Feng Yi stared blankly at the bird that flew into the yard. Although he didn't recognize it, his warning radar was already beeping.
Just as I finished saying that it was pretty quiet here, I got slapped in the face.
Moreover, this situation always feels... familiar
On the other end of the phone, Qian Feiyang didn't hear Feng Yi's voice and asked, "What's going on? There seems to be some strange noises? Another bird flew to your house?"
"Yeah." Feng Yi still stared at that place.
"Is that the famous kingfisher you mentioned just now?"
"No. I have to deal with some other things first. We can talk again when we have time."
"Okay." Qian Feiyang didn't hesitate.
After finishing the call, Feng Yi looked over.
Xiao Ding, who was working as a gardener in the yard, had already gone over to the koi pond when he heard the noise.
Seeing Xiao Ding coming over, Feng Yi did not rush downstairs to check the situation, but turned on the camera function of his mobile phone and took several photos.
The photos taken are clear and the camera is powerful.
The bird that landed in the koi pond noticed Xiao Ding's approach, flapped its wings and flew around the yard. After a while, it flew up again and flew towards the nearby Green Lake.
Feng Yi stood on the terrace and watched the bird fly down to the surface of Cuihu Lake.
There were tourists on the lakeshore who were enjoying the scenery of the lake. When they saw the falling bird, they exclaimed and said something to their companions. Some people even stepped onto the plank road on the lake with their mobile phones and approached the direction where the bird was.
Then, Feng Yi saw that the bird seemed to be equipped with turbines and was flying far away on the lake.
It’s confirmed that this bird is a speed type.
The bird flew away, but Feng Yi was not relieved. He always felt that there was trouble again.
Feng Yi retracted his gaze and opened the species identification mobile app developed by the Joint Security Bureau, and selected a few photos he had just taken for identification.
The bird that flew into the koi pond was about half a meter long, with a black back and mostly white and gray body, with some scaly patterns on its body. Its neck and head were dark green, with a fluffy crest behind its head, and its hair style was extremely flamboyant, as if it had been electrocuted.
Maybe it was because the sun was too good today, and the angle and timing of the shot were chosen too cleverly, the dark green feathers on the bird's head and neck reflected a dazzling metallic luster in the sun, especially the ones sticking up behind the head, which were particularly arrogant green.
Feng Yi had never seen this kind of bird before.
As the "Photo Recognition" icon rotates, the recognition program automatically zooms in on part of the photo and performs a secondary recognition on the patterned part of the target's body.
Then a few lines of highlighted text popped up:
Scaly-scaly merganser
National first-class key protected wild animal!
It is found that there are few records of Chinese merganser overwintering in your area at the moment. If you find any, please contact the local relevant agency immediately. Phone…
Below is a long list of different institutional departments, as well as multiple landline numbers for the same department.
"Mergansers? Ducks?"
Feng Yi's gaze lingered on the words "National first-class key protected wild animals" for a moment.
In the courtyard, Xiao Ding asked, "Boss, what kind of bird was that that just flew over the yard?"
Feng Yi: "You'll be in jail forever!"
The pruning shears in Xiao Ding's hand almost flew away.
"Guo...Guoyi?"
"National First." Feng Yi nodded.
Xiao Ding was thankful that he didn't try to catch it just now. If he had accidentally used too much force, the bird... No matter what happens to the duck, who knows how much trouble it will get into!
"Next time I see it, I will just call Xiao Bing over; he has more experience!" said Xiao Ding.
Feng Yi responded, flipped through the photos on his phone, and clicked on the identification page link for more detailed information:
Not every species of merganser is called Chinese merganser
Compare some of the features in the photos.
It is confirmed, it is indeed the Chinese merganser.
The mouth is more pointed and has a hook, making it easier to catch fish.
The duck in the photo has very clear scaly patterns on its body, which is also the most striking feature of this breed.
The information also says that this type of duck does not call frequently and is not too noisy.
In fact, there is only one such bird, so even if it chirps, the impact will be limited, as it doesn't stay in his house all the time.
but!
Is there really only one
The Chinese merganser flies from north to south during the winter.
Feng Yi looked up into the sky.
Sure enough, the main force arrived late.
The leading duck fish has already eaten several, and the ones behind have just arrived here.
Feng Yi estimated that there were twenty or thirty Chinese mergansers flying overhead and landing on the surface of Cui Lake.
Some of these ducks look the same as the one just now, but their heads are darker and less green. Some have different colors, with brown and yellow heads.
Feng Yi turned back to the identification page.
The duck that was just identified as eating koi is a male, so the one of another color in this wintering group might be a female
But these are not important at the moment.
Feng Yi sent a message directly to Wei Hongxi, sending him the photos he had just taken and the screenshots of the identification page.
Although the identification page provides the phone numbers of many departments, Feng Yi knows the people in the Joint Security Bureau. If he sends the message directly to them, they will naturally solve the problem efficiently.
Sure enough, less than 10 seconds after the message was sent, Wei Hongxi called.
"Are you sure about these photos you just took at home? There is only one?" Wei Hongxi said excitedly.
"Just now there was only one, but now there is a group of about 20 or 30 of them. They have already flown to Green Lake. Many tourists have seen them there. I'll take a video for you."
There were people playing on the lake shore, and the ducks that flew over ran away from the crowd, but the camera was powerful and Feng Yi was able to take pictures of them. The images were a bit blurry, but they were enough to see what I wanted to see.
Feng Yi originally thought that Wei Hongxi would contact the relevant departments and send someone to solve the problem here, but he didn't expect that Wei Hongxi himself would come here.
Some of the people who came went to the place where the ducks were active to investigate and follow up, while some put up signs on the lakeshore with propaganda slogans and laws and regulations, telling everyone that there are Chinese mergansers wintering here, and asking everyone to watch the ducks in a civilized manner and keep a distance.
Wei Hongxi talked to the people over there for a few words, then came directly here to find Feng Yi. He didn't go into the house to sit, but just walked around the courtyard and asked about some of the circumstances at that time.
The people from the Joint Guarantee Bureau traveled to many places due to their work. They had seen poor places as well as rich places. Therefore, when they came to this famous villa area, their expression did not change much. To them, no matter whether the decoration here was luxurious or simple, it was far less attractive than a duck feather.
When Wei Hongxi heard Feng Yi say that the duck landed directly in his koi pond and caught a few koi, his expression became complicated.
"The koi in your house is a little too fat. It was probably attracted to the koi. But this is the first time I've heard of them flying into a human's yard to eat koi. Normally, they are very alert and stay away from people."
"Are you familiar with this kind of duck?" Feng Yi asked.
"I'm not familiar with them. I was just taken to Changbai Mountain by my senior during my internship. It's one of the breeding grounds of the Chinese merganser. I followed and filmed the nest-hopping behavior of the young ducks of the Chinese merganser, so I have some understanding of them."
“So these ducks flew over from Changbai Mountain?”
"Yes, a research team has provided more information. Most of the ducks migrating south from Changbai Mountain have already landed in the place where they spent the winter last year. However, this small group continued to fly south, which attracted the attention of observers. It has just been confirmed that they are the group that continued to migrate south. In the past, they would not fly so far south. This situation is rare."
"I also saw on the identification page that they generally don't come to Yangcheng to overwinter, so is this group of ducks a special case?" Feng Yi was a little worried.
When he was in Yongcheng, the migrating swans had already brought him some unnecessary attention. He didn't expect to encounter such a thing again when he came to Yangcheng.
Seeing Feng Yi frown, Wei Hongxi smiled and said, "Although there are not many, there are some. Don't worry, this is actually a good thing. The Chinese merganser is a kind of 'ecological test paper' for the water environment. The fact that they fly here shows that the water environment here is very good, otherwise they would not choose to land here. Judging from the current situation, they should have chosen to overwinter here this year. They can fly south and here, and there are more than 20 of them at a time. It is not easy to see them. Cuihu Lake has a place suitable for them to live, and some arrangements will be made in the lakeside area. Not only can everyone see the ducks, but they can also spend the winter safely. Living in harmony is a win-win situation."
Thinking of something, Wei Hongxi added: "However, during the wintering period of the birds in Cuihu Lake, the responsible team here will conduct random inspections on vehicles and personnel entering and leaving the Cuihu Lake area. If there is no other matter, the Cuihu Observatory may be more strict if it receives abnormal reports. Strengthened supervision is also to prevent some illegal activities, such as those who use slingshots to shoot birds, lure and shoot, and catch them and impose heavy penalties."
"Oh, by the way!" Wei Hongxi said to Feng Yi with a smile, "Congratulations, I heard that you have been confirmed to join the expert team for the Virginia python hunting activity."
"Well, the application was approved."
"Perform well! This is a great opportunity to gain both fame and fortune!"
After chatting for a while, Wei Hongxi returned to work again. He glanced around the clean courtyard.
"Did the duck drop any feathers when it flew in your yard?" Wei Hongxi asked.
Feng Yi looked at Xiao Ding standing beside him.
Xiao Ding replied: "Half a stick."
As he said this, he took it out from the garbage bag.
Wei Hongxi took out a small transparent bottle from the toolbox and put it on.
"We can analyze some data based on the feathers."
Before leaving, Wei Hongxi said to Feng Yi, "Although they usually don't go near places where humans live, a duck has already eaten the koi in your house, and I'm not sure if they will sneak over again. There are a lot of fish in Cuihu Lake, but if the duck thinks the koi here are tastier, it's hard to say. If the loss is serious, you can apply for compensation."
"There's no need for compensation, and it's not something expensive." Feng Yi said.
He was photographed buying fish at the flower and bird market. A quick search would reveal that the fish cost only ten yuan each. He bought them just to decorate the pond and didn't treat them as pets, so naturally he didn't have a deep affection for them.
Wei Hongxi also suggested that Feng Yi could install some obstructions on the koi pond. As long as they were not trapping tools or things that would directly harm the Chinese merganser, it would be fine.
"If you have anything else, you can contact me directly."
Wei Hongxi left the community and went to Cuihu to find out the situation.
In the evening, Feng Yi went online and saw a video posted by the local official account on the social platform. It was a video of a group of Chinese mergansers active in Cuihu Lake during the day.
Feng Yi immediately found the one among the group of ducks, the one with shiny green fur in the sunlight, which looked both charming and deep.
This is the duck that caught the koi in the yard today.
It is also the leader of this small team migrating south.
so…
"Xiaojia and Xiaoding, add a shelter to the koi pond tomorrow!"
Feng Yi's worries were not unnecessary.
The next day, the duck with the particularly green head was hovering in the sky with a small team, but perhaps it found that the koi pond on this side was blocked, so it flew back to the Green Lake unwillingly.
In the next few days, they were often seen in the sky above Cuihu Park, and occasionally flew over the residential area. However, after that, they rarely came close to human settlements.
The ducks only move around in the Green Lake Park area.
The news that more than 20 Chinese mergansers appeared in Cuihu Lake quickly aroused heated discussion among everyone.
As Wei Hongxi said, the Chinese merganser has very high requirements for its living environment and can be regarded as a kind of ecological test paper for the aquatic environment. Their appearance in the Cuihu area also shows that the ecological environment of the Cuihu area is very good and businessmen will not miss this opportunity for hype.
So, Cuihu Lake once again became the focus.
People in Yangcheng are focusing on the residential areas around Cuihu District, and real estate developers have launched a new round of publicity campaigns using this topic.
There are also many people who come here purely for bird watching, and many tourists come to Cuihu Lake to see the ducks every day.
Some people come here just to join in the fun and check in. If you don’t see any ducks, you can walk around here, take a few photos, and see what the place that attracts “the ducks of the first grade in the country” to overwinter looks like.
And netizens from other places...
“I heard that these ducks just flew over there and stole the koi from other people’s yards?”
"It is said that it is the famous luxury villa area Luhai next to Cuihu Lake! For people living in such a place, it is very expensive to raise koi in the yard, right?"
"Hahaha! I wonder if the owner of this house will cry!"
"What's wrong with being expensive?! What's wrong with a duck from our country eating a few of your koi?! [Dog head]"