A large number of migratory birds are currently transiting through Qilihai National Wetland Park in Tianjin as they migrate south from north China and beyond.
The Qilihai Wetland is a major stopover point for bird species migrating from Siberia to Southeast Asia and Australia. This fall and winter, more than 130,000 birds have been counted stopping at the wetland, among which oriental white storks, a national first-class protected species known as the bird version of the giant panda, are stars in the park. Globally, these storks number fewer than 10,000 in the wild, and in Qilihai, the largest number observed on a single day this year was over 600.
(Text and photos by Wei Yao)