NAPLES, Fla. (AP) - Officials say thousands of wading birds in the heart of Florida's Everglades rebounded in 2017 after a string of bad nesting seasons.
In a Naples Daily News report , the South Florida Water Management District reported that great egrets, white ibis, wood storks and other wading birds had a good nesting season in Everglades National Park and a handful of water conservation areas north of the park.
However, nesting remained lackluster in the birds' ancient breeding grounds in the shallow wetlands near the Big Corkscrew Swamp and along Florida's southern coasts.
Mark Cook, who helped compile the district's wading bird report, said the gains documented in the park show that "if we can get the water right in one year and see this kind of rebound, then we can restore the system."
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