Marsh Makers do some heavy lifting

On the anniversary of "Superstorm" Sandy the Student Conservation Association worked together with Recovery and Resilliency to carry out some heavy debris that had been waiting in large piles for removal.

Student Conservation Association members visited Rocky Point Marsh regularly during the summer months. The result of their hard work has allowed the marsh to flourish in a way that it probably hasn't in several decades. The native grasses are thick and tall, high tides are flooding the marsh, and wading birds are frequent visitors, and some may have even nested there this summer.

Rocky Point Marsh is a fringe marsh on the bayside of Rockaway peninsula in the Gateway National Recreation Area. This important habitat progressed from looking like a landfill full of decades worth of debris (natural and unnatural) to looking and functioning more like a healthy ecosystem that supports native plants and animals.

We are not only cleaning up the marshland. We are also conducting plant and animal surveys to find out who and what lives there. Most of our work is organized by volunteers and facilitated by the National Park Service.

High of 58°F | Humidity (avg) 48% | Wind 7 mph (NNE) | High Tide 4.7 ft. @ 16:17 | Moon 25% visible.

Before and after Hurricane Sandy

Updated images from Google Earth show the marsh before and after Hurricane Sandy. Notice in the 2012 image the new channels into the marsh, just another opportunity for natural flooding to take place. Also the absence of debris is remarkable.

Your Park Your Health interns show their strength

One of the most highly motivated group of awesome human beings I have had the honor to work with during a much-needed cleanup day.

Sheridan Roberts, Park Guide / Internship Coordinator at the National Park Service and her Your Park Your Health interns, Liang Yi Jiang, Basil Masood, Sabirah Abdus-Sabur, David Monroy, Ani Coaderaj, JustinKallickal, Erick M. Melgar, and Vincent Wong.

High of 79 °F | Humidity (avg) 77% | Wind @ 12 mph (NE) | High Tide 4.9 ft. @ 11:21 AM | Moon 17% visible.

Nesting willets make sure they're noticed

Story by Genie Gregor

I went to the Marsh today, having in mind to do some phragmites cutting and collecting specimens of the plants that might be in bloom now. As I was approaching the site from the bay, I noticed a willet - he made sure he does not go unnoticed - making circles above my head and giving out piercing calls.

Although I knew it was the nesting season for Tringa semipalmata, or the eastern Willet, and they are known to be very defensive parents, I was hoping that their nest was away from my path and, if I have a friendly face and move forward at a leisurely pace, they would let me do my stuff... Not even close! With every new step I took, the willet - it was, probably, the male - grew angrier and more feisty, flying closer to me, his screams more and more offensive.

Then his spouse joined in... 

I retreated. The willets stayed. When I looked back, they were sitting on the osprey platform, shouting unpleasant remarks to me.

Once out of their sight, I was able to pick flowers, i.e. collect plant specimens for our herbarium, peacefully.

A group effort opens a channel

Hurricane Sandy casualty. Many of the flags along the main road were found crumpled, ripped and covered in dried mud.

Becky and Danko tackle the big stuff before the job of clearing organic matter (mostly dead reeds) to create a channel. This will encourage water flow and natural flooding.

Genie and Kim-Nora continue the ongoing effort to remove dead organic matter, which contains millions of plastic fragments.

Danko attends to the matter of trash removal from the marsh to the truck, not a thankless job.

High of 53 °F | Humidity (avg) 52% | Wind @ 15 mph (NW) | High Tide 5.5 ft. @ 9:05 AM | Moon 99% visible.

CUNY oceanography students learn by doing

Dr. K. Schnaars Uvino’s CUNY Oceanography students visit the Marsh to observe and record what they see in the wrack line along the shore. Then they get their hands dirty to help with the clean up effort, a project which will be ongoing for many years to come. I was heartened that the students noticed the huge amounts of plastic and polystyrene debris in the environment. Perhaps seeing the human refuse that clogs the planet's natural systems will lead to revised consumption habits...like trying to avoid [as much as possible] buying products that are packaged in one-use plastics.

All but the last four images are a photo essay created by Erin Rodriguez (third from the right).

Fredericka Dauvergne, Tyerence E. Brown, Ozana Gutierrez, Rachel Brander, Erin Rodriguez, Julia Marrone, and Rob Casimiro (left to right).

Kim-Nora explaining where to look for the wrack line and how to log observations of what’s found there.

 

Tyerence E. Brown doing a stellar clean up job in Rocky Point Marsh.

Rob Casimiro focuses on the small details of liberating the Marsh from human debris.

Fredericka Dauvergne…probably wondering which of the thousands of pieces of plastic to pick up first.

Fredericka Dauvergne, Tyerence E. Brown, and Rob Casimiro (left to right).

High of 47 °F | Humidity (avg) 48% | Wind @ 9 mph (NW) | High Tide 4.9 ft. @ 6:14 AM | Moon 88% visible.

Shervin visits Rocky Point Marsh to survey Sandy damage