Part 1

River Otter

River otters can live 10 to 20 years.  These three and half to four foot long mammals depend on clean water and a healthy supply of fish, frogs, snakes, mice, birds, crayfish and mussels. 

River otters digest and metabolize food so quickly that food passes through their intestines within an hour.

The web feet and slim profile allow otters to fly through the water

Click to enlarge any of these images

Snowy Egret

The snowy egret stalks the marshes, coves and rivers for small bait fish such as mummichog, spearing, sand eel or sand lance

Snowy egret charges a school of mummichogs

The egret strikes with lightning speed

The snowy seizes the mummi behind the gills

A good squeeze and a shake and the mummi is about to be eaten

Snowy egret gulps down a fat little mummichog

Muskrat

These semi-aquatic rodents feed primarily on aquatic plants and they can be found in slow-moving-streams, coastal and freshwater marshes, lakes, ponds and swamps.

A muskrat swims toward the shoreline

Osprey building nest with marsh grass and twigs

A full load of nesting material

Osprey grasps herring in its talons

River Herring

Alewives and blueback herring  have an enormous impact on the environment and they are a vital component to the food chain.

A group of volunteers help the Rhode Island Dept. of Fish of Wildlife scoop out and transport herring to an aerated truck.  These herring will be transferred to the Pawcatuck watershed where they will fortify 1300 acres and 8 stream miles.

Herring Heroes scoop and transport fish

River herring stack up in a shallow pool

Worker dumps herring into transport truck

Check back for Rhode Island’s Web of Life – Part 2

Gilbert Stuart's birthplace is the site of a fish ladder

Anadromous Fish Return from the Sea to Spawn

Alewives return to their natal river

Catadromous Species Spawn at Sea and Their Offspring Journey into Freshwater

glass eels

After hatching in the Sargasso Sea, “glass eels” or elvers infiltrate streams, creeks and marshes in Rhode Island

These resilient animals can live over 20 years in our ponds and lakes before heading back to the Sargasso Sea to spawn and die

The Lion’s Mane Jellyfish is the largest jellyfish in the world

When does Jellyfish season open?

Look at the RI landings

Top 10 seafood landings (by pounds)

In 2010, more pounds of squid were brought ashore in Rhode Island than any other seafood.

When I was young my family and I ate all of the above, but we also had a steady supply of cod, haddock, flounder, halibut, pollock and even swordfish—the majority of which could be called “local” with a straight face. In the fifty years since, overfishing for these prize species—those that fetched highest ex-vessel prices—has done huge and well-documented damage to both our once-abundant groundfish and the habitats that sustain them.

Now that we’ve pummeled the stocks of bottom dwellers and longlining has dramatically reduced apex-predator stocks like sharks, tuna, marlin, swordfish, and so on, the race is on to catch every last critter that can be consumed. Look at the above list of commercially landed species and consider: In my childhood—heck, even now—most would fall neatly under the “bait” heading….

If we don’t get our regulatory asses in gear, we’ll soon be dining on spider crabs and jellyfish. Speaking of the food chain—its bottom links in particular–did you take your krill oil today?

Budding birch tree will soon fill out

The woods are still pretty barren, but most trees are about to bud and it won’t be long before their full size leaves once again shield the animals of the forest from casual view.

Great blue heron flies through the brush

It’s taken a little while, but I’ve got the timing pretty well pegged for finding Mr. Blue either feeding or rousting for the evening.  It’s great that indeed these are “creatures of habit.”

This collage of shots shows what happens in less than half a second  

Sandpiper pulls out a worm

Sandpipers stalk the surf line and when the waves recede they look for meals in the mud and sand.

Yesterday, I also found a number of ducks at the southeast corner of Mackerel Cove, Jamestown, Rhode Island…including this rather vocal specimen.

A red-breasted Merganser with something to say

Wickford Magnolia Blossom and Street Scene

At the tail end of the unseasonably warm weather I caught the blossoms at peak and just before the cold snap last night.

The forsythias are fully flowered — this photo was taken March 24 — that’s early!

Forsythia Flowers

Let’s not forget the daffodils.

Early 2012 daffodil bloom

Macro Daffodil

Early spring color

Blooms that survived the freeze

Spawning

There are two species of sand lance recognized as living on the east coast of North America: an inshore and offshore species.  They have been spawning along their range since November and spawning will continue through March.

Importance

A scool of sand lance or sand eels are important baitfish for stripers and other game fish

In recent years this has become a significant biomass component on the Atlantic coast of North Atlantic.  Cod, haddock, striped bass and many other important commercial and recreational fish depend on these snakelike fish, commonly referred to as sand eels.  They also help sustain whales and sea birds.

battered by wind and high seas

A Point Judith Trawler Braves the Gale

Moving off the West Wall the boat and crew face the full furry of the 50 knot winds.

 Days like this aren’t any fun in July, forget about February.

Gale force winds batter the west breakwater