St. Louis Audubon Society

Riverlands MBS

Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary

Critical Bird Habitat Gets a Boost

For many around St. Louis, Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary is a known hotspot for birds. The Chapter’s field trip schedule bears this out with almost one in three trips involving the West Alton, Missouri location. The Sanctuary’s steward, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is working hard to create even more opportunities for birds and bird watching. Just since last fall, they have added a chimney swift tower and nesting platforms for osprey and are working on an artificial island for least terns and an expanded, actively managed pool for shorebirds. What follows is a short description of each of these projects and the volunteer involvement integral to their success.

The chimney swift tower was installed by volunteers during National Public Lands Day last September. The tower was placed along a trail near the Environmental Learning Facility and the Visitor Center for easy incorporation into classroom and visitor experiences. The osprey structures were installed this past January and made possible by the Ameren Corporation, the Illinois DNR and Gene Sands with Great Rivers Audubon, who initiated the entire project. One structure is on Ellis Bay, visible from the Visitor Center, and the second was placed on Ellis Island adjacent to the Mississippi River.

The interior least tern, smallest member of the gull and tern family and federally endangered since 1988, has been the subject of previous activity at Riverlands. In 2002, St. Louis Audubon and the Corps collaborated on a constructed island and viewing blind on the downstream point of Ellis Island. However, high water events and predators from the Island are believed to be major factors in the total absence of nesting activity. Now, the Corps is implementing a creative artificial sandbar solution via floating barges that addresses both water and predators. The barges, filled with a sand/gravel mix, will provide a 1500 square foot “island” anchored in Ellis Bay and will be partially covered with a lattice rope to help prevent avian predation. Chapter volunteers will be involved in monitoring the barges once installed in early April and during the subsequent nesting seasons of the multi-year project.

Lastly, the Corps is about to start construction on a water management structure for Heron Pond that will eventually yield a three-fold expansion of this pool and provide vital stopover habitat for shorebirds. Paul Bauer, past-president of St. Louis Audubon, has championed this project for many years and together with the Chapter has contributed $20,000 to insure its completion. A trail and multiple viewing blinds will offer a great birding opportunity to the public, and when finished, the Pond will be one of just a handful of actively managed shorebird ponds in this part of the country.

For more information about Riverlands, in general, http://www.mvs.usace.army.mil/Rivers/RMBS.html . For more information about these projects, visit the Chapter’s Riverlands project page at http://www.stlouisaudubon.org/conservation.htm . Perhaps most importantly, if you find your way to Riverlands and observe significant avian activity around any of these projects, please note it and share with the Rivers Project Office staff as soon as possible!