Mass Audubon – Your Great Outdoors | A Mass Audubon Blog

Along the southern shore of the Merrimack River near Joppa Flats Education Center, over a mile stretch of salt marsh is struggling. While it’s uncertain exactly why this salt marsh is degrading, excessive nutrients from the Merrimack River and upstream wastewater treatment plants might be to blame.

When salt marsh cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora, is overloaded with nutrients, it develops more above-ground biomass and less below-ground biomass, leaving it unstable. Top-heavy and poorly rooted cordgrass can slump over when hit by waves, leading to bank collapse and erosion. This, combined with sea-level rise and increased storm activity, could speed up degradation and eventually lead to total habitat loss.

Protecting salt marshes in this area is vital as they absorb wave energy and reduce storm surges. This stretch of salt marsh is also a valuable habitat that houses more than 220 species of birds, including six rare species and three species with state wildlife action plans (SWAP).

Restoring with Ribbed Mussels

The ribbed mussel, Geukensia demissa, is the East Coast’s most common salt marsh bivalve and has been used in restoration projects for its ability to filter water, remove phytoplankton, transform nitrogen, and stabilize sediments with its byssal threads. However, surveys have not found any ribbed mussels in the salt marshes on the southern shore of the Merrimack River estuary. This might be from a lack of suitable substrate, poor water quality conditions, or ice scouring.

In October 2022, Mass Audubon relocated mussels from a nearby marsh to the salt marsh at Joppa Flats Education Center on the southern shore of the Merrimack River to test the feasibility of ribbed mussel restoration. Mussel survival and water quality will be monitored through the winter and spring of 2023. If they survive, Mass Audubon will start testing possible materials to grow mussels on and assess different ways to introduce them into the Merrimack River Estuary salt marsh.

Mass Audubon has received funding from the Palmer Foundation to collect data to evaluate the marsh and support the design of a salt marsh restoration approach. Results from the ongoing pilot study and future mussel experiments will be incorporated into the salt marsh restoration design process.

Moving the Action Agenda Forward

We are committed to fostering resilient landscapes across Massachusetts, as outlined in our Action Agenda. Learn more about how we are doing this on the coast via our Coastal Resilience Program and how you can support this important work.

In the distance, a Red-bellied Woodpecker drums on a tree for food while a plump squirrel scampers through the browning leaf litter on the forest floor. A Broad-winged Hawk shrieks somewhere in the grasslands beyond the tree line, and a small garter snake slithers quietly through the commotion. What other sights and sounds can you experience during a fall hike? Find out by exploring these 10 trails.

Trail with Still Waters

See a cloudy sky reflecting off the glass-like waters of the Grassy Pond at Ashumet Holly Wildlife Sanctuary in Falmouth along the Grassy Pond Trail. Walk around the entire pond while listening to birds high in the trees. Before heading back, take a break on the wooden benches of the Grassy Pond Overlook to soak in the tranquility of the site.

Along the bank of a pond stands a mix of green pines and bare trees. Yellow Brown stick and leaf litter cover the area near the water. — Grassy Pond at Ashumet Holly Wildlife Sanctuary

Ponds, Saltmarshes, and Beaches

On Martha’s Vineyard, almost every trail at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary passes some form of water—combine three of the trails to circle the perimeter of the Sanctuary. Start on Sassafras Trail to cross over Turtle Pond, then continue along Shad Trail to stand on the shore of Major’s Cove on Sengekontacket Pond and meander along the beach. Link back with the Sassafras Trail to rest on a bench overlooking the Pond, then discover the Marsh Trail with dramatic views of State Beach and Moffett Cove beyond the tidal salt marshes.

Take the Boardwalk Less Traveled

Walk along almost half a mile of boardwalks, over a marsh and a river on the River Walk at the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary in Marshfield. Look for fall and winter sparrows like the White-throated, Field, Swamp, American tree, and Song sparrows, in the maple forest and shrubby thickets.

Wooden boardwalk curves to the right between bare trees. — Boardwalk at Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary

A Fall Sense for Sensory Trails

Watch waterfowl like Hooded Mergansers and American Black and Ring-necked ducks cruise the shallow waters of Kingfisher Pond and Teal Marsh from the boardwalk on the Sensory Trail at Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Norfolk. The boardwalk also has a deck that overlooks both the pond and marsh, before continuing to Beech Grove Trail.

Rock and Roll

You could easily spend the whole day wandering through the 12 miles of trails at the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary in Topsfield, but make sure you spend some time in the Rocky Grotto on the Rockery Trail. The narrow caves and spiraling rock pathways were built in 1905 by Thomas Proctor, who started living at the estate in the late 1890s. The loop around the Rockery Pond is surrounded by a mix of native and non-native trees, which was once a private arboretum built by Proctor.

Two adults and a child smile as they pass under a passage made of large rocks. — Rocky Grotto at Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary © Jared Leeds

Lone Wolf Legend Walk

Massachusetts has plenty of predators like coyotes, bobcats, and black bears, but our forests are free from the howling packs of hungry wolves. According to local lore at the High Ledges Wildlife Sanctuary in Shelburne, the last wolf that lived in the area lived at a geological feature named Wolve’s Den, found at the corner of North Trail and Wolve’s Den Loop Trail. As you travel along the trail, think of how different our wildlife and ecosystems may have been just 200 years ago, when the last wolf sighting in Massachusetts was recorded.

Enchanted by History

Other evidence of life from 200 hundred years ago can be seen from the Enchanted Forest Trail at Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center & Wildlife Sanctuary in Worcester. Weave between remnants of stone walls built in the late 1700s and early 1800s, then make your way to the Sagatabscot Ridge Trail where a small quarry is located on the western end near the Piggery Trail.

Looking at a path that crosses over a crumbled part of a rock wall. The treetops have some green, but the forest floor is covered with orange and brown leaves. — Stone wall at Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary

Don’t Overlook This Spot

At the overlook site on Fox Trail at Boston Nature Center & Wildlife Sanctuary in Mattapan, you can feel right in the center of the wetlands by being surrounded by native cattails. Make sure to bring (or borrow) binoculars to look out across the area for any Red-tailed Hawks.

Seven Viewing Areas, One Sanctuary

There are seven observation sites at the Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary in Natick, six of which are in the first half mile from the nature center. To get to the seventh overlook, you have to get on Little Farm Pond Trail, which starts at the 3-car parking lot off Farm Road just east of the intersection with Lake Street in Sherborn. The trail leads you to a 0.3-mile loop, with benches on the eastern lookout of Little Farm Pond.

The corner of a wooden dock, overlooking a pond. Plant poke out of the water, and the pond is surrounded by green trees. — Overlook area at Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary

A Special Habitat

Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary in Wellfleet is home to some of the rarest habitats on Cape Cod. Take the Try Island trail to pass Mockernut Hickories and Black Oak trees that are nearly 100 years old. This trail is a short loop that offers salt marsh overlooks and expansive views of Wellfleet Harbor.

To find more trails, visit massaudubon.org/trails.

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Saving the Salt Marsh with Mussels?