A birdwatcher from Dongying city in China's Eastern Shandong Province has photographed four swans with neck-loops at the Yellow River Delta.
Birdwatcher Sun Jingsong photographed swans with neck-loops at the Yellow River Delta in China's Eastern Shandong Province. [Photo: chinanews.com.cn]
Chinese news Web site chinanews.com.cn reported on Wednesday that birdwatcher Sun Jingsong’s discovery marks the first sighting of neck-looped swans in the Yellow River Delta.
Chinese researchers from the Yellow River Delta Natural Reserve identified the four neck-loop numbers as A05, A06, A19 and A28. After corresponding with various international organizations, they finally received feedback from the loop-maker Martin Gilbert.
According to Martin, a total of 30 swans were fitted with red neck-loops in July in Dardhad of northern Mongolia, 2150 kilometers away from Dongying, in a bid by the Wild Bird Global Avian Influenza Network for Surveillance (GAINS) to supervise the wild waterfowl.
This sighting is the first time the swans have been rediscovered since their release.
(CRI December 21, 2007)
