"Look, the birds are 'getting up,'" ranger Wang Xiaolong said to People's Daily as he observed migratory birds through binoculars at dawn on a watchtower at a management station of Jiangxi Poyang Lake National Nature Reserve in east China's Jiangxi Province.

Watching flocks of migratory birds take to the air above the grassy shoals, stretching as far as the misty horizon, Wang was filled with immense joy.

Wang Xiaolong (left), a ranger at a management station of Jiangxi Poyang Lake National Nature Reserve in Wucheng township, Yongxiu county, Jiujiang city, east China's Jiangxi Province, takes an injured migratory bird to the rescue center of the station for treatment. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

This has been part of the former soldier turned ranger's daily routine for decades since he joined the nature reserve's management station in Wucheng township, Yongxiu county, Jiujiang city.

After finishing his military service in 1987, Wang has spent 38 years guarding migratory birds at Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, forging an enduring connection to these "feathered elves."

When asked why he has stayed while many colleagues have come and gone at the management station, Wang replied, "Migratory birds are like my family. In protecting these natural wonders, I have found my life's purpose."

Over nearly four decades of patrols, Wang has rescued more than 300 injured birds—sometimes at his own peril. Once, while trying to save an injured Siberian white crane alone, he slipped into a swamp. As villagers found him and tried to pull him out, his first words were: "Don't mind me, save the crane first."

The first time he ever rescued a bird was more than 30 years ago, during a snowstorm in winter. He waded barefoot through knee-deep mud to bring a lone injured Siberian white crane back to Wucheng management station, where he bandaged its wounds and fed it.

"After taking care of it for a month, the Siberian white crane's wounds completely healed. When it was released, it circled above my head and chirped, as if giving thanks," Wang said, his voice filled with excitement at the memory.

One of his most memorable rescues came in May 2024, when staff members of Wucheng management station spotted a juvenile Siberian white crane stranded on a flood-swamped grass shoal, its wing drooping.

Without hesitation, Wang and other rescuers took a boat to the site. He jumped into the water, carried the injured bird aboard, and brought it to the migratory bird rescue center of the Wucheng management station.

Experts at the rescue center found the bird suffered from a minor wing fracture that made flying impossible.

"Caring for an injured bird is like looking after a child—you need patience and time," Wang said. Over the next 200 days, he fed it, cleaned its wound, and nursed it back to health.

When the crane was finally released, Wang named it Zhulang, which means "chasing waves" in Chinese, and fitted it with a lightweight satellite tracker to follow its journeys.

"Seeing them recover from injury and helplessness to once again soar freely in the sky fills me with a sense of accomplishment words cannot capture," he noted.

Painstaking and sustained efforts put into ecological conservation and wildlife protection by Wang and his colleagues have paid off.

So far, the nature reserve has recorded 391 bird species, with around 700,000 migratory birds arriving each winter—including over 95 percent of the world's Siberian white cranes. The lake is therefore known as both a "kingdom of Siberian white cranes" and a "paradise for migratory birds."

The achievements have come at a cost. In September 2019, he accidentally fell during a patrol, sustaining a comminuted fracture in his left arm. He underwent surgery, during which multiple steel pins were implanted in his arm, leaving a conspicuous 20-centimeter-long scar.

Just two months later, he returned to his patrol duty with his arm in a sling. "We have a lot to do to protect birds. My injury doesn't matter," he told worried colleagues and family.

"I have witnessed the steady growth of migratory bird populations. It has been tough, but I feel a deep sense of fulfillment," he said.

Wang's mission goes beyond personal patrols. He has also helped stop poachers and raise public awareness of migratory bird protection.

Over the years, he has walked more than 400,000 kilometers on patrol and helped handle over 180 cases of poaching and wetland destruction.

In addition, he has visited surrounding villages and more than 20 schools, speaking directly to residents and students about bird conservation.

Today, more people are taking actions to contribute to bird conservation. Many bird enthusiasts like Wang join winter and summer patrols at Jiangxi Poyang Lake National Nature Reserve, braving harsh cold or the summer heat to protect migratory birds.

What gratifies Wang more is that Wucheng township, once a remote island in the lake, has become a famous bird-watching hub, attracting over 1 million visitors annually.

Benefiting from the thriving eco-tourism, local villagers are witnessing continuous improvement in their lives.

This year, Wang will retire from the Wucheng management station he has served for decades. But he said his journey of migratory bird protection is far from over.

"This is a marathon without a finish line," he said. "As long as I can move, I will stay by the birds' side and guard them for as long as I can."