Teenage bird-watchers relish chance to let hobby take flight

When the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted travel plans for her family, Chen Rundan set her eyes on the birds flying outside her window in early 2020. In the past two years, birding has become a full-fledged hobby that occupies her weekends. The sixth grader at the Fuzhou Gulou No 2 Central Primary School in Fujian province knows about a large number of different birds, and is familiar with their sounds, behavior, color patterns and habitats.

"It's a fascinating world outside the door, which is full of surprises for bird watchers like me," the 11-year-old says, adding that birding is also a convenient activity because birds are everywhere.

Rundan, who is a member of the Fujian Birdwatching Society, says, "City parks are best schools for beginners".

In May, she spotted various birds, including ruddy turnstones, white-winged terns and whimbrels, at Fuqing Xinghua Bay in Fujian. After recording information on the birds along the coastline via illustrations and words in a nature journal that she created, Rundan won the third prize at a related competition for students, aged 6 to 18. The journaling competition received 2,679 entries from students across the country.

More than 110,000 people have joined various birding clubs and organizations in the country in recent years, according to the China Bird Watch Report 2020 released by China Birdwatching Association, a Chinese nonprofit that promotes birding and conservation.

Birding is no longer seen as a hobby for elderly people. According to the association, some 43 percent of the bird-watchers in that report were aged between 18 and 35. Since the country's first birdwatching organization was set up in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, in 1996, more than 130 registered birdwatching organizations have come up in the country.

During the ongoing pandemic, which has made traveling difficult, birdwatching has been an easy way to connect to nature and avoid crowds. Local birdwatching organizations hold balcony birding activities to lift people's spirits from the increasing uncertainties and risks related to the pandemic.

The official WeChat account of the association says: "Birdwatching is your lifetime ticket to the theater of nature."

Rundan got that "ticket" at 9 when her father took her for a visit to the Wushan Mountain scenic spot near her home.

"It was the first time I felt the beauty of birds, flying through the trees," the girl says, adding that when birding she carries a plastic bag to pick up trash.

Over the past two years, Rundan has become an avid bird-watcher. She has visited nearly all the parks in Fuzhou. Her favorite bird is the kestrel, which can hover in the air and swoop down on ground prey.

During this summer vacation, she went with her father on a birding tour to Guizhou province, where she captured images of birds, including the black-breasted thrush, white-throated fantail, black-throated sunbird and a blue-winged bird.

"What I like about birding is that you never know what bird you will encounter after waiting for a long time," the young bird-watcher says. "When the bird you were waiting for appears in front of you, you will hold your breath and feel like you are one of the birds, chasing one another."

Her most impressive birding trip occurred in October, when she heard that a slaty-breasted rail was spotted taking a dip in Huahai Park in Fuzhou by other bird-watchers.

After research, she found that the bird enjoyed the water around 9 am, noon and after 3 pm when it felt safe, with fewer people around. Having failed seven times to record the bird's bath, Rundan didn't give up, and on Oct 16, after waiting for about three hours, the slaty-breasted rail reappeared. "From birdwatching, I have learned to never give up," the girl adds.