One British birder laments the recent draining of supposedly protected paddies by the Wenyu, a river in Beijing that had been a place of rest for about 200 migratory species.
Sometimes they escape, he said. Sweet said he believes this duck is an escapee. If it were wild, he added, traditional bird watchers -- often called birders -- would be " very excited" . And they are not.
Birders know this and spend every spring and fall hopping from green space to green space with binoculars in hand, hoping to catch a glimpse of unfamiliar species they otherwise rarely have a chance to see the rest of the year.