More than 50,000 migratory birds have been spotted at a nature reserve in north China's Hebei Province since September this year, a record-high number.

From September to December every year, huge numbers of migratory birds from northeast China and Inner Mongolia stop over at Hengshui Lake, in their southbound trips.

According to Zhang Yuguang with the reserve's conservation office, Class A and Class B protected animals in China, including the relict gull and red-breasted goose, were spotted for the first time in the reserve.