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[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Dong-wook] This year, about 60 young birds born in late May on the artificial sand island created specifically to protect the Black-tailed Gull at Andong Lake in Andong City have grown well and departed for places such as Australia.

According to Andong City on the 12th, the Black-tailed Gull Habitat Creation Promotion Council, composed of bird experts, city council members, and public officials, completed preparatory work and established the nation's first permanent artificial sand island of 1,000㎡ at the end of March.

This was a measure to protect the existing habitat that has been disappearing due to rising water levels in Andong Lake since last year. The Black-tailed Gull, which flies 10,000 km from Australia and inhabits sandy beaches in Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia between April and July, has been laying eggs and raising chicks on a small sand island in the inland freshwater lake of Andong Lake since 2013.

Starting this year, Andong City, aiming for stable species preservation through the creation of a permanent artificial sand island, built an artificial island of about 330 pyeong supported by 1,800 drums. The bottom of the artificial island was covered with 160 tons of masato soil, and 200 drainage pipes were installed to prevent flooding. Four 2-ton anchors were also installed to secure the artificial island.

Two months after the artificial island was created, on May 22, the first Black-tailed Gull chick was born, followed by a total of 71 chicks hatched in 26 nests. This birth and growth process was fully captured by CCTV powered by solar energy.

The period from egg-laying to chick growth was challenging. During the daytime, parent Black-tailed Gulls flew in groups of dozens to protect their chicks from predators such as hawks, herons, and crows, managing to fend off these threats. The problem was nighttime intrusions by predators. Especially, the appearance of the Ural Owl (Natural Monument No. 324, Endangered Wildlife Grade 2), known as the "king of the night" in this inland area, posed the greatest threat to the chicks.

On the night of June 14, around 9:30 PM, when most chicks were about two weeks old, the first intrusion of a Ural Owl was recorded at the Black-tailed Gull artificial island in Andong Lake this year. The persistent attacks by the Ural Owl continued for five consecutive days. The owl, initially circling around the artificial island, failed to detect chicks hiding inside the shelter pipes (12 cm diameter, 90 cm length) installed in advance by Andong City. However, some chicks that left the shelter pipes were eventually caught and eaten by the owl.

Fortunately, the chicks that could not yet fly were safely hidden inside the shelter pipes, and most survived. This was thanks to the effectiveness of the 35 pipes installed by Andong City. After overcoming this life-or-death crisis, 61 of the 71 chicks born safely grew into adults and embarked on an uncertain journey to places such as Australia.

An official from Andong City stated, "We will continue to make efforts to protect the habitat of the Black-tailed Gull, which has the habit of returning to its birthplace," adding, "We plan to further expand the existing habitat and promote ecological tourism resources linked with Dosan Seowon and the upper reaches of Andong Lake."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.