Nutz4Nature

The Coney Island Creek that rests on Calvert Vaux Park is home to a variety of birds. For one is the Yellow-rumped Warbler. They are the most common kind of warbler.

Birds fly over rocks on the edge of Coney Island Creek.

There are also plenty of ducks that like to hang out along the creek.

At other times you can find egrets and swans too.

The egret is a native bird that feeds along the shoreline and in the shallows, stirring up mud with their feet to find fish and crabs. A century ago, egrets were an endangered species, nearly hunted into extinction for their feathers, which were used as hat decorations. They are now federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Another large bird on the creek is the Mute Swan, a non-native species. And word of caution, if you’re going to the park after dark, be sure to look out for bats!

The salt marsh on the creek provides a nursery habitat and feeding ground for birds.

Before development began in the 1820s, Coney Island was desolate barrier island bordering a vast salt marsh that stretched north to what is now 86th Street. Some decades later, the city laid out 85 acres of landfill near this salt marsh, and formed a creek. Calvert Vaux Park was built on this landfill, and is now the home to a variety of environments, including a restored salt marsh, mudflats, and upland habitat, that support a surprising array of wildlife and native plants.

Map View of Calvert Vaux Park

Coney Island Creek flowed through this thousand-acre wetland consisting mostly of a plant marsh known as spartina. Spartina lines the border of the park, and can be even seen growing in shipwrecks.

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Two species of spartina are the building blocks of complex ecosystems that provide food and shelter for a variety of wildlife.

In the bottom right hand corner you can see mudflats. These mudflats are part of the reason that this creek can support its salt marsh ecosystem. Mudflats also help in preventing coastal erosion. And every year, they are used by migratory birds as place to crash while migrating to the southern hemisphere.

The spartina found along the creek’s banks was planted as part of a salt marsh restoration.

Marine Park Nature Center Building

One might have thought that Prospect park would hold the title of Brooklyn’s largest park. However, Marine Park is surprisingly Brooklyn’s largest park as it features 530 acres of salt marsh precious grassland, home to a multitude of birds and native flora and fauna.

Salt marshes play a critical role in the support of human life, acting as natural filtration systems by trapping pollutants that would otherwise contaminate our bays and oceans. Salt marshes have the ability to absorb fertilizers, improve water quality, and reduce erosion. They are also among the richest wildlife habitats.

One Goose can be seen bathing in the left, far away from it’s flock, which can be seen in the distance of the same photo. Another flock of geese can be seen in the bottom right photo.

“The role of the salt marsh is even more crucial because more than 75 percent of the original salt marsh in Jamaica Bay has been destroyed. Most of that destruction was due to filling of marshes to create more land area for homes and industry. Marine Park’s salt marsh, formerly a wasteland filled with trash and abandoned cars, has been restored to its natural condition — proof that a rare and fragile ecosystem can safely exist even when it borders a heavily urban area like Brooklyn.”

Above, Algae can be seen growing on the edge of the lake. Healthy lakes need algae. Algae are important to the productivity of a lake or water body. Algae are primary producers. They use sunlight (through photosynthesis) to produce carbohydrates and are eaten by grazers such as protozoa and zooplankton (little animals like water fleas and rotifers). The zooplankton are, in turn, grazed upon by fish, which are eaten by bigger fish, and on up the food chain.

The Marine Park Nature Center is also home to a wide array of flowers, trees and bush. These paths and walking areas can beneficial to humans for it’s beauty and health benefits, while they also are home to insects, and small creatures.

The Nature Center Labels its plants for easy identification of its species!

Parks provides us with a simple way to improve emotional health – flowers. “The presence of flowers triggers happy emotions, heightens feelings of life satisfaction and affects social behavior in a positive manner.” – aboutflowers.com

As you may know, flowers are essential for the survival of bees and other insects who find home within the flowers and shrubs which otherwise wouldn’t be available without the parks in NYC! The pictures above portray species of flowers and shrubs such as “Black Chokeberry”, “Witch Alder” and “Blue Star”.

Sources: 

http://www.saltmarshalliance.org/smnc.html

http://www.aboutflowers.com/health-benefits-a-research.html