Qinghai Lake, China's largest inland saltwater lake, has welcomed about 190,000 waterbirds of nearly 30 species, up by 36.5 percent year on year, since November 24 when the administration of the lake's national nature reserve conducted winter patrol.

Among them are about 560 whooper swans, a wild species under second-class state protection in China, which are visiting the lake for wintering. According to the reserve's administration bureau, there are about 230 more swans than the number recorded during the same period last year.

Located in northwest China's Qinghai Province, the lake is a major transit point for migratory birds travelling from Central Asia to India and East Asia to Australia. It also serves as an important winter home for waterbirds on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Every year, whooper swans leave their breeding grounds and fly to Qinghai Lake for the winter from mid to late September. They do not leave the lake until it thaws around the end of March or early April the following year.

(Cover image via CFP.)

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at nature@cgtn.com.)