Living on the edge of one of the world’s great estuaries, San Francisco Bay, I have grown to appreciate the importance of rivers, estuaries, deltas and bays in the great migratory cycles of life on earth. I love water. I grew up near the beaches of Southern California, and I have lived at the edge of Lake Superior, near the headwaters of the Nile, and on the shores of Alaska’s Katchemak Bay. While traveling I have come to appreciate the wealth of food that comes to humans and migrating birds amid the deltas of the Rhone in France, the Guadalquiver and the Ebro in Spain, the bayous of New Orleans, and the mangrove swamps of Mexico. It is these deltas, estuaries and bays that incubate the fish and nourish the shrimp, clams and mussels that wind up in our delicious bouillabaisses, cioppinos, gumbos, paellas, clam chowders, tempura, sushi, curries and stir frys. These same fish and invertebrates support the annual migration of millions of shorebirds and ducks. The estuaries are the lungs and kidneys of our planet.  They are our defense against erosion, hurricane, tidal wave and rising seas. And they can be incredibly beautiful. So here’s to loving them and saving them.

Migrating Black-bellied Plovers and Whimbrels find a small resting place in busy Malibu Lagoon

Birds, Conservation, featured, Food, Travel