However, he had to suspend his observation in July, when he was temporarily transferred to the company's branch office in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

In his stead, the association's other volunteers continued regularly monitoring the waterfowl.

Since 2017, the association has been investigating the habits and patterns of the Baer's Pochard and taking measures to protect the duck.

According to the association, there are 453 species of wild birds in Wuhan, and it has observed Baer's Pochard in 13 spots across the city.

In March last year, the association's volunteers found 110 Baer's Pochard ducks in a pond nearby Baoxie lake — the waterfowl were enjoying their annual breeding season.

In the following two months, Yan and other members visited the place about 40 times to do further research. Yan recalls that, before then, they only observed about 20 of the ducks at most in the lake.

Last year, the spot was identified as a habitat for the duck — the third in Wuhan. This March, they observed 219 Baer's Pochard ducks at the lake, almost double the figure of last year.