Post by Woody Williams on Aug 9, 2006 12:04:53 GMT -5
Wildlife area haven for birds
JUSTIN RUMBACH / Courier & Press
Bird enthusiasts train their eyes to the sky above the Cane River Wildlife.
JUSTIN RUMBACH / Courier & Press
A black-necked stilt hunts for insects while wading in a pond at the Cane Ridge Wildlife Management Area on Tuesday.
By MARK WILSON
Courier & Press staff writer 464-7417 or mwilson@evansville.net
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
No bigger than robins but a lot less plentiful, interior least terns once impressed naturalist John James Audubon with the way the birds darted over wetlands, looking for fish to eat.
"They dart with the velocity of thought to procure the tiny fry beneath the water surface," he wrote of the now endangered species.
The birds' numbers dwindled significantly as humans moved into the Lower Wabash Valley and other nesting areas, until it became a federally endangered species. At first they were preyed on directly. Their eggs were gathered for eating and their feathers prized for use in hats. Later, as the area was cleared and the river used for recreation, the essential
nesting habitat was mostly destroyed.
A new 463-acre wildlife area for waterfowl and other birds near the 3,000-acre cooling lake for Duke Energy's Gibson Station power plant is meant to help the birds. The $1.4 million project was financed through the U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service wetlands easement lease program, grants and donations. It took eight years to complete and includes a 60-acre man-made nesting area.
Dedicated Tuesday, the Cane Ridge Wildlife Management Area is owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Numerous federal, state and local agencies, nonprofit conservation groups, businesses and private citizens cooperated to make the project a reality.
"The Cane Ridge wildlife area is a success because no one went into this with the idea that it could be done alone," said Robyn Thorson, Midwest regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
A small colony of least terns had been using a **** at the power plant's lake for nesting since the mid-1980s, said Tim Hayes, a senior environmental scientist for Duke Energy. It is the easternmost nesting colony of the birds. It is also the first time that an artificially constructed habitat for the birds has been tried.
"We can ill afford to go without all the parts that God used to make this world whole. As an intelligent species, let's do everything we can to keep all our parts on Earth," said Bill McCoy, director of the Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge, which manages Cane Ridge.
The project came about when Ray McCormick, a local farmer and conservationist, noticed Zeigler Coal Co. was selling the acreage. He approached Hayes, McCoy and Debra Kosarek, Zeigler Coal's property manager, about developing a wildlife refuge. "This is one of the most significant bird areas in North America," McCormick said. "You could see the potential. You could just look at its geography and know."
Hayes then came up with the idea of creating a nesting habitat for the terns. The project includes a lake with two islands for nesting and four wetland areas where moisture can be controlled. Water to the site comes from the power plant lake, which gets its water from the Wabash River.
So far, the project has been a success. In 2004, only 13 of the tiny shorebirds were fledged. In 2005, and again this year, after the tern habitat portion of the project became available, at least 50 chicks were fledged each of the two seasons.
The area also has attracted other endangered species, including the swamp rabbit and copper-bellied water snake, said Jane Hardesty, state conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
JUSTIN RUMBACH / Courier & PressBird enthusiasts train their eyes to the sky above the Cane River Wildlife.
JUSTIN RUMBACH / Courier & PressA black-necked stilt hunts for insects while wading in a pond at the Cane Ridge Wildlife Management Area on Tuesday.
By MARK WILSON
Courier & Press staff writer 464-7417 or mwilson@evansville.net
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
No bigger than robins but a lot less plentiful, interior least terns once impressed naturalist John James Audubon with the way the birds darted over wetlands, looking for fish to eat.
"They dart with the velocity of thought to procure the tiny fry beneath the water surface," he wrote of the now endangered species.
The birds' numbers dwindled significantly as humans moved into the Lower Wabash Valley and other nesting areas, until it became a federally endangered species. At first they were preyed on directly. Their eggs were gathered for eating and their feathers prized for use in hats. Later, as the area was cleared and the river used for recreation, the essential
nesting habitat was mostly destroyed.
A new 463-acre wildlife area for waterfowl and other birds near the 3,000-acre cooling lake for Duke Energy's Gibson Station power plant is meant to help the birds. The $1.4 million project was financed through the U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service wetlands easement lease program, grants and donations. It took eight years to complete and includes a 60-acre man-made nesting area.
Dedicated Tuesday, the Cane Ridge Wildlife Management Area is owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Numerous federal, state and local agencies, nonprofit conservation groups, businesses and private citizens cooperated to make the project a reality.
"The Cane Ridge wildlife area is a success because no one went into this with the idea that it could be done alone," said Robyn Thorson, Midwest regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
A small colony of least terns had been using a **** at the power plant's lake for nesting since the mid-1980s, said Tim Hayes, a senior environmental scientist for Duke Energy. It is the easternmost nesting colony of the birds. It is also the first time that an artificially constructed habitat for the birds has been tried.
"We can ill afford to go without all the parts that God used to make this world whole. As an intelligent species, let's do everything we can to keep all our parts on Earth," said Bill McCoy, director of the Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge, which manages Cane Ridge.
The project came about when Ray McCormick, a local farmer and conservationist, noticed Zeigler Coal Co. was selling the acreage. He approached Hayes, McCoy and Debra Kosarek, Zeigler Coal's property manager, about developing a wildlife refuge. "This is one of the most significant bird areas in North America," McCormick said. "You could see the potential. You could just look at its geography and know."
Hayes then came up with the idea of creating a nesting habitat for the terns. The project includes a lake with two islands for nesting and four wetland areas where moisture can be controlled. Water to the site comes from the power plant lake, which gets its water from the Wabash River.
So far, the project has been a success. In 2004, only 13 of the tiny shorebirds were fledged. In 2005, and again this year, after the tern habitat portion of the project became available, at least 50 chicks were fledged each of the two seasons.
The area also has attracted other endangered species, including the swamp rabbit and copper-bellied water snake, said Jane Hardesty, state conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
