Xiangyang Daily (Tong Guanghui, the Journalist, and Xia Xiaobin and Gong Wen, the Correspondents) On April 8, birdwatching enthusiast He Fuzhi opened her smartphone and showed the journalist a recently photographed Great Knot—a distinctive waterbird—observed in the shallow-water zone of Gucheng Hanshui River National Wetland Park in Xiangyang, Hubei Province. This sighting fills a previously unrecorded gap in Gucheng County’s avian monitoring data for this species.

He Fuzhi said that, during the Qingming Festival holiday, she accompanied wildlife conservation staff from Gucheng County to conduct avian monitoring and field inspections in the Hanshui River Wetland. During the survey, they observed a slender waterbird with a long, straight bill foraging in shallow water. The bird exhibited striking black-and-white plumage arranged in a reticulated pattern and possessed an endearing, somewhat comical appearance—distinctly different from commonly encountered avian species and previously unrecorded in the area.

“I immediately raised my camera and took continuous shots to record its every move,” He Fuzhi recalled. She later sent the images to wildlife experts, who confirmed that the bird was a Great Knot, a national second-class protected animal.

The Great Knot is not only a nationally protected key wild species in China but also listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. Its primary habitats include coastal zones, sandbars, and wetlands, where it feeds predominantly on crustaceans, mollusks, and insects. This species exhibits exceptionally stringent requirements for water quality and ecosystem integrity, rendering it of high conservation value and significant ecological indicator importance.

“The arrival of the Great Knot in Gucheng County fully proves that the local ecological environment is continuously improving, making it a suitable habitat and foraging ground for more bird species,” said Chen Wei, Deputy Director of the Administration Department of the Gucheng Hanshui River National Wetland Park. Shortly before this sighting, the Hubei Wetland Conservation Foundation released its list of Hubei Province’s “Top Ten Most Beautiful Wetlands.” Gucheng County’s Hanshui River Wetland was successfully selected and recommended as one of the province’s premier birdwatching routes.

At present, Gucheng County’s Hanshui River Wetland covers an area of 2,133.6 hectares, with a wetland rate of 51.64%. As an important habitat for aquatic plants and birds, it plays a vital role in ensuring clean water sources in the middle and lower reaches of the Hanshui River. The wetland has been successively designated as a nationally important wetland, a key habitat on China’s migratory bird flyways, a national nature education base, and one of China’s first key terrestrial wildlife habitats. It also received the Seventh Governmental Award of Hubei Province for Environmental Protection. Gucheng County has also been recognized as a national ecological civilization construction demonstration zone.