By some estimates, more than 40% of the birds that seasonally migrate in North America do so via the Mississippi Flyway. Large numbers of both land and water birds use this route, including ducks, geese, blackbirds, sparrows, and numerous shorebirds, along with the rare white pelicans that migrate right through Baton Rouge each year. Most of the birds on the flyway cut right across the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi Flyway is what has given the Gulf Barrier Islands some of the richest bird species diversity in the world. Won’t those silly birds be surprised at the burning slick of death we oil consuming humans have turned the Gulf into! Won’t they be startled when they land for one last rest in the Louisiana coastal marshes before flying across the Gulf, only to find themselves coated with oil and finding nothing living to eat. So, take some extra time to enjoy the sparrows and thrushes you see this summer, because you most likely won’t see quite so many next year.