野狐山上護(hù)鷺人

張建成

前些日子，我經(jīng)友人介紹而去野狐山拍攝白鷺。

山道旁有人在釘掛木牌。木牌略略陳舊，上面寫著宣傳語“愛鳥護(hù)鳥是人類的美德”。“橐橐”或“嗒嗒”的敲擊聲在林中似乎清越。我向他詢問，果然他就是這野狐山上護(hù)鷺人—邵偉榮。

簡單客套寒暄幾句，邵偉榮要繼續(xù)巡山，讓我隨意而行，約好中午一起吃飯。

白鷺多數(shù)為候鳥，少數(shù)為留鳥。每年春天，白鷺從熱帶越冬歸來，在野狐山棲息生活。野狐山在浙江省蘭溪市游埠鎮(zhèn)境內(nèi)，是浙西山區(qū)中的丘陵一岡，山上以樟樹和杉樹為林。近年，當(dāng)?shù)卦诮ㄔO(shè)美麗中國的行動中，著力打造人與自然和諧共處的生態(tài)文明，為鳥類棲息繁殖提供了良好的環(huán)境。野狐山的白鷺自由自在，在蔚藍(lán)的天空中飛翔起舞，在蒼翠的林木間憩息交頸……

陽光照進(jìn)林隙，反而顯得愈發(fā)寂靜。我轉(zhuǎn)悠著角度，等待著鏡頭，捕捉著瞬間。一只鷺鳥驚起，掠起一片白影遠(yuǎn)去。野狐山并不太深，也不太高。淺淺的回聲中，很快地，邵偉榮出現(xiàn)了。他解釋道：“5月至7月正是白鷺繁殖季節(jié)。白鷺是涉禽。成群結(jié)隊(duì)的成年白鷺起早貪黑到野狐山附近的水田、澤地、湖塘、溪灣里覓食，不辭辛勞地來回給巢里的小白鷺喂食，演繹著野生動物慈愛的天性。”

中年的他一臉憨厚。接著，我倆相視一笑：他笑，是護(hù)鷺之情；我笑，是明白之意。

白鷺每年春天返回野狐山生兒育女，給游埠鎮(zhèn)增添了無限活潑生機(jī)與美景。這段時間里，邵偉榮特別忙碌，他每天上午和下午至少要兩次巡山，尋找因刮風(fēng)和受游客驚嚇而掉落的小白鷺。有受傷的，他帶回住所，及時進(jìn)行救治、喂食，待得羽毛漸豐放歸山林。

野狐山上白鷺云集，成了當(dāng)?shù)匾坏廓?dú)特風(fēng)景，各地前來觀賞、學(xué)習(xí)拍攝的游客、師生、攝影愛好者越來越多。但也有一些人趁清晨和傍晚掏鷺蛋抓雛鷺，還有人明目張膽拉網(wǎng)捕鳥，邵偉榮每每進(jìn)行勸說制止。為更好地保護(hù)白鷺，他自掏腰包4萬多元在山林中建起一座觀鳥臺，專供游客和攝影愛好者觀賞、拍攝白鷺的美麗身姿。同時，他還在山路邊立起了20多塊寫有諸如“進(jìn)入林區(qū)請勿喧嘩”“保護(hù)鳥類”“同在藍(lán)天下，人鳥共家園”等內(nèi)容的宣傳告示牌。

我登上觀鳥臺四下眺望，眼前疏枝空落，層林接后，目光盡處有隱隱煙嵐云影。幾名攝影愛好者同時在抓拍一只叼著干草筑巢的黃嘴白鷺。我用長焦攝取喂食幼鳥的大白鷺。

邵偉榮承包了這片山地，與白鷺朝夕相處。他對白鷺有深厚的感情，記錄白鷺每年到來、離開的時間及數(shù)量等情況，記錄白鷺的活動和生長等過程，記錄有關(guān)白鷺的一切。為此，他購買了一些相關(guān)鳥類的普及類圖書，還請人打印網(wǎng)上資料，長夜寂寞，青燈披覽。

邵偉榮在山上開了一家農(nóng)家餐館，一來為使游客有個歇憩和吃飯的地方，自己也可以常年吃住在山上；二是除了家庭日常開銷之外，他能把農(nóng)家餐館產(chǎn)生的利潤全部投入到白鷺的保護(hù)之中。從2007年起，邵偉榮為保護(hù)野狐山上的白鷺，已經(jīng)花去20多萬元。

中午，我和邵偉榮就在這農(nóng)家餐館便餐。飯后清茶。我問及他保護(hù)白鷺的初衷，他簡單回答：“我不會講大道理，只覺得應(yīng)該。”我又問他其中甘苦，他說：“秋天冬天有點(diǎn)沒事做。”我能夠體察到當(dāng)白鷺南行時他短暫的失落與惆悵，甚至酸楚。我想起行前友人說的，邵偉榮即便在春節(jié)，也只是下山回家呆一個大年夜、一個正月初一。

稍稍沉默。邵偉榮顯然需要釋放情懷而介紹：說不上什么時候，野狐山飛來了最早一批白鷺，數(shù)量只有幾十只，這幾年加強(qiáng)了保護(hù)措施，每年到來的白鷺越來越多，現(xiàn)在至少有上萬只。他說，來這里的白鷺品種也越來越多，林中棲息的有大白鷺、中白鷺、小白鷺，還有牛背鷺、灰鷺、蒼鷺和黃嘴白鷺等品種。其中，大白鷺和小白鷺屬于《瀕危野生動植物種國際貿(mào)易公約》名單上的物種；大白鷺和中白鷺同被列入《中華人民共和國政府和日本國政府保護(hù)候鳥和棲息環(huán)境的協(xié)定》；黃嘴白鷺是國際瀕危物種、國家二級重點(diǎn)保護(hù)動物，已被列入《國家保護(hù)的有益的或者有重要經(jīng)濟(jì)、科學(xué)研究價值的陸生野生動物名錄》。

說到這里，邵偉榮很開心，也很自豪。他說，野狐山可以說是目前蘭溪境內(nèi)，甚至是周邊縣市中發(fā)現(xiàn)的最大的白鷺棲息地。看到白鷺在這里安逸地生兒育女，目睹前來觀賞、拍攝白鷺的游客和攝影愛好者滿意的笑臉，“我心里就有說不出的快樂”。

我也快樂。我感謝邵偉榮的招待，更感謝他的奉獻(xiàn)。

熱愛生物，熱愛山水自然，是中華民族的傳統(tǒng)。人文浙江之所以積淀深厚，便因?yàn)橛邢裆蹅s這樣的普通人在做普通事。細(xì)雨潤物，潛移默化。于是，民俗風(fēng)情、人物性格、藝術(shù)思想、文化精神等等，逐漸醇厚并暈染開來……

晚春的輕風(fēng)吹過，夾雜絲絲涼意。看著白鷺低飛、陸續(xù)落下歸巢，邵偉榮向我淡然一揮手。沒有告別，他興許知道我一定會再來。

（本文照片由作者拍攝）

Egrets Thrive at Wild Fox Mountain

Photos and Text by Zhang Jiancheng

I went to photograph egrets at Mount Wild Fox. Located in Lanxi， a rural city in central Zhejiang Province， Wild Fox has long since thrived as a habitat favored by egrets. My friends convinced me that Wild Fox was a good place to do bird watching and photograph them.

Most egrets that set up their homes at Wild Fox are migrant birds. They come to Mount Wild Fox in the spring after wintering in the south. Wild Fox is one of numerous hills in the mountainous west of Zhejiang and presents a forest of camphor trees and firs.

I followed a path to the hill and spotted a man nailing a small advertisement board by the path. I chatted with him and he turned out to be Shao Weirong， the very guardian of egrets at Wild Fox. He invited me to lunch at one oclock. I continued my trip into the dense woods. Sunshine seeped through treetops. Peace reigned. I held my camera up and waited. An egret fluttered its wings and its white shape flew past as a feather. Wild Fox is by no means a huge and tall mountain. Soon， Shao Weirong appeared as if out of nowhere. We chatted again. He explained： Egrets mate and breed from May to July； adult egrets hunt fish in rice paddies， marshlands， lakes and ponds， and creeks around Wild Fox. They bring food back to baby egrets in nests.

After the explanation， he smiled and I smiled. He smiled to show he cared about the birds. I smiled to indicate I understood what he did.

The white birds came back to Wild Fox every spring. The return of egrets brings tourists to Youbu， a town near the mountain. To protect egrets， Shao patrols the hill at least twice a day. If a baby egret falls out of nests， he picks it up and feeds it until it can fly back to the woods.

Photographers love the mount and they frequent the egret habitat. However， some residents living near the mount often sneak to the habitat in morning or in evening to steal egret eggs. Some set up nets in the sky to capture flying egrets. Shao Weirong is the self-appointed guardian of these lovely egrets at Wild Fox. Since 2007， he has spent more than 200，000 yuan to protect the habitat.

A local farmer contracted to watch the woods in the hill， he has built a viewing platform at a vantage spot at his own cost. The viewing platform provides tourists and photographers with a commanding view of the mount and its bird guests.

When Shao took it upon himself to protect the habitat， there were only dozens of egrets and most were absent in winter. Now Wild Fox is home to about ten thousand egrets of various species thanks to Shaos individual undertaking and the local governments efforts.

Standing on the platform， I took a panoramic view of Wild Fox. A few photographers were photographing an egret building a nest with dry straws. Through long lens， I aimed my camera at an adult egret feeding its babies.

Shao Weirong keeps a record of egrets arrival and departure dates and numbers， their activities. In order to understand egrets better， he bought some books on birds and bird preservation. He supports himself financially by operating a restaurant near the mount top. The business is good enough to sustain himself and everyday expenses of his family.

We had lunch together at Shaos restaurant. After lunch， we enjoyed a cup of tea and we chatted again. I asked why he took the initiative to run his egret project. He said laconically， “I dont know how to say it like a theorist. I just feel thats what I should do.” I asked how he felt about his one-mans undertaking. He feels lonely and idle in autumn and winter. It is the time when egrets are not around. My friends had told me that Shao Weirong spent 363 days and nights in the mountain. He stays at home only for the eve of the Spring Festival and the first day of the lunar year.

Shao is proud that the Wild Fox habitat is now home to some egret species under protection of the national government， proud because he is doing his best to contribute to the preservation of some endangered egret species. He is proud that Wild Fox is the largest egret habitat in Lanxi. And it is probably the largest egret habitat among neighboring counties and county-level cities. He said his ecstasy knew no bounds when seeing tourists come to watch birds and photo buffs come to photograph the water birds.

He smiled. I said thank you to him for his hospitality. Spring breeze swept through the woods. I felt a little bit cold toward the evening. Egrets were coming home. Shao Weirong waved to me lightly but he did not say goodbye. Probably he knew it was not necessary since he knew certainly I would come back to see these lovely birds.