Rocky Point Marsh Makers

Rocky Point Marsh flora and fauna

2012-02-15T14:57:00.000-08:00

Phragmites australis: sometimes regarded as the sole species of the genus phragmites…Air breathing snails: Melampus coffea, commonly known as the coffee bean snail… Spartina is commonly known as cord-grass…barnacles…Spartina patens, also called saltmeadow cordgrass, or salt marsh hay, is a species of cordgrass native to the Atlantic coast…hibernating wasps and rollie pollies…lichen or fungi.

Day 53

2012-01-11T14:54:00.000-08:00

Removing wood and trash to clear small channels in the marsh became our main focus today. This will enable flooding during the next high tide. Thanks to a tireless volunteer crew: Kim-Nora Moses, Martin Angelo, John Tebbetts, Francesca Simondi, Josh Rudder, Lisa Scheppke, and Genie Gregor.

High of 47 °F | Humidity (avg) 65% | Wind @ 8 mph (ESE) | High Tide 5.7 ft. @ 8:42 AM | Moon 93% visible.

Day 52: Give 'em an inch, they'll take a pile

2011-12-14T14:05:00.000-08:00

The Marsh Makers' mission was to remove all of the trash piles that had accumulated over the months. This would prevent the debris from spreading around the landscape.

A trash burrito (rolled into a tarp) made it easier to move it off the truck bed into the dumpster.

A rare find: an Alexander doll.

One could not ask for a more committed, hard working group: Francesca,

Lisa, Genie, Sheridan, Martin, Kim-Nora.

High of 52 °F | Humidity (avg) 60% | Wind @ 6 mph (ENE) | High Tide 5.3 ft. @ 9:41 AM | Moon 75% visible.

Day 51: The Three Marshkateers

2011-12-07T18:38:00.000-08:00

Genie, Martin and Kim-Nora continued removing a pile consisting of an unsightly mix of plastic (mostly small broken pieces) and organic matter (mostly phragmites).

When it came to unloading the back of the truck into the dumpster we employed a technique devised by Genie, who had brought a tarp. The tarp was laid down to cover the truck bed. And onto that tarp we piled the debris from our wheelbarrow and buckets. Since the tarp’s full load was too heavy to pull off the truck into the dumpster, we forked off enough debris until we could fold the tarp over like a taco. And then we could drag the remaining load off the tailgate into the dumpster.

It was a wet, messy, cool day and we were covered in grit from top to bottom.

High of 57 °F | Humidity (avg) 93% | Wind @ 11 mph (NNE) | High Tide 5.1 ft. @ 5:11 AM | Moon 75% visible.

Day 50: March of the Marsh Makers

2011-11-30T20:21:00.000-08:00

Martin, Moshe and Kim-Nora started with trash [pile] removal. In the early afternoon Sheridan and Graham joined the effort. Then came Genie and her two children, Becky and Danko. We all worked until after dark.

High of 53 °F | Humidity (avg) 63% | Wind @ 18 mph (WSW) | High Tide 5.8 ft. @ 8:47 AM | Moon 98% visible.

Day 49: Trash pickup day

2011-11-16T21:51:00.000-08:00

Martin, Graham and Kim-Nora went out on a soggy day to continue the cleanup effort at Rocky Point Marsh on the Rockaway peninsula in Queens, New York. We called it a day after hauling two truck loads of plastic debris mixed with organic matter (mostly invasive phragmites) to the dumpster.

High of 57 °F | Humidity (avg) 90% | Wind @ 5 mph (ENE) | High Tide 5.5 ft. @ 11:14 PM | Moon 77% visible.

Day 48: Remains of the bay

2011-11-09T04:52:00.000-08:00

The area outlined in yellow is the west side of the marsh, which we've not yet begun to clean out. The red outline shows the area we've been working on since 20 November 2010.

A brief stroll shows what remains to be cleaned out of this bay-side salt marsh, the only one left on the Rockaway peninsula.

Meanwhile, Martin, Urszula, and Francesca continued the back and forth toil of removing the wood debris.

High of 63 °F | Humidity (avg) 73% | Wind @ 4 mph (SE) | High Tide 5.2 ft. @ 07:11 PM | Moon 96% visible.

Changes: End of Chapter One

2011-11-08T18:39:00.000-08:00

To hack it in a salt marsh, a creature must be both terrestrial and aquatic. Tolerant of fresh and salt water. Tolerant of water that freezes by winter and simmers by summer. In short, tolerant of change. Especially the kind brought on by people.

Rocky Point Marsh is a highly disturbed ecosystem. Clogged with debris. Infested with alien vegetation. Mutilated by dredging and jetties. Yet it remains where no other marsh does, and provides refuge for species that will tolerate no other habitat. How long has it been here? Why is Rocky Point the last remaining marsh on the Rockaway Peninsula? To answer these questions, I made a trip to the New York Public Library's map division. I wanted to see what Rocky Point looked like 50, 100, 200 years ago.

The oldest map available was from 1773. In it, the Rockaway Peninsula appears to be weakly connected to "weFt Long Island," AKA Brooklyn. Here's pre-Revolutionary Breezy Point (lower right).

Interesting, but I needed more detail than that. So I gathered every Jamaica Bay nautical chart I could find. The last century's metamorphosis was mind-blowing. Here's a short video (16 seconds) I compiled of Jamaica Bay charts, spaced roughly every 15 years from 1888 to 2006. It's worth a couple views. First watch it while focusing on the tip of the peninsula. Then watch again while focusing on the green shading, which represents salt marsh.

The peninsula stretched two miles westward over the course of the past century. The entire community of Breezy Point is built on land that was underwater not 80 years ago. But Rocky Point marsh was always there, and it was surrounded by other marshes. By 1937, most of them had been filled.

To fully grasp the changes that took place, one must look at the greater Jamaica Bay area in 1903 vs. 2006.

Examine these closely. Note the rim of the bay. Note the area covered by JFK (upper right). Note the channels cutting through the marsh islands. Note the sheer scale of development. To see all of this in more detail check out NOAA's Historical Charts and Maps Collection. I spent the better part of a day exploring that site.

The metamorphosis was not limited to Jamaica Bay. All told, New York City buried 84% of it's original salt marsh over the last century. The repercussions of that loss are beyond the scope of this blog post. But somehow, this little marsh of ours did not get priced out. How it managed to do so amid such sweeping land alterations is unclear. What's clear is that measured on a human scale, Rocky Point's level of tolerance ranks somewhere between Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.

It sustained injuries along the way. And it will undergo further changes. But now that we know better, we can try to make those changes positive.

Our restoration efforts have slowly inched Rocky Point back toward what it may have looked like in that 1888 map. I took a photo of the marsh from the same spot every week for a year. Here I've stitched them together as a parting ode to Rocky Point. Music: Joshua Cody by Antony Partos.

One last and very important change to report. The Rocky Point Marsh Makers blog will live on through Kim-Nora Moses, a talented photographer, fellow volunteer, and friend.

Thank you Kim-Nora for taking over, and for letting me marsh vicariously through you from the west coast. Tony, make sure she keeps those rakes and shovels points-down. I know you will.

Shervin...............................out.

Day 47: Into the wood pile

2011-11-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

We're all sorry to see Shervin go. But our work here will continue as a result of the inspiration gained from his focus and efforts to bring Rocky Point Marsh back to life. As the cleanup saga continues I will add images and writings of my own.

Today Marty, Urszula and Kim-Nora hauled away two truck loads of wood from this pile. Not much of a visible dent was made but it's still progress.

And this is where the wood ended up...at the camp ground at Floyd Bennett Field. Next time, if the chainsaw is working we might be able to make that pile disappear faster.

High of 56 °F | Humidity (avg) 66% | Wind @ 5 mph (W) | High Tide 4.8 ft. @ 02:24 PM | Moon 41% visible.

Days 45 and 46: Marsh, farewell

2011-10-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

My apologies for the radio silence. Much has transpired since I posted last, and this, I regret, will be my penultimate post. I'll explain later, but first, let me dutifully recount the events of the last two cleanup days. The first was October 10th, when Rocky Point was besieged by more monarchs then Willy and Kate's wedding.

Wherever there was goldenrod there were butterflies. So consumed were they with their migratory feast that they forgave the big black lens violating their personal space.

Tony, Broc, Moshe and I spent that afternoon inching massive logs out of the water with the help of a come-along. It was back-breaking stuff, but we managed to get them high enough to dry out and prevent them from being reclaimed by the next big tide. We were all too occupied to take pictures but here's how it went down:

The camera trap disappointed again. Pointing down at the platform, it yielded only a few shots of phoebes, sparrows, and other small fry. Don't get me wrong, I think these little guys are swell. But I wanted something new.

So I tilted it up to aim at the opposite brace. A week later, I returned to check the results.

And darned if I didn't camera-trap my first fish. A bunker (aka menhaden), slowly being eaten by the osprey perched atop the mount.

A total of four bird species were subsequently captured. Clockwise from upper left: fish crow, flicker, mockingbird, kingfisher. The framing made for an interesting size comparison.

How do I know it's a fish crow? I don't, really, but here it is eating a crab.

October 19 was not an easy cleanup day. The rain fell on an epic scale. An oppressive haze of swirling mist punctuated by jolts of sideways rain clouded the marsh sufficiently to obscure the bay and the city beyond. But I couldn't leave, because it was to be my last day in the marsh, maybe for a long time. A confluence of events compelled me to move back to my hometown of Portland, Oregon, and I couldn't take the marsh with me.

The irony was piercing. No lazy Indian summer farewell, none of the familiar birds flitting about. Marsh dwellers know better than to linger during a storm. Just me and the brutal downpour. It was as if the marsh was trying to shoo me away like Timmy did Lassie.

Then, as I waded around looking for debris to ceremoniously rake up, this appeared. At first glance I took it for a shred of plastic.

It's called salicornia, or Virginia glass wort. It was there all along, but in Autumn it turned this neon, impossible fuchsia. I didn't know such a thing could exist outside of the sci-fi realm.

After staring at it a while I hauled my last load of wood to the culvert, where I launched this operation a year ago. And there I considered all we'd accomplished.

We had a good run. And with that, I bow to the marsh, the NPS, Breezy Point, Jamaica Bay, New York City, and all of the wild creatures that dwell therein, or just stop by on their way somewhere else. I hope they find refuge here.

What will happen to Rocky Point marsh? Check back soon for the final installment.

Day 44: Raptors and phrastic

2011-10-05T22:16:00.000-07:00

Somebody sneezed and then it was autumn. Nowhere was this more apparent than the marsh, whose long summer of sweltering heat and mosquitoes surrendered overnight to cool breezes and migrating raptors. I was very hopeful that the maiden deployment of camera trap #2 would yield a bird of prey. And it did. One photo of an unidentified juvenile accipiter (lower right corner).

This portrait left much to be desired. Fortunately, the raptors made up for it with a live show that lasted all day. Adults and juveniles darted in and out of the treeline by the dozen, inciting the marsh's refugee songbirds to repeatedly dive for cover. Rocky Point is a smorgasbord for bird-eating birds, and death from above took many forms: accipiters, merlins, peregrines, oh my!

They shared the sky with another voracious aerial predator (of fuel): the Airbus A380-800, AKA the world's largest passenger plane. This is the Lufthansa subspecies, buzzing the marsh on it's daily migration from JFK to Frankfurt. It may not look like much, but 526 people are crammed into that thing.

Moshe, Urzula and Kim-Nora plus me made four in the marsh today.

We consolidated our efforts to clear the mouth of Matchstick Alley. With most of the big wood gone, we turned our attention to the ubiquitous phrastic, my term for the moist, concentrated mixture of dead phragmites and plastic debris that sometimes results from the action of tides and delinquent New Yorkers.

Not long ago it covered much of the marsh, smothering the native flora and choking the channels. It now clings to a precarious existence in only a few remaining nooks.

Moshe went in deep to eradicate the stuff.

While Kim-Nora and Urzula raked and scooped.

And hauled it off to the pile.

This before-after would have been much more dramatic had I not been shooting into the sun, but there it is.

And one more, depicting one of the smaller alcoves in Matchstick Alley.

Thank you Kim-Nora, Urzula and Moshe for your marsh husbandry and compassion. Rocky Point is very lucky to have friends like you.

High of 74, max humidity 72%, average wind (NNW) @ 15 MPH, 5.3 high tide @ 03:24 PM. Moon 58% visible.

Water level unrecorded

Birds seen in marsh: osprey, merlin, peregrine, unidentified accipiters, Canadian goose, flicker, warbler, kingbird, mockingbird, black-backed gull

Day 43: Tide race and fall migration

2011-09-28T23:18:00.000-07:00

At seven feet, today's tide was the biggest the marsh had seen all year. I'd been waiting for this one. The unprecedentedly high water would do all the heavy lifting while I leisurely floated logs to the culvert for later removal. But once in the marsh I realized I only had an hour before the logs started scraping bottom. And the logs were many. Here's my race against the tide, partially filmed in Beavervision©.

And the resulting logjam-boree.

The deluge was intense. To illustrate, here's the main pool today vs. during a dry spell.

Throughout the day I kept crossing paths with Jim Henson's lost creation.

Here less muppet-like. A great egret's dagger bill is lethal when it comes to sniping unsuspecting fish and non-fish.

It stalks silently through the marsh, searching for any movement in the water. When a potential meal is detected, the egret zeroes in, cocks it's neck and like lightning...

This individual was a pro. Not a single fumble in the dozen strikes I witnessed.

It was an especially birdy day all around thanks to the fall migration. Geese, cormorants, four raptor species and an endless procession of tree swallows coasted over Rocky Point. It took one flock of swallows two hours to pass overhead. During our last volunteer day, USFW biologist Steve Finn told me about the non-avian migrants he observed in the marsh:

The butterflies are the most interesting to me at this time of year with their different survival strategies. Some migrate south in advance of the cold weather. Most notable are our monarch butterflies that migrate to the Oyamel forests in Mexico, where they will spend the winter. Lesser migrations to our southern states are performed by some of our other butterflies such as the question mark, ladies and morning cloak, although some of the morning cloaks don't migrate and stay to hibernate in a sheltered place such as a hollow tree.

During our marsh clean up on Saturday we disturbed such a sleeper when Tony and I unloaded a pile of wood taken from the marsh waste (left). Finally (and perhaps sadly) we witnessed butterflies in the marsh area such as the beautiful common buckeye (right) that immigrated northward during the summer to explore new habitat, food sources and reproduce. These will stay with us into autumn until they are finally killed by the frost. The only good news is that they will be replaced next year with fresh southern immigrants.

butterfly photos courtesy Steve Finn

Following the marsh work I went fishing with Tony down the beach from the marsh. Here again we witnessed migration. The bait fish (peanut bunker or young of the year menhaden) were heading towards the inlet to migrate south from their nursery grounds in the bay. They were being heavily fed upon by migrating snapper bluefish, striped bass and false albacore trying to fatten up before their long trip south.

In hopes that a few migrating birds will stopover in the marsh, I decided to deploy camera trap #2 on the osprey platform. But the cradle, whose not-very-hurricane-proof design resulted in the demise of camera trap #1, required modification.

It's not overly sophisticated, but this little brace will help secure the camera during a big gust.

The glorious view from the roof of the marsh. What weary traveller wouldn't want to take a rest here?

I finished off the day in Matchstick Alley. It's slow going, but the channel is beginning to open.

High of 75, max humidity 90%, average wind (ESE) @ 11 MPH, 7.0 high tide @ 08:49 AM. Moon 0% visible.

Water level recorded at 30" mark (marsh record high). Yardstick broke shortly thereafter.

Birds seen in marsh: belted kingfisher, green heron, great egret, osprey, merlin, peregrine, unidentified accipiter, black duck, Canadian goose, flicker, warbler, tree swallows, grackle, many large gulls.

Day 42: Search and destroy

2011-09-23T19:33:00.000-07:00

The combination of zero wind, 100% humidity and droning rain activated Rocky Point's resident mosquitos into full attack mode. They had the egret shaking like a golden retriever.

But we never abort an operation due to hostile conditions. The only exposed part of my body was my face, which I generously slathered with bug dope. Moshe, however, went full-on commando.

There was a lot of post-cleanup cleanup to do in the main channel.

~~Rambo's~~ Moshe's strategy was to melt into the undergrowth, silently creep up on the logs and take them out one by one. He was nearly thwarted when a mosquito slipped under his face net. Evasive counter-insurgency maneuvers kept him in the game.

We then turned our attention to the remaining logs in Matchstick Alley. The aim was to remove them before the big flush next week, when a rare seven-foot tide will bore through the recently cleared channel. Those two monsters on the right will have to wait for the next chainsaw session.

Targets eliminated. But wait, where's Moshe? Moshe?

High of 71, max humidity 100%, average wind () @ 5 MPH, 5.6 high tide @ 04:46 PM. Moon 26% visible.

Water level recorded at 5" mark.

Birds seen in marsh: belted kingfisher, green heron, great egret

Day 41: Marsh militia breaches new channel

2011-09-17T19:04:00.001-07:00

Rocky Point's fourth group cleanup day didn't break any turnout records, but made the greatest impact yet in terms of actual marsh restoration. This was because the 14 resolute individuals who showed up were both highly motivated and experienced in marsh making. Our mission was clear: open the clogged channels.

But the first order of business was removing the small wood piles. Gateway National Recreation Area wanted wood for their summer camp programs, and we were happy to oblige. After sorting out the treated stuff we sent the burnable pieces by wheelbarrow to the pickup. Clockwise from upper left: Lisa, Cindy, Broc and Rob on firewood detail.

Tony and Steve then taxied the loads to the Floyd Bennet field campgrounds. Here's Tony betwixt twins Broc and Steve.

Hurricane Irene created a monstrosity of a logjam in the west channel. Some of these logs were the size of telephone poles, and would require significant butchering prior to removal. Alecio was the first to man the chainsaw at no small risk to himself. Most of the marsh lumber contained more metal spikes than an E.L.F. member's backpack.

Meanwhile, Alex, who set the hardcore bar pretty high during his last visit, outdid himself by cutting down logs with a handsaw.

Broc reported for carving duty by early afternoon, after a full morning of loading firewood.

He focused on a yet-untouched artery of the west channel. Here are the offending logs, slumbering peacefully...

...right before the wholesale slaughter ensued.

As the sawmen hacked away the rest of us shuttled dismembered log chunks out of the marsh. Unfortunately, wheelbarrows weren't an option.

So we did it Viking-style. Here are Moshe, Sarah and Josh making it look easy.

In case you're not convinced we worked hard enough, here are a few more.

!

!!!

!!!!

Don and Francois stopped by to check out the action.

Even the boy made an appearance. This was the first time in his whole three week-long life he'd ventured outside of Manhattan.

Auntie Aida and Grandma Violeta drove all the way from White Plains and the Bronx to deliver him and the wife.

After six hours we'd made quite a pile, here with Santos and Cindy for scale.

And here's introducing Rocky Point's newest addition, the northwest channel. Maybe we should call it Matchstick Alley. Now open for business.

Thanks to Steve, Alecio, Lisa, Cindy, Broc, Rob, Josh, Alex, Sarah, Moshe, Francois, Jonathan for working so hard on your day off. Thanks to grandma Violeta, auntie Aida, Irene, Francois and Don for stopping by. And as always, thanks to Tony for everything.

Photos by Irene

High of 66, max humidity 72%, average wind ENE @ 8 MPH, 5.2 high tide @ 11:18 AM. Moon 82% visible.

Water level unrecorded.

Birds seen in marsh: belted kingfisher, green heron, osprey, great egret, unidentified accipiter, eastern kingbird, yellow fronted warbler, robin

Day 40: Crop circles and killi-clemency

2011-09-14T21:59:00.000-07:00

Upon arrival I found the marsh plagued by unexplained phenomena. What you see below was one of several circular formations, each stretching about thirty feet in diameter. There could only be one rational explanation.

Then I recalled reading about these circles. During late summer, large patches of salt hay (spartina patens) lay down in matted, swirling patterns aptly named cowlicks. The dying grass, usually out of the tides' reach, stays in place and does not effect the succeeding generation's growth. In fact, it stabilizes the substrate.

I started the day trying to operate the seine by myself. This ranks high among those two-person tasks whose doubtless failure as a solo endeavor only goads one into attempting success. Fortunately, Moshe was available. When operated correctly seine nets are very effective at skimming the nano debris, especially particulate plastic, from the marsh surface.

The problem is they're also very effective at skimming the organisms that swim in the marsh. After unraveling the net we found the debris jerking with dozens of frantic killifish. Some might say you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. And killifish are legion, yes. But they're also the most voracious predators of my sworn enemy, the salt marsh mosquito. How many blood-sucking insects would live for each killifish that perished? I didn't want to find out, and so began the exacting work of picking the killis, one by one, from the net.

And liberating them.

Those that could not be saved, I reassured myself, would make good treats for whatever lurks around the debris piles.

We attempted to scare fish away during subsequent skims by walking in front of the net. This tactic significantly reduced bycatch, and would work much better with a third person, a dedicated fish herder, leading the net draggers. In the end, the seine was worth the sacrifice.

and

I finished the day in the shop preparing for Saturday's cleanup event. Hope to see you there.

References:

The Effect of a Seasonal Change in Canopy Structure on the Photosynthetic Efficiency of a Salt Marsh.

S. N. Turitzin and B. G. Drake. Oecologia. Vol. 48, No. 1 (1981), pp. 79-84

The Behavior of Fundulus heteroclitus on the Salt Marshes of New Jersey. F. E. Chidester. The American Naturalist.

Vol. 54, No. 635 (Nov. - Dec., 1920), pp. 551-557

High of 82, max humidity 90%, average wind SSW @ 10 MPH, 5.7 high tide @ 9:36 AM. Moon 98% visible.

Water level recorded at 10 inch mark.

Birds seen in marsh: belted kingfisher, green heron, osprey, great egret

Birds seen in bay: great egret

Day 39: Lumber wars begin

2011-09-07T23:01:00.000-07:00

It was one of those schizophrenic weather days at Rocky Point where the sun made brief appearances between light mist, punctuated by the occasional two-minute deluge. A peregrine swooped in and seemed obsessed with something in the middle marsh where the willets once nested. She made a dozen frenzied dives at the same spot but nothing moved there, even minutes after she'd flown away.

The brutal task of removing the logjams commenced today with the assistance of Moshe, who selflessly forfeited a few hours of fishing to haul heavy wood. Treated lumber impregnated with various chemicals littered the west channel. Many were waterlogged and would have been invisible were it not for the curious leachings suspended above their wooden corpses.

"It feels wrong to say it, but it's sort of beautiful," Moshe confided while standing over an especially hallucinatory swirl in the west channel. Indeed, it was kind of cool, in a revolting way.

Many of the logs were the size and weight of small cars and would not yield to our two-man team. So we focused on wood that was just big enough to not cause back injuries.

By the time we'd moved about a dozen timbers the rain compelled us to call it quits, and I returned to the shop to finish my first recycled marsh wood bat box. All pieces are cut and by next week it should be ready for tenants.

High of 68, max humidity 100%, average wind ENE @ 11 MPH, 5.6 high tide @ 4:48 PM. Moon 72% visible.

Water level recorded at 10 inch mark.

Birds seen in marsh: belted kingfisher, unidentified peep, mockingbird, green heron, osprey, peregrine falcon, spotted sandpiper

Birds seen in bay: Canada goose, semipalmated plover

Underwater timelapse test

2011-09-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

Before undertaking my post-hurricane survey I took advantage of the 6.5' high tide to shoot a new variation on the falling tide timelapse. The idea manifested last week in the recycling room of our apartment building, where I discovered sitting beside the cardboard bin a perfectly sound terrarium containing nothing but a few dead crickets.

The tide was one of the largest all summer, flooding the marsh with the usual suspects plus a few new visitors. Small schools of baby bluefish, or snappers as they're locally known, patrolled the channels for silversides and killifish. At eight inches or so, they're the largest fish I've encountered in the marsh. A belted kingfisher also made several flybys but never took a dive.

Here's the setup (photo taken at the end of the shot).

And the timelapse, documenting one hour of peak drainage reduced to 15 seconds.

Day 38: What Irene hath wrought

2011-09-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

I took a two week hiatus from marsh work because my wife Irene spawned a Category 3 storm of our own:

We brought him home a few hours before the other Irene hit NYC. That night we huddled in the apartment watching movies beside our emergency pile of water-filled wine bottles, canned goods and headlamps. Although our East Village apartment sits on the cusp of the B and C hurricane evacuation zones, I had a feeling we'd be fine. But Rocky Point would inevitably be transformed. The storm surge combined with a freakishly high tide could either flood the marsh with new junk or suck the old junk out to sea.

Today I went to see what Irene did to the marsh. Here are a few scenes from my survey.

The most conspicuous effect was this logjam in the west channel. These timbers were already in the marsh, but the storm rearranged them into an effective dam. Water still flows below.

The western reaches of the marsh were vast floats of dead phragmites and other debris. The surge completely cleared some areas, as illustrated in the photo below. Before the storm, the top site looked like the bottom site.

How high did the water rise? At least two feet above the normal high-tide mark, as betrayed by a rack line on the culvert. Maybe the camera trap recorded documentary evidence? Well...

She was MIA, gone with the wind. There was no trace of her in the immediate vicinity, so I investigated the dispersal of the boards that formerly sat below the platform. Most had been swept into the logjam, and there I found her, floating on her back. Were it not for the logs, she might be well on her way to Nova Scotia right now. I rushed her ashore, but it was too late.

I'm familiar with those tricks for reviving waterlogged electronics, but all the rice in China couldn't dry out this unit. The lens and flash housing were fogged, and a film of rust covered the innards. Sadly, the expensive rechargeable batteries were equally toasted. But the card was intact. Here's the black box debriefing:

After a few hundred starling shots and one green heron, the last creature captured by Bushnell was this mockingbird (coincidentally, one of my wife's favorites). That was on Thursday the 25th.

Friday was eerily devoid of life, just a few false triggers. Then nothing until this on Sunday the 28th, just after midnight.

Bushnell continued to photograph the furiously whipping vegetation until Sunday evening, when she took her last picture, appropriately, of salt marsh grass.

She'll be sorely missed. We had some good times. As F. Gump would say, she was like a box of chocolates. I recorded 18 species with Bushnell over the course of eight months in the marsh. But she was wild, and Irene set her free. Mourning wasn't going to bring her back, and meanwhile, the marsh needed to be de-hurricaned.

On Martin's earlier recommendation, I asked Tony to wrangle me a seine net to replace the laborious rake-and-pitchfork routine. Urzula and I gave it a try.

And it worked beautifully on the west channel.

In the end, Irene did more harm than good, but the marsh took it like a champ and is already on the mend. Rocky Point saw storms much hairier than Irene pass through, and she'll see many more. After all, we're only halfway through hurricane season.

High of 80, max humidity 87%, average wind s @ 6 MPH, 6.5 high tide @ 10:55 AM. Moon 10% visible.

Water level recorded at 24 inch mark.

Birds seen in marsh: belted kingfisher, unidentified peep, mockingbird, green heron, osprey

Birds seen in bay: Canada goose, piping plover, semipalmated plover
killifish, Atlantic silverside and "snapper" bluefish observed in marsh

Summer cleanup and initial hurricane report

2011-08-29T20:02:00.000-07:00

Look closely at these two marshes. (click to enlarge)

Yes, clever reader, they are one and the same.

This is thanks to the hundreds of volunteers who donated a Saturday to haul a few boards and rake a few piles. In three weeks we're going to make our last big charge of the season. The goal is to move the piles of wood and debris surrounding the marsh into dumpsters. If you're reading this and want to lend a hand, follow these directions and meet us at Rockaway Pier anytime between 10AM and 2PM on Saturday, September 17th. Bring work clothes, water and lunch, and we'll provide the gloves, tools and everything else. Leave a comment if you have any questions about getting there.

Some of you asked about the hurricane's effect on the marsh. I haven't been out there yet, but Tony made quick survey today and noted that the bayside dune appears shorter, and a few half-ton logs appear to have been liberated from the main pool. Did the hurricane flush out the marsh for us? I'll post a full report Thursday, hopefully with camera trap hurricane action, so check back then.

Day 37: Pole adjustments

2011-08-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

No ospreys visited the platform this past week, although I saw one circling overhead today. The best camtrap capture was this juvenile night heron, who dropped by for a quick survey.

I think I set a record for how many starlings you can fit on an osprey platform. Eighteen by my count, not including the fifty just out of frame, squabbling over who gets to defecate on the camera next.

I mount and retrieve the camera trap using a 28' pole made from two pieces of PVC pipe with a hook jammed into the end. Someday I'll post a video of the process, which has been described to me as both mesmerizing and pathetic. The pole saves me from hauling an extension ladder back and forth from the marsh, but I pay for it with wracked nerves and burning forearms. It's always a wobbly affair that can take up to five minutes. As the camera whips around, it sometimes captures Dali-esque visions of the marsh.

To speed the mounting process, the pole would need some high-tech mods. So I replaced the zip tie spacers with bolts and wing nuts to keep the hook from swiveling. Then I clipped the "safety barb" off the end of the hook, to keep it from snagging the wire. And finally, I replaced my old wire with a shorter loop of heavier gauge. The upgrade works like a charm.

It used to be easy to get dramatic before-and-after cleanup shots. But now, most of the heavy debris lies beneath the surface.

A few plasticy corridors remain, however.

I called it an early cleanup day and headed back to the shop where acres of reclaimed marsh plywood await the table saw. I still aim to recycle as much of the wood as I can. Next project: bat boxes.

They'll be the wall or post-mounted type, like this. And they'll be free to anyone who's willing to pick them up, so leave a note if you want one.

High of 80, max humidity 87%, average wind (na) @ 8 MPH, 5.2 high tide @ 11:41 AM. Moon 84% visible.

Water level recorded at 10 inch mark.

Birds seen in marsh: common tern, unidentified peep, mockingbird, green heron, white egret, osprey, forster's tern

Birds seen in bay: common tern, laughing gull

Day 36: Marsh casserole, with a side of bad juju

2011-08-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

Bad juju would have been understandable on day 13, but day 36? I'm only marginally superstitious. But I tend to believe that rotten luck comes in threes. And today, it did indeed.

Last week, Russ graciously offered me the use of his jumbo double-wheeled wheelbarrow. Being alone today, I was going to get a lot done with that bad boy. But the tires needed air. A few seconds after I plugged in, something started crackling inside. Before I could hit the release valve, an ominous bubble blistered up and without further ado went off like a howitzer. Russ, I owe you a tire.

I usually wear Tony's size 12 rubber boots, a bit big for me. Today I saw a pair of size 11's flopped over in the corner. They were ancient, covered in dust, and had a strange aroma, but they fit like Cinderella's pumps. Into the marsh I went. Two seconds later that unmistakable sensation of moistness where there should be dryness took hold. I leapt out of the water but it was too late, the tops of my socks were soaked. Upon closer inspection, I found the boots lacerated with more creases than Charles Bronson.

No problem, I thought. The cam trap will cheer me up. I'd been looking forward to checking it all week. The shorebirds are migrating, the raptors are chasing them, whatever. I really thought I'd catch something special. What did I get? One hundred pictures of starlings.

They weren't even doing anything interesting, just loitering, by the dozen, playing havoc with the motion sensor. Here's the tally: starling (too many to count), osprey 1, female red-winged blackbird 1, mockingbird 1, great blue heron 1 (on marsh). My worst haul yet.

Anyway, the three pieces of juju were over, and they weren't debilitating. While cleaning up, I noticed evidence of luck -both good and bad - scattered throughout the marsh. Like a melting jellyfish. The lives of jellyfish are about as dictated by luck as anything you'll find in nature. They drift helplessly through the ocean, their course plotted by the currents, their fate determined by the tides. Last night, a sandy death was simply in the cards for this individual.

An empty egg case. The little skate that emerged from it was no larger than a nickel. With any luck, it will one day stretch five feet across.

Even trash can be traced to past luck.

And then there's this marsh, the luckiest marsh in New York City.

High of 82, max humidity 73%, average wind W @ 4 MPH, .3 low tide @ 12:42 PM. Moon 91% visible.

Water level recorded at 8 inch mark.

Birds seen in marsh: common tern, unidentified peep, yellowlegs, goldfinch, mockingbird, green heron

Birds seen in bay: semipalmated plover, oystercatcher, common tern, laughing gull

Day 35: Platform video and new volunteers

2011-08-04T07:43:00.000-07:00

Last week, for the first time, I set the platform camera trap to video mode. Nearly two hours of footage were captured. Here's the highlight reel (no audio).

The misplaced nesting material is especially entertaining. Not that these birds are here to entertain me. The tally for the past week goes as follows: osprey 4 (over three days), starling 4, sparrow 2, flicker 1 (first sighting at marsh).

Our cleanup crew grew to five today with the addition of Kelly M., Emma S. and Martin A.

And of course, Rocky Point's own Sarah V.

We focused on the middle marsh, where large patches of debris prevent spartina grass from growing. When the marsh floods as it did today, we trade in the wheelbarrow for more primitive technology, as Emma demonstrates.

Martin coaxes the tiny bits of plastic out of the submerged grass.

During an impassioned raking session, Kelly went in. An exciting moment for all. To date, nobody has swamped their waders at Rocky Point. Would Kelly be the first?

Not this time - evasive maneuvers kept her afloat. Dignity suffered only minor injuries.

We cleared our target area in less than four hours. Here it is in 60 seconds:

Day 34: Migrants and salt marsh savant pay visit

2011-07-28T22:18:00.000-07:00

Southbound shorebirds now dominate sky and marsh.

Like these 13 charadrius semipalmatus. That's more semipalmation than some birders can handle.

Rocky Point serves as a rest stop during their Canada - Caribbean migration. While the plovers relaxed, least sandpipers piped their hearts out. Yellowish legs distinguish them from their look-alike cousins the semipalmated and western sandpipers.

These minuscule birds (about the length of a chickadee) probed and piped everything, including hollow phragmites stalks.

This one fancies itself a heron.

At times they piped each other.

But the day's most exciting visitor was the salt marsh matriarch herself, Dr. Judith S. Weis.

Judith and her husband Pete, also a biologist, have spent five decades investigating salt marshes, mangroves, estuaries, and man's impact upon them. She co-authored this book, an excellent primer, reference and historical narrative for all things salt marsh. It accompanied me throughout this entire cleanup project.

The book devotes a chapter to the myriad pollutants that end up in marshes, some of which lurk right under my nose at Rocky Point. Here, Pete points out the core of a large piece of castaway lumber. The green color indicates it's been treated with copper, chromium and arsenic (CCA). CCA wood is resistant to insect infestation and rot, which is why it's often used for outdoor applications. Copper, which causes the green tint, is extremely toxic to marine organisms as it leaches out. And a 12-foot 2x6 board of CCA-treated wood contains about an ounce of arsenic, enough to kill over 200 people. So don't throw green wood in your bonfire.

Judith was pleased with Rocky Point and recommended we continue our cleanup strategy of wood and debris removal. "Nature will take care of the rest," she added. She also remarked that she'd never seen a salt marsh quite like Rocky Point, due to the placement of the dunes and limited tidal exchange. Toward the end of the tour we were joined by NPS park interns and staff. Clockwise from upper left, Pete, Judith, Budhiono, Sarah, Jessica, Mary-Jo, Doug and Tony.
Thanks again to everyone for coming out.

Camera trapping was slow this past week. Here's the tally: mockingbird 1, robin 1, osprey 3 (over 2 days). I also caught USFWS biologist Brian in the act of cleaning up on his day off. It was exactly 95 degrees when this picture was taken.

An interesting Bushnell Trophy Cam flaw was illuminated as a result of Brian's efforts. Every time he entered from camera right, the camera would catch him dead center (above). But when he entered camera left, it wouldn't catch him until he already cleared 3/4 of the frame (below). By my rough approximation, the camera is around 40 feet from his line of approach.

Have any other Bushnell Trophy users experienced this issue? Leave a comment if so. Anyway, here's the best full-load shot I could salvage considering the limitations. Notice how Brian gets a running start to power his heavily laden wheelbarrow through the mud. Bravo.

Sarah and I cleared a section of middle marsh we call Willet Cove. This spot had served as a sort of willet headquarters during the past months. With any luck, spartina grass will colonize this bare patch next season, providing a safer and hopefully more successful nesting site.

High of 87, max humidity 90%, average wind NW @ 9 MPH, .7 low tide @ 11:38 AM. Moon 17% visible.

Water level recorded at 4 inch mark.

Birds seen in marsh: lesser yellowlegs, black skimmer, least tern, common tern, semipalmated plover, least sandpiper

Birds seen in bay: laughing gull, herring gull, common tern, black skimmer, least tern, semipalmated plover, willet, black-bellied plover

Day 33: Nest-making, and a chase scene

2011-07-21T19:38:00.000-07:00

Today the haze sat heavier than a 300-lb plumber on his lunch break. Relative humidity was six clicks shy of 100%. Vapor and smog combined forces to enshroud the Manhattan skyline for the first time in months. Yet the marsh life seemed invigorated by this weather, lining the channels to stab at the mud. Among them was this yellowlegs, a marsh first for me.

And this peep. In case you're not acquainted, peeps are a complex of five small sandpipers that look more like siblings than distinct species. Please leave a comment if you can ID this one. [update: it's a pectoral sandpiper in transitional plumage, ID courtesy Don Riepe]

The platform camera captured a green heron in a state of intense concentration on some mystery object. At this altitude, probably not a fiddler crab.

This sparrow also made a few appearances. Please leave a comment if you can ID. [update, it's not a sparrow at all... it's a female red-winged blackbird. ID courtesy Don Riepe]

The platform camera trap tally for the week ending 07/20/11 included: sparrow 5; red-winged blackbird 1; starling 3, green heron 1; osprey 6. The osprey pair visited 6 of 7 days, usually in the morning, spending an average 90 minutes each time. Though it's too late for them to lay any eggs, they have begun nest-building.

The building material appears to be largely composed of dried algae and phragmites. Here's their week's progress.

Guest marsher Jon Santos, having recently survived a nasty bout of whooping cough, dropped in to help clean up and fill his battle-weary lungs with marsh freshness.

Higher parts of the marsh were about as parched as I've seen them, thanks to the recent heat and low tides. The scattered, desiccated bodies of hermit crabs in the bay front channel attested to the harsh conditions. Aside from a few puddles, water was restricted to the main channel, and it wasn't pretty. But clean up is always easier when the debris and ground are dry. We managed to clear a respectable swath from the marsh middle.

As we raked, a large shadow suddenly sliced through the grass, drawing our gazes skyward to a massive female peregrine falcon towing a solitary least tern in hot, angry pursuit. "Brass balls," Santos muttered. Indeed. The tern appeared less than least, roughly the size of the falcon's tail feathers. It brazenly chased its would-be assassin around the marsh, coursing through the reeds and bashing into a tree before disappearing into the east. For want of a camera at that moment I offer this rendering.

High of 85, max humidity 94%, average wind () @ 4 MPH, 5.0 low tide @ 12:18 PM. Moon 79% visible.

Water level recorded at 4 inch mark.
Birds seen in marsh: great egret, yellowlegs, black skimmer, least tern, common tern, mockingbird, unidentified peep, peregrine falcon

Birds seen in bay: laughing gull, herring gull, common tern, black skimmer, least tern, semipalmated plover

Day 32: (Almost) all work and no play

2011-07-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

Our customary pre-cleanup marsh exploration yielded a dead adult Atlantic silverside, found in the bay front channel. This photo doesn't sufficiently illustrate the brilliance of it's 'silver-side', a blinding stripe of chrome so impossibly luminous I took the fish for a brand-new lure when I first saw it.

It might have been swept in with the recent high tides. But it was so fresh, I suspect it died after swimming into the marsh. Cause of death: a pencil eraser-sized hole near the ventral ridge, in front of the anal fin. A hit-and-miss by a piscivorous bird? That's one theory. But how did the bird manage to stab the underside of the fish? It looks more like a hole bored by a parasite. I'll be eager to hear any other theories.

Last week I spent most of the day shadowing the nekton monitoring crew. It was fascinating and a lot of fun, but it left me with the guilty feeling of marsh neglect. So today was a day of heavy labor. Sarah and I warmed up by first clearing the west channel. Each new moon tide seems to push in less and less debris, which is encouraging.

We then turned to the most challenging cleanup site, an area I'd been avoiding for the past nine months. The dreaded middle marsh. This area is perpetually muddy regardless of water level, never wheelbarrow friendly, and buried in wood and debris.

Trudge-force was the only option. We removed wood by the armload to the nearest dry point where we could bring the wheelbarrow. And we tackled the wet, heavy debris by pitchforking it into trash cans, and hauling it out one load at a time. Effective if not hi-tech.

While moving logs we disturbed a few little fiddlers. He might look like a monster but this guy was only an inch wide, buried in Sarah's glove.

The camera trap has finally found its Goldilocks position. Not too low, not too high, and with the added benefit of expanded marsh coverage. It now captures both what lands on the platform, and what lurks below. Clockwise from upper left: great blue heron (first record for marsh), green heron, mallard, Moshe.

As for the platform, starlings (5 visits), osprey (3), red-winged blackbird (1) and a willet (1) were recorded. Perhaps this willet returned one last time to lose itself in a moment of retrospective contemplation. How's that for anthropomorphisation, Tony?

The osprey visits lasted for 10, 80 and 40 minutes. One drawback of the current camera positioning is that I won't always be able to see what the osprey is eating. But maybe they'll humor me now and then.

High of 89, max humidity 49%, average wind NW @ 14 MPH, 0.1 low tide @ 12:57 PM. Moon 93% visible.

Water level recorded at 8 inch mark.

Fish recorded in marsh: adult Atlantic silverside (dead)

Birds seen in marsh: great egret, spotted sandpiper, black skimmer, least tern, common tern, cardinal

Birds seen in bay: laughing gull, herring gull, common tern, black skimmer, least tern

Day 31: Nekton monitoring

2011-07-08T10:16:00.000-07:00

Upon arrival, I found the marsh teeming with.... scientists.

NPS coastal ecologist Patricia Rafferty had come to Rocky Point to train her crew in the use of throw traps to monitor marsh nekton, aka, swimming organisms. As Patricia explained, nekton are good indicators of marsh health because unlike ground dwelling organisms, they can swim away if conditions aren't right. Throw trap surveys are employed before, during and after marsh restoration projects to track success. Here's how it works. First, the trap location is selected, GPSed, and water temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen are recorded.

The three foot square trap is placed and any cover vegetation within the trap is identified. A rigid rectangular net is then swiped through.

Once the net is raised it's all hands on deck as the little fish flip about trying to escape. They're moved under the wet algae to keep moist (and still) until they can be tallied.

The fish are identified, counted, and the first 15 of each are species measured. This continues until three consecutive swipes come up empty. It's precise and thorough work. The marsh is a nursery for juvenile fish, and at this size, it takes an expert eye to distinguish between species. From nose to tail, most are no longer than a pinky nail.

A horseshoe crab egg.

Atlantic silverside, Menidia menidia.

Striped killifish, Fundulus majalis

The crew found a number of sheepshead minnows, Cyprinodon variegatus, which Patricia noted are not commonly encountered in the nearby Jamaica Bay marsh islands.

The fish were all released back into the marsh. Check back soon for the results of the data the crew collected, which should shed light on how Rocky Point's fish population compares to that of other salt marshes.

Moving on to aerial organisms. The osprey pair visited twice, but my new mounting system was clearly not optimized for Nat Geo shots.

To make matters worse, some avian saboteur tilted the camera just four days into the camera trapping. Over 1,500 photos were subsequently captured of wind-blown twigs, 2x4s, and an ever-growing pile of bird excrement.

The culprit? A solitary fish scale stuck to camera gave it away. An osprey weighs only about three and a half pounds, but it apparently exerted enough force to dislodge one of the two screws holding the mount in place. Corrective measures have been taken.

Sadly, the marsh was bereft of willets today. Two pair had taken up residence since May. I saw breeding behavior on multiple occasions and a suspicious pile of downy gray feathers, but no chicks. Having failed to raise any young, the two pairs have likely moved on, although one lingered on the beach. The marsh feels empty without their incessant bleating and dive bombing. They will be missed. Here's wishing them a safe migration.

In their place are the marauding skimmers. Not nearly as bold, but always a pleasure to watch.

I'll close with butterflies. Last weekend, biologist Steve Finn counted them at three Breezy Point locations: West Beach, Fort Tilden and Rocky Point marsh. Here's what he had to say about the marsh: "I used to include this area in the late 90's. I determined it was too difficult to access with all the accumulated flotsam (timber with nails, etc.). Now, not so bad."

Orange Sulfur- 3 (see photo below)
Wood Satyr- 1 (Only specimen found in all three sites)
Summer Azure- 1
Clouded Sulfur- 1
Northern Broken Dash- 3
Cabbage White- 1
Tiger Swallowtail- 1
Common Buckeye- 3
Eastern Tailed Blue- 1

Impressive for a 15-minute survey.

butterfly photo courtesy Steve Finn

High of 92, max humidity 87%, average wind SW @ 8 MPH, 5.8 high tide @ 01:30 PM. Moon 34% visible.
*** marsh determined to flood at 5.9 inches.

Water level recorded at 7 inch mark.

Fish recorded in marsh: Mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus; spotfin killifish, F. luciae; striped killifish, F. majalis; Atlantic silverside, Menidia menidia; sheepshead minnow, Cyprinodon variegatus
Birds seen in marsh: snowy egret, great egret, green heron, ? yellow and black warbler, black skimmer, least tern

Birds seen in bay: laughing gull, herring gull, willet, mallard, black duck, common tern, black skimmer, least tern

Portmann captures the ardeids

2011-07-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

Last month's supertide provided a great opportunity to observe a fascinating group of birds called ardeidae. This family includes the herons, egrets and bitterns, which range in size from the five-foot tall goliath heron to the pigeon-sized little bittern. At least ten species occur in our neck of the woods. Francois Portmann got some amazing shots of a black-crowned night heron, little egret and great egret. Check them out here. He captured this great egret right after it sniped a particularly large killifish from the marsh.

The great egret was active throughout the evening, as evidenced by Francois' amazing timelapse.

Photo and video courtesy Francois Portmann

Day 30: The skimmer "S"

2011-06-29T14:30:00.000-07:00

Week two of platform recon is complete. Here are the species by number of visits: starling 9, red-winged blackbird 7, mockingbird 6, osprey 2 and sparrow 1. The osprey arrived around 7:00 AM on two days, remaining each day for a half hour. On the second day, two showed up.

During takeoff one managed to dislodge the Styrafoam wedges holding my camera trap in place. A more stable mounting system is now being employed.

Skimmers sliced across the marsh throughout the day, sometimes three at a time. I'd seen many feeding on the bay side of Breezy Point, usually at dusk. Years ago, while fishing there, I unintentionally clotheslined one (it quickly returned to its activities unscathed). Today was the second time I'd seen them use the marsh, where plenty of killifish are to be had at low water.

The main channel is narrow, about twenty feet across. That's not much of a runway for a bird that flies with half its face in the water. But today I observed an incredibly acrobatic strategy for getting the most out of the little marsh. Instead of making one long pass lengthwise, the skimmers made multiple dips on an S-shaped sweep, dipping in for just a few seconds before banking hard to come around for another dip. They caught fish on nearly every attempt this way. Because I watched this from the opposite side of the marsh, without a camera, this crude recreation will have to do...

Least terns were present as well, but the green herons were especially bold today. Perhaps that's because of the willets. They've been less aggressive toward me and everything else. I'd seen them chase away the green herons so many times that I was astounded to see this chummery.

On to cleanup. As the main stems of the marsh are gradually cleared of debris (indicated yellow) we turn our attention to the smaller channels (indicated red), which sit on mounds of debris above the high-water mark. This means water rarely penetrates a significant portion of the marsh.

One way to promote tidal flooding is to gradually deepen these channels by shovel. Researchers Juan Gallego Fernandez and Francisco Garcia Novo found that after opening channels to create a ditch network on a marsh restoration in Spain, fish immediately colonized the new water paths 1. This technique is employed widely, and notably in the case of the Hackensack Meadowlands, where the creation of more channels improved water quality by creating greater water surface for oxygen exchange and increasing tidal flushing 2. Sarah and I have begun prepping the smaller channels by clearing them of wood and debris in hopes that we can deepen them in the future.

High of 83, max humidity 91%, average wind ( ) @ 2 MPH, 5.6 high tide @ 06:30 PM. Moon 12% visible.

Water level recorded at 4 inch mark.

Birds seen in marsh: red winged blackbird, willet, common tern, least tern, skimmer, osprey, cedar waxwing
Birds seen in bay: laughing gull, herring gull, willet, mallard

References:
1. Weis, Judish S. and Carol A. Butler. Salt Marshes: A Natural and Unnatural History. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, 2009. P. 178
2. Ibid, p. 208

Day 29: Sharp terns

2011-06-22T07:11:00.000-07:00

The marsh fish fell under heavy fire today, as various seabirds took advantage of the low water to snap up easy meals. A lone skimmer swept the pond twice before snatching a killifish and gliding off to the ocean. But the major assault came from the least terns. At first, I was a little slow on the draw.

But the robin-sized seabirds gave me hundreds of opportunities to study their strategy. It begins with a jittery yet controlled hover around 30 feet off the water, where it can find a target without being detected. Its countershaded white underside makes it invisible against the sky, especially on an overcast day like this.

Once locked into position, it releases the air from its wings and begins its descent.

Dropping quickly now, the legs press against the chest to reduce drag, and the wings make minute adjustments as the target nears.

A split second before impact, the wings fold inward and backward, and tern becomes torpedo.

Immediately upon entry the tern rights itself. Wings always emerge first.

Hit and miss. The majority of the attempts I witnessed failed, which speaks to the killifishes' successful evasive strategy. But catch or no catch, the terns lift off to try again. Their dramatic emergence doesn't look like much, until it's stopped at 1/3200th of a second.

One more and I'll move on.

Sarah and I began our day with a stranded horseshoe roundup. Rammed headlong into the sand this way, they almost look like crash-landed extra terrestrials. Or cruel experiments involving cannons and schoolboys. But this is a normal predicament. When they can't escape the marsh on the outgoing tide, they dig in to stay moist until the water returns.

Since the water won't reach them for a week, we assure safe passage to the bay.

The massive tides of late pushed a lot of debris against the bank, where it made for easy removal.

While raking, a flapping commotion was heard in the heart of the marsh. This is one of the few patches of spartina that isn't regularly flooded, and it is heavily guarded by the willets. I clambered up the wood pile to investigate, and witnessed this, taken from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

Male approaches female from behind; when <1.5 m from female, male calls “click-click,” depresses tail, increases rate of calling, raises wings over back and waves wings with increasing frequency; display lasts 20–30 s (Hansen 1979). Receptive female lowers head, squats, and raises tail and utters “click”; male flutters to mount and grabs head or neck of female (Hansen 1979). Female regulates duration of copulation, often interrupting coitus (Vogt 1938, Douglas 1996).

Although it's late in the season, this bodes well for one or two Rocky Point willet chicks. Meanwhile, hundreds of crab holes pockmark the sand and mud surfaces of the marsh. Despite this, one rarely sees an actual fiddler crab. The instant a threat is detected they vanish into their burrows. They eventually emerge, but only after a good long wait. So today I put the timelapse to fiddler surveillance. This was a test... I hope to shoot a full fiddler bonanza next time the conditions are right. [One shot taken every three seconds for 40 minutes, animated at 30 fps.]

High of 80, max humidity 78%, average wind ( ) @ 9 MPH, 4.9 high tide @ 12:59 PM. Moon 74% visible.

Water level recorded at 8 inch mark.

Birds seen in marsh: red winged blackbird, willet, common tern, least tern, skimmer

Birds seen in bay: laughing gull

Day 28: Platform recon and supertide

2011-06-16T16:29:00.000-07:00

I'd been curious about the osprey sighting. Had it been a fluke visit that I just happened to witness, or were they actually considering moving in? Or, were lusty ospreys simply using the platform as a by-the-hour motel room, never intending to stay? To find out, I mounted a camera trap to the perch post and kept it up there for five days. I programmed the camera to shoot a burst of two photos every time it detected motion, and to wait two minutes before detecting motion again.

Listed in order of how frequently they visited, the camera recorded: starlings (big surprise), willets, mourning doves, red-winged blackbirds, and a grackle.

And this.

The osprey leisurely spent three hours dining on a large menhaden, here compressed to 12 seconds:

But it only made this one appearance. I doubt the platform will be occupied this season, but it's nice to know the ospreys are still making use of it.

Another raptor made a cryptic appearance about an hour before I arrived. Leave a comment if you can ID. My guess is that it's a peregrine falcon, based on the wing and tail pattern. They nest on the Marine Parkway Bridge, less than a mile and a half away. But it's hard to imagine the willets would let it stay for long, especially with photos like this circulating the internet. The mystery bird vanished after two shots.

Sarah V. spent her second day at the marsh and her first day of "real toiling." She's already made a lot of progress and hopes to come regularly until classes start.

The two of us cleared a respectable swath of debris.

After Sarah left, photographer Francois Portmann showed up to shoot timelapses of the supertide with me.

The tide was predicted to reach 6.6 feet, and it won't be that high again until April 2012. After setting the cameras to roll we went exploring. This was my first evening in the marsh. By 7:00, the channels had become torrents, ripping the horseshoe crabs from the bottom and tumbling them into the marsh. Once there they droned about in slow circles like so many pool cleaners. Well over 50 were counted.

The females burrowed in to lay eggs and were piled upon by the males, who released their sperm in fizzy trickles. (Excuse the shaky photo, it was dark).

Among the flotsam that floated into the marsh was this egg. It slightly resembles an osprey egg, but it doesn't seem blotchy enough. Then again I'm no egg detective. Leave a comment if you can ID. [update: it's a herring gull egg, thanks Chris and Don]

In with the horseshoes and flotsam poured hundreds of killifish. Meanwhile, the channel banks lined up with anxious beaks. A great egret, a snowy egret, a green heron and three black-crowned night herons took turns spearing the water and coming up with fish. The killifish weren't the only life forms under attack. As the night wore on, a squadron of mosquitoes laid siege to Francois and yours truly. They plunged their syringes into hair and clothes, between the fingers and behind the ears, leaving me just enough blood to make it home. But it was a small price to pay to experience the marsh at its most dynamic hour.

Here's the three hours of peak tide in 17 seconds:

High of 84, average wind NNW @ 8 MPH, 6.6 high tide @ 08:20 PM. Moon 98% visible.

Water level recorded at 26 inch mark (record high).

Birds seen in marsh: cardinal, red winged blackbird, willet, green heron, great egret, snowy egret, black-corwned nigh heron, common tern, least tern, oystercatcher, crow, skimmer

Birds seen in bay: red-breasted merganser

Day 27: Whatchu talkin bout, Willet?

2011-06-11T12:39:00.000-07:00

NPS intern Sarah spent her first day in the marsh today. Upon arrival we found the willets chasing a heron around. Having driven off the heron, the willets turned their attention on us.

When they weren't dive bombing they were guarding my equipment.

Or house sitting for the ospreys, which haven't been seen since last week's encounter.

The water was low, and bottom of the main pool twitched conspicuously. I'd seen a crab in there before, and was afraid it might be the invasive green crab. But I was wrong. They were Callinectes sapidus, better known as the blue crab of jumbo lump fame. This photo shows how deftly it blends into the sediment of the marsh bottom.

As the tide rose they began their seaward migration through the sandy channels, where they were more easily photographed.

On the eastern edge of the mouth I found several horseshoe orgies. One male attaches to a much larger female, and is joined by other "satellite" males. The larger the female, the larger her following. She slips a few thousand eggs just under the sand near the high tide line. At that point the waiting males blast their sperm.

After conducting a series of paternity tests, University of Florida Biology Professor Jane Brockmann discovered that although satellite males aren't as close to the 'action' as an attached male, they often succeed in fertilizing eggs through strategic positioning.

Inside the marsh were dozens of ribbed mussels, Geukensia demissa, filter-feeding during the tidal shift. The mussels of Rocky Point might present an interesting opportunity for research, since they appear to thrive despite week-long dry spells.

High of 87, average wind ESE @ 5 MPH, 5.8 high tide @ 03:42 PM. Moon 59% visible.

Water level recorded at 4 inch mark.

Birds seen in marsh: red winged blackbird, willet, green heron, great egret, common tern, least tern, oystercatcher, crow, skimmer

Birds seen in bay: black-bellied plover, ruddy turnstone, red-breasted merganser

Day 26: Osprey tease and willet kamikazes

2011-06-05T12:17:00.000-07:00

We have ospreys on the platform, that's the good news. The bad news is that they took off as soon as they saw me. I might have disturbed a he'n-she'n session, but to my credit, there was at least an acre of heavy shrubbery between us. That's plenty of privacy for most lovers. I immediately called Tony who came down and watched them circle the platform for a few minutes. We decided to give them a break and sneak around the bay side to see if they'd returned. After a half hour they hadn't. But it's a good omen, I think. [UPDATE: Broc checked Sunday and they still weren't there]

The willets were very vocal today.

In flight they are said to make a "pill-will-willet" sound. But those field guide song descriptions never sound like the real thing to me. Birds create matrices of consonants and vowels beyond the purview of the English alphabet. Describing bird call through written word is like describing thrash metal through interpretive dance.

I didn't manage to record the "pill-will-willet" flight call, but I did capture their unceasing ground sound:

Two pairs occupy the marsh now. They nest in the spartina grass. Anytime I would approach their little area, one of them (I can't distinguish between sexes) would make a low beeline for my face and veer off about four feet away. Always to the right.

I didn't see any eggs or chicks, but I did find a small mound of downy feathers which might have been the remains of an unlucky hatchling. If that's the case they'll probably try again.

On to cleanup. During low tide periods I focus on raking the infinite mats of plastic debris woven into the dead grass. I wonder what conclusions the alien archaeologists will draw when millennia from now they discover the obscene variety of expendables we manufactured from such an in-expendable resource. Below is my homage to the material that makes the world go round.

I invite any 'found materials' artist to drop by sometime. We can also offer you an endless supply of water bottles, shopping bags, and household detergent/ cleaner/ drano-type bottles. Consider where these things might end up next time you toss one in the trash. The stuff is so small and widely dispersed that it spoils not only the environment but my before-and-after shots.

High of 78, average wind NW @ 9 MPH, 4.8 high tide @ 10:21 AM. Moon 4% visible.

Water level recorded at 3 inch mark.

Birds seen in marsh: mallard, dove, starling, red winged blackbird, cardinal, willet, osprey, common tern, least tern, oystercatcher, crow, skimmer

Day 25: Marsh hotness

2011-05-29T17:51:00.000-07:00

Although the mercury never rose above 77, marshing felt slavishly hot today. Maybe it's because I'd spent so many months marshing in this weather. Winter was long, spring lasted two days and now, it's summer. Clearing this was my task:

The heat necessitated frequent wildlife-spotting jaunts. Clockwise from upper left: spotted sandpiper, my first sighting of this species in the marsh; osprey gliding directly over the platform, carrying what looked like a respectable bluefish; black-bellied plover and sanderlings on the bayside; a least tern which hovered around the marsh sniping killifish throughout the day.

I also added a killdeer to the marsh list, and an unfortunate diamondback terrapin Malaclemys terrapin hatchling. The head and forelimbs had been eaten. This might have been the work of the resident green heron. I would have preferred to see one in life, but it's encouraging to know these salt marsh reptiles are around.

The low water also exposed swarms of what I think are juvenile killifish, the product of the mass spawning migrations over the past months.

Shamefully, the heat stifled my cleanup progress to the point of rendering an after-shot useless. After feeding the mosquitoes until sunset, I headed home.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

High of 77, average wind S @ 10 MPH, .6 low tide @ 11:18 AM. Moon 22% visible.

Low tide water level recorded at 4 inch mark; high tide at 5 inch mark.

Birds seen in marsh: mallard, dove, starling, red winged blackbird, cardinal, willet, spotted sandpiper, killdeer, green heron, osprey, common tern, least tern, oystercatcher, crow

Birds seen in bay: black brant, black-bellied plover, sanderling, merganser

Other: dead diamondback terrapin

Horseshoe Cam Test

2011-05-22T22:42:00.000-07:00

The GoPro Hero is palm-sized camera designed for extreme sports, but I wanted to try it for underwater wildlife filmmaking. Luckily for me, the horseshoe crabs were grateful for being rescued and allowed me to test it on them. I used two rubber bands to mount a GoPro to the carapace for a 'horseshoe-eye-view' of the marsh and bay. The camera is neutrally buoyant and had no discernible effect on locomotion. After several minutes the horseshoe was relieved.

Many thanks to Caspar for letting me borrow his GoPro Hero. Music by Richard D. James aka Aphex Twin.

Day 24: Close doesn't count in horseshoes...

2011-05-22T19:49:00.000-07:00

I spent the first half of the day emancipating horseshoe crabs. On incoming tides they penetrate the farthest corners of the marsh, as evidenced by their tail trails and my own observations. When the water recedes they are left high and dry, often stuck behind debris, or entangled in vegetation. I searched for survivors and returned them to the bay. But for many, the marsh is a death trap. Some were found flipped over with their gills torn out.

Seagulls are known to scavenge overturned horseshoes on the beach. But there seems to be a more enterprising horseshoe-eater in the marsh. Alongside the main channel I found a highway of raccoon tracks, here photographed to look ominous and wolverine-like.

Could it be that raccoons seek out stranded horseshoe crabs and flip them over to get at the soft bits? It seems unlikely that seagulls have the dexterity or muscle to flip a horseshoe, and there are no horseshoe-flipping waves inside the marsh. Until further evidence reveals itself the mystery will haunt Rocky Point.

A great egret made three visits over six hours. Each time it was fishing by the marshy eastern flats, where it's easier to sneak up on unsuspecting fish.

Common terns have also returned, making frequent fly-overs. Several were seen feeding at the mouth of the marsh.

Walking back from the bay I stumbled across a colony of Uca pugilator, the sand fiddler crab. Here's a particularly diesel fellow and his woman.

They feed by scooping sand into their mouths to filter microorganisms. They then spit out the ball of sand. Feeding this way they accumulate massive piles of sand balls, which betray the location of their burrows. Apparently, the females can eat twice as fast, since the male's gargantuan left pincer is useless as a sand scooper.

While cleaning out the marsh I turned around to find two pairs of binoculars staring back at me. They were locals Andrea and Cindy, who have been birding this marsh for several years. They were looking for the resident willets, which they saw nesting here last year. While they didn't find any willets, they did discover a few more stranded horseshoes, which they returned to the bay.

I finished the day in the side channel, clearing the horseshoe's escape route for the next high tide.

High of 72, average wind SE @ 6 MPH, 5.0 high tide @ 11:48 AM. Moon 85% visible.

Water level recorded at 9 inch mark.

Three horseshoe crabs rescued from the west side of marsh.

Birds seen in marsh: great egret, mallard, dove, starling, red winged blackbird, grackle, cardinal, willet, green heron, osprey, common tern, turkey vulture, oystercatcher, crow

Birds seen in bay: black brant

Other: striped killifish, mummichog, sand fiddler crab, ? sp. hermit crab. Possible green crab seen near culvert, approx. 5" wide across carapace

Day 23: Spring Explodes

2011-05-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

Back in the wet after a week-long vacation. The first order of business was to re-install the "enticement sticks" on the osprey platform. This time with wind-defying twine. A bit later one osprey made a fly-by. Hopefully he/she will return to finish the installation and lay claim.

The incoming tide swept through with a force I'd not yet witnessed at the marsh. Here are both sides of the mouth at peak tide.

Killifish swirled by thousands at the mouth before streaming into the marsh.

They are striped killifish, Fundulus majalis. The males are striped vertically and the females horizontally.

I found it curious that some had bright yellow tails. They appeared to be larger, and were only seen during the later part of the day.

About an hour before high tide the horseshoe crabs began trickling in.

I found three mating pairs. The smaller males piggybacked on the hulking females around the marsh before landing in some secluded spot, usually beneath logs or floating debris.

At least one pair made it all the way to the culvert. Numerous lines in the sand betrayed their circuitous paths. I watched one lonely male do pirouettes for several minutes before beelining for my boot. If he was looking for love he did not find it there.

The only other arthropod observed was the invasive Cancer beenybabis. Marsh castaways no longer surprise me but this was just too perfect.

The birds were also present in abundance. A pair of black bellied plovers Pluvialis squatarola lingered on the beach side.

And our resident green heron Butorides virescens hung around the marsh banks throughout the day.

Two pairs of willet, Tringa semipalmata, have also made Rocky Point their home.

Unlike the aforementioned birds they actually tolerated my presence. They meandered throughout the marsh but seemed to favor the heavy spartina patches nearest the mouth. I could have tracked their comings and goings all day. Anyone watching might have mistaken me for - I wince - a birder. But between stalking jaunts I did manage to do a little work.

High of 68, average wind SE @ 8 MPH, 5.6 high tide @ 04:06 PM. Moon 61% visible.

Water level recorded at 18 inch mark.

Three mating horseshoe crabs observed.

Birds seen in marsh: mallard, starling, red winged blackbird, grackle, yellow warbler, willet, sanderling, green heron, osprey, common tern

Birds seen in bay: black brant, Canadian geese, oystercatcher, semipalmated plover

Horseshoes Arrive

2011-05-07T10:07:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, 5/5, Tony reported horseshoe crabs mating in the marsh. The water level was at the 9.5" mark. I hope to stake out the mouth on the next full moon to see if more come in. There have also been unconfirmed clapper rail and willet sightings in the marsh. I'll be back Thursday 5/12.

Fish Trapping

2011-05-03T06:21:00.000-07:00

With the gauntlet of tires, boards and trash largely eradicated from the marsh, a lot more fish are taking up residence. As a consequence, so are the birds that eat them. This is quantifiable progress for Rocky Point.

But what kind of fish are swimming in the marsh? Intrigued by my fish photos, Steve Finn of the USFWS brought a fish trap with him last week during our Earth Day clean up. After baiting it with clams (leftover striper bait), Brian tossed it out to soak.

An hour later the moment of truth arrived. Tony did the honors.

The trap was a quarter-full.

The verdict? All mummichogs and one four-spine stickleback. The stickles are hard to see out of water.

The fish were duly set free. As the marsh drained it became increasingly fishable for the birds. Two days later, when the water was at it's lowest point (5/3) Tony visited the marsh and saw a great egret feasting on an eel. The life list grows.

photos by Irene Hess and Steve Finn

Day 22: Earth Day Redux Triumphant

2011-04-30T19:36:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, to celebrate Earth Day, Mother Earth gave us the gift of torrential rainfall as we labored to mend her wounds. But this weekend she played nice. Over 70 volunteers from the NYC Audubon Society, the American Littoral Society, Bloomberg and my own esteemed circle of colleagues showed up for a sunny Earth Day part deux.

The day's mission was to clear debris from the channels in advance of the coming moon tides and horseshoe crab invasion. The plastic and wood never stood a chance against this army of rake-wielding mercenaries.

A team from Audubon braved waters teeming with harmless killifish to dredge sunken debris.

Caspar wowed us with his wicked marsh guitar solos and a dead skate.

The Hardcore award went to Alex of Sheepshead Bay, who tossed 100-lb waterlogged timbers around like so many whiffleball bats.

More photos on Gateway National Recreation Area's Facebook.

Once the channels were sufficiently cleared we moved on to our next goal, erecting an osprey platform. Having sleeved it in a PVC predator guard (to deter egg-snatching raccoons), we hauled it out to the magic spot and hoisted.

Wait, hold it right there for the obligatory Iwo Jima shot...

And up it went without a hitch.

Jubilation ensued. This video conveys the general pace of the afternoon. It's dedicated to Jen Silverman, because I couldn't make good on her original Ramones request.

The platform, made entirely from wood gathered in the marsh, is now Rocky Point's centerpiece. With any luck it will be occupied by a pair of osprey sometime in the near future.

A big, big thank you to Alex, Ivo, Caspar, Steve, Grace, Brian, Jen, Rob, Jessica, Alex, Francois, Christian, Joni, Joanne, Remy, Chuck, John and all the wonderful people from Bloomberg, Audubon and ALS whose names I lack.

Thank you Don for co-organizing this day and for all you do. Thank you Broc for overseeing the osprey platform construction, you were missed, get well soon. Thank you Tony, the godfather of the marsh, none of this would have happened without your support and encouragement over the past seven months.

And last but not least, except in stature, thank you Irene for your lovely photos and wifeliness.

High of 66, average wind NNW @ 10 MPH, .4 low tide @ 12:41 PM. Moon @ 10%.

Water level recorded at 3 inch mark.

Birds seen in marsh: mallard, starling, red winged blackbird, green heron

Birds seen in bay: black brant, Canadian geese, oystercatcher

Day 21: Earth Day and Aliens

2011-04-23T20:54:00.001-07:00

We had a bonanza planned for Earth Day. Around 100 volunteers were to show up. There'd be an platoon of rake-wielding waders battling the debris, there'd be overflowing dumpsters, there'd be a glorious erecting of the osprey platform a la flag over Iwo Jima. There'd be press. But by Thursday the forecast promised 100% chance of precipitation. Everyone rescheduled for next week. Except ten of us.

The rain was the extra-wet variety. It made my Gore-tex jacket feel like a Brawny towel. But the people worked through the storm without speaking, without stopping, and without complaining.

Everyone seemed to have their own curious mode of keeping dry...

Don Riepe wrangled a dumpster which we filled in little more than an hour.

No less than two minutes after we'd finished the rain stopped falling. So we took the opportunity to scout our osprey platform site. Here it is.

Afterward, Steve Finn of the US Fish and Wildlife Service took me on a little invasive species tour of the marsh. He reeled off so many aliens I couldn't keep up. I think we'll have to take an inventory sometime in the near future. For now, here's a serene portrait of an English garden snail (Europe) climbing a cherry tree (Asia).

Weather permitting, Earth Day II will be celebrated next week at the marsh.

Thanks again to Lisa, Lorraine, Francois, Steve, Brian, Miguel, Miguel's niece, Tony and Don for braving the downpour.

High of 61, average wind SW @ 18 MPH, 6.0 high tide @ 07:40 AM. Moon @ 97%.

Water level recorded at 8 inch mark.

Birds seen in marsh: mallard, robin, starling, crow, greater yellowlegs

Birds seen in bay: black brant, red breasted merganser, gannet

Birds seen on tip: kestrel, piping plover, flicker

Days 19 and 20: Killifish and Me Lay Siege to Marsh

2011-04-17T18:30:00.001-07:00

Whenever the marsh floods I push a huge log up to the bank to make a floating dock for the wheelbarrow, and load out the sludge that way. Here's two hours condensed to 90 seconds:

This was my first all-marsh weekend. I usually only spend one day, but having been absent for two weeks I felt obligated. The combination full moon, storm and high tide completely flooded the site. And on the deluge rode massive schools of inch-long killifish.

The water seethed with them from the mouth to the culverts. I'd seen a few darting around before, but never in this abundance.

Many congregated near the grass. They'd swirl around each other and plunge into the sand after I don't know what.

When I approached they'd sometimes do a little flip, momentarily flashing a bright silver side toward me. I wonder if this is meant to disorient predators.

While searching the main pool for a spot to plant my new yardstick, I discovered the bottom of the marsh in almost completely carpeted in dead wood. Removing that will take some doing. For now, the wood graveyard is feeding a large algal bloom that sprouted just in the past month.

On Saturday Broc and I recycled some marsh boards into an osprey platform. Permits pending, we hope to install it next weekend for Earth Day. If you're reading this and want to join us, come anytime between 10 and 2 and we'll find something for you to do.

High of 61, average wind SW @ 18 MPH, 6.0 high tide @ 07:40 AM. Moon @ 97%.

New yard stick installed. Water level recorded at 11 inch mark.

Birds seen in marsh: mallard, robin, starling, crow, American oystercatcher

Birds seen in bay: black brant, red breasted merganser, gannet

Rocky Point's Mysterious Past

2011-04-11T20:39:00.000-07:00

A mystery has plagued the marsh ever since ecologist Patricia Rafferty visited last fall: what did Rocky Point used to look like?

The answer would have profound implications for the site's potential restoration. The historical quandary goes as follows. There are two groins (low seawalls built perpendicular to the shore) framing the marsh. Did their construction form the dune that separates the marsh from the bay? If so, it would suggest that prior to the groin construction, the marsh flooded daily, not monthly, as it does now. In order to restore the daily influx, the dune would need to be removed using heavy machinery. Patricia suggested that historical aerial photos might shed light on what happened. She provided images from 1951, 1974 and 1996. Using Google Earth's historical imagery tool, I captured satellite photos dating from 1994 to present. After patching them together, we're a bit closer to solving this mystery. Watch this:

Ever since the groin (upper left) was installed, sometime before 1951, the shoreline has remained fairly consistent. Note that some 100 houses, an entire marsh-front neighborhood, disappeared sometime after 1951. Were they vacation homes or residences? Why were they moved? Where did the people go? click image to expand

The road was removed sometime between 1974 and 1994. The crumbled remains now serve as my wheelbarrow highway.

Sometime between 1951 and 1974, an additional groin was built immediately to the west of the marsh. The creek mouth initially bordered the eastern edge of the groin. But sometime between 1974 and 1994, it migrated to it's present location, and has remained stable for at least a decade.

In conclusion, Patricia wrote, "It looks like the bayward edge of the marsh has had a dune feature. Thus throughout the 1951 to 2008 time period it seems to me that the creek has been the sole source of hydrologic exchange with the bay (except perhaps during extreme storms when the dune would be overtopped or overwashed.)"

So what did Rocky Point used to look like? Despite all the changes to the surrounding area, we discovered it looked very much like does today. But before we can abandon any dune-busting plans, we need to see the marsh before 1951, before the 'big groin' was built. Patricia says the NPS has recently acquired and is currently georectifying imagery from around 1924. An image from that time period could potentially close the case on Rocky Point.

Special thanks to Patricia Rafferty for providing the imagery.

Day 18: Locals and Plovers

2011-03-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

Last week's dramatic cleanup transformed the marsh. Those towers of wood and trash were mementos of my slow but steady progress. With them gone it suddenly felt as if I was starting from scratch. And there is a lot left to do. As I stared into the water contemplating this I heard human voices approaching from the road. I'd camera trapped a few people but I'd never actually encountered any in the marsh. It was an older man and his 30-something daughter. They were locals.

"I can't believe I've nevah been back heah," she said.

They asked why and for whom I was cleaning up the place. I said it was for the animals, the birds. Then he surprised me.

"You should get the people from Breezy to come out and help," he said in a Brooklyn accent thicker than a stack of bialys.

I asked if he thought the Breezy Pointers would actually be interested.

"F*** yeah," he exclaimed, sounding both proud and mildly insulted.

As they walked away he turned around and yelled at me, "you doin a good thing heah."

That's my next goal: enlist local volunteers. I'm embarrassed I hadn't thought of it before.

Halfway through cleaning the pond I walked out to the beach and found six piping plovers flitting about. They'd arrived fresh from the Bahamas, or South America, or some place warmer than here.

These little guys never asked for controversy, but in New York they can't seem to avoid it. Because they are a threatened species, and only nest on beaches, vast swaths of summer playgrounds are closed on their behalf. Some people are more than a little bitter about it. But there are plenty of beaches. Not so many plovers.

They're the reason I first started volunteering at Breezy ten years ago. Now they occupy the same space of my consciousness as cherry blossoms and short skirts: harbingers of spring. Watching one scurry down the sand is a bit like watching a wind-up toy on rocket fuel. They go this way:

And that way.

Then they swirl the sand with their feet as if waxing a car, and plunge in after anything that moves.

Their beaks emerge filled with what looks like mostly sand. How they sieve out the good bits I don't know.

Eventually they tire of me and wing it a hundred yards down the beach.

It was hard to break away from them but I eventually convinced myself to start a new log pile and finish cleaning the pool.

At the end of the day I walked back to the truck, still slightly disoriented by the mass cleanup and the scope of work remaining. But as I passed through the relocated hills of wood now consolidated by the road, I was reminded of something important. All of that used to be in the marsh.

High of 41, average wind NW @ 16 MPH, 4.5 high tide @ 02:23 PM, water level unrecorded.

Birds seen in marsh: robin, crow, ? flycatcher. Osprey seen above Riis landing.

Birds seen in bay: black brant, red breasted merganser, oystercatcher, piping plover

Day 17: Supermoon and Jesus Converge on Marsh

2011-03-22T18:51:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, Jamaica Bay Guardian Don Riepe rang to say he'd received a call from the Church of God based in New Jersey. They had 100 volunteers looking for a NYC location in need of cleaning. He nominated the marsh and wanted to know if I could be there. Sunday morning I frantically scouted the site to assess how best to command God's army. The supermoon tide had completely flooded the marsh. Where would I get the extra waders? Where would they pile the debris? There was no time to consider this trivia, because when I turned around there they were. Not 100, but 200 of them.

They were undoubtedly the most gracious, compassionate and spirited group of teenagers I've ever had the pleasure of working with. Before any of us had a chance to give marshing orders they attacked with the full fury of the Lord. Instinctively and methodically they shuttled loads from bank to roadside like so many leaf-cutter ants. They toiled with such zeal as to lead one to believe they were paid by the splinter. I took ten (that's how many waders we had) into the wet and hauled out massive logs I previously thought unmovable without the use of a dozen water buffalo. In two hours the group cleared away what took me five months to excavate.

I extend my sincerest gratitude to the 200 Church of God volunteers who joined us Sunday (btw, as soon as they'd finished with the marsh they went to clean up after the NYC half-marathon.) I hope they'll return someday to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Don plans to mobilize another 100 volunteers in April to move the unusable wood and garbage from the roadside to dumpsters. It is very possible that this marsh will be cleaned up by summer. I'm already feeling the pre-partum depression.

In other news: Andrew Baksh of BirdingDude took the last two wood duck boxes to install in Van Cortlandt Park. Camera trapping was excellent this past week. We added another undetermined-gender cat we'll call Daryl. That makes four ferals I've caught.

I post this last photo as a size comparison between the three most active marsh dwellers. The raccoon appears to be on synthol. Now that my woodpile backdrop has been removed I'll have to find another cam trapping spot.

Volunteer photos courtesy Don Riepe

High of 47, average wind E @ 10 MPH, 6.2 high tide @ 08:50 AM, water level unrecorded; all marsh flooded.

Birds seen in marsh: mallard

Birds seen in bay: black duck, black brant, red breasted merganser, grebe

Camera trap activity since 3/12: possum 2 nights; 2 raccoons 1 night; 3 cats: (Drew) 4 nights, (Cameron) 1 day, (Daryl) 2 nights; 3 humans on 1 day

Day 16: Teenage Reconnaisance

2011-03-12T17:27:00.000-08:00

A project in the shop limited my marsh time to just a few hours, but they were well spent. With all channels now clear, it's just a matter of letting the tide push the debris against the bank for easy scooping.

As I was moving logs through the water I heard the unmistakable sound of adolescent cackling originating from the beach. I turned and found perched atop the dune, teenagers, ten deep, whacking the grass and gawking at me as if I were the Montauk monster. I'm sure they were wondering where my orange vest and the prison guard were. From across the water we exchanged gazes for what felt like a half hour, equally fascinated, and then, with a few more sand kicks, snickers and grass swats, they headed off down the beach. As the weather warms I suppose I should expect more terrifying encounters like this.

There was little camera trap activity over the past week, but I did pick up our fifth species: a meadow vole.

High of 47, average wind SW @ 15 MPH, 4. high tide @ 12:46 PM, water level unrecorded.

Birds seen in marsh: mallard

Birds seen in bay: black duck, black brant

Camera trap activity since 3/6: meadow vole 1 night; 1 cat (Drew) on 2 nights and 1 day

Day 15: Possum Nights

2011-03-06T15:20:00.000-08:00

Work kept me away from Breezy for the past two weeks, assuring there'd be plenty to do. The water was at it's lowest point because of the quarter moon phase, but the droning rain transformed the marsh into the consistency of cookie dough. I spent the day cursing the wheelbarrow while attempting to clear the middle channel. Only one brute of a log refused me.

Didelphis virgiana dominated the past fortnight's camera trappings with seven nocturnal appearances.

Raccoons walked by on three nights. They are now using the wood pile as a boardwalk.

And we added another species: Easter bunny.

Two humans walked by on Saturday the 26th toting plastic grocery bags. Were they Breezy Pointers picnicking in the marsh? Shortcutters en route from Kate's Market Place? I'm intrigued by these people because A) the place might be the most remote corner of NYC, and B) the trail leads directly to the muckiest part of the marsh. Hopefully the bags and their contents left the way they came.

High of 48, average wind S @ 17 MPH, -.1 low tide @ 2:44 PM, water level unrecorded.

Birds seen in marsh: crow

Birds seen in bay: black duck, black brant, American wigeon, red-breasted merganser, grebe

Camera trap activity since 2/20: possum on 7 nights; raccoon on 4 nights; cats (Drew, Ghengis, Cameron) on 9 days/nights; rabbit on 1 night; 2 humans on 1 day

Day 14: Back to the Wetness

2011-02-19T16:46:00.000-08:00

Kip, temporarily back from Montana, biked to the marsh today. He didn't ride in from Bozeman, but he did brave 60 mph gusts and Flatbush Avenue.

Icy air poured off the bay all day long. We spent most of it thigh-high in the pond trying to dodge whippings by our own streamers of snot. An angry parade of plastic bags exploded one by one from the water and latched onto my body like those spidery things from Alien. But the wind also made our work easier by pushing the debris against the culvert.

Don Riepe dropped by to pick up two of our recycled marshwood wood duck boxes. He plans to install one at Big John's Pond in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, where each year a pair of wood ducks briefly stopover. Hopefully this will entice them to stay. Speaking of reclaimed wood, here's how Kip's pile has grown since he was last here.

Over the past week Drew made one appearance and we added a third feline to the visitor list, an all-black individual of unknown sex we'll call Cameron.

Also added a third species: our first marsupial.

And our first unidentified human.

High of 54, average wind NW @ 30 MPH, -1.3 low tide @ 2:38 PM, water level unrecorded.

Birds seen in marsh: black duck, mallard

Birds seen in bay: black duck, black brant

Camera trap over the past week: 5 photos of 2 cats; 2 raccoon photos; 1 possum; 1 human

Day 13: Marsh Traffic

2011-02-12T19:55:00.000-08:00

Kim Nora and I were back to hauling logs and Firestones today.

Snow covered much of the debris, but had melted sufficiently to let us clear a decent-sized area near the main channel. In this instance the before-shot actually looks prettier, but I assure you that beneath those fluffy pillows of white lurked a formidable pile of trash.

We finished the cleanup by culling good boards from the wood pile for future projects. Meanwhile, Broc cut the remaining wood duck holes and built another box. I finished the remaining two and now our first round of recycling is complete. Next project: bat houses.

It was a good week for recording the movements of marsh dwellers. The first camera trap capture was of a tomcat, who, judging by his bounteous equipage, has likely fathered half the kittens in Breezy Point. We'll call him Genghis.

The only other cat to pass by during the ten days of surveillance was a black and white specimen of questionable gender we'll call Drew. Drew entered the marsh Friday morning and left Sunday morning.

A duo of raccoons visited on three nights, arriving between 1:00 AM and 3:00 AM and lingering for an average of four hours before exiting the way they'd entered. Could they be the pair that used to squat in Tony's shop? My infrared dimming filter proved to be overkill since they tended to stick close to the wood pile. This was the only one to look at the camera.

High of 40, wind W @ 10 MPH, 3.7 high tide @ 2:16 PM, water level unrecorded; ice has pulled yard stick out. All water frozen.

Birds seen in marsh: cardinal

Birds seen in bay: black duck, American wigeon

Over 10 days 2 cats photographed 3 times total. At least 2 raccoons photographed 8 times total.

Day 12: Ice Boxes

2011-02-03T15:44:00.000-08:00

The marsh is a pile of snow capped with an inch-thick glaze of shin-punishment. Twenty paces felt like twenty minutes on the Stairmaster. The main pool held me. Maybe I'll bring skates next time.

Jetty black ducks were especially skittish today, evacuating before I'd approached within 200 yards. It was probably that cackling white one who tipped them off.

The sled was useless for moving debris but great for snowplowing. After hauling out one impossible log I excavated a few pieces of plywood and headed back.

Broc, Stewart and I measured and cut wood for another three duck boxes to be assembled on the next snow day. Once built they'll be available to anyone who wants them. On that note, we're now taking orders for anything that can be constructed from recycled marsh wood. If we're to achieve our goal of recycling all of it, creativity will be of the utmost importance.

High of 31, wind NW @ 17 MPH, -.4 low tide @ 2:08 PM, water level unrecorded; ice has pulled yard stick out. All marsh frozen.

Birds: ? sparrows

Birds seen in bay: black brant, black duck, Canada geese.

No creatures camera trapped during past week.

Marsh grass and debris influx working up inlet.

Day 11: A Box and a Trap

2011-01-26T15:38:00.000-08:00

Snowed in, again

This time I was prepared. We'd devised many repurposing projects for the wood we pulled from the marsh: osprey platform, bird blind, boardwalk, firewood for the summer campers at Gateway, etc. I needed something quick, so today I pulled an 8' x 3' piece of plywood, the perfect size for a wood duck box. I downloaded the plans from Ducks Unlimited.

The inside of the front is scored to give the little wood ducklings a staircase to climb for their debut.

Pretend that hole is a perfect oval, and it's not a bad start to our recycling program. The side is hinged for cleaning out old nesting material every season. In a month we'll fill it with wood chips and see if any prospective tenants show.

For the past month I've attempted to spy on our marsh wildlife via camera trap. Failure was met with on an epic scale. Was it the rechargeable batteries? The cold? The device itself? No, it was the incessant breeze of Breezy Point, causing the camera to take a photo every time a blade of grass or shred of plastic bag twitched. In a matter of hours the 2 GB card would fill up and kill the camera. So last week I aimed the lens at the only part of the marsh that never moves: the wood pile. And voila...

A mountain lion! Okay, a feral cat, and just barely, but it's progress. The photo would have likely been completely blown out were it not for my duplication of Camera Trap Codger's homebrew infrared flash filter. Thanks Chris.

Hopefully I'll trap a native citizen next week.

High of 35, wind NE @ 8 MPH, 4.6 high tide @ 12:57 PM, water level unrecorded; ice has pulled yard stick out. All marsh frozen.

No birds seen in marsh. Birds seen in bay: black brant, American wigeon, cormorant, black duck.

Lots of marsh grass washed up on shore.

Day 10: Deboating and Marsh Validation

2011-01-19T16:45:00.000-08:00

"White ghost boat," the beached pleasure vessel on which uncounted Budweisers and bluefish met their ends, was Rocky Point's most gaudy landmark. She was even visible from Google Earth. But she never stood a chance against Broc's circle saw.

So we say goodbye.

Patricia Rafferty graced us with a visit today.

As the Coastal Ecologist for the NE region of the NPS, her dominion spans from Maine to Virginia. She has overseen many marsh restoration projects in Jamaica Bay and Long Island, and was curious about Rocky Point. She liked what she saw. The marsh, she said, is unique for it's range of habitat, supporting grasses typical of upper and lower salt marshes.

Here are the three dominant species, not including phragmites: Spartina patens, Spartina alterniflora, and ?

She also suspects that the dune hasn't always been there, and probably formed as a result of sand funneling through the two jetties to the east and west. If this is true, then the marsh used to experience a daily tidal inflow, not just on extreme high tides as it does now. A sequence of aerial photos dating back to the 1930's should reveal the truth. Stay tuned on that.

While Broc dismembered away, Kim Nora, Patti, Tony and I focused on clearing the area around the ex-boat.

The cleanup area was so spread out that I'll just leave you with this:

Many thanks to Kim-Nora, Broc and Patti for your marshwork today.

High of 42, wind WNW @ 9 MPH, -.7 low tide @ 1:33 PM, water level unrecorded; ice has pulled yard stick out. All marsh flooded and frozen 2-5" thick.

Birds seen: black brant, Canadian geese, northern mockingbird, unidentified raptor

Snow Day

2011-01-12T16:06:00.000-08:00

Last night's snowstorm guaranteed today would be tough marshing. I went anyway, on a hunch that the tall grass would prevent at least some of the debris from getting buried. I was wrong.

After picking up a few chunks of foam (apparently the only trash impervious to snow), I decided today will be the day I explore the marsh. Not that I haven't before, but 90% of most days are spent toiling. Therefor I won't call this Cleanup Day 10, because there wasn't much cleanup going on.

The ground was littered with tracks. Miniature highways snaked around every log and sprout. Most of them were of the following four varieties: (The stick is exactly one foot long.)

I think they are 1) sparrow, 2) meadow vole, 3) eastern cottontail. I'm not sure about 4.

This was also my first opportunity to properly stalk the poor birds. 200 mm doesn't get you very close, so I had to rely on stealth, but not with the mockingbird. I could have walked up and kissed him if I was that kind of guy.

As I was snapping away, a flock of Canadians whooshed overhead. They had an intern.

The monstrous snow drifts on the jetty let me creep in close for a decent merganser shot.

Broc dropped by to check on me and scope out the boat he will be chainsawing next week.

After Broc and the birds left I pulled some winners out of our "interesting debris" pile and cast them in Toy Story 4: Toys in Swampland. In this scene, Private Billy and Pink Ape help Black Beauty back to her feet while Ollie Bengali looks on, salivating.

The whole day was a wonderful dose of solitude, a rare opportunity to take in the marsh and reflect on nothing. Next week back to work.

High of 32, wind WNW @ 18 MPH, 4. high tide @ 1:10 PM, water level at -10-inch mark. All water frozen.

Birds seen: black brant, Canadian geese, common merganser, northern harrier, black duck, American wigeon, northern mockingbird, ? sparrow, cardinal

Day 9: Post-Storm/ New Year

2011-01-05T16:45:00.000-08:00

Happy 2011 from the marshsicle

The post-Christmas storm didn't spare Breezy Point. Snowbanks piled four feet high lined State Road in places, and much of the marsh was buried under a foot of impacted crust. Ideal conditions for hauling a log sled, as Kim-Nora demonstrates:

We focused on clearing the area beside the ghost boats, which meant many long walks back and forth from the high-ground wood pile.

Dramatic before-and-after shots are harder to come by as the debris dwindles, but I think that's a good thing.

Perhaps the pile shot is more revealing.

Overall, we enjoyed an excellent year-opener. John Warren of Gateway NRA Public Affairs dropped by for a visit. Upon his arrival a sharp-shinned hawk swooped in and perched on a branch three feet from his head. As I pointed an accusatory finger at it stammering Hawk! Hawk!, John managed to catch a fleeting shot.

Thanks to Bill, Kim-Nora and Broc for your work today. And here's a behind-the-scenes glimpse of our evening routine: coffee on the 5-Train. Sorry for the wide-angle distortion; Tony doesn't actually have fiddler crab arm.

High of 39, wind WNW @ 10 MPH, -.5 low tide @ 2:35 PM, water level at -1-inch mark. All water frozen.

Birds seen: black brant, red-breasted merganser, common merganser, sharp-shinned hawk, black duck, American wigeon, western grebe, mockingbird

Marsh Cruise

2010-12-24T21:48:00.001-08:00

This will be my last post for 2010. Thanks to everyone for your time and muscles over the past two months. At this rate, we may have a finished project this time next year. As a parting gift, I offer this 90-second movie shot in Muskrat Vision ©. No muskrats were harnessed or otherwise inconvenienced during filming. Happy New Year, see you at the marsh in 2011.

Edited by Irene. Music by Elliott Smith.

Day 8: Moon Tides

2010-12-22T18:01:00.000-08:00

Saturday's dry channel is now underwater.

The entire marsh was transformed by the moon tide, i.e. the spring tide, which is completely unrelated to the season. Nor does it have anything to do with the recent winter solstice/ lunar eclipse that everyone slept through. Flooding occurs twice a month: once on the full moon and once on the new moon. This just happened to be the first time I was around to see it.

Upon arrival I found the main pool filled with Canadians and black ducks. They predictably evaded the paparazzi.

Our plotting and scheming paid off. Saturday's heroic log-removal efforts allowed the incoming tide to consolidate the debris and push it up to the bank for easy raking. Some may recall one massive chunk of dock that we couldn't budge, even with ten people tugging. Today it became a floating platform and wheelbarrow ferry. Very effective, in a Huck Finn sort of way:

It's starting to look like ... a marsh.

High of 39, wind NNE @ 11 MPH, -.6 low tide @ 2:42 PM, water level at 6-inch mark. Water by culvert frozen.

Birds seen: black brant, Canadian geese, common mergansers, cardinal, black ducks

Other: raccoon and possum tracks along main path

Day 7: Winter Marsh Day

2010-12-18T19:54:00.000-08:00

Rocky Point enjoyed a major victory today, with 19 volunteers showing up for our first "Marsh Day." We commenced with a ceremonial releasing of peace raccoons (actually two unwanted tenants from Tony's shop.) It was perfect marshing weather: above freezing, zero wind, and the warm glow of the low December sun. Most of the coats had come off by the end of the day.

Half the group collected small debris:

The other half hauled logs, some weighing in excess of 400 lbs. After yelling 1, 2, 3, HEAVE! all day, Caspar considered a career as a Viking slave-master.

The goal was to clear the channel before the next moon tide. With the wood removed, the water will push the remaining debris onto higher ground, where it will be easier to remove. We accomplished the task in less than four hours. You can land an airplane in there now. Well... a model airplane.

Does anyone have a fireplace?

We ended the day tired but inspired. Cecilia and Kenny made another contribution by testing the strength of the ice for us. They discovered it wasn't very strong. Thanks for letting us know! Bring an extra pair of socks next time...

Many thanks to Jay, Tina, Cecilia, Kenny, Sherman, James, Tung, Stacy, Montana, John and his kids, Stu, Caspar, Cory, Brock, Don and his friend, Irene, Tony and the American Museum of Natural History for your hard, hard work. Happy Holidays.

All photos by Irene

High of 35, wind NNW @ 1 MPH, .2 low tide @11:37 AM, water level unrecorded. Pond frozen.

Birds seen: black brant, mockingbird

Day 6: Slush

2010-12-15T16:16:00.000-08:00

Icy slush now carpets the main pool. As the water repeatedly thawed and froze over the past week, debris from the central flats worked it's way toward the culvert. It will make for easy gathering next spring. But for now, the frozen top layer is too brutal on the shins to justify a dip.

A flotilla of around 30 common mergansers bobbed around the jetty throughout the day:

Started clearing plastic debris by tub and dolly. The rest of the day was spent organizing for Saturday's event, when we hope to have a dozen volunteers clearing the dry parts of the marsh.

High of 29, wind WNW @ 20 MPH, 4. high tide @2:48 PM, water level at 2 inch mark.

Birds seen: common merganser, mallard, Canadian geese, black brant, mockingbird

Day 5: Ice

2010-12-09T19:29:00.001-08:00

The marsh is frozen, with a half-inch of ice covering the pond. So Stu and I focused on clearing the dry channel using the wheelbarrow, which made light work of the smaller wood debris. This trusty vehicle should prove even handier when the pond freezes solid. It will be like ice-road trucking but with one tire and no hemi.

The passerines were bold today. Irene captured a yellow-rumped warbler, black-capped chickadee and cardinal. On the bay side we saw a flotilla of skittish American wigeon and what looked like mergansers. I failed to capture a before/after so this hero shot will have to do:

All photos by Irene

High of 32, wind from WNW @ 12 MPH, -.1 low tide @4:09 PM, water level at -.5 inch mark. Birds seen: warbler, chickadee, cardinal, wigeon, merganser, black brant, gulls

Other: 2 in. mussels seen on marsh side of dune. Large cockle clams exposed on beach. Raccoon, possum and cat tracks in sand.