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H
ow did wildlife fare in the flood? The answer depends on which species, where they live and how the timing of the flood affected their breeding, nesting and feeding opportunities.

Upland species are not as well adapted to torrents of water as most wetland species. Wildlife that successfully live along rivers and streams in emergent, cattail marshes, alder shrubs and forested wetlands are resilient, adapted to survive both flooding and drought.

Early nesting waterfowl with chicks already hatched, such as mallard ducks and geese, may have been able to paddle out of trouble more readily than upland game birds like turkey, grouse and wood****. Other early nesters -red-winged blackbirds and kingbirds - sit forlornly surveying the tattered remnants of flooded nests. The advantage of building nests low over water to thwart nest predators such as snakes, fishers, mink and even chipmunks, backfires when the water rises several feet in May.

Early nesting birds - including chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, bluebirds, tree swallows, woodpeckers, wood ducks and hooded mergansers - often use hollow tree cavities or wooden nest boxes. They enjoy an advantage inside wood-walled shelters. But an inability to find insect food during the heavy rains likely weakened chilly adults of all bird species.

"Ten inches of rain in a matter of days, severe flooding and the high temperatures only in the 40s is a recipe for disaster for newly hatched birds," said Fish and Game biologist Ed Robinson.

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"Grouse and wood**** chicks, turkey poults and many adult birds will have significant mortality. For many ducks and geese, it's also not good. We were lucky that spring was early and we saw goose broods about a week to 10 days early. Early hatchlings a couple weeks old when the rains started may be okay, but ducklings and goslings less than a week old will have significant mortality. Nests with eggs anywhere near water were completely flooded. Many pairs will re-nest, however second nests are always less productive."
One silver lining may be that colorful tropical migrants, like warblers and flycatchers, are now just arriving and have not yet built nests. They will soon find hordes of aquatic insects, including tasty blackflies and mosquitoes, readily available.

Aquatic insects and the birds, reptiles and amphibians that eat them will find enhanced food resources provided by expanded aquatic nurseries used for breeding by many insects. Somewhere over the rainbow, insects will be big winners in the wake of the flood. A rich aquatic "gumbo" of wriggling insect larvae, fairy shrimp and tiny wood frogs and salamanders will attract hungry adult gray tree frogs, green frogs and wading birds including herons, bitterns, snipe, killdeer and yellowlegs as the water recedes.

Another positive: The "hydro period" of small, temporary wetlands and vernal pools used by breeding by wood frogs and mole salamanders has been significantly extended. These same wetlands were in danger of drying up just two short weeks ago! The large yellow-spotted, black salamanders prevented from migrating to pools to breed during the drought have done so in just the past week. Better late than never! Their opaque egg masses anchored to vegetation survived filling of wetland edge pools. While adults were widely dispersed, floodwaters likely spared their egg masses far from rapid currents .

Amphibians are well adapted to withstand poor breeding conditions due to fluctuating water levels. Roadside ditches and swales are preferred by toads, while damp meadows are favored haunts of golden-spotted, pickerel frogs. The peepers are still calling. Adept climbers, peepers left the sedges meadows and emergent marshes to seek refuge in tree tops of flooded forests. Ponds favored by green frogs and bull frogs will remain brim-full for several more weeks. All that extra water buys extra time for larvae to metamorphose from tadpoles to adults - if they escape from predators.

Reptiles, including wood turtles, painted turtles, spotted turtles and snapping turtles, begin migrating to sandy upland nesting areas adjacent to wetlands, rivers and ponds by the end of May. Turtles use floodplain forests as places to feed and rest while migrating to lay their eggs. A different type of post-flood concern is when trees are cut and large rocks called "riprap" are installed along rivers and streams after floods, creating obstacles for adult turtles and their surviving hatchlings to negotiate.

Another effect of installing hardened, impervious surfaces in floodplains is the increase in floodwater velocity. High water isn't a problem when it moves slowly, but rapid currents scour out streambed insects and mussels and the fish, frogs and turtles that hide in overhanging tree roots and under the banks of the main river channel. Aquatic animals, given time, space and the ability to swim outward and away from the destructive force of heavy currents, are more likely to survive a flood. Those confined in steep-sided ravines and flashy brooks and basins of small wetlands were more likely to be washed away.

Meanwhile beaver, muskrats and otter have had a field day exploring expanded habitat opportunities of flooded forests. As waters recede, they will move back into their flooded lodges and riverbank dens. Hopefully, the young had already learned to swim sufficiently to escape drowning in the lodge. The effects of the flooding on wildlife are localized and variable.Invariably, both wild and human residents of wet, flood-prone neighborhoods must either adapt or sell out and move on.

(Dave Anderson is director of education for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. He can be reached via e-mail at danderson@forestsociety. org or through the Forest Society's website at forestsociety.org.)

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