Chinanews.com, February 7th (Wu Jiaju) The fish ponds are connected, the reeds are swaying, and the storks are singing... In Heiyanzi Town, Fengnan District, Tangshan City, Hebei Province, where the water and grass are abundant, it is known as the "Bird Giant Panda". The oriental white stork settled down here and made a home here.

  The oriental white stork living comfortably on this land is a strong evidence of Tangshan's continuous strengthening of wild animals, and it is also a vivid case of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

Why did the oriental white stork, which is extremely harsh on the environment, become attached to Tangshan?

There is also a magical story related to electrical equipment behind it.

Oriental white storks nest on high-voltage iron towers.

Photo by Liu Haoxue

encounter

  The oriental white stork is a world-class endangered species and a national first-class protected animal. It is known as the "National Treasure of the Bird World". At the beginning of the 21st century, the number of the world was less than 3,000.

In recent years, with the great improvement of the ecological environment, the oriental white stork has been found in many places across the country.

The employees of State Grid Tangshan Power Supply Company had a beautiful encounter with the Oriental White Stork.

  "Look, there seems to be a bird's nest on the iron tower in front of you."

  "It seems to be, let's take a look."

  "Why is this bird's nest so big?"

  "Then let's deal with it quickly. According to the regulations, there must be no bird nests on the iron tower. But we have never seen this bird before, so why don't we report it first."

  In 2018, employees of State Grid Tangshan Power Supply Company found birds nesting and hatching on the high-voltage line towers on both sides of the expressway in Heiyanzi Town, Tangshan.

After the power supply company learned about the situation, it contacted the forestry department as soon as possible, hoping to remove the bird's nest as soon as possible after determining the species of the bird.

On-site identification by the forestry department confirmed that these birds are Oriental white storks.

  It is reported that the continuous improvement of the local ecological environment has made the oriental white stork, which has never settled down in Tangshan before, choose the Heiyanzi Wetland in Tangshan City, which has a lot of wetlands and rich food, as a place for them to reproduce.

Because there are no tall trees nearby and better nesting conditions, the Oriental White Stork can only choose to nest in the high-voltage iron tower.

  Iron towers are not ideal places for birds to nest.

"Birds nesting on iron towers will bring great risks to themselves, and at the same time will bring great safety hazards to operating equipment." Zhao Baozhan from the Transportation Inspection Department of State Grid Tangshan Power Supply Company introduced.

  But at that time, the oriental white stork had already nested and laid eggs on the iron tower, and the 35 kV line they were on was a backup line, which was related to the normal electricity consumption of more than 6,000 households and many enterprises.

Entering the peak power consumption in summer, if there is a problem with the main supply line, this backup line may be activated at any time.

  Is it to let the oriental white stork leave to ensure that the backup line can be used?

Or let the Oriental stork stay put and not use the backup line?

Electric utility companies face a choice.

Oriental white stork and its nest on the high-voltage iron tower.

Photo by Zhou Yuxiang

guard

  In the end, the power company decided to do everything possible to keep the main power supply running normally, while trying to avoid using this backup line as much as possible.

  To this end, on the one hand, the power supply company has increased the inspection of the main power supply line and nearby lines, and has used unconventional personnel and investment to improve the health of the line and postpone the spring maintenance time.

  On the other hand, the power supply company has made a risk assessment on live lines in advance, and has tried its best to protect the Oriental white stork and prevent electric injury to the Oriental white stork and line tripping incidents.

  A staff member said: "The standby line cannot be used, nor can it be cut off. This line can only be used for diversion. Although this method is feasible, it is very difficult and risky. And when doing diversion, we must take precautions. Measures, there can be no risk problems."

  It is reported that since 2018, in order to ensure the "double safety" of the Oriental white stork on the tower and the operation of the power grid, and to promote the harmonious coexistence of power facilities and birds, the State Grid Tangshan Power Supply Company has normalized the nesting of the Oriental white stork and surrounding lines. Monitoring and special patrol and special protection, continuously improve the health level of the line, and try to avoid the use of "nesting" lines.

  At the same time, in accordance with the migration schedule of migratory birds, the survey of bird activities around the transmission line, the training of bird lovers on line protection, and joint patrol and rescue work were carried out as a whole.

The oriental white stork walks in the grass.

Photo by Zhang Hairong

symbiosis

  The harmonious coexistence with birds has made Tangshan the home of the "National Treasure of the Bird World".

  In recent years, the coastal wetlands in Tangshan have become an important migration route for oriental white storks and other rare migratory birds. The number of oriental white storks passing through Tangshan has increased by about 1,000 per year. The number has reached more than 6000.

Among them, only Heiyanzi wetland in Fengnan District once gathered 4,000 to 5,000 oriental white storks at the same time during the most migration season.

  The encounter between the State Grid Tangshan Power Supply Company and the Oriental White Stork is not an exception.

Since the 21st century, researchers have successively discovered that oriental white storks build nests on high-tension line towers.

  In July 2021, the State Grid Public Welfare Foundation and the China Green Development Association and other social organizations and institutions cooperated to carry out the project "State Grid Green Project·Protection Line and Bird Love Action-Migratory Bird Lifeline". In addition to Tangshan, Hebei, Zhalong, Heilongjiang was also selected Wetlands, Qilihai in Tianjin, Cangzhou in Hebei, Dongying in Shandong, Chizhou in Anhui, Gaoyou in Jiangsu, and Panyang Lake in Jiangxi are the project sites. According to the migration schedule of migratory birds, we will coordinate the investigation of bird activities around the transmission line, protect the line and love birds. Joint patrol and rescue work.

  "All things grow together without harming each other, and Tao runs without conflict." The harmonious coexistence of man and nature represents a promising green future.

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