Covering more than 4,000 square km, the lake also is the country's biggest saltwater lake. Located in Qinghai Province, it is famous for two islands: Cormorant and Egg.

The islands have plenty of floating grass and fish, offering rich food sources for birds. The islands have become home to a diversified population of birds and are popularly called "Bird Islands," said Xinhua News Agency.

From March to April each year, when ice covering the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau starts to melt, more than 20 kinds of migrating birds fly over mountains to the Bird Islands to mate.

The birds sometimes cover the sky over the islands and bird eggs can be found everywhere. Their warbles can be heard from miles away.

To protect the birds, the Qinghai Lake Natural Protection Zone was set up at the end of 1997. Meanwhile, the state has defined Bird Islands and Spring Bay as core protection zones.

Inspection officials and management employees often patrol around the lake, improving local residents' awareness of protection laws and spreading knowledge about wild-animal protection to visitors.

They are calling on people to love and protect the birds. At the same time, they have built special fences and cement slots around the island area to prevent wolves, foxes and other predators from disrupting the birds' nest-building, egg-laying and reproduction.

Moreover, officials have carried out a series of technological projects on control of soil erosion and afforestation drives, with the aim to further improve the ecological environment for birds and their nests.

"We are determined to build Bird Islands into a real ‘Paradise for Birds’," they said.

As a result of these efforts, the management employees of the protection zone were glad to discover that groups of birds have come to the lake area earlier than expected this year.

The number of birds in the lake's core area, such as Spring Bay and the Bird Islands, have increased largely, and the variety of birds also increased by six, including the white-headed goose (a rare kind of wild goose in China).

To date, the number of migrating birds in the protection zone totals more than 10,000.

Large numbers of Red Sheldrake and other duck species, along with 11 Aigrettes and scattered Snipes, also have been sighted. Many cormorants have also been sighted near the lake.

(eastday.com 07/19/2001)