HONGHU, Hubei - About 18,000 summer birds have been forced to leave their stopover at Honghu Lake early because of the persistent drought in Central China.

"Normally, about 20,000 summer birds come to the lake in early April and fly away by the end of August," said Wen Feng, head of marsh protection of the Honghu Wetland Nature Reserve.

"But this year, most of the birds have come and gone. Only about 2,000 to 3,000 birds have stayed," Wen said.