On the Prowl I
by Linda Brody
Title
On the Prowl I
Artist
Linda Brody
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Snowy Egret Hunting for food. Closeup. At Bolsa Chica Wetlands, Huntington Beach, CA.
The snowy egret is a small white heron. It is the American counterpart to the very similar Old World little egret, which has established a foothold in the Bahamas. At one time, the beautiful plumes of the snowy egret were in great demand by market hunters as decorations for women's hats. This reduced the population of the species to dangerously low levels. Now protected in the United States by law, under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, this bird's population has rebounded.
Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve is a nature reserve in the city of Huntington Beach, California. It is designated by the California Department of Fish and Game to protect a coastal wetland, with its resident threatened and endangered species. "Bolsa Chica" means "little bag" in Spanish, as the area was part of a historic Mexican land grant named Rancho La Bolsa Chica. The Reserve is also called many other names, including Bolsa Chica Lowlands, Bolsa Chica Wetlands, and Bolsa Chica Wildlife Refuge.
Bordered on one side by Pacific Coast Highway and oil fields and houses on the other, Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve wetlands is a 300 acre coastal sanctuary for wildlife and migratory birds. A wooden bridge crossing over a tidal inlet and a 1.5 mile loop trail provide for spectacular wildlife viewing. Two additional viewing points are located along the perimeter.
The reserve has two sand islands where California Least Terns and Snowy Plovers nest. Endangered Belding's Savannah Sparrows live, breed and nest at Bolsa Chica. Other species include rare Light-footed Clapper Rails, Great Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, White and Brown Pelicans, Avocets and Black-necked Stilts, to name a few. In the fall and winter seasons, Lesser Scaups, Red-Breasted Mergansers, Ruddy Ducks and Common Loons come to visit.
Today the wetlands are thriving, however, this was not the case in the prior to 2004. Over 50 years of oil field development highly degraded the wetlands. Restoration, which began in 2004, after years of planning and environmental study, included removal of over 120.000 feet of oil pipe. Thirteen miles of exploratory ditches were dug to look for additional buried pipe and other hazardous debris from the oil operations. Heavy machinery removed brush and the new wetland configuration began.
A new ocean inlet, allowing for the first time in over 100 years, the ocean waters to enter the wetlands required construction of a new $100 million bridge overpass on Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy 1), a highly traveled beach route. To protect adjacent homeowners from saltwater intrusion, a barrier structure was constructed along the entire eastern edge of the restored wetland. This prevents saltwater from entering nearby aquifers, and excessive fresh groundwater from accumulating in the residential area. Pumps capture accumulated water and return it to the wetland.
This wetlands redevelopment project was financed by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, in trade for expansion and acquisition of additional coastal land for port use.
In my former life as an environmental analysis specialist, I served as Assistant Project Manager for the environmental studies associated with this project. It is so nice to be able to see the beneficial results of a long and arduous project. Linda Brody.
This photograph has been featured in the following Groups:
Coastal Water Birds
Nature Landmarks Landscapes and Wildlife
Images that Excite
Wildlife 1 A Day
All About Nature
All Art Welcome
A Birding Group - Wings
Poetic Poultry
500 Views Share Group
FAA Bird Portraits
500 Views 1 A Day
Nikon Full Frame Cameras
The Road to Self Promotion
Macro Marvels
1,000 Views
Kingdom Anamalia
Lady Photographers and Artists
10+
Art Forever with You
Southern California Artists Collective
1,000 to 1,999 Views
Wonder of Wings
Your Very Best Photograph
Some of my artwork appears on products sold at Zazzle. Check out the following website: http://www.zazzle.com/linda116.
If you like my art, please take a moment to "like" and/or comment. I would be most appreciative if you would share on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, etc. This will help promote my art online and enable it to be found by others on internet searches. Thank you so much.
Uploaded
December 29th, 2015
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Viewed 1,701 Times - Last Visitor from Fairfield, CT on 04/24/2024 at 6:05 AM
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Comments (99)
Gary F Richards
Outstanding Snowy Egret on the Prowl composition, lighting, shading, excellent color and artwork! Congratulations on your very deserving features! F/L
Dylyce Clarke
Congratulations, your picture has been FEATURED on the home page in the group WONDER OF WINGS on September 9, 2023. You are invited to add this featured image to the group discussion page "FEATURES ARCHIVE SEPT-DEC 2023.”
Anthony Jones
Beautiful work! Thank you for submitting your artwork to the Southern California Artist Collective Group where the image is now featured on the home page. Feel free to post this in the Featured archive in the group discussion page section L/F
Jan Mulherin
Congratulations!! This stunning image has been selected to be featured for the week in the “Art for Ever with You” Group Home Page. You are welcome to add a preview of this featured image to the group’s discussion post titled “2019 April: Stunning Group Featured Images and Thank-you’s” for a permanent display within the group, to share this achievement with others. Also feel free to post your feature on our group Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/296998814248643/ . If the activity is allowed, your image will also be posted to Twitter. Thank you for your participation in the group! ~Jan (April 13, 2019)