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Category: Seashore

Marsh elder (Iva frutescens)

Marsh elder (Iva frutescens)

When asked to picture a New England salt marsh, most people would likely think of large expanses of salt marsh grass, such as smooth cord grass  (Spartina alterniflora) and salt marsh hay (Spartina patens). However, at the upper edge of most marshes, where only the highest high tides reach, is a thin strip of short shrubs, dominated by marsh elder (Iva frutescens) and/or eastern baccharis (Baccharis halimifolia). In fact, due to its placement on the landscape, marsh elder is also…

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Wildflower Wednesday: American Germander

Wildflower Wednesday: American Germander

While walking along a salt marsh I visit frequently, I was surprised to see clusters of blooming flowers I’d never noticed before. It’s amazing how many things I still overlook, despite careful observation and multiple return visits throughout different seasons. But it also means there are still happy surprises and more plants to get to know. This new-to-me-plant ended up being American germander (Teucrium canadense), a member of the mint family (Lamiaceae) with a terminal, dense spike-like cluster of flowers. …

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Clam worm (Nereis virens)

Clam worm (Nereis virens)

Polychaete worms make up one of the largest classes of marine invertebrates with well over 300 species found along the Atlantic shore. The polychaete clam worm species Nereis virens, also known by the scientific name Alitta virens, has 4 to 5 pairs of tentacular cirri (the antenna-like appendages on its head), 1 pair of short blunt palps (sensory appendages near the mouth) and four eyes. It also has two pincer like jaws that are capable of delivering a painful bite…

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Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)

Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)

I’m not going to lie. I’m incredibly excited by all the signs of spring I’ve been coming across lately. But I’m also trying to take in as much as I can of some of our winter visitors, like this Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), before they migrate back north to their breeding grounds in the boreal forests of Canada and Alaska. During the winter, Common Goldeneyes frequent shallow coastal bays, estuaries, harbors and ponds around Cape Cod, and throughout much of…

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River Otter (Lontra canadensis)

River Otter (Lontra canadensis)

North American river otters (Lontra canadensis) can be found anywhere there is a permanent food supply and easy access to water, and are common in both fresh and coastal waterways across Massachusetts. Thanks to their well adapted body design, including webbed feet, a streamlined body, a thick muscular tail, and a dense coat of fur, otters are accomplished swimmers and underwater hunters.  Small fish make up the bulk of a river otter’s diet throughout the year, but they will also…

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Winter weeds: Swamp Rose Mallow

Winter weeds: Swamp Rose Mallow

Excited to put my new copy of Weeds and Wildflowers in Winter by Lauren Brown to good use, I spent the day hunting for unique seed heads and other dried flower parts. The seed capsules seen here were from swamp rose mallow (Hibiscus palustris) and were by far some of the most striking. Each dried swamp rose mallow seed head consists of woody five-parted capsules that appear to resemble a flower themselves. The insides of these capsules are lined with…

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Dead Man’s Fingers (Codium fragile)

Dead Man’s Fingers (Codium fragile)

Most of what we call “seaweeds” are actually marine algae, not plants. Algae differ from marine vascular plants, such as eelgrass, in that they are more primitive and lack specialized structures such as seeds and flowers, although most do photosynthesize. Seaweeds are often categorized by color: red, brown or green. Codium fragile is a green marine algae that is easily identified by its thick dark green, rope-like, spongey branching form. These branches are soft with a velvety texture. Codium has…

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Atlantic Rock Crab (Cancer irrotatus)

Atlantic Rock Crab (Cancer irrotatus)

Although the beach season is over for many folks, I feel exactly the opposite. I tend to avoid the crowds in the summer, and explore beaches during the colder weather months when they’re mostly empty. The parking is free, the birding is great, and beachcombing is absolutely a year-round activity. On a recent walk along Scusset Beach in Sandwich, I came across many crab shells washed up on the beach, the most numerous of which were the shells of the…

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Animal tracks: Raccoon

Animal tracks: Raccoon

Thoughts of salt marsh wildlife typically evoke images of great blue herons, ospreys, hermit crabs and various species of fish. Seldom due people consider the mammals that inhabit a salt marsh, particularly during low tide when the exposed marsh platform and mud flats provide considerable opportunities for foraging, but many mammals do regularly utilize these habitats for foraging, including raccoons. Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are found everywhere in Massachusetts, except on Nantucket. Although we’re all familiar with raccoons’ reputation as masked…

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Orache (Atriplex prostrata?)

Orache (Atriplex prostrata?)

Orache is a many-branched annual plant, common on coastal beaches, and along the upper edges of salt and brackish marshes. It can also be found in saline inland soils. Its weak stems produce a somewhat floppy, sprawling form. In my mind, however, this particular species of orache (Atriplex prostrata) is fairly confusing. It has numerous common names, including spearscale, hastate-leaved orache, triangle orache, spear-leaved orache, and many others, and it belongs to a fairly large genus, Atriplex, which contains between…

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