Birdman of Beijing keeps his eyes on the skies
Print Edition
“FEWER and fewer owls can be seen at the Temple of Heaven,” says Lei Hong, a Beijing native who’s been observing the city’s avians for 20 years.
Last year, he saw only three owls in the royal garden. Ten years ago it was common to see 30.
Owls are the 59-year-old bird-watching expert’s favorite bird.
While not backed by official records, Lei’s observations are seen as “objective and accurate” by ornithologists, who say people like him are crucial to collecting data for research.
“Scientific studies need birdwatchers and civil environment organizations to contribute,” says Zhao Xinru, assistant professor of zoology at Beijing Normal University and a member of the China Ornithological Society.
Lei is an avid birdwatcher, photographing and observing them year around. He can identify the chirps of the capital’s birds in a matter of seconds, something he attributes to years of keeping caged birds.
Lei’s obsession with birds can be traced back to 1989. “There used to be 70 birds on my balcony,” Lei recalls.
At that time, he was a fixture at Beijing’s bird market. “I would buy birds that I am unfamiliar with, no matter where they came from,” he says.
He recalled a couple of birds from Indonesia that cost him 60 yuan (US$10), “a very big expense in the 1990s.”
He would often go to great lengths to raise these creatures. He even learned some veterinary skills, collecting sick or injured birds that he could nurse back to health.
Even at home, he watched his birds through binoculars, noting “interesting details” in their behavior.
“The most depressing moment is their death,” says Lei, who would bury birds’ bodies into his flowerpots. “I viewed birds as my second life.”
Birding takes flight
Lei eventually gave up raising caged birds after reading an article in 1996 about Friends of Nature, China’s first environmental NGO. He wrote a letter to the founder and applied for membership the following year.
“They called for people to observe birds in the wild instead of caging them, which is actually a selfish hobby,” says Lei, who later said goodbye to his caged birds by setting them free.
“For northern birds, I released them at parks, and for southern ones, I released them during migration season,” he explains.
This act of kindness opened a new chapter in Lei’s life. He began hiking around Beijing and neighboring provinces to watch and photograph birds. Before long, Lei began receiving praise for his sensitive images of birds.
According to Lei, it’s easy to connect with the birds once one realizes that their lives “are quite similar to ours, with joys, pains, poverty and wealth.”
In 2013, Lei quit his job at a travel agency to devote more time to bird watching.
He volunteered to help with research projects, give lectures at schools and joined a growing bird-watching group that includes many foreign birders.
In China, few took an interest in bird-watching until the 1990s.
Shortly after Lei was born, China’s central government introduced a nationwide campaign in 1958 to terminated “four pests,” which were rats, sparrows, flies and mosquitoes.
Authorities at the time considered sparrows as pests since they “stole” grain. Such views were supported at the time by testimonies from biologists.
About 450,000 sparrows were killed by people in Beijing in three days that year, according to a report carried by People’s Daily.
Coinciding with the establishment of environmental NGOs in 1990s, bird watching expanded in Beijing and other cities, says Zhao Xinru, adding that there are now about 40 specialized bird watching organizations on the mainland.
Terry Townshend, a British man working for an environmental organization, has been a birder in Beijing for four years.
He has recorded 460 species in the city, which he calls an ideal “service station” for migration.
Though bird-watchers are still relatively few in number in China, Townshend believes that the number of local enthusiasts will be grow when Chinese people have more leisure time and wealth.
Admirer of freedom
For enthusiasts like Lei, the pleasures derived from bird-watching transcend material considerations.
After the hardships of the Cultural Revolution, Lei devoted himself to making money. Years of bird watching though have made him an admirer of freedom.
“It helps me get rid of distractions”, says Lei. “That’s the change the hobby brings to me.”
However, not all birders find inner peace or an appreciation for wildlife.
Lei once caught a photographer throwing stones to wake up owls. He has seen other shooters luring birds with food.
“They don’t really love birds, the only love pictures,” he says, raising his voice in clear agitation. “How could you impose your thoughts on another species and disturb their way of living? Such behaviors violate the laws of nature and will eventually backfire.”
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