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The good thing about this job is that every so often you really win one. Far from the unpleasant scenes and long hours we sometimes face, a few of us spent a spectacular day boating across Florida Bay in search of roseate spoonbills. Those pink and white wading birds with their odd-shaped gray bills have chosen a remote island near the Florida Keys as their winter nesting site. Audubon scientists took us along to watch them count nests and eggs. The sun was high, and the water was as smooth as glass, making it a very nice day at the office.
On tonight's Nightly News broadcast, we'll show you some of the pictures from our trip. They're part of a report we've done on an increase in wading bird populations in the Florida Everglades. While many credit this increase to favorable weather conditions, some say it's in part due to a successful attempt by biologists and Everglades water managers to create better feeding and nesting conditions. Working together, they're trying to make sure that water is where it's needed, when it's needed. It hasn't always been that way.
For decades, the Everglades have been a huge man-made plumbing project, with canals and spillways controlling the water flow from Lake Okeechobee southward through the River of Grass. Wading birds are very sensitive to that flow. There needs to be a lot of water in the summer and fall, so fish populations can grow. And the area must be dry in the winter when the birds are nesting, so they can easily feed on fish now trapped in small pools. In the past, when water management led to flooding and drought at the wrong times, the birds suffered, and the populations dwindled.
No one is saying that all the problems of the Everglades are being corrected -- far from it. We heard impassioned complaints from environmentalists that the federal government is falling short on its commitment to help restore this valuable and unique wetland. But, we did see the apparent results of a nice first step, and we talked to a lot of people who truly care about the health of birds and their nesting grounds. Heading back from the remote island with the sun beginning to set, it felt as if we'd experienced reason for hope.
Editor's note: Mark and his NBC News crew captured some of the beautiful sights and sounds from their reporting trip and were kind enough to put together a natural sound tour of the Everglades. Click here or on the image to watch.
Read more from Mark Potter
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Sunday's Rundown
I see Louisiana is maintaining their usual low standards re-electing Jefferson. Sad sad sad.
(Sent Dec 11, 2006 8:54:20 AM)
I try to go down there every year and do my own un-scientific assessment of the Spoonbill and Wood Stork population...they have been steadily increasing, but I fear for the future with all the growth that is happening on the outskirts of Naples, creeping closer and closer into the danger zone. Thank you for this story. I dearly love that Magical place and it needs to be highlighted to the American public.
Kimberly Kaeser, Clinton, Maryland (Sent Dec 10, 2006 7:11:50 PM)
This is a great story of nature triumphing over adversity. I only wish the Bush administration would invest more in our nature's bounty and less on useless wars.
Matthew Kibbey, Charleston, South Carolina (Sent Dec 10, 2006 7:02:10 PM)
That sounds like it will be a lovely, interesting piece with beautiful pictures. The constructive work Florida has been doing in the Everglades makes me think of the urgent need to call attention to the need to restore and protect Louisiana's wetlands, which are being washed away at the astonishing rate of a football field per half hour. Since the 1920's, Louisiana has lost the equivalent of the state of Delaware. And that's not all--Katrina and Rita caused her to lose 217 more square miles of her coastline. Louisiana's wetlands are ecologically precious because they serve as nurseries for fish and shrimp and other seafood, and serve as a rest stop for migratory birds. You'd be able to get pretty nature pictures there, like you did in the Everglades. The wetlands also protect oil and gas installations from intrusion by seawater. And most importantly, they serve as "speed bumps" which protect New Orleans from storms. I hope NBC Nightly will be airing something on Louisiana's wetlands and the importance of protecting and restoring them soon.
Olivia Elizabeth Burdon, Peoria, Ill. (Sent Dec 10, 2006 2:48:57 PM)
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