Visiting Big Bird

Back to a chilly post-Thanksgiving New Mexico world, after our trip to the Texas coast to visit grus americana, the tallest flying American bird, which while still seriously endangered, is the star of a story of conservation and protection with, thus far, a happy outcome. On this trip I experienced my first real news fast since the GWB admin took office, and I must say five days in a cabin in the live oaks without computer, tv, or telephone have done wonders for my soul. Not to mention the afternoon spent on the waters off Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in this fabulous birding boat, The Skimmer, watching the returning whooping cranes chowing down on wolfberries and relaxing in their winter home on the refuge.

This is the only remaining natural, self-sustaining flock of Whooping Cranes left in North America. It reached a low of only fifteen or sixteen birds in the winter of 1941-42, and over the next two decades numbered under thirty-five birds. The flock breeds in Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories, Canada and winters in Aransas National Wildlife Refuge (Texas). In 2006, there were over 200 birds in the flock. The population migrates during both spring and fall through a relatively narrow (80-300 km wide) corridor between Aransas and Wood Buffalo. The birds begin arriving in Aransas in mid to late November, bringing with them the new chicks hatched in Canada during the breeding season. We were able to see the oldest living member of this flock, a male the naturalists have named Lobstick, his mate and their two chicks, as well as other crane families browsing in the marshes and ponds. But, it looks as if I might be in danger of launching into a lengthy natural history lesson, so I'll direct anyone who is interested in this story here, instead.

We've birded Aransas before, but only from land, and this time we were determined to add the whoopers to our life lists. This refuge is a place of extraordinary beauty, teeming with wildlife of all sorts, both the land and water areas. However, bear in mind that we're looking at the Gulf Coast of Texas here, an area whose principal industries are petrochemical. While I was watching a cloud of roseate spoonbills lift into the air out of the marsh, my field glasses also picked up a less-than-scenic barge steaming up the Intracoastal Waterway with its nefarious load, a sight that perfectly epitomized the situation: this habitat is as endangered as the various and stunning migratory populations who count on its continued existence:

Habitat loss and alteration is one of the greatest threats at Aransas
National Wildlife Refuge. The construction, maintenance, and use of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway erodes wetland zones within the wildlife refuge where the Whooping Cranes winter. Pollution is another threat to wintering cranes at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Barge traffic through the Intracoastal Waterway carries contaminants and petrochemical products that, if spilled, could have catastrophic effects on the cranes, their habitat, and food supply. Oil extraction and the potential loss of freshwater inflow are additional significant threats to the health and productivity of the bay systems near Aransas.(Saving The Cranes)

The whoopers were laid low in the last century by the greed of hunters. Their return is fragile, and so dependent on our letting go of our greed for oil and related products. A spill such as just happened in the San Francisco Bay would lay waste to what amounts to a true miracle.

Technorati Tags: Aransas Wildlife Refuge, birds, endangered species, habitat, whooping cranes

| +Save/Share | |