Wood Storks are large graceful fliers but are arguably one of the homeliest birds on earth...at least from the neck up. As a friend of mine quipped, "With a face like that, they don't deserve to reproduce." But it's not their crusty black heads that make them so rare, it's the loss of suitable roosting habitat from wetland alteration. Once abundant throughout Florida with over 25,000 nests, wood storks were placed on the federal endangered species list in the early 1980's when fewer than 5,000 nesting pairs were identified. Today, the species has expanded its range northward into South Carolina and now number about 9,000 nesting pairs. The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources' endangered species biologists were aware of our work in restoring waterfowl habitat and asked whether we could help save the largest wood stork nesting site outside of Florida. We jumped at the opportunity. We visited the site in early September 2003 and discovered an old 40-acre ricefield full of aquatic vegetation surrounding an island of trees. The primary concern was the thick mats of water primrose, smartweed, alligatorweed, cattails, and frog's bit that provide a "bridge" for raccoons and other predators to reach the trees and raid the nests. Wood storks prefer roosting trees surrounded by little or no vegetation, and lots of alligators to prevent wouldbe predators from getting to the nests. However, the site had become so overgrown that the storks would likely not return in the spring. The short-term objective was to reduce the thick growth around the trees so the storks would want to return... and to complicate matters, we only had a couple of months to do it before the plants went dormant. We also had an additional challenge. The site was on private property, so public funds could not be used. However, thanks to the efforts of Bo Burns formerly with SePro Corporation, and the generosity of the SePro Corporation and Aquatic Vegetation Control Inc. we were able to get the materials and treatment donated, and the application conducted within two weeks! The treatment mix was two quarts of Renovate with 16 ounces of Arsenal (now called Habitat) plus one quart of Aquabuph (adjuvant) per acre. The mix was hand sprayed from an airboat on September 24, 2003 after the birds had migrated from the site. Initial results were surprisingly good for such a late year treatment. Within one month after treatment the frog's bit was essentially eliminated and most emergent growth, except for the cattails was brown and dying. But it was still early, and success could not be measured until the spring. A visit in May revealed and exciting change in the plant community. Instead of thick mats of frog's bit and mixed emergents, there was a mix of duckweed and water pennywort (Hydrocotyle) with some scattered cattails. However, the greatest proof of success was the fact that the wood storks had returned and were in record numbers this year! The project is not over yet. We plan to chip away at the unwanted vegetation to create an open-water "moat" around the roosting trees to prevent access by predators. The combination of Renovate and Arsenal did an excellent job of controlling frog's bit, alligatorweed, smartweed, and water primrose even with a late season treatment, and kept it under control through the following spring. Many thanks to SePro Corporation for donating their product and AVC Inc. for donating their application equipment and manpower to this project. Their timely and generous response to our request may have made the difference in saving this important roosting site for one of our state's rarest endangered species.

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