西溪拍鳥

我們全家愛上拍攝野生鳥類活動，特別是到杭州西溪拍鳥，更覺得其樂無窮。

我的老家與西溪原本同屬余杭塘棲，父輩們常常到西溪蔣村一帶捕魚，因此西溪對我來講并不陌生。但近年當我和家人為拍鳥進入杭州西溪時，還是讓我著實吃了一驚。從小看慣了塘棲一口連著一口精致的大小魚塘，一塊又一塊的枇杷林、桃樹林、桑樹林園以及連接它們的一條又一條堤埂，這次到西溪一看，雖然同樣河港密布，魚塘星星點點，但其“荒涼”的“濕地”景象出乎想象：那堤埂狹細多塌，成片空地上長滿茅草、蘆葦，港汊溪流密布，濕地田野充滿野趣。正因為有這樣的環境，才使得100多種鳥兒在這里安家歇站，它們在水面戲耍，在藍天飛翔，西溪濕地成了它們的樂園。我們沿著河道走，不時會看到一棵又一棵“鳥樹”，當你進入一片密密的柿子林、竹林時，往往會驚起幾十成百的夜鷺，它們在空中呼叫盤旋，然后又慢慢落入林中。每當遇到這種情況，我們的相機快門聲就會像爆黃豆那樣響起來。

西溪拍鳥，有幾次的記憶尤為深刻。其中一次是前年5月，我們在一個網站的“觀鳥天地”中，獲悉了西溪一帶出現過珍貴鳥類黑水雞。于是我們清早就趕到杭州西溪找黑水雞的棲息地。西溪真大，到處是洼地池塘，水草蔓生，柿樹高大，綠柳成蔭，一片迷人的濕地風光。當走得腰酸背痛、口干唇焦之時，才找到了一個與網上照片相同的水塘。我們架好相機，在烈日下靜候黑水雞出來。可是等到太陽快要西沉，還是沒有看到黑水雞的影子。下午5點多太陽光已經西斜，正當我們有點失去信心的時候，忽然看到兩個小黑絨球從池塘西邊蘆葦叢中飛了出來。我們眼睛一亮：“小黑水雞!”我們趕快擺動相機，將它們先拍下來再說。緊接著，一只大黑水雞躲躲閃閃的也游了出來，它們一家子好親熱呢!我們趕緊又拿起相機連續拍攝。到快6點時，大黑水雞爬到了它們在水邊的窩中，兩只小黑水雞也進了窩，側擁在“媽媽”的身邊。我們又拍個不停，直到膠卷用完了才依依不舍地離去。過了一星期多，我們又去拜訪，見到它們一家子快快樂樂，得知沒驚動它們，這才放下心來。去年春末，在西溪旁邊的一個荷塘里，我們又看到了至少10只以上的黑水雞群體。看樣子隨著西溪生態環境的好轉，黑水雞家族越來越興旺了。

杭州的西溪濕地綜合保護工程正式實施后，濕地內到處是清新養眼的綠色和婀娜多姿的碧水，鳥類資源也在不斷增加。如今，我們已在西溪記錄和拍攝了在菱角塘中探頭探腦的紅腳苦惡鳥、白胸苦惡鳥，拍到了在空中穿梭的喜鵲，在蘆葦叢中悄無聲息獵魚的黃葦，還有白鷺、池鷺、牛背鷺、綠鷺、夜鷺、普通翠鳥、白胸翡翠、斑魚狗、白腰草鷸、磯鷸、北紅尾鴝、東方大葦鶯、褐頭鷦鶯、紅頭(長尾)山雀、綠翅鴨、扇尾沙雉、絲光椋鳥、田、水雉、小、銀喉(長尾)山雀、棕頭鴉雀、棕背伯勞、紅脅藍尾鴝、黑尾蠟嘴雀、大麻、雉雞等近60種鳥類。特別是被稱作“凌波仙子”的水雉，由于以前西溪濕地的生態系統遭到損壞，已經很多年沒有光臨杭州了。但去年初夏我們在西溪的一個荷塘里，終于看到了它。當時我們通過望遠鏡在荷葉中搜索鳥兒，突然看到一處荷葉擺動，接著又看到一個白色的頭露在荷葉空間，它的頸部有著耀眼的金黃色，身上是黑黑亮亮的羽毛。我腦際馬上跳出“水雉!”這個名詞，它微微歪著頭，好像在傾聽，也許它聽到了我們“嗒嗒嗒”的快門聲或者是輕移輕動的腳步聲。此時它突然飛起，白色的翅膀掠過綠荷，雙腳一蹦落到了荷塘的另一邊，輕巧地踩在貼水荷葉上。于是我又趕忙端起照相機……

鳥類的生態攝影，除了拍好鳥兒、拍出鳥兒的特色外，拍好鳥兒的所賴于生存的生態環境，是鳥類攝影愛好者的追求。在西溪拍鳥，鳥的種類多，環境也美，所以拍出的照片大都很理想.有一次，我們在西溪拍鳥，一陣大雷雨后，天是那么藍，空氣那么清新，光線那么柔和，晚霞映在一個連天碧葉的荷塘里，漣漪折射著陽光，此時兩只小領著它們四只雛鳥在荷塘漣漪中游來游去，小不時停下來，與小小交談，有時它又潛下水去抓蝦或小魚兒喂雛鳥。它們的悠閑自在和濃濃親情，一點不亞于人間!我們趕快拍下了此情此景，后來在電腦上打開照片一看，確實有油畫的味道，其光影之美妙，讓人怦然心動。

在杭州，“斑魚狗”可說是西溪獨有的鳥類。以往拍它比較困難，因為每天只有在傍晚才能見到它們，再說偌大個西溪，也不知它們躲到哪里。以往許多人拍過它們但總不理想，因為拍到的往往是“電線天空版”，拍到的是對著天空停在電線上的斑魚狗，要拍飛行的斑魚狗，光線差，快門上不去，往往無法拍好。今年情況變了，西溪經過改造，河道寬了，水質好了，河里的魚多起來了。從清晨開始，就有斑魚狗來叼魚。在西溪200來米的一段河道里，它們東張西望，不停地振動著白黑兩色的翅膀懸停在空中，眼睛卻緊緊盯住水面。一旦有魚，它們便俯沖入水，從水花四濺中竄出水面叼上魚來。因為西溪兩岸新修的路好走，如今拍攝它又可以俯拍、平拍，所以在這兒拍攝斑魚狗可以說是得天獨厚了!

西溪成了浙江野鳥會會員經常觀鳥拍鳥的地方，也成了省外、境外鳥友喜歡光顧的地方。現在西溪成了首個國家濕地公園，為鳥兒營造了更好的生存繁衍環境，因而它成了鳥兒的天堂!我們將繼續拿起鏡頭，更多更好地記錄這些人類的朋友、美麗的小精靈!

Photographing Birds in West Brook Wetland

By Zheng Yongfu

MY family love birds. All of us are bird photographers. Photographing birds in the West Brook Wetland brings us ecstasy. Our ancestors were from Tangqi， a suburb that neighbors the wetland. Our forefathers often fished somewhere near the West Brook， so the name was not strange to us at all. But we were greatly amazed the first time my family went there photographing birds.

Tangqi is a well developed rural area. There are numerous fish ponds， flanked by peach trees， loquat trees， and mulberry trees， connected by narrow footpaths. Though West Brook is crisscrossed by rivers， dotted with fish ponds， but its primitive state was more than I expected. Footpaths are narrower， with some sections collapsed here and there. Unspoiled plots are covered thickly with wild grass and reed groves. It is exactly because of this wildness that the wetland is home to more than 100 kinds of birds. Trekking along rivers， we often run into trees nestled by birds. Thick persimmon woods or bamboo groves are habitats of night herons. When we approach such a habitat， dozens， sometimes even hundreds of them， will flap their wings and soar into the sky. They shriek and circle for a while before alighting on trees again. Whenever we run into such a bevy of birds， our cameras click and click making a sound like popping beans in a hot wok.

One of the most memorable shooting trips took place in May two years ago. We learned from a website that some moorhens were spotted in the West Brook. One morning， we went there to find them. The mission was almost impossible， for the wetland was vast and the information was not accurate at all. Finally we saw a pond that resembled that in the picture at the website. We set up our cameras and waited. It was a long wait. When the sun began setting at five， we suddenly spotted two black fluffy balls appear from the reeds on the western side. They were chicks. We photographed them immediately. Then an adult moorhen came out in a dodgy way. We captured them on our cameras and clicked away until we ran out of films. One week later we went there again， and we were greatly relieved to know that the moorhens were still there， which meant that we had not disturbed them. In spring last year we saw a group of at least 10 common moorhens in a pond in the western part of the wetland.

Since the comprehensive project was launched to protect bird habitats in West Brook Wetland， the ecological environment has improved remarkably. So far we photographed brown crakes and white-breasted water-hens that swam in a water chestnut pond and magpies shuttling through the sky. What appeared in our cameras are numerous species of birds living in the wetland.

In Hangzhou， pied kingfishers are only seen in West Brook.It is not so easy to capture their images， for usually they are seen only in the late afternoon. In the past， photographers had trouble trying to spot them in the wetland. Some pictures showed pied kingfishers perching on electric lines. It was almost impossible to see them in flight. But now with more fish in wider rivers， it becomes quite a cinch. Usually from early morning， photographers can see them hunt busily along a 200-meter-long section of a river. The kingfishers look around and their white-black wings spread out. But their eyes focus on the river. If a fish is spotted， a kingfish will dart into the water. With a big splash， it darts out with a fish between its beaks. As there are better roads along rivers and streams， we find better and more angles to photograph the pied kingfishers.

West Brook Wetland is a preferred place for members of Zhejiang Wild Birds Association as well as for birdwatchers from other provinces and from overseas. Now that West Brook has become China’s very first state wetland park， which provides better conditions for birds to live and multiply. And we bird photographers would continue to click away at these beautiful friends of ours.

(Translated by David)