Baidang Lake is the better site for birdwatching in the Tongling area, a wetland reserve on the city's eastern edge where the Yangtze River floodplain transitions into shallow lake habitat. The reserve protects habitat for waterbirds that use the Yangtze corridor as a migration route, and autumn arrivals from October through November include large numbers of ducks, geese, and waders that stage here before continuing south.
The Yangtze finless porpoise, one of the world's most endangered freshwater cetaceans with a population estimated at under a thousand individuals, has been recorded in the Baidang Lake area. Dedicated observation platforms have been set up at the lake edge, and sightings are possible but not guaranteed. The porpoise's critically endangered status makes any sighting significant. The wetland is also worth visiting simply for the open-sky landscapes and the extensive reedbeds, which are at their most photogenic in late autumn when the light is low and the vegetation is golden.