[CT Birds] Ibis Wetland Known as the Hammock River, Clinton

[ORCHIDS]

The wetland near the sighting of the Ibis by Greg Hanisek is the  
Hammock River marshes.  This marsh had been diked and drained since  
the beginning of the last century - there are four tide gates on the  
bridge on Beach Park Road.  By the early 1980's, this marsh had  
subsided and the dominant plant was the non-native Phragmites  
australis from Europe.  In 1985 DEP and the Mosquito Control Section  
of the Health Department agreed to gradually restore tidal flow by  
opening one tidal gate in the spring and summer - the degraded marsh  
is about 200 acres in extent.  For the last 23 years, there has been a  
gradual replacement of Phragmites by low marsh and high marsh  
grasses.  If memory serves me Chris Elphick describes this wetland as  
one of the better marsh complexes for marsh sparrows.

Last year at this time there was a White faced Ibis at the nearby  
Hammonassett Natural Area Preserve.

Ron, Ashford