First batch of wintering birds arrive in China's Poyang Lake

Cranes prepare to land in a paddy field at the Kangshan farm of Yugan County in the Poyang Lake area, east China's Jiangxi Province, Jan. 15, 2021. (Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi)

NANCHANG, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Four white spoonbills arrived in Maying Lake in Duchang County, east China's Jiangxi Province, on Sept. 11, becoming the first batch of wintering birds to arrive in the Poyang Lake area this year.

According to the Duchang station of the Poyang Lake National Nature Reserve Administration Bureau, the birds landed a day earlier than last year.

It's the ninth consecutive year the migratory birds have come to Maying Lake for their first stop during the winter months since 2013.

With a surface area of over 3,200 square km, Poyang Lake hosts up to 700,000 wintering birds every year.