BY DON H ENDERSHOT
A bird of two tales
State and local officials are advising people to avoid contact with Long Creek in Graham County after recent water quality sampling found wastewater. The partially treated wastewater is making its way into the creek because of a malfunction at the Robbinsville treatment plant. An official with the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources first discovered the problem while doing some routine water sampling two weeks ago downstream of the plant. Tests revealed fecal coliform in the water exceeded levels considered safe by the state. High fecal coliform counts can indicate that disease-causing bacteria are present. Public water supplies appear to be safe, as there are no public drinking water sources in the affected area downstream of the plant. However, state officials are saying no one should fish, drink, swim in or otherwise come into contact with the water in Long Creek. State and Graham County officials, meanwhile, continue to investigate the problem and seek a solution to better treat
National Park trail temporarily closed Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials have temporarily closed Springhouse Branch Trail to all horseback riding because of unsafe trail conditions. Heavy rainfall this year resulted in the development of a wet weather spring which recently washed away the trail surface along a section of Springhouse Branch Trail, exposing slick bedrock. The trail connects Jonas Creek Trail and Noland Creek Trail. Because of the steep terrain and unstable surface, the area is no longer safe for stock travel. The trail is passable for foot traffic, but hikers should exercise extreme caution. Crews begin work in early September and expect to be finished by early October. To make repairs, trail workers will build an elevated structure made of locust posts and crushed stone that will allow for proper drainage and create a durable surface for horse travel. www.nps.gov/grsm or 865.436.1297.
Roseate spoonbill. wikimedia commons photo
Movie touts benefits of local food A movie showing in Waynesville is asking folks to think hard about their food choices. The documentary-style movie “Fresh: New Thinking About What We’re Eating” will be featured at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10, in the auditorium of the Waynesville Library. The film focuses on the woes of industrial food and meat production and the remedies provided by local and organic agriculture. Discussion will continue afterward with Tina Masciarelli from the local food initiative “Buy Haywood,” who will be on hand to answer questions and engage in discussion about the importance of eating locally grown foods. Popcorn will be provided; participants may bring their own drinks. 828.356.2507.
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inform water policy in the Everglades. The first phase of a new “spreader canal” that helps redistribute water into the bays and estuaries was opened in January, and bridges are beginning to be punched through the Tamiami Trail, a road that forms the northern boundary of the Everglades Park and acts as a dam keeping the natural flow of water out. Time will tell if these policies continue and if they will be enough to revive the dwindling spoonbill population. The flip side of that equation is that in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Georgia, Roseate spoonbills appear to be expanding their nesting range northward. I have seen pictures this summer of post-nest dispersal from Black Bayou National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Louisiana, Red Slough in southeastern Oklahoma and Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina. (Don Hendershot is a writer and naturalist. He can be reached a ddihen1@bellsouth.net.)
Aug. 28-Sept. 3, 2013
Roger Tory Petersen called it, “one of the most breathtaking of the world’s weirdest birds,” and it was John James Audubon’s “rose-coloured curlew.” But the name that has stuck is roseate spoonbill. The roseate spoonbill is one of only six species of spoonbills in the world. It is the only one found in the New World and the only one with the fantastic pale pink to bright rose coloration. These unique waders can stand nearly three feet tall and have a wingspan of more than four feet. Adults have a greenish featherless head and a large spatulate bill. Their necks are white with a tuft of pink feathers in breeding season. The white spills onto the back and breast but is quickly replaced with a pinkish, rosy hue. The color runs the gamut from a pale pink to a brilliant rose pink. The saturation is diet dependant. The crustaceans the birds feed on, feed on algae that contain carotenes and other pigments that ultimately produce the color in the feathers. The roseate spoonbill ranges primarily from the Gulf States south to Chile and Argentina. The collection of feathers for the millinery trade in the mid to late 1800s decimated spoonbill populations along with many egrets and herons. In the 1940s, they were granted protection and had habitat set aside for them. They have been making a steady comeback across most of their range. The Everglades, however, once a stronghold for roseate spoonbills, is once again seeing a precipitous decline in numbers. The culprit according to a piece by Rene Ebersole in Audubon Magazine is poor water management. Spoonbills in the Everglades were making steady recovery until around 1979 when wetlands were drained and ditched to create housing developments and roads. That was followed by “upgrading” the canal system and increasing pumping stations to divert water for agricultural purposes. The spoonbill’s intuitive clock tells it that when water levels begin to fall in November and December, it is nesting time. In the natural order of things, when the eggs hatch about three weeks later, the fish and aquatic invertebrates that the spoonbill feeds on (and feeds to its chicks) will be concentrated
in the shallow pools prevalent during the dry season. Unfortunately, it has been common practice for water managers, working to keep those new developments dry, to open gates and spill water into the bay, which in turn floods the shallows where the spoonbills would be feeding making it impossible for the adults to feed the chicks. According to the article, flood control and agriculture still take precedence over a balanced ecosystem, but the tide may be changing, at least enough to give the spoonbills a fighting chance. Audubon Florida executive director Eric Draper noted that science was helping to
the wastewater before it is discharged into Long Creek. Long Creek flows into the Cheoah River in Western North Carolina, which in turn flows into Santeetlah Lake on the Tennessee border.
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The Naturalist’s Corner
Dangerous levels of sewage found in WNC creek
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