Birds and Nature

Wow, now the hurricanes that hit the upper Texas coast is causing problems for wildlife on Padre Island National Seashore: "PADRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE, Texas (AP) — Tons of debris swept up by Hurricane Ike last month were carried by Gulf of Mexico currents hundreds of miles from the upper Texas coast to this ordinarily pristine landscape just north of the Mexican border. Sections of roofs, refrigerators, loveseats, beds, TVs, hot tubs and holiday decorations litter the more than 60 miles of gently arcing sand in the national park. ---- "It could have a huge impact," said Larry Turk, maintenance chief for Padre Island. The park wants to clean up as much of the debris as possible before the Kemp's Ridley turtles return, he said, because a debris-clogged beach would make it hard for them to dig their nests. ---- Some of the garbage is a hazard to the seashore's wildlife. The most obvious risk could be the countless small pieces of plastic that could be mistaken ...

From the Chronical.com: "Thousands of migrating warblers pass through the Bolivar Peninsula about this time every year, making one last stop for food and water before their 600-mile flight over the Gulf of Mexico. But the warblers and other migratory birds might not be able to find refuge for a while on the remote and particularly vulnerable place. Hurricane Ike stripped the birds' favorite mulberry trees, leaving little fuel for their long journey ahead — one of the sobering consequences of the storm. ------- Up to 20 miles inland, post-Ike samples showed salt levels as much as 25 parts per thousand in water that usually has no salinity. Water begins to taste salty at 6 parts per thousand, Sutherlin said. "That exasperates everything that needs freshwater," he said. "If we don't get a lot of rain soon, then it's gloom and doom for fish, insects and some mammals. For birds, as soon as the water is freshened, they will move back in." At this point, t...

"ANAHUAC, Texas — For hundreds of species of migratory birds heading south this fall and winter, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge is the last place they can fill up on food and water before making the 600-mile trek across the Gulf of Mexico. They may not be able to do that this year, after Hurricane Ike decimated the refuge known by bird-watchers around the country for the array of migratory and coastal birds that pass through it. "It's like a truck stop," says Matt Whitbeck, the refuge's wildlife biologist. "Except this winter, the truck stop will be closed. That's what I'm afraid of." Read the full story here

" Download full size image Hurricane Ike Wreaks Havoc On Texas’ Coastal Ecosystem Posted on: Wednesday, 17 September 2008, 13:20 CDT Experts say Hurricane Ike caused massive damage to Texas' coastal ecosystem that could take a generation to heal. As scientists and land managers start to assess the storm's impacts on beaches, dunes and marshes, they are seeing signs of present damage and future worries to a coast already hammered by decades of pollution, population growth and habitat loss. Jim Sutherlin, superintendent of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's 24,250-acre J.D. Murphree Wildlife Management Area, near Port Arthur, said the impacts are going to be phenomenal "We're going to take the critters that crawl or walk, and for the full stretch of the coastal zone that got the full impact of the coastal flood, they're just eliminated." Unfortunately, the upper Gulf Coast of Texas was already under stress from many sources like coastal developme...

Although a number of sources have noted that coastal wetlands helped reduce the impacts of Hurricane Gustav, little has come out yet on the impact the hurricane did to those remaining wetlands. USA Today has an article today that states: "Though Hurricane Gustav seemed to spare New Orleans a repeat of 2005's catastrophic damage, it is likely to have done irrevocable damage to the area's wetlands." "Besides breaking up marshes with its powerful waves and winds, Gustav could destroy miles of wetlands by depositing Gulf of Mexico saltwater into the freshwater marshes, Graves said. The salt quickly desecrates the freshwater marshes. "It's like pouring salt on your front yard — it's going to kill your grass," he said. Louisiana's wetlands and sandy barrier islands are buffers against hurricanes. The cypress swamps break up tidal surges and slow a storm's speed, said Aaron Giles of the Gulf Restoration Network, a New Orleans-based environment...

As I noted in prior post, it is too early to know the impacts of Hurricane Gustav on bird and other wildlife habitats and populations. However, the Nature Conservancy website discusses hurricane impacts in general: "Throughout its 40 year history of working along the Gulf Coast, the Conservancy has understood the connection between healthy natural systems and the well being of human communities. A major concern at this time of year are the impacts on songbird migration that is in effect now. Though many birds will hunker down or seek shelter like the pelicans in the previous post, the larger problem is the impact on the habitat they rely on for stop-overs before launching across the gulf of Mexico and especially the food available to shore them up for their long journeys. While damage from the hurricanes would have been significant in any case, that damage was intensified by the historic loss of coastal wetlands, barrier islands, and oyster reefs. In Louisiana alone, more than ...