Free Bird's Adventures

Monday, February 12, 2018

Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge at Flint Creek

National Wildlife Refuge
Wheeler
How Can You Help?

1. Dispose of fishing lines, hooks, and trash in the bins and containers provided.

2. Pick up any trash you see.

3. If you pack it in, you can pack it out.

4. Volunteer with the Wildlife Refuge for clean-up events.

Reminder: is not permitted.

Contact Information

- 256-350-6639
In case of an emergency, call 911

Refuge Lands Within
Highways
Roads
Refuge Boundary
Visitor Center
Wildlife Observation
Boating
Environmental
Area & Universally Accessible Fishing Pier U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Our History
1838
: The discovery of gold in Georgia and thirst for land expansion prompted the U.S. Government and white communities to force the from their ancestral lands. During the summer and winter of 1838, the first three detachments driven west traveled by water on the from near present-day . They followed the river through and West Tennessee before merging with other rivers and eventually arriving in .

1933
: In May of 1933, President signed the Act, creating the TVA. The Tennessee Valley Authority was designed to modernize the region, using experts and electricity to combat problems in the area. A primary part of the plan was to produce electricity and provide flood relief by constructing a series of dams along the Tennessee River and its tributaries.

1934
TVA COMES TO Town TVA acquired land in the middle third of the valley in 1934-35 to serve as a bed for and buffer around . Interested individuals and organizations urged that the government take advantage of the newly constructed reservoir to replace the waterfowl habitat.

1938
AN EXPERIMENT: On July 7, 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt set aside the middle third of the new reservoir as an experimental national wildlife refuge to see if multi-purpose reservoirs could be made attractive to waterfowl. The reservoir and new refuge were named for , who lived near .

1950
POLLUTION: 's 1962 classic, , documented the serious environmental problems caused by , including those in the . In the late summer of 1950, farmers experiencing a very wet season reapplied pesticides to their crops multiple times because they kept washing off in the frequent rains. These high volumes of pesticides washed into Flint Creek, killing most of the fish.

Present
HERE AND NOW, significantly impacted by its controversial history, this section of the Tennessee River and Flint Creek is vastly different from what they were over 170 years ago when the Cherokee traveled west. Industries have sprung up, dams have been built, commercial water traffic is considerable, and recreational boating facilities have developed. Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge is one of the few remaining areas along the river dedicated to conserving the character of our wild and natural heritage.
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Flint Creek
Flint Creek is a slow-flowing, meandering stream influenced by the fluctuating water levels of Wheeler Reservoir. The creek and its tributaries comprise 150 miles of streams that drain over 291,000 acres of land in , , and . Its headwaters are in northern Cullman County, and the creek flows into Morgan County, where it converges with near . As it confluences with the Tennessee River at mile 308.5

Fishing and Land
The Flint Creek shoreline offers a wide variety of hardwoods, bluffs, farms, and wildlife, while the stream itself is home to , , , , and a few . Much of the land surrounding the creek is within the TVA Reservation and Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, making it accessible to the public. Improved boat launching areas are available at and . An improved launch area suitable for small boats and canoes is located south of . This universally accessible pier was built so everyone can enjoy what the watershed has to offer.

The Flint Creek Watershed Project is a multiagency cooperative led by local leaders and watershed residents. In 1996, a was established, and plans were developed with assistance from two federal agencies, five Alabama state agencies, and three local . This project has implemented a variety of projects, including agricultural demonstrations, well sampling programs, on-site wastewater demonstrations, and riparian zone management efforts. Public outreach activities include household hazardous waste days and .

Seagrass, Soup of the Sea and Migratory Birds

Soup of the Sea

are organisms that drift with currents. Plankton can be plant-like or animal-like . Most plankton are small, but even larger organisms are considered plankton if they live their lives drifting with currents. Plankton is found in freshwater and saltwater worldwide and is essential to humans.

Thank your plankton

Imagine your favorite seafood - shrimp, crab, oysters, fish ... thanks to phytoplankton, we can enjoy this mouthwatering cuisine from the sea. Phytoplankton provides two essential things for animals (including us) to live. One is food. Like plants on land, they use sunlight and nutrients to produce food. They're the base of the food chain in the ocean. Many tiny animals eat phytoplankton and, in turn, get eaten by larger animals up the food chain. Without plankton, we would not have seafood.

Now, take a deep breath. The second essential ingredient produced by phytoplankton is oxygen. Estimates vary, but most scientists agree that phytoplankton make up a significant portion of Earth's atmosphere.

There's a zoo out there.

Zooplankton eat. Many eat phytoplankton, and many eat smaller zooplankton. They are an essential part of the food chain. A shark may never eat plankton and has no idea it exists, but it depends on plankton for all of its food.

Many zooplankters go through a . Some of them are plankton for part of their lives and then grow large enough to swim against currents or settle to the bottom. Those are called . are plankton their whole lives.

You might recognize the adult forms of many meroplankters. See if you can match the adult forms with their planktonic forms below.

Broth of the Bay

Look up at . These are some of the planktonic organisms that are common in the Bay.

Plankton is collected with special nets like this one. The nets have tiny holes and are pulled along the water's surface.

Crabs go through metamorphosis, much like butterflies or frogs. The is one of the larval stages of crabs.

get their name from their many bristles that are used for movement. They are related to earthworms.

are phytoplankton. Some of them can glow like fireflies. Some produce toxins that can harm humans when there are many dinoflagellates in the water.

are phytoplankton. They produce glass-like skeletons that are used in a variety of products. The grit in your toothpaste might come from diatoms.

This is a , a larval stage common to many , including .

are thought to be the most abundant animals on Earth.

They are found in salt and fresh water, as well as in damp soil.

They are powerful for their size.

Saving and Restoring our Seagrasses

Threats to Seagrass

Nearly 80% of all in coastal Alabama have been lost since the 1950s.

A constant threat to seagrass beds is scarring created by boats' propellers and anchors. When boaters navigate across shallow areas or anchor. In seagrass beds, deep scars can form that take years to heal, leading to erosion and further seagrass loss. Poor water quality is also a significant factor that poses a serious threat to seagrass health. For example, excessive sediments in the water limit the light penetration necessary for plant survival.

How can we protect our seagrasses?

What are we doing?

To help propeller scars heal and protect seagrass beds from further scarring, local partners are implementing protection and restoration projects throughout lower , including , the island near , and .

No motor and sensitive seagrass area signs will identify seagrass beds to help boaters navigate through or around shallow water sites containing seagrass.

The scientist is using bird stakes to attract local waterfowl, whose guano deposits will provide natural fertilizer for the propeller scars, promoting the growth and expansion of surrounding seagrass.

What can you do?

Be aware of idle or raised motors and poles when navigating through shallow areas.

Set anchors in sandy areas, avoiding seagrass beds.

Obey No Motor Zone or Sensitive Seagrass areas signs: wade, troll, pole, or kayak when navigating through these areas to your favorite fishing or beach spot.

Seagrasses Coastal Nursery Habitats

What are seagrasses

Seagrasses are flowering plants that live in the shallow waters of every continent except Antarctica.

Seagrass beds containing and are found in Alabama's calm and shallow coastal waters.

Why are seagrasses important?

Seagrass beds provide food and protection for juvenile fish and shellfish, including many economically important species such as , , , and shrimp.

Many types of waterfowl feed on seagrasses, as do threatened and endangered species, such as and .

Seagrasses help stabilize bottom sediment, filter runoff, and absorb nutrients from surrounding landscapes.

Alabama's Coastal Connection

In search of food and shelter

Each fall, millions of birds leave North America and cross the Gulf of Mexico to spend the winter in South and Central America and the islands of the Caribbean. In the spring, they make the return flight to their Northern American breeding grounds. Alabama's Gulf Coast provides a critical rest stop for these travelers. Stopover areas are a key element in maintaining bird populations.

With increased development along the entire Gulf Coast, tracts of diverse, forested lands such as these are disappearing.

Migratory and resident birds use this diverse landscape for foraging, resting, and evading predators. Birds must find enough food to provide energy for the long-distance flight to nesting sites far north. Migratory butterflies depend on food such as pawpaw and passion fruit for larval growth. Songbirds feed on insects and berries, while shorebirds hunt for invertebrates in the mudflats.

The western end of the Fort Morgan peninsula is an important stopover site for migratory birds and has become a nationally known hotspot for birders. When adverse weather forces birds to the ground during a spring "fallout," the birding can be spectacular, although treacherous for the exhausted birds that must find a safe place to recover.

Commonly seen bird species during migration include vireos, warblers, flycatchers, buntings, and hummingbirds. The Monarch butterfly migration can also be breathtaking in the fall, when weather conditions are favorable.

Alabama's Coastal Connection

Permeable Parking

A better way to go

Combined sewer systems are remnants of the country's early infrastructure, and so are typically found in older communities. Combined sewer systems are designed to collect rainwater runoff, domestic sewage, and industrial wastewater in the same pipe. Most of the time, combined sewer systems convey all wastewater to a sewage treatment plant, where it is treated and then discharged into a water body. Heavy rainfall adds stormwater, causing the wastewater volume in a combined sewer system to exceed its capacity.

Combined sewer systems are designed to overflow occasionally and discharge excess untreated wastewater directly to nearby streams, rivers, or other water bodies.

These combined sewer overflows also contain untreated human and industrial waste, toxic materials, and debris.

The expansion of impermeable surfaces associated with urban sprawl and automobiles has so increased the stormwater volumes that the combined systems are being separated at great expense. The result is that stormwater runoff that used to receive treatment at the plants is now delivered to receiving streams and coastal estuaries, such as Mobile Bay.

Water running off roads, bridges, and parking lots has been estimated to be the largest source of untreated wastewater in this country. Even twenty years ago, the Federal Highway Administration estimated that 25 million tons of rubber wear off the nation's tires every week, -50 tons/week in Alabama. Since rubber is biodegradable, biodegradation consumes oxygen when it occurs in streams and estuaries. Also of concern are the heavy metals found in steel-belted radial tires, oil, antifreeze, or even transmission fluid.

The parking lot at the allows all stormwater and associated contaminants to percolate down through the gravel, providing an enormous surface area for microbial treatment of the waste, returning it to the water and carbon dioxide. Any contaminated waste that remains cannot reach the shallow freshwater aquifers that feed either the Bay or the Dauphin Island community wells because an impermeable membrane four feet down traps it and sends it through a filter system that removes the hydrocarbon contaminants. The water and any system overflows then flow into a detention pond, where vegetation, including standard cane and other plants, removes nutrients that contribute to low dissolved oxygen levels in the Bay.

Sunday, February 11, 2018

Alabama Coastal Connection, Wetland Birds, Dunes, Barrier Islands & Butterflies

Wetland Birds

The feed a rich bird community. The newly created salt marsh is a prime feeding habitat for herons, egrets, pelicans, terns, sandpipers, and blackbirds. As the arch matures, the diversity and abundance of birds will increase.

At least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)

At low tide, the marsh brings sandpipers moving in unison across the wet sand.

Snowy Egret (Egretta thula), American Egret (Casmerodius albus), Great Blue Heron (Ardea Herodias)

The Snowy Egret, American Egret, and Great Blue Heron feed on fish and invertebrates from the marsh.

Least Tern (Sterna antillarum)

The open sand dune area provides primary nesting habitat for the Least Tern, which is threatened by habitat loss.

Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)

Old pilings in the water provide a resting site for Southern Brown Pelicans, which were once on the brink of extinction in this area.

Ruddy Turnstone(Arenaria interpres)

Cruising along the rock is the Ruddy Turnstone. This bird turns over oysters and clam shells in search of food.

Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger)

Gifted with a graceful wing beat and beautiful coloration, the Black Skimmer grazes along the surface of the water in search of fish.

The large () to the East of the marsh are utilized for nesting by and .

Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major) Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Barrier Islands

Shaped by Wind and Water

Sea levels began rising 18-20,000 years ago, moving sandbars toward the mainland. The rate of rise slowed 6,000 years ago, allowing the sandbar to emerge as the present barrier islands.

Dune plants stabilize wind-blown sands, building ridges and mounds called dunes in the highest areas of the beach. Dunes are critical because, as a storm attacks a beach, water and gravity roll the sand downhill away from the dunes.

This builds an offshore sandbar, absorbing energy from the storm's waves and protecting what remains of the beaches and dune lands.

After the storm, the offshore bar provides sand for beach rebuilding.

Barrier islands perform two functions:

Barrier islands protect the mainland from erosion by absorbing much of a storm's energy.
Barrier islands trap a mixture of fresh and saltwater from the Gulf, contributing to the formation of estuaries. Coastal seafood species depend on the abundant food and brackish-water habitat that estuarine environments provide.

Alabama Coastal Connection

Dune Plants survive in a harsh environment.

Adaptation allows plants to survive salt and freshwater flooding, extreme high and low temperatures, and hurricane-force winds.

These plants reproduce from cuttings created by storms and wave action. They all rebuild the beach and dune system by trapping wind-blown sand.

Sea Rocket (Cakile constricts)

A common succulent found just above the high tide line, Sea Rocket has thick fleshy leaves to help conserve water.

Large leaf Pennywort (Hydrocotyle bonariensis)

A creeping perennial that spreads by far-reaching underground stems, Pennywort grows to about 6 inches tall and has clusters of tiny white or pale-green flowers on a 3-inch stem.

Coastal Panicgrass (Panicum amarulum)

A dense, upright perennial bunchgrass, Panicgrass helps anchor the shifting sands with deeply buried root systems.

Sea Oats (Uniola paniculata)

As the most critical and widespread grass on southern coastal dunes, the Sea Oats' recovery following storm impact is the first step in dune rebuilding.

Morning Glory (Ipomoea stolonifera)

This vine, with trumpet-shaped, white flowers, grows low to the ground, escaping the killing effects of salt spray. The stems may extend over the sand surface for 30 to 50 feet.

Dauphin Island Marsh and Wetlands

Whether the Weather

Look for the weather station seen in the photo below. It is maintained by the , along with several others in and around .

What does this Station Measure?

Atmospheric measurements:

Underwater measurements:

How is the Data Used?

These data can be used in many different ways. Here are just a few examples: Researchers at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab might use them to better understand phenomena such as that cause in Mobile Bay. Climate scientists might input the data into a model that will predict . It might be used to analyze as the storm passes the station.

Who is NOAA?

"NOAA" stands for the . The U.S. Government established this scientific agency in 1970. It has many responsibilities, including research into Earth's weather, climate, and oceans, issuing daily weather forecasts and severe storm warnings, and providing citizens, planners, emergency managers, and policymakers with reliable information when they need it. Some NOAA offices that you may be familiar with include the , the , and the .

What is a ?

You might be familiar with weather or storm prediction models used by forecasters on your local news stations. Computer models are that use measured data to simulate systems. The might make predictions or illustrate predictions that have already happened.

The speed at which computers can process numbers has made the use of models practical. Accuracy depends on the quality of understanding of natural processes across different systems, and the algorithms used to simulate them are continually improving. The more data that goes into a model, the more precise it can be.

The image below left shows a computer model's prediction of from .

This kind of prediction is used to issue warnings to residents of areas that are expected to flood.

The image below the middle shows the track of Hurricane Ivan as measured. Its landfall was 30 miles east of what was predicted. One major limitation forecasters face is incomplete data coverage, especially over the oceans. Much of the needed data is only collected by data boys at a few points on the surface of the sea.

The image below, on the right, was created from measured data, not to make a prediction, but to illustrate the actual storm flooding from Hurricane Ivan.

Invertebrate Trail

The invertebrate trail is an action based on the award-winning series "."

These plaques represent 8 different , or groups of invertebrates with specific body plans, ranging from simple to complex. Each phylum appeared in the oceans during the , about 530 million years ago. These plaques are designed so students can make rubbings of each one for classroom study.

The Living Marsh

Dedicated to the Memory of ; 1974-1991

"A Teacher's Friend" Discovery Hall Student 1985, 1989, 1990

Research on March Restoration at Dauphin Island Sea Lab

are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth.

They provide food, refuge, and user habitats for many animals, filter runoff that drains into our coastal waters, and buffer our coastlines from damaging storm surges. Salt marshes are declining at an alarming rate due to coastal development and environmental stress-induced erosion.

The devices installed in the Living Marsh are called . They are part of a study designed to determine how closely the ecology of this created marsh mirrors that of a natural marsh also located on Dauphin Island (above). The flume traps sample animals that enter the vegetation to forage and hide from predators.

Flume traps allow the animals to enter the as the tide rises (A, Above center). The trap is closed at high tide (B), and as the tide goes out, fish, crabs, shrimp, and other animals are collected in the net.

We then identify and count the animals we catch in the created marsh and compare them with those seen in the reference marsh.

We also compare the animals that live in the mud and among the roots by taking cores from the marsh bottom (below). These small animals, many of which require a microscope to see, including worms and small shrimp, burrow into the sediment.

We also compare how the animals interact with each other in the retired and natural marshes. We are particularly interested in how intensely feed on (see below). We tether snails to the bases of marsh-grass shoots at each marsh and allow crabs to attack and eat the bait during a set period. We also compare the number of repaired shell cracks (signs of failed attacks by crabs) in the snail populations at each site. This allows us to compare how intensively crabs are using resources in the marsh.

We hope this research will help us understand how new marshes develop over time and what we can do to help newly created marshes provide all of the benefits of natural salt marsh habitats.

Above:

Upper Right:

Right: and (inset) shell scar inflicted by the blue crab. Marked by the arrow.