Narbeck Wet(and cold!)lands

Alice L. - Yelp.com (I forgot to bring the phone that can take pictures)

Our excursion to Narbeck Wetland Sanctuary was an interesting and educational visit. I think I was most interested in learning how valuable these habitats are to raptors and also how adaptable certain organisms have to be to be a permanent resident of wetlands. This is because any organism that remains in these environments year-round have to be able to sufficiently benefit from the wetland's varying provisions through every season.

I learned more about how important of a role they play in flood protection as well as processing harmful chemicals and toxins from urban runoff. Much of this is due to their incredible absorptive properties and biodiversity. This also reminds me of the awesome fact that they have the same Net Primary Productivity (NPP) as Tropical Rainforests per acreage! If only our government knew about that before trying to rid us of every last one.

Lindsay - Blogspot.com

I thought the topographic features were pretty cool, especially how the berms would cause some areas to have lightly flowing water and other areas virtually no flow of water that gave it a glass-like quality. As far as animals, I enjoyed getting to watch the chesnut-backed chickadee work away right above me (Of course when I didn't have my camera phone). I  think the coolest thing I saw though was the Hooded Merganser -a really cool looking duck compared to the Mallard. I also saw a big bullfrog, but since it was another pair that told us where it was, I'll let them post about it!

Lophodytes cucullatus (Hooded merganser) - Peter Massas