NJ Audubon Island Explorers Group 2

July 20 – July 24 2009

This second Island Explorers group consisted of 13 incoming and current middle school children from northern New Jersey. We started our five-day session off with a number of icebreakers, and observation based activities following with a mile kayak tour of the surrounding marshes. On Wednesday, the group was given a rare opportunity to listen to a lecture by Scott Haag from Rutgers University on eelgrass distribution in the Barnegat estuary using GIS software and aerial photography. The children then assisted Mr. Haag in surveying various GPS coordinates by kayak in order to confirm or deny the presence of eelgrass in certain locations ascertained by aerial photographs. This was an excellent opportunity for the kids to see how actual field work was done, and its application once the data was collected. It also helped to tie many of the things the children learned over the previous days together and gave them the chance to listen to an excellent speaker on such an important issue.

The following day the group was lead out to the Army Corps of Engineers Dike for the traditional long paddle, and to spend a few hours at the beach. However, it could not have been anything other than traditional. Upon starting out, the sky was steely grey with overcast, and a wind out of the east was beginning to pick up. With these conditions, we wound our way through the back waterways of the marsh; using the natural protection of the sedges, we found ways that were rarely used but offered ideal protection from the wind. Upon coming to a portage area that would have been no more than 20 feet, the sky lost the pensive feeling it kept for most of the morning and opened up. The wind stopped, but the rain came down in drops as big as a man’s fist. It was exhilarating! There was no hint of lightening, but the decision was made to return to the Sedge house, where upon arrival, everyone got out bars of soap and shampoo and showered off in the refreshing summer rain. We then filled the rest of the afternoon up with marsh and conservation based games before an excellent dinner was prepared followed by a round of Electric Moon Snail.

The Island Explorer group came to a successful close as their parents were invited out to Sedge on the children’s last day for lunch and a chance to see where and what their children were learning about the previous week. The children set up stations dealing with various aspects of their trip in order to pass on to their parents what they have learned including kayaking, fishing, crabbing, water quality and weather, edible plants of the marsh, and a touch tank. The weather could not have been better for this day.

ANJEE

The Association of New Jersey Environmental Education held its summer meeting at Sedge. Twenty members of the group came from all over the state. Paired up in a kayak with a paddling partner they did not know, each person shared information on how they are working in their particular environment to heighten environmental awareness. As we paddled among the many osprey nests, it was interesting to note that no matter whether they were from north or south Jersey almost all members of the group had osprey experience in their own neighborhoods. One of the highlights for the group was walking on the salt marsh. Even though many of the participants had some experience with a salt marsh, few had actually slogged across the flooded Spartina.

Much of the afternoon was taken up with a huge barbecue lunch. In addition to the traditional burgers and dogs cooked on the grill, a wide variety of other foods from homemade appetizers to hand picked blueberries in a delicious pie made this an especially enjoyable experience. After lunch the group split up for kayaking, clamming and seining. Everyone had such a good time that many found it difficult to leave. We hope that in the future ANJEE will return for an overnight experience.

Jim Merritt

Conserve Wildlife Foundation Poster Contest Winners

Students, who won the CWF poster contest by creating artwork depicting an endangered animal from New Jersey, visited Sedge Island with their teachers, parents and siblings. These students came from as far north as Sussex County. Although they were as young as eleven, they were extremely knowledgeable about not only about the animal they had selected to study but also about endangered species in general. It was a pleasure to hear them describe why they had chosen their particular animal and them tell about its habitat.

We paddled into the salt marsh to view some of the less commonly seen animal species. We were treated to an aerial display as the Peregrine Falcons took flight off their hacking tower and cruised around for a few minutes. Later we passed close to an osprey platform. We were able to see two juvenile osprey that although they are quite large, they are still unable to fly. But they are grown-up enough to be curious about their surroundings. Two unusually bold chicks peeked out of the nest as we paddled past.

Somerset County Environmental Education Center ~ July 2009

The group from Somerset County is a fine example of how people can participate in programs at Sedge no matter how old they are. While I do not know their exact ages, I do know that at least three women were in their seventies and one turned eighty-three the day after she left the island. Fourteen people paddled 1.2 miles to the island on Friday before lunch. After eating, we paddled an additional mile in the marsh south of the Sedge House. We stopped to pick some of the last big mussels before they all die from the warm water. We ate an incredible dinner prepared by the trip leaders before retiring for the night.

This group paddled and paddled and paddled. No one seemed tired after yesterday’s trips of more than two miles so we just kept going. On Saturday we had no trouble covering the seven miles to and from the dike. Sunday morning many participants got up before sunrise to greet the dawn on the water. Nine of us paddled “Beluga” our big canoe. Others joined us in kayaks as we paddled around Gull Island and around the north side of Sedge. After breakfast many people elected to join Tom as he led the group through the narrow mosquito ditches to the Oyster Creek Channel and back. Others stayed on the island to snorkel in the thorofare. Naturally the group paddled back to the dock at the end of their stay. I estimate that most of these folks paddled nearly fifteen miles in the time they were at Sedge. Not bad for senior citizens.

Jim Merritt

New Jersey Governer's School on the Environment I

The New Jersey Governer's School on the Environment arrived squeaky clean and ready for an adventure on Sedge. Students first caught a glimpse of snails piled with sea stars, scavenging for a meal below the dock.The group chose to have lunch on the marsh, so we kayaked out past the perigrine falcon nest and watched as four of the birds flew around the tower and perched next to their igloo. Returning from the marsh we took a short vacation to the Bahamas where we collected the last of the season's mussels, a few clams, and an abundance of sea stars. The water was warm, the sun was shining, and it was amazing to think we were still in New Jersery. Tuseday started bright and early with eight of the twelve students getting up to witness a beautiful sunrise and test their luck fishing off the dock. After breakfast Sedge intern Taylor Sehein demonstrated her water sampling techniques and equipment as the students looked on with interest. The group then paddled out to the dike for lunch and a trip to the beach, but the storm clouds soon rolled in and we got stuck paddling back to Sedge in a downpour! After everyone dried off and got into warm clothes, the students began journaling, an exersize which culminated in each student writing about their experience in their own five foot "world" somewhere on the island. The students came up with wonderful and imaginative reflections which they shared later on that evening, and eveyrone left the island with a special experience to carry with them for the rest of their lives.