This summer, many Americans will drive hundreds of miles to visit our National Parks or National Wildlife Refuges with the hope of seeing a variety of wildlife. While such trips are encouraged and certainly memorable, we often overlook the unofficial nature preserves that line our country roads and byways.
Most avid birders and naturalists know these spots; even locals, many of whom could not tell a sparrow from an oriole, can report where they've seen large gatherings of birds. On Longboat Key, for instance, a barrier island with miles of pristine beaches and mangrove swamps, the best place to find roseate spoonbills, wood storks and anhingas is on a few golf course ponds and waterways that parallel the main roadway. In eastern Colorado, I know of a flooded grassland, grazed by cattle, that often hosts a greater variety of migrant water birds than one encounters at nearby Barr Lake State Park, the State's mecca for birdwatchers. Many birders have their favorite local haunts, perhaps an isolated grove of trees that fills with migrant warblers or a secluded wetland that teems with life during the warmer months.
We often assume that wildlife has the same attraction to scenic vistas and majestic landscapes that we do and are sometimes disappointed to find them foraging in roadside canals or trashy urban lots. But, driven by instinct, they are focused on their personal needs and on the propagation of their species. While we must protect wilderness and unspoiled ecosystems across this globe to ensure a healthy diversity of flora and fauna, some creatures will happily settle for locations that may not appeal to the human eye.
