A wild egretta picata is spotted in the coastal area of Rudong county, Nantong. [Photo by Wu Weimin]

A wild egretta picata was recently spotted by bird watchers in the coastal area of Rudong county, Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province. Experts said that this may be the first time the bird has ever been seen on the Chinese mainland. 

The egretta picata, a medium-size water bird, mainly inhabits in northern Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Timor-Leste. It is also occasionally seen in Pingtung and Kaohsiung in Taiwan.

The bird's appearance in Rudong was so rare that it has attracted bird enthusiasts from Beijing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and Nanjing.

A wild egretta picata is seen foraging on a shoal in Rudong county, Nantong. [Photo by Wu Weimin]

As Nantong has been reinforcing its environmental protection efforts along the Yangtze River and its coastal areas, an increasing number of rare animals have been seen in the region.

They include seven kinds of wild animals under first-class State protection, such as oriental white storks and Yangtze finless porpoise, more than 20 wild animals under second-class State protection like white spoonbills, as well as three newly-recorded local species.