Why do swans come to Rongcheng in winter and leave to breed in Siberia, which is colder than Rongcheng when the climate is warm?

Rongcheng is located at the easternmost tip of Jiaodong Peninsula. On the coastline 45 kilometers southeast of the end of Chengshan Tianwei, there are many lagoons communicating with the sea. This is the famous Rongcheng Swan Lake. It is actually not a lake, but consists of more than 20 bays, lagoons and reservoirs. There are two Swan Lakes in China: Rongcheng Swan Lake and Bayinbuluke Swan Lake in Xinjiang. Rongcheng Swan Lake is the largest swan wintering place in Asia.

In Yandunjiao, the local villagers told us that thousands of swans fly to Rongcheng from Russia, Mongolia and Xinjiang for the winter around the 10th day of the first lunar month (1 1), and then fly back to the breeding ground in the first ten days of March of the following year, so Rongcheng has the reputation of "Swan Winter Palace".

When will swans spend the winter in Rongcheng? It is not recorded in history books, nor can it be found in local chronicles. The reporter consulted several local elderly people in Rongcheng City. According to the memories of the old people, there were many swans in Mashan, Beixiaohai and Chezhugou of their ancestors' generation, and many ancient village names in Rongcheng, such as Nan 'e Island, Bei 'e Island, Donggong Goose Mouth and Xigong Goose Mouth, can also prove that swans came here for the winter a long time ago.

There is a warm sea here.

According to Ci Hai, swans were found in the south of the Yangtze River in winter, and moved north to Mongolia, China, Xinjiang, Heilongjiang and other places to breed in spring. Why do a large number of swans choose Rongcheng in the north as their wintering habitat? The reporter conducted an investigation and interview on this.

Rongcheng Swan Lake is surrounded by the sea on three sides and belongs to hilly area. The overall terrain inclines from northwest to southeast, with high northwest and low southeast, which makes the bay here sunny and sheltered from the wind. In addition, Rongcheng's unique climate, which is hot in summer and cold in winter, makes Swan Lake rarely freeze, providing a suitable wintering environment for swans. In addition, Swan Lake Bay in Rongcheng has many shallow beaches, vast wetlands and tidal flats, and many small rivers flowing into the sea. Many rivers not only prepare a large amount of drinking fresh water for swans, but also exchange and circulate salty fresh water during the ebb and flow of tides. Seaweed, fish, shrimp, shellfish and other animals and plants in the water, especially kelp (seaweed), the favorite staple food of swans, grow vigorously, providing swans with sufficient wintering food.

There are enthusiastic people here.

In addition to the geographical environment suitable for swans to overwinter, the simple local folk customs are also an important reason why swans gather here. In Rongcheng, both government officials and ordinary people cherish the precious resource of white swan, and the concept of protecting white swan is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Even a child can think of leaving the stone to feed the swan. There are a number of advanced environmental protection figures who love, protect and save geese, such as Li Mingwei, the "father of swans" who has been attached to Swan Lake for 28 years, and Yuan Xueshun, the "swan guardian" who has rescued hundreds of stranded swans for more than 20 years. It was Rongcheng people who attracted this beautiful swan with their true feelings.

International experts have a recognized standard: the distance between wild animals and people is an index to measure the environmental protection index, civilization and social moral level of a region. In other words, the closer people get to wild animals, the more civilized this area is. It is understood that Rongcheng Swan Lake is the closest place between wild swans and people in the world.

More than 20 years ago, due to serious poaching, swans were very wary of human beings. In Rongcheng, swans are generally about 300 meters away from people. "You walk it, stop it, run it and fly." It is difficult for the audience to see the swan's nose and eyes clearly in the distance. In recent years, Rongcheng government has done a lot of work in swan protection, such as regular fishing, banning detailed nets, reducing cage culture, not allowing antibiotic-containing feed, reducing kelp planting area, variety of reeds, restricting industrial wastewater from entering the sea, etc., to purify the ecology of Swan Lake. The improvement of local people's awareness of environmental protection has gradually narrowed the distance between people and geese. 10 years, the distance between geese is about 200 meters. In the past five years, the distance has been reduced to about 50 meters, and in the last two or three years, it has recently reached 10 meters. In the wetland in front of Yandunjiao Village, the reporter saw that the distance between Ganhai people and swans was only 1-3 meters.

Good climate, abundant aquatic plants and simple folk customs attract flocks of swans to spend the winter here. Besides swans, Swan Lake has more than 10,000 kinds of other waterfowl and rare birds, such as cranes, mandarin ducks, red-billed ducks and wild geese.