NVDL: By dumping salt into freshwater sources and flattening structures (homes, trees etc), Bolivar's once thriving bird community has nowhere to shelter now.
I think over time this will improve, but trees take a while to come back, and probably birdlife will remain less than it was for some time.
Hurricane Marie has formed meanwhile off the west Mexican coast. This is the 6th Hurricane of the Pacific season.
"We had red-winged blackbirds, sparrows, a bunch of migrating birds," recalled Ernest Stone, 75, leaning on his cane and surveying debris on the cratered moonscape that used to be the family beach house on Bolivar Peninsula.
"I haven't seen a pigeon in a while," he said. "Seagulls. You could always go out and throw a piece of bread and the seagulls would come."
Not now.
Bolivar Peninsula is part of what's known as the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, with nearby High Island a prime bird watching spot and traditional rest stop for migrating birds heading north in the spring and south in the fall.
Tizard said he believes things will get better in the spring.
Just like humans, the birds need three basics that Ike took away: cover, food and water.
"I've got plenty of structure, but it's not mine," Ernest Stone said matter-of-factly, looking at the rubble of his neighbors' homes littering his property.
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clipped from news.yahoo.com
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