Returning to Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area this morning, a friend and I found that the water levels have continued to fall and that vast shallows spread out from the central channel and along the primary drainages of the refuge. Not surprisingly, these conditions attracted a large number of waders (61 great blue herons and 37 great egrets), perhaps the most I have ever observed at this floodplain preserve.
As summer sets in, waterfowl were limited to the resident Canada geese and a lone, male wood duck. Killdeer were the only "shorebirds" and turkey vultures were the sole raptors. Dickcissels, the most abundant songbirds, called from the drier grasslands while many summer residents, hidden in the foliage, were identified by their songs; these included yellow-breasted chats, yellow warblers and common yellowthroats. More conspicuous were indigo buntings, fish crows and mixed flocks of swallows. A single cormorant, finding the water too shallow for diving, flew across the refuge, heading for deeper fishing grounds.
Having recovered from a prolonged drought, this wetland refuge must now rely on periods of heavy rain to sustain its rich ecosystem. Of course, human visitors, ourselves included, hope that summer storms regularly douse the floodplain.
