wetland

Don’t let the name fool you -- the Great Dismal Swamp is alive with birds! Particularly at this time of year, lucky visitors will find newly arrived Neotropical migrants. In conjunction with International Migratory Bird Day, the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge will host its sixth... read more »

Once abundant around San Francisco Bay, the California Clapper Rail is today endangered. In the 19th Century, unregulated hunting plundered the species. In the 20th Century, rampant development reduced saltmarsh habitat by 85%. But in the 21st Century, the California Clapper Rail has allies!... read more »

Thousands of acres of south San Francisco Bay that lay under industrial salt ponds for over a century are now being restored to native tidal marsh. The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project has acquired almost 24 square miles that salt producers had diked along the bay's tidal margin. The... read more »

In the rural Southeast, roadside ditches – known as “bar ditches” – carry on for miles. They’re full of water and full of life, these narrow wetlands. Herons stalk the shallow water, stabbing at minnows. Common Gallinules, like this one, swim on the surface. Reeds and bulrushes provide cover for... read more »