_edited.png)
World Wetlands Day 2019
This coming Saturday, February 2, has been declared "World Wetlands Day." Wetlands are some of the most important, yet most threatened, habitats on the planet. They are also home to hundreds of species of birds, including the Little Blue Heron, Black-Necked Stilt, and everyone's favorite "snakebird," aka Anhinga.
Wetlands are a main component of healthy ecosystems and the key to coping with global warming.
Wetlands have proven to:
* Stabilize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
* Buffer coastlines from intense weather (hurricanes, etc)
* Absorb floods and relieve droughts
* Naturally absorb and store carbon
* Slow down the impacts of climate change
Unfortunately, since 1970, there has been a 35% loss of wetlands worldwide.
Read on and click each photograph to find out more about the different wetland refuges
Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo by Blythe Birdwatchers c. 2017)
With 20% of our home-state of Georgia being wetland, it has naturally become one of our favorite types of habitat to explore and bird. Over 60 different types of wetlands can be found here including cypress swamps, marshes, and wet prairies. Some of our favorite public wetlands to visit include:
Harris Neck NWR, south of Savannah in McIntosh county (Photo: Glossy Ibis at Harris Neck by Blythe Birdwatchers c. 2018)
Phinizy Swamp Park in Augusta (Photo: White Ibis Birds by Blythe BirdWatchers c. 2017)
Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (Photo: "Anhinga at Sunset" by Blythe BirdWatchers c. 2017)
Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (Photo: "Black-Necked Stilt" by Blythe Birdwatchers c. 2018)
I mentioned just a few in Georgia, but nearly every state has some form of wetland. Visiting these wild places is really a unique experience that is hard to find anywhere else (mainly because EVERYWHERE else seems to have been taken over by people!) Preserving and protecting our wetlands worldwide needs to be one of our top environmental priorities.
Inspired by this cause, I created "World Wetlands Day" magnets that will be free with any purchase beginning today and lasting through February 28th. (Top yellow and bottom green items are the resin magnets).
The magnets are made of jeweler's-grade resin and have a copy of my original "wetlands silhouette" image. The birds in silhouette are two wetland-specialists; the Little Blue Heron and Black-Necked Stilt.
For more information about World Wetlands Day and how you can help, please click on the links to visit the websites below. (Most of the information I summarized in this blog came from these sites).
Help spread the word! Use hashtags #keepwetlands and #worldwetlandsday in relevant posts on social media!
Thanks for reading and stay warm as we enter into the middle of winter!
~Blythe Birdwatchers
