River Birding

On this sunny but pleasantly cool morning along the Front Range, I opted for a birding walk along the South Platte River.  While there were many walkers, joggers and bikers on the trails, they were not interested in wildlife and allowed me to saunter along at my own pace.

During my one hour visit, I covered about 1.5 miles and encountered 19 avian species.  As always, Canada geese and mallards were most abundant but highlights included wood ducks, snowy egrets, black-crowned night herons, yellow warblers and, my favorite, cedar waxwings.

Walking along a river is always a peaceful experience and the stream-side foliage attracts an excellent variety of wildlife.  Of course, the exercise is beneficial as well. 

Flood Warnings vs. Building Codes

Following a month of deadly flash-floods across the country, there is a good deal of talk about improving early warning systems.  While this is certainly appropriate in areas that have not yet been destroyed by flooding, it is inadequate when it comes to saving lives in the future.

We must stop building on floodplains, especially in areas that are repeatedly prone to destructive and deadly flooding.  The Guadalupe River valley in Central Texas offers a prime example; known as Flash-Flood Alley for many years, it finally demonstrated the risk of rebuilding along its channel on July 4 of this year.

Life-saving policies must include common sense building codes.  Nature's power cannot be confined by dams and seawalls.  We need to give her space, especially as our warming climate greatly increases the risk of both coastal and inland flooding. 

The Missouri-Mississippi Divide

Driving across northwest Missouri and southwest Iowa earlier this week, I crossed a number of small rivers flowing westward toward the Missouri River.  As is often the case, I wondered where they arose and came to suspect that it must be along the Missouri-Mississippi Divide.

Though far less spectacular than the high divides of the American West, this divide separates the watersheds of rivers flowing into the Missouri River from those flowing more directly toward the Mississippi.  This line of high ground cuts across the southwestern corner of Minnesota and then runs south through western Iowa.  Before reaching Missouri, the divide curves eastward across southern Iowa and then dips south and east through northeast Missouri, ending at the junction of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, just north of St. Louis.  The southern portion of this divide passes through St. Louis and then runs south through southeastern Missouri where it eventually intersects the watershed of the Arkansas River (see The Missouri-Arkansas Divide).

This hydrologic description may be of no interest to many readers but geography buffs, such as myself, want to understand the terrain through which we travel.  After all, in concert with tectonic forces and the underlying geology, rivers have sculpted those landscapes. 

Mink at South Platte Park

On our usual birding route through the south end of South Platte Park this morning, a friend and I encountered a family of mink.  The parents and at least one observed offspring (litter size averages eight kits) had settled within a wood pile along the edge of a lake that connects directly with the South Platte River.

While mink are most often observed in the streams and lakes of the mountains and foothills of Colorado, they also inhabit the major river valleys of the Piedmont and Eastern Plains.  Their diet consists of fish, crayfish, amphibians, birds and small mammals.

Though not rare in our region, these were the first mink that either of us had seen within South Platte Park over a combined period of more than twenty years of birding at the refuge.  Such is the joy of exploring nature; her gifts are manyfold and ever changing. 

Red River Valley Storms

A stationary front stretching through the Red River Valley will be the focal point of severe thunderstorms later today.  Expected to produce strong winds, large hail, tornados and torrential rains, the train of storms will lash southern Oklahoma, northern Texas and northern Louisiana.

While the storms themselves will be destructive enough, the danger is heightened by the fact that they will peak after sunset and continue until midnight.  Deaths from severe weather are especially common at night, when many persons in their path are asleep or out for the evening.

Tomorrow, the storm system will track across the Southeast and up the Mid-Atlantic Coast .  Flooding rains will be the major concern in that region. 

Mountain Living

While we humans evolved in the Rift Valley of East Africa, our species has long been enamored with mountainous terrain.  Camps, cabins, caves and towns in the mountains offered beautiful scenery, plenty of clean water and a diverse variety of wild game.  Even today their appeal persists though modern life diminishes the need to hunt for food.

As our climate warms, however, the risks of mountain living have increased significantly.  Prolonged drought augments the incidence of forest fires while, as we have seen in Asheville, North Carolina, and eastern Kentucky, torrential rains over mountainous topography can cause tragic flooding.  Just this week, a mountain glacier fractured in Switzerland, sending a slurry of ice, water, mud and vegetation downhill, burying a small village; fortunately, an advanced warning saved most of the residents.

Mountains will always appeal to humans but living on or beneath them, like living on barrier islands or on major river floodplains, will become increasingly risky and expensive as climate change remolds the planet. 

Surveying the Damage

As I have reported in the past, a large commercial and residential development is underway just east of the south end of South Platte Park, in Littleton.  From the adjacent roadways, it is currently a massive field of dirt, with some initial roads and structures.

Wanting to see how it is impacting the Park, my wife and I took a trail along the east side of the South Platte River.  Fortunately, a significant green belt still exists between the river and the development and wooded areas block one's view of the devastation in most areas.

Nevertheless, such a large project at the edge of what, in my opinion, is the best riverine, greenbelt park in Metro Denver is disturbing.  No doubt, access trails will lead down from the neighborhoods, dramatically increasing use of the Park by cyclists, fishermen, rafters, walkers and their dogs.  I'm sure this sounds a bit selfish on my part, a regular visitor to the Park, but natural ecosystems can only tolerate so much human activity.  Furthermore, loss of the adjacent open space, some of which was agricultural, will change the character of the refuge itself. 

Stationary Misery

For the last two days and for the coming 24 hours (at least), a stationary front has stretched from East Texas to the Upper Ohio Valley, separating cooler air to the north from warm, humid air to the south.  This front is responsible for the swath of tornados, severe thunderstorms and flooding rains that have plagued that region.

While most storm systems move rapidly from west to east, some stall out, their trailing front creating a clash zone between the air masses.  When this happens, secondary storms and their precipitation train above the same swath of geography, producing the unrelenting rain we have seen this week.  Once the soil is saturated, runoff rapidly fills and then floods the rivers and streams, spilling across floodplains and often taking out bridges and riverside structures.

Unfortunately, this flooding often does not peak until the storm system has finally moved on to the east.  As the swollen tributaries empty into larger streams and rivers, the latter continue to rise long after the skies have cleared. 

Seasonal Opening in Denver

An extended period of mild weather along the Front Range has finally taken a toll on the ice-covered lakes and open water is attracting waterfowl from the South Platte River where they have spent the winter.  This local shift will soon be followed by an influx of migrants from the south.

Throughout this month, wintering ducks will be joined by horned and pied-billed grebes, common loons and the first wave of double-crested cormorants; American white pelicans, western grebes and summer ducks (such as cinnamon and blue-winged teal) usually arrive by April.  Canada geese, abundant here in winter, decrease throughout March as many return to breeding grounds on the Northern Plains.

Periods of snow and chilly weather will persist through April (and possibly into May) but the parade of seasonal travelers will continue.  Winter ducks and spring migrants often linger into April but, by the end of that month, permanent and summer residents will dominate the scene. 

Along the Cache la Poudre River

The Cache la Poudre River rises in the northern portion of Rocky Mountain National Park, descends eastward through a beautiful canyon and rumbles onto the Colorado Piedmont just northwest of Fort Collins.  From that city, a paved hike-bike path follows the river as it flows on to Greeley, beyond which it enters the South Platte.

On this sunny, warm but breezy day, my wife and I explored a few nature preserves along the Cache la Poudre Trail, almost all of which were characterized by floodplain grasslands, riparian woodlands and a number of ponds and lakes; the latter, still mostly frozen, are almost all reclaimed gravel pits.

Earthen trails lead away from the paved hike-bike trail, providing up-close encounters with the various habitats.  As one might imagine, we saw a good variety of waterfowl (including hundreds of Canada geese), flocks of ring-billed gulls, a pair of bald eagles and a northern harrier, in addition to the expected woodpeckers and songbirds. 

Ohio Valley Flooding

The latest winter storm, which dropped a quick 4-5 inches of snow along the Front Range yesterday afternoon, raced eastward and brought flooding rains to eastern Kentucky and much of West Virginia.  Of course, the heavily dissected terrain of the Appalachian Plateau exacerbates flooding along streams in that region.

South of the flooding zone, strong thunderstorms raked the Southeast while, north of the rain belt, an ice storm created havoc from the southern Great Lakes to the Atlantic Coast.  Farther north and behind the storm, heavy snow will fall.

February has long been characterized by flooding in the Ohio Valley.  Heavy precipitation, in various forms, falls on frozen ground, producing rapid runoff and stream flooding.  Climate change will likely augment both the intensity of precipitation and the severity of flooding. 

Southern End of the Appalachians

As one drives northward across the Piedmont of central Alabama, prominent ridges are noted in Metro Birmingham.  These represent the southern end of the Ridge and Valley Province of the Appalachians.

North of the city, Interstate 65 negotiates the southern end of the Appalachian Plateau, dipping, rising and curving through this heavily dissected terrain.  Along the northern edge of the Plateau is the broad valley of the Tennessee River; the highway crosses this major stream within Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, where, on cue, a pair of sandhill cranes cruised above our vehicle.

North of the river's floodplain, an appealing topography of low hills and ridges border the Interstate, drained by the Elk and Duck Rivers of Southern Tennessee; flowing westward, they are major tributaries of the Tennessee River, which curves northward toward the Ohio.  The Duck River, designated a Wild and Scenic River, is the longest stream totally within the State of Tennessee.

See also: The Western Appalachians 

Little River Canyon National Preserve

The Little River rises on the Appalachian Plateau of northeast Alabama and carves a scenic canyon through the Plateau as it flows southwestward toward Weiss Lake.  Most of its winding course has been protected within a National Preserve since 1992.

The Little River Canyon Center, east of Fort Payne on Route 35, is managed by Jacksonville State University and the National Park Service; maps and other information on the Preserve's geology, flora and fauna can be found there.  It is also the starting point of an 11-mile scenic drive that winds along the north rim of the canyon, offering pull-offs and viewpoints (photo).

Our side trip to this beautiful river and its canyon was all too brief but we had to get back on the Interstate. A rendezvous with the Subtropics beckoned.

 

A Journey through Cold Sunshine

Heading back to my home town (Cincinnati) for a brief visit, I crossed the farmlands of Missouri and southern Illinois, the forested Shawnee Hills of southern Indiana and the Ohio River hills of northern Kentucky.  Major river crossings included the Missouri, the Mississippi, the Wabash and the Ohio.  Bright sunshine and cold, clear air augmented the scenery but wildlife observations were rather modest.

As one might expect, flocks of pigeons, starlings, crows and red-winged blackbirds were observed on the farmlands; other sightings included turkey vultures circling above the rural landscapes, the Mesozoic forms of great blue herons flapping across the Interstate and dozens of red-tailed hawks perched along the highway.  The highlight turned out to be a rough-legged hawk in southern Illinois.

Alas, no migrant geese were encountered.  Perhaps my return trip will be more productive. 

Too Pleasant for Ducks

Birders tend to associate waterfowl migration with the cool, rainy weather of March or the cold, blustery days of November.  On this warm, sunny afternoon, the conditions seemed to be too pleasant for ducks.

Indeed, back at Eagle Bluffs for a third week, a friend and I saw only a few dozen mallards, a dozen northern shovelers, a half-dozen coot and two pied-billed grebes; to be completely honest, we did see about 60 ducks on a secluded lake that were too distant to identify.  An adult bald eagle and three red-tailed hawks were our concession sightings. 

It has surely been an unusual fall migration in the Missouri River Valley.  Early on, the floodplain was kept too dry to attract waterfowl and now, as marsh-lined channels, shallow lakes and flooded fields cover the refuge, migrants have been slow to arrive; one must conclude that the weather up north has been too mild to send them south or that they have simply used other migration rest stops. Could we be witnessing the effects of climate change or just a confluence of factors (natural and man-induced)?  

East of Grand Island

Continuing my detour through Nebraska, I left Grand Island and headed east on Interstate 80 this morning.  Since the Platte River is well north of the highway east of that city, the landscape took on the characteristics that one associates with the Great Plains.

Broad views of relatively flat terrain, quilted with crop fields and grasslands, extended north and south of the highway; trees were primarily limited to homesteads, small towns and creek beds.  As I approached Lincoln, the topography became more hilly, trees were more abundant and the streams were larger and more numerous; of course, this change reflected the fact that I was entering the western edge of the American Midwest, where annual precipitation is greater than it is on the Great Plains.

Finally, I crossed the lower Platte River thirty miles west of Omaha.  Much larger than its braided, western section, the Platte would soon empty into the Missouri; both rivers originate from tributaries that rise in the snowfields on the Eastern Slope of the Continental Divide.   

Detour through Nebraska

A snowstorm was raging for a second day along the Colorado Front Range as I prepared to return to Missouri this morning; in fact, Interstate 70 was closed east of Denver.  Checking the radar, I decided to head northeast on I-76 and left the snow behind within 20 miles of departing the Metro Area.

Once in Nebraska, I drove east on Interstate 80 where, in North Platte, the North and South Platte Rivers merge to form the Platte River.  The highway parallels this river, crossing its braided channels and numerous irrigation canals.  Many small lakes, ponds and wetlands are also spaced along the Platte River Valley.

Wildlife sightings on my northern detour included prairie falcons in northeast Colorado and many flocks of migrant gulls and ducks in the Platte River Valley; red-tailed hawks and a couple of bald eagles were also observed in trees near the river.  Though I hoped to encounter tardy flocks of sandhill cranes, which stage on the Platte (especially in early spring), none were seen from the highway.  After a night in Grand Island, I'll continue my journey to Missouri in the morning. 

A Vanguard of Ring-Necks

After a slow start to the autumn waterfowl migration, a large flock of ring-necked ducks appeared in the South Platte Valley this morning.  Whether they are just stopping by or will spend the winter here will depend on the weather in the coming weeks and months.

Other waterfowl sightings included mallards, American wigeon, gadwall, green-winged teal, hooded mergansers, buffleheads, a lone common goldeneye and, of course, Canada geese.  A steady north wind kept songbirds in the thickets and few were encountered on my walk.

That wind was courtesy of a Pacific cold front that may bring the first snow of the season overnight or tomorrow.  Perhaps it will also bring down more ducks! 

Climate Change and Deveaux Bank

In the Autumn, 2024, issue of Living Bird from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, an article describes both the importance of and threat to Deveaux Bank, an offshore island at the mouth of the Edisto River, near Charleston, South Carolina.  Long known as an important breeding site for brown pelicans, black skimmers and other marine birds, it gained special notoriety in 2017 when it was documented to be a rest stop for 20,0000 whimbrels, migrating between the Arctic and South America.

As is reported in the article, Deveaux Bank was significantly eroded by Hurricane Idalia and another powerful storm last year, though some acreage has since been added back by river sediment.  Knowing its importance as both a marine bird nesting site and as a rest stop for half of the whimbrels in Eastern North America (in addition to other shorebird migrants), the island was closed to human use for seven months (March 15-October 15).

This saga highlights the fact that humans are not the only species affected by climate change (though we were the only species to cause it).  Then again, many, if not most species are more adaptable than we are; nevertheless, we must intervene on their behalf whenever possible. 

A Dry Refuge for Waterfowl

Arriving at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, in the Missouri River Valley, on this warm, sunny morning, I noticed that the annual signs are up, advising visitors that the southern half of the refuge will be closed from October 15 to March 1 to provide undisturbed wintering habitat for waterfowl.  At the same time, I found that this floodplain refuge is drier than I have ever seen it; I suspect the migrating geese and ducks will take note as well.

I did observe 6 northern shovelers and 6 pied-billed grebes on my 7-mile tour, hardly the throngs that one might expect in mid October.  Indeed, turkey vultures and red-winged blackbirds dominated the scene, not exactly members of the waterfowl clan; a lone, immature bald eagle was feeding on carrion in a dry crop field and a sharp-shinned hawk strafed the floodplain, likely hoping to pick off a blackbird.

Per reports that I have received, the dry landscape is intentional, necessary for the health of native wetland plants.  No doubt that is true but the waterfowl will, for now, go elsewhere.  Maybe next year.