Chi Lăng Nam stork island

The stork island is located in Chi Lăng Nam commune, Thanh Miện district and stays about 25km far from Hải Dương city. Its pen name is An Dương by nature. It is called the stork village because the village has a small island located in the middle of broad lake with ten thousands of storks and herons residing and nesting. With an area of more than 3,000m², the stork island is home to 15,000 storks and more than 5,000 herons of various kinds and such rare and precious birds as pelicans and teals residing together.

Photo: Đức Linh

Located in the middle of vast lake, the stork island emerges as a pearl endowed by the nature for Chi Lăng Nam. The local residents still tell each other the legend for this land. It is said that at the beginning of the 15^th century, deluges broke the large dyke along the Red River for three consecutive times. At the second breakage, an island emerged in the middle of the lake. Then, "birds perch good land", each herd of storks, herons and water birds come here from everywhere. With the time, storks and herons residing in the island are more and more crowded in the quantity and diversified in species.

From September to April every year, most storks can be seen with up to ten thousands of storks and thousands of herons perching in close proximity to one another on the bamboo tops and tree branches like flowers filled with white cotton from a remote view. They get together to nest, lay eggs and nurse their babies. The tourists are more excited to see young storks with immature legs on soft bamboo branches. When the sunset is let down, the storks return home. They fly into herds, each herd including 50 to 70 storks, even hundreds of storks creating true white curtains on the trees in the island. After flying for many times covering the whole lake space, they land safely on the green clump of trees in the middle of vast sea in the glow of sunset. It is followed by spans of the herons pending search for food at night. The tourists will witness an interesting "chorus" of families of storks and herons. The stork island is excited with sound like a natural chorus tearing a quite atmosphere of a Vietnamese village.

Tourists who come to the stork island in the season need only one day to visit the whole island. A small boat that is arranged so as not to disturb living environment of the storks will slowly take the tourists around the lake and see the life of storks. However, if the tourists expect to watch the live of storks more carefully, please stay overnight on the stork island. From 9.00 to 10.00, the storks come back most. The family reunion also starts from this time to the next morning. At that time, the tourists will have more time to study the life of storks on the island.

The harmonious intercalation between trees, birds and lake together with fresh, ventilated tropical weather as well as such historical and cultural monuments as temples, pagodas and traditional trade villages such as fish nursery, rice pancake, decorative plant, Chi Lăng Nam has full factors to become a typical ecological tourist area for the North Vietnam village. Hải Dương Tourism has made the tour on Chi Lăng Nam stork island a new tourist product of the province.

                                                                             HẢI ANH