If you leave the trail a little north of the Sycamore
Apartments, following the mowed path east toward the wetlands, you’ll be
treated to an ever-changing vista. Gleaming water teeming with migrating
waterfowl in the early spring, giving way through the summer to a lush green
vegetated sprawl when the water is low.
Many days you can hear the call of the resident family of
Sandhill Cranes nearby or off in the distance, or see the Bald Eagle couple
perched in a snag on the horizon. Dragonflies and swallows swoop and soar
overhead, hunting for insects in the summer air. Occasionally Trumpeter Swans
will stop by, paddling slowly, large and elegant among the Canada Geese.
On this day, a Great Blue Heron flies a short distance, its
broad wings curving as it lands. Nearby a Sandhill Crane
strides, deliberate steps against a backdrop of tall cattails. Then a second,
and a third, walking together. One of the three lacks the scarlet mask on its
forehead, perhaps the offspring of the other two. They pass behind the heron,
which stays perfectly motionless as the much larger birds go by.
Nearer to the trail-side of the wetlands a snapping turtle
of conspicuous stature rests, smooth, dark carapace glossy amid the jumbled
green chaos of the leaves. Two other herons stand in the distance, one neck
outstretched and the other tucked down.
These constructed wetlands, like the planted cells alongside
the trail, are habitat and home to hundreds, if not thousands, of species. The crane family has likely lived in the area
longer than many human residents on the south side of town, and hopefully will
be able to live there many years more. How many years has that snapping turtle
been basking in the mud there?
As our neighborhood grows and develops, I hope that the city
takes into consideration these long-term residents and their well-being, and
works to minimize the disruption caused by enclosing the wetlands along the
western border with housing and roads. It is a refuge for wildlife in an
increasingly hostile world, and being able to share in a small part of their
lives, it becomes a refuge for us as well.
