Standing at the edge of an enormous marsh, a visitor is overwhelmed by the vast area of tall water plants and the abundant bird life, which reminds one of the coasts of the southeastern United States. Yet this is a place where you will never see a hurricane, or foam stirred by crashing waves, or a dolphin or shark; the nearest ocean is well over a thousand miles away. For this is a naturally occurring but carefully managed inland sea, a flat landscape of glittering water surrounded by hundreds of miles of grass and farms. 
These are the Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira marshes, the stopping point for hundreds of thousands of migrant birds that make their way north in the spring and south in the fall. In terms of the variety of species and numbers of birds, this is a remarkable place. Some of the finest bird watching sites on the continent are to be had in these impressive marshes, especially during the spring. On a recent day, various roads that traverse the marshes offered views of some of the rarest birds in the US. Views could be had of innumerable ducks, cranes, hawks, and all manner of shorebirds. Here, at this time of year, are found the largest concentrations and greatest diversity of water birds in the United States; about the only birds missing are penguins. For bird watchers, this place is paradise. It is here in Kansas, near longitude 100 degrees, that east meets west and north meets south. Bird species that occur in the east or the west have a small zone of overlap here, and there are plenty of land birds in addition to the fantastic shorebird display. The inland habitat is packed with various sorts of small worms and young insects, which form the bulk of the birds' nutrition.
Cheyenne Bottoms, a spacious basin comprising some 41,000 acres, is the largest marsh in the interior of the United States. The state government operates approximately half as a wildlife management area. The Nature Conservancy has also acquired an additional 7,300 acres, mostly adjacent to Cheyenne Bottoms, where it has been restoring the native habitat.
Quivira National Wildlife Refuge is south and slightly east of Cheyenne Bottoms, a half-hour drive away. The US Congress created it in May 1955 after being petitioned by scientists eager to protect migrant birds. It includes about 22,135 acres, nearly 6,000 of which are managed marsh areas. "Each area is nationally important; together they have worldwide importance," said an expert on birds and author of a paperback bird watching handbook and several pamphlets on the subject. "They are especially important in the context of the percentage of individuals of certain species passing through." He called the marshes "unique and magnificent".
"It's remarkable what passes through Cheyenne Bottoms," he said in a recent interview. "Small shorebirds that spend the winter at the bottom of South America and breed in Russia in the summer, I got to hold them in my hands and marvel at how they do it. To find birds here that I banded from northern Russia and South America, it really put into perspective what is going on here in the center of the Kansas. These birds are the best athletes in the world."
When Mr. Martinez began his studies in 1965, his bird census work was greeted with doubt because the numbers of species and individuals were unlike anything being reported anywhere else in the country. Eventually, skeptical researchers came here to see if Mr. Martinez could be right, only to be amazed by what he had documented. Although today he is still tan and fit, he no longer walks through the marsh mud to capture and mark birds. But his work brought the region to the attention of scientists and amateur birdwatchers and he is now considered to be the dean of bird researchers in the region. "A very high percentage of the entire world population of several species of shorebirds depends on these marshes for survival," said one expert. "According to population census data, anywhere from 50 to 95 percent of the population of some species may be using this area each spring, occasionally with all of these species present at the same time," he said. And, he noted, the area is just as critical in the fall, when hundreds of thousands of cranes — one species of which is federally listed as endangered — and countless other water birds stop over on their way south.
Irregular rainfall, periodic flooding, and the vagaries of nature combined to make the surrounding land marginal for cattle farming. Often, fluctuating water levels put the best shorebird habitat on grassland outside the protected areas. The Nature Conservancy stepped in to protect additional land, moving out the cows and bulls to make room for shorebirds. Now, communities in the surrounding area have pegged their future to the hope that the area's growing reputation as a premier bird watching site will bring visitors and their dollars to the region. Municipal governments, motel operators and others in the hospitality industry hope to see more and more bird watchers.
Though she could barely communicate with the Americans she encountered there, her giggle and the blush of happiness on her face needed no translation. (Words: 1,001)
