Off-and-on-again for many years, I've enjoyed birding. I'm by no means an expert nor am I particularly
passionate about it. I do enjoy the challenge of photographing birds and other wildlife. Although I decided to begin this
collection of photographs close to home, a recent visit to the Everglades
National Park inspired me to pull together these recent wildlife photographs for presentation here.
The Everglades is truly unique. It has been called “The River of Grass”
for the Sawgrass that
covers this vast watery plain. The Everglades sustains many species of wildlife and is a critical
habitat for many bird
species. It is also crucial for holding the ocean's saltwater at bay, the last line of defense so to speak,
for the fresh water
table all of southern Florida depends on. Yet development, vast agricultural tracts, and various
ill-conceived shemes to
“reclaim” tne Everglades threaten this national treasure.
Among the species most endangered is the Wood Stork. In the early 1960s over 17,000 Wood Stork fledglings were counted
in the Audobon Society Preserve near the Everglades National Park. By the late 1980s there were none. This
coincided with a precipitous decline in Brazil, where they have since rebounded.
In the Everglades they have made only a small recovery, with around 1,000 fledges counted in the
Preserve in recent years.
The biggest threat to the Everglades is that every day over a billion gallons of fresh water is diverted into the ocean depriving The Everglades
of its most important necessity.
This collection was originally prepared as a slide presentation to the March 2010 meeting of Digital Imagers of Pittsburgh.
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