As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Starving refuge of water will result in bird deaths


Like last year, folks really enjoyed and supported birds during Winter Wings Festival. Great!
Like last year, reduced water deliveries (combined with previous years of water cutbacks) have many Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge marshes nearly dry, or completely dry. The highly likely 2013 result will be another major disease outbreak, killing tens of thousands of water birds.

Now is the time for people who enjoy birds to act: Contact the Bureau of Reclamation. Next, contact our federal senators and ask for more water for the refuge.

Over the last several years, BOR has cut refuge water deliveries — including in one year with higher than average water supplies. Wetland habitat has greatly decreased year after year and 2013 is shaping up to be another bad disease year thanks to BOR reducing water to the already minimal acreage of refuge marshes.

Last spring’s big die off (memory is it was more than 30,000 birds) is highly likely to be repeated due to overcrowding. Since these are breeders heading north to create the next crop of birds, killing them off for lack of water is such a waste, a travesty.

Enjoy hunting? Enjoy birding? Enjoy Winter Wings? It is time to step up. Tell BOR that continued starvation of the Lower Klamath Refuge is completely unacceptable. And since BOR listens more to U.S. senators than to us locals, call or email U.S. senators, too. It might help. At least when the dead birds pile up, we know we tried.

Dave Potter
Klamath Falls

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