Bogs and Beaches

Thanks to a teacher in-service day on Friday followed by Columbus Day weekend, Maura had four days off from school. We had considered going camping and the weather would have been perfect for it but Saturday was Yom Kippur, which meant that Jennifer and Maura were in services. On top of that Jennifer thought she might need to work Sunday or Monday so we decided not to plan a camping trip after all. We did get the chance to get out for a few nature hikes.

On Friday afternoon I took Maura to Ponkapoag Bog in the Blue Hills Reservation. We walked the boardwalk that crosses the bog to the edge of the open water of Ponkapoag Pond. We searched for signs of southern bog lemmings but didn’t see anything that we could be certain of. I’d hoped to find green droppings or piles of clipped sedges that indicate their presence. All we saw were narrow paths through the vegetation in the open parts of the bog that could be lemming runs. While we saw no clear signs of lemmings we did enjoy the walk and noted the succession of environments as we moved away from solid ground from thick woods dominated by maples and cedars through open meadows to a final verge of stunted cedars on the edge of the open water. We saw some beautiful red dragonflies and few birds flitting through the brush that I couldn’t see well enough to identify  but nothing else was moving in the bog. The weather was perfect but I suspect most of the wildlife had already moved on for the season.

On Sunday we made a family expedition to Plum Island, in Newbury, Massachusetts, on the shore north of Boston. The weather was unseasonably warm for October. The temperature reached the low 80s Fahrenheit, ideal weather for a day on the shore. There was heavy traffic on Interstate 95 around Boston so getting to Plum Island was a chore but we enjoyed our visit once we arrived. A wrong turn took us to the inhabited part of the island where we discovered that Plum Island Light was open for visitors. We ate our picnic lunch on the grounds of the lighthouse and then took the opportunity to climb to the top, stopping along the way to chat with the friendly Friends of Plum Island Light who staff it when it is open. The view from the top was spectacular and we learned how lighthouses work.

After the lighthouse side trip we finally found our destination on Plum Island, the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, which occupies the undeveloped part of the island except for the beach at the southern end which is a state park. We parked at the Hellcat Trail lot and walked both loops of the Hellcat Interpretive Trail where we learned about the National Wildlife Refuge and the barrier island environment of Plum Island. Both loops of the trail are on boardwalks to protect the environment and allow visitors to cross wetlands dry shod. A pamphlet available at the trailhead describes the trails and gives information on the wildlife and ecology. One loop winds through a man-made freshwater marsh which was constructed in the 1950s to improve habitat for migrating birds. We saw an egret, swans, and ducks in the open water and learned about invasive species in wetlands, including the common reed which still fills much of the marsh. On slightly dryer ground the trail wound past bayberry and through stands of red maple.

The other branch of the Hellcat trail climbed the large stabilized secondary dunes that make up the backbone of the barrier island. At the top an observation area looks out on the smaller, less stable primary dunes closer to the beach, with their spreading mats of false heather and beach grass holding them in place. Along the way the interpretive guide described the ecology of the island and the plants that survive in the harsh environment of salt-spray and shifting sand. It also discussed the impact of development on barrier islands and their important role in protecting the saltmarshes and the mainland behind them from the impact of storms.

The one environment on Plum Island we didn’t visit was the actual beach. It took too long for us to get there and we didn’t have the time for one more walk down to the water on the ocean side. Perhaps next year we’ll get to visit the beach there or make a trip to the Cape Cod National Seashore for a trip to a wild beach.