白鹭儿，最高格。Egret, the most high-minded bird 

毛衣新成雪不敌，众禽喧呼独凝寂。

Its newly grown feather is even whiter than snow; it prefers to stay alone and quietly while other birds behave clamorously

孤眠芊芊草，久立潺潺石。

It sleeps on the unfrequented exuberant grass and stands on stones in the murmur water.

山前正无云，飞去入遥碧。"

When clouds dissipate, it flies up to the blue sky 

唐代文学家刘禹锡笔下的白鹭幽居荒野泉石，卓然独立。那个时候，厦门岛正是一个白鹭的聚居地，被称为"鹭岛"。

The egret depicted by Liu Yuxi, the litterateur in Tang dynasty lived in the unfrequented wilds and stones in the fountain and still kept being high-minded. At that time, Xiamen was a habitation for egrets, that's why Xiamen is called Egret Island

千年栖息，今天厦门共有十多个白鹭营巢地，大屿岛是其中最重要的一个。岛上植被覆盖率超过95%，周边的湿地、滩涂也为白鹭提供了大量的食物来源。1995年，大屿岛成为白鹭自然保护区，从此，岛上唯一的主人，便是这些白鹭儿。

Over thousands of years that egrets have inhabited Xiamen, there are dozens of places where egrets build their nests and Dayu Island is one of the most important places where the vegetation coverage is over 95% and the wetland and mudflat around Dayu Island also supply adequate food for egrets. In 1995, Dayu Island was entitled to be Egret Conservation Area and from that on, the owners of this inland are those egrets only.  

当年，有位叫江老财的老人常年驻守在岛上，被称为"白鹭老人"，后来成为这里的第一任管理员。老人去世后，有更多的人继续坚守在他的岗位上，守护着白鹭。

There was an old man named Jiang Laocai who lived in Dayu Island was known as egret man and he became the first keeper for this island and after he died, there are many people who continue Jiang Laocai's job of protecting the egrets in Dayu Island  

老郑：我们以前全部条件都太差了在这边也没有灯亮，除非用蜡烛。以前水是吃地下水，地下水太咸了，没有下雨天，水吃的稀饭都是黄色的。山上的眼镜蛇比较多，一天过来差不多有看到三四次，偶尔都在船舱上还有。太怕了。 Mr.Zheng: the condition here in the old days was pretty poor as there was no electricity and we had to use candles. The water we drank was from underground which was too salty. It didn't rain, so the porridge we made was yellow. And there were many cobras in the mountain and we could come across  them three or four times a day and even occasionally found them in the cabin, and it was too horrible

现在守岛人的生活条件已经有所改善，大家轮班值守，全年无休。但一个人，一座岛，每个守岛人都必须要有一份耐得住孤寂的心性。老陈已经在岛上守了14年，而这些白鹭，就是他最亲密的伴侣。

Nowadays, the condition for people protecting the island has been improved and people work shifts to protect the island all year around. Every island keeper must be able to tolerate the loneliness of this job. Mr.Chen has been protecting the island for 14 years, regarding these egrets as his closest companion

每年的二三月份是白鹭的主要繁殖期，繁殖期的白鹭非常敏感，微小的人为干扰，都会让她们放弃这个地方。守岛人的守护，在这个时候显得尤其重要。

The February and March of every year are the main period of egrets' breeding and during this breeding season, egrets are very sensitive to outside influence and any slight disturbance from human will drive them away. Therefore, the protectors of this island play an extremely important role during egrets' breeding season.

老郑马上就要退休了，他守护的珍稀鹭类繁育实验场，为我国濒危鹭类的挽救和保护做出了巨大贡献。

Mr.Zheng will retire soon and the experimental field he protected for rare egrets breeding has made great contribution to the saving and protection of our country's endangered egrets

老郑：我现在要差不多再三个月就要退休了，已经来这边工作差不多有十六年，对白鹭有感情，退休以后我有的时间要来这边经常看一下。Mr.Zheng: I will retire after three months and I have been working here for almost 16 years and I love these egrets, so even after retirement, I still will visit here as much as I can.

小李是守岛人中最年轻的一位，他有着一项其他人不具备的技能，驾船。因此，他每天的主要工作是驾船环岛巡查。

Mr.Lee is the youngest island protector and he has the still of steering boat that other protectors don't have, so his job every day is to patrol the island by steering boat around.

小李：以前我们小时候，有听说这边有个江老财老人在看守白鹭，我们也想要为白鹭保护做一点贡献。在这个山上，我们能够在一起的，我是最年轻的。一般在鸟繁殖季节，就要加强巡逻，基本上都是从岸上有一个小路走上去巡逻。Mr.Lee: When I was a kid, I heard that there was an old man called JiangLaocai who was protecting the egrets on the island, so we wanted to do something to protect egrets as well. Among us protectors on this mountain, I'm the youngest one. Usually during the bird breeding season, we have to patrol more frequently and normally we walk straight a small road along the bank

白鹭和厦门似乎有着跨越千年的约定，白鹭是厦门的市鸟，也是这座城市的精神意象。

The egrets seem to have a promise with Xiamen that spans one thousand years. Egrets are the symbolic bird of Xiamen and represent the spirit of this city as well  

而一代代守岛人年年月月的守护，代表厦门人对白鹭的情有独钟，也代表着这座城市与自然和谐相处的态度。他们守护着白鹭宁静的栖居，也守护着这座城市的一方精神家园。 

The generations of island keepers' protection over this island all year around shows Xiamen people's special love to egrets and the harmony between city and nature as well. They not only guard the quite dwelling for egrets but also keep the spirit of this city.