies, which is very rare. “This fills the gap in the reproduction of white swans in the Yellow River Basin, and has a strong research value.” They put rings on 6 baby swans to study their migration routes and activity patterns. In July 2017, after the baby swan A55 was found in Baogutou Yellow River National Wetland Park in Inner Mongolia, people were sent there bring it back home.

The research team of the National Bird Banding Center cooperated with the Sanmenxia National Urban Wetland Park in Henan Province to use satellite tracking technology to take the lead in tracking the migration routes of the overwintering white swans in Sanmenxia for a long period of time. Through more than 300,000 satellite data, they gradually revealed the the migration route of Sanmenxia white swans.

In general, after the white swans migrate from Sanmenxia in Spring, they migrate along the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River passing by Henan province, Shaanxi Province, Shanxi Province and Inner Mongolia, and tributaries including Yan River, Wuding River, Tuwei River, Fen River and so on. Then they flew over Yinshan of our country and arrived at the breeding grounds in central and western Mongolia finally.

During the migration, the white swans have to pass through the harsh geographical environment such as mountains, river valleys, deserts, and Gobi. Sometimes they risk being hunted and go through untold hardships to reach the breeding grounds to multiply their offspring. In autumn, they lead the young  back to Sanmenxia as always.

The green mountains and green waters furnish the wetlands, and the poetry and paintings decorate our city. After Sanmenxia City implemented ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin, the water environment has been further improved, providing white swans with a natural and livable living environment.

In order to create a more beautiful and comfortable home for the white swans, starting from July this year, our city has invested more than 90 million yuan to upgrade the facilities of the Swan Lake. At present, water quality improvement projects such as the creation of the micro-topography in the lake, the increase of the swans’ habitat, and the cleaning of silt, have entered the final stage, so have the reconstruction project of opening and closing gate of Qinglong Dam and the pedestrian trestle project.