Altering Penjajawoc Marsh had effect Youngest birds likely struggled

Dear Readers:

Many of you may be familiar with the ongoing struggle to protect the Penjajawoc Marsh in Bangor from the effects of development. In June, the Board of Environmental Protection began hearings that addressed both sides of this issue. Events took a new turn when, two days after the initial hearings, someone (not Widewaters or Wal-Mart) intentionally breached the dam holding back the waters of the marsh, allowing much of it to drain.

I’ve called on Maine Audubon’s Judy Markowsky to share her observations of how this has affected the birds of the marsh, as well as her knowledge of the nature of this wetland and why it is so special.

“While Audubon people looked on in horror, the lifeblood of the marsh rushed into the Penobscot River at the height of the water bird nesting season. There must have been much mortality of the young of swimming birds like grebes, ducks, and coots as their watery habitat was swept away and reduced to mud flats. Grebes, in particular, would have been affected because they cannot walk on land. Their legs are situated far back on their bodies; this makes them excellent swimmers and divers, but poor walkers. Their young would have become mired in the mud or swept downstream. However, some species are taking advantage of the changed circumstances.

Thirty least sandpipers and eight lesser yellowlegs, migrating from northern Canada to South America, saw the Penjajawoc mud flats and flew down recently for a rest and a good meal. A young peregrine falcon noticed the sandpipers and chased them. In its first year, it had mastered swift, powerful flight, but missed the catch and landed clumsily (as young birds do) on a branch. Regaining balance, it kept surveying the flats for more sandpipers.

In addition, 12 great blue herons, three great egrets, and one little blue heron congregated around the remaining shallow water and feasted on the now-concentrated, enormous numbers of brown bullheads.

Over the years, the Penjajawoc Marsh has seen many changes, which are normal and ubiquitous in nature. The topography is the most important factor that creates the marsh. It lies in a shallow, oval bowl encircled by low hills. A layer of marine clay is under the marsh, indicating that it was once under salt water.

Since becoming land, the area has always been a wetland. The historic Veazie Railroad bed helped enlarge the marsh in the 1800s by holding back the Penjajawoc Stream somewhat. At that time, the marsh was a sedge meadow with willows. This sedge meadow was ditched to drain it for haying in the first half of the 1900s.

In the late 1900s, beavers progressively enlarged their dams on the Penjajawoc Stream, aided by the unique topography of the area. Beavers live in every tributary of the upper Penjajawoc, as well as in the lower stream. They will certainly raise the Penjajawoc’s water levels in the future, and the adult birds will return next spring to try again.

I am confident that, given protection and time, the Penjajawoc Marsh will rise out of its own muck to its former glory as Maine’s number one freshwater marsh for birds.”

– Judy Kellogg Markowsky

Chris Corio, a volunteer at Fields Pond Nature Center in Holden, can be reached at fieldspond@juno.com