Red Shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) Eastern Kansas

I am very fortunate to live in an area that hosts diverse wildlife. I live in a US Midwest neighborhood and have seen bobcat, deer, fox, coyote, hawks, barred owls, blue herons, bald eagles, and a variety of migrating songbirds. But this diversity may not necessarily reveal a healthy ecosystem.

A creek runs near my home and it is frequently littered with garbage, pollutants and algae blooms. While I have seen herons and hawks fishing there, I wonder what quality of food can be extracted from that creek. The creek runs through woods containing a wide variety of invasive and non-native plants. All of our area parks are at war with invasive honeysuckle and Bradford pears. Many of the flowers blooming during spring and summer are invasive.

Some species, such as coyotes, are remarkably adaptable and can live in close proximity to people. Others are "edge" species, such as deer, whose populations have expanded due to habitat fragmentation. Others hang on in an ever shrinking era of "development" where habitat loss is ongoing. I have noticed an uptick in crow populations this year, the crow being the ideal occupant of a disrupted ecosystem.

It might be easy to think that seeing abundant wildlife indicates that all is well and we have nothing to guard against. But it may also be that what we are seeing is an indication of a disrupted ecosystem.