拍案叫絕“喜臨門”

傅通先

“哇！太精彩了！”“不敢說絕后，但絕對是空前的！”10月30日，參加“千年運河，拱墅記憶”采風活動的作家們，拿到許明贈予的《窗前喜鵲》攝影集之后，莫不眼前一亮，傾心贊嘆。他堅守71天拍攝的一雙喜鵲從筑巢、孵化、育雛到出窩的329幅精彩照片，破天荒記錄了七只喜鵲生活、生育、生長的全過程，發(fā)現(xiàn)了許多人類尚未知曉的喜鵲習性，堪稱攝影史上的一大突破。

作為醉心喜鵲題材的習畫者，我更是大喜過望，并于3天后專門造訪了這位攝影家。

千姿百態(tài)的喜鵲群像

2010年3月2日，家住大運河拱宸橋畔一幢高樓15層樓的許明家陽臺花架上，飛來兩只喜鵲銜枝筑巢。曾出版過攝影作品集《羌塘豪情——一位援藏縣委書記的視野》的許明敏銳地意識到：一個千載難逢的攝影題材名副其實地“喜”從天降了。

喜鵲寓意吉祥、喜慶、幸運、福音，為中華文化喜聞樂見的表達元素，但這種靈性之鳥往往營巢于高枝、鐵塔上，飛入尋常人家的陽臺安家極為罕見，如今豈可錯過這拍攝的天賜良機！許明當即決定：把整個陽臺和連接陽臺的書房全部讓給兩位“嘉賓”。同時，移開花架前的玻璃窗，架起相機和錄像機，記錄喜鵲安家生育的全過程。

鵲巢從一兩日的稀稀拉拉，五六日的花花搭搭，到十幾日的密密匝匝，歷時整整20天，一個如同北京奧運會“鳥巢”模樣的內(nèi)外三層鵲巢終于筑成。自動照相機咔嚓咔嚓地拍攝，喜鵲豐富的肢體語言和歡快、不安、愛戀、憤怒的表情一一定格在顯示屏上。而為了追求最佳的攝影效果，許明常常利用工作余暇，手動擷取精彩畫面。

3月21日，巢內(nèi)出現(xiàn)了第一枚蛋，隔一日，又產(chǎn)下第二枚，然后每日一蛋，六天共下五蛋。有黑褐色斑點的淺藍綠色蛋，約長3.8厘米，寬2.6厘米。孵蛋任務由雌鵲擔當，雄鵲負責守護和覓食。雌鵲會不時用喙翻動蛋，讓孕育的小生命也能運動一下。就這樣，巢下的道路車水龍馬，巢內(nèi)的喜鵲忙忙碌碌，映襯出一幅事業(yè)發(fā)達、生活安詳?shù)纳鷦赢嬅妗?/p>

4月11日，兩只小喜鵲破殼而出，皮膚鮮紅嬌嫩，腦袋碩大，雙眼未開，時而仰天張開血紅的嘴巴，似乎在宣告新生命的降臨。翌日，又有兩個小生命來到世上。第三日，隨著最后一只雛鳥破殼，一個七口之家完滿組成。恰在這時，“倒春寒”來臨，氣溫驟降，雌喜鵲一動不動地扎著“馬步”，用自身的體溫細心地呵護著小寶貝，表現(xiàn)出感人的母愛。雄喜鵲對一家關懷備至，在日夜守護的同時，勤勉覓食，為一家及時送上可口的飯菜。

4月29日，羽翼漸豐的小鳥第一次出巢學飛：展翅、扇翮、俯首、翹尾，父母在一旁關切地看護著。

第71天，當最后一只雛鳥出窩飛走時，許明的相機里已經(jīng)留下了2萬多張照片，這是人類第一次對野生喜鵲生育過程的翔實記錄。形形色色的喜鵲表情，千姿百態(tài)的喜鵲動作，強烈沖擊著人們的視覺神經(jīng)，讓人嘆為觀止。

喜鵲攝影的重大突破

拍鳥，攝影迷們無一例外地使用“長槍大炮”。而為了求得景深效果，許明首次采用廣角鏡頭拍鳥。不僅如此，他還第一次記錄了喜鵲將蛋殼撕碎吃掉，第一次記錄了喜鵲從幼鳥嘴中取出食物殘渣的情景，第一次記錄了雛鳥跟人類的孩子一樣喜愛玩具。

4月11日，許明驚奇發(fā)現(xiàn)，當小喜鵲破殼出世之后，雌喜鵲會把整個蛋殼吃掉。對不能下咽的大塊蛋殼，它會足踩蛋殼，用喙撕碎，然后吃掉。既清潔鳥巢，又補充鈣質(zhì)。這些都被許明清晰地記錄下來。

4月25日，許明又有了新發(fā)現(xiàn)：雌喜鵲從小鳥嘴里叼出一塊黃褐色的大殘渣。原來，小喜鵲消化功能尚未健全，不能自主吐出食物殘渣。細心的父母便及時而利索地幫助崽崽解決難題。

5月8日，樓下有人喜結(jié)連理，發(fā)射了好些慶賀的紙花彈。散落在草坪上的一些彩紙片被大喜鵲銜到了50米高的巢里，供小鳥叼弄玩耍。原來，小喜鵲也有這般“童趣”。

浙江自然博物館鳥類專家陳水華看了這些實錄，欣喜地說：老許的這些珍貴記錄，讓我們這些專業(yè)人士也開了眼界，了解到好些喜鵲研究的未知領域。

魂牽夢縈的人鳥情緣

五只小喜鵲安然出窩，離開了這個安全而溫馨的家。許明慶幸“喜”臨家門，讓他拍到了前人未能企及的2萬多幅照片，也時時牽掛這一家子生活可好？何處安身？魂牽夢縈中，發(fā)現(xiàn)它們中會有一兩只短暫返巢，許明就像見到久別重逢的親人那樣興高采烈，歡快地注視它們的一舉一動。

為了讓更多人分享成果，許明選取了5幅照片參加全國攝影藝術(shù)展覽。評委評價：“他的作品看似隨意和不經(jīng)心，但其中蘊藏著生動和樸實以及令人回味的寓意。城市、環(huán)境、動物與人，其實就在你身邊，故事每天都在發(fā)生。”

2011年11月，許明從2萬余幅照片中精選出329幅，按時間順序編輯成冊，交由中國攝影出版社出版，獲得廣泛好評。中國美術(shù)出版社聞訊之后，專門向許明約稿，期望他能從藝術(shù)的角度重編一本藝術(shù)作品，讓生態(tài)文明之風吹拂更遠。

從喜鵲前來安家的事件中，許明切身體會到建設良好生態(tài)環(huán)境的重要性。他任職的“十里銀湖墅”，地處千里京杭大運河的起始端，川澤沃衍，珍異廣聚，商賈云集，舳艫相接。他決意與拱墅人民一起，在建設“美麗中國”的進程中，讓這片繁華富饒之地，生態(tài)文明建設更上一層樓，為百姓打造更優(yōu)美的環(huán)境，為鳥類營造更多的棲息樂園，讓那時時牽掛的七口之家共享一片青山、綠水和藍天。

（本文攝影：許明）

Magpies： Over 20，000 Photos in 71 Days

By Fu Tongxian

On October 30， 2012， we amateur photographers met to do field work in Gongshu， a district in the north of downtown Hangzhou. To our surprise and delight， we each received a copy of a photograph album created by Xu Ming， the former CPC secretary of Gongshu District. Entitled “Magpies in Front of My Window”， the album presents 329 photos， out of over 20，000 taken in 71 days in 2010， of a couple of adult magpies building a nest， laying eggs， breeding five baby magpies， baby magpies growing up， the family moving away.

Interested in painting magpies myself， I was overjoyed by the amazing photographs. Three days later， I visited the photographer to find out how he had spent 71 days photographing the magpies nesting on the balcony of his apartment on the fifteenth floor of an apartment building on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal， which traverses the downtown Hangzhou.

On March 2， 2010， Xu Ming found two magpies come to the flower racket on the balcony. An experienced enthusiast of photography， he realized that the magpies were a godsend for him to photograph， as in the Chinese culture， magpies are birds of happiness， luck， pleasure. He considered the birds as happiness coming from heaven.

As magpies usually build their nests high in trees or on the top of power towers， Xu Ming found it quite unusual that the couple came to his balcony. The avian guests thrilled him. He decided to photograph the birds on the balcony. To minimize disturbance， he decided not to use the balcony and the study that leads to the balcony as long as the birds stayed there. The large pane of the window between the balcony and the study was removed so that his cameras would have a clearer look at the birds. He set up a camera and a camcorder to record the whole reproduction process. Set on the automatic mode and with a wide-angle lens， the camera took a photograph every minute during daytime. In addition， he used another camera to capture good moments when he had time to watch.

The photographs tell the story of the magpies building a nest. It took the birds 20 days to finish the building project. In the first few days， the nest looked sketchy； after five days， it looked fleshed out. After ten days， it looked entangled. After twenty days， the nest looked like the National Stadium in Beijing， nicknamed the Bird Nest and especially built for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

On March 21， the first egg appeared in the nest. In the following five days， another four eggs appeared. The would-be mother sat and the would-be father watched and guarded the nest. The female moved the eggs now and then.

On April 11， the first two baby magpies came out. The next day saw another two babies hatched. On April 13， the last one came. The family of two became a family of seven.

On April 29， the chicks began to learn how to fly， with their parents watching anxiously. On the 71st day， the parents and babies all flew away. They did not come back.

The complete record of the 71 days and nights of the magpies contains a lot of surprises for scientists too. The photos show how the magpies tore the eggshells to pieces and ate them， how the adult magpies took the food remains out of the baby magpies beaks. On May 8， the adult magpies picked some paper confetti from the lawn fifty meters below the balcony and brought colorful shreds to the nest. The baby magpies were happy to play with them， treating the paper as toys.

Chen Shuihua， a bird expert with Zhejiang Natural Museum， was delighted to review the photographic record， which he says opened his eyes to some unknown behavior of magpies.

Xu Ming was thrilled to have the whole collection of the photographs. He selected five out of his precious collection and sent them to the National Photography Art Exhibition. The photos were highly appreciated at the national event.

In November 2011， Xu selected 329 photographs out of the over 20，000 pieces， chronically arranged to reflect the amazing life of the magpies over the 71 days and nights on the balcony. The album was published by China Photography Press. The album has received rave reviews. After learning about the collection， China Fine Art Press offered Xu Ming a contract to publish another collection. This time， the collection is supposed to give art a special angle.