Plum Island (Massachusetts) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Plum Island, Massachusetts is an island located off the northeast coast

Coast

A coastline or seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the dynamic nature of tides. The term "coastal zone" can be used instead, which is a spatial zone where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs...

of Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, north of Cape Ann

Cape Ann

Cape Ann is a rocky cape in northeastern Massachusetts on the Atlantic Ocean. The cape is located approximately 30 miles northeast of Boston and forms the northern edge of Massachusetts Bay. Cape Ann includes the city of Gloucester, and the towns of Essex, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and...

. It is a barrier island

Barrier island

Barrier islands, a coastal landform and a type of barrier system, are relatively narrow strips of sand that parallel the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few islands to more than a dozen...

approximately 11 miles (18 km) in length

Length

In geometric measurements, length most commonly refers to the longest dimension of an object.In certain contexts, the term "length" is reserved for a certain dimension of an object along which the length is measured. For example it is possible to cut a length of a wire which is shorter than wire...

Captain John Smith

Plum Island appears for certain as an unnamed island as early as Captain John Smith's map of New England. Various scholars have formuated speculations concerning whether any of the earlier accounts of European explorers in the New World fit the coast of Massachusetts, but Smith's account surely identifies Plum Island. He describes a harbor at Angoam (elsewhere Aggawom, the Anglicised native American name for the native village that preceded Ipswich, Massachusetts, and was destroyed by smallpox) as having "many sands" at its entrance. Before it was an island:

"On the east is an Ile two or three leagues in length; the one halfe, plaine morish grasse fit for pasture, with many faire high groves of mulberrie trees gardens; and there is also Okes, Pines and other woods to make this place an excellent habitation, beeing a good and safe harbor."

"Morish" is now "marsh" and the high gardens of "mulberrie" trees must be beach plum, which prefers the crowns of the dunes, although today can be seen on only a few. The map shows an imaginary English town (the insertion of Charles I of England

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

) of the then future, South Hampton, about where Newbury is. The Hampton suggestions were later put to use, but further north.

The Mason grant

A grant in 1621 by the Plymouth Council for New England

Plymouth Council for New England

The Plymouth Council for New England was the name of a 17th century English joint stock company that was granted a royal charter to found colonial settlements along the coast of North America....

, acting under a charter from James I of England

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

(not then reigning) to colonize New England, deeded the land between the Naumkeag and Merrimack River

Merrimack River

The Merrimack River is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport...

s to Captain John Mason. The island was to be named the Isle of Mason. Mason, then governor of Newfoundland

Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...

, never acted on the grant. It was later included in a similar grant to Massachusetts Bay Colony

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...

; nevertheless, in 1681 the heirs of John Mason petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts for possession of the grant, now colonized by several communities. After a trial before justices appointed for the purpose the General Court decided it could not honor the claim, as no one then knew the location of the Naumkeag River, and in any case Mason's grant had been included in another. It did assess a nominal quit-rent

Quit-rent

Quit rent , Quit-rent, or quitrent, in practically all cases, is now effectively but not formally a tax or land tax imposed on freehold or leased land by a higher landowning authority, usually a government or its assigns....

fee of a few shilling

Shilling

The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...

s on land-holders undeniably within the tract; that is, as far south as Ipswich.

Division of the island

Ipswich, Massachusetts

Ipswich is a coastal town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,987 at the 2000 census. Home to Willowdale State Forest and Sandy Point State Reservation, Ipswich includes the southern part of Plum Island...

was incorporated as Ipswich in 1634 by settlers of the previous year from Massachusetts Bay Colony

Massachusetts Bay Colony

. In 1635 another group from England passed through Ipswich to settle and incorporate Newbury, Massachusetts

Newbury, Massachusetts

Newbury is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,666 at the 2010 census. Newbury includes the villages of Old Town , Plum Island and Byfield, home of The Governor's Academy , a private preparatory school.- History :Newbury Plantation was settled and incorporated...

. In 1639 still a third group settling in Newbury broke away with their land to incorporate Rowley, Massachusetts

Rowley, Massachusetts

Rowley is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,500 at the 2000 census.Part of the town comprises the census-designated place of Rowley.-History:...

. There is no official record of the use of Plum Island until then, although Smith's glowing report had included the marsh grass, an enticing feature for herdsmen. A document of January 2, 1639, survives, however, by which Robert Wallis and Thomas Manning of Ipswich agree to maintain a common herd of 48 hogs on Plum Island starting on April 10 and running to the end of the harvest. One of them was always to be present. Reaction of the other communities was immediate. Newbury filed a petition with the General Court of Massachusetts for ownership of the entire island. The petition was denied on March 13 with the proviso that Ipswich, Rowley and Newbury were allowed use of the island, which became a pasture for hogs, cattle and horses.

In March of 1649 Newbury again pressed for title to the island. It argued that "for three of four miles together there is no channel betwixt us and it." At low tide they drove wagons across. These arguments did not prevail; on October 17, 1649, the court finalized its temporary decision, apportioning 2/5 of the island to Newbury

Newbury, Massachusetts

, 2/5 to Ipswich

Ipswich, Massachusetts

and 1/5 to Rowley

Rowley, Massachusetts

Rowley is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,500 at the 2000 census.Part of the town comprises the census-designated place of Rowley.-History:...

. There is no hint in the court documents that they ever used a name other than Plum Island. The name is apparently of local origin; the journal of Margaret Smith (1678-9) relates:

"Leaving on our right hand Plum Island, (so-called on account of the rare Plums which doe grow upon it,) we struck into the open Sea...."

A notable historian of the region, Joshua Coffin

Joshua Coffin

Joshua Coffin was an American antiquary and abolitionist.Coffin was born in Newbury, Massachusetts. He graduated at Dartmouth in 1817, and taught school for many years, numbering among his pupils the poet John Greenleaf Whittier, who addressed to him a poem entitled "To My Old...

, said of it in 1845:

"Plum Island, a wild and fantastical sand beach, is thrown up by the joint power of winds and waves into the thousand wanton figures of a snow drift."

Biologic weapons

Although easily confused with Plum Island, New York

Plum Island (New York)

Plum Island is an island in the Town of Southold in Suffolk County, New York in the United States. The island is in Gardiners Bay, east of Orient Point, off the eastern end of the North Fork coast of Long Island. It is about long and wide at its widest point...

, Plum Island, Massachusetts never had a biological weapons research facility. For more information on this topic, please see Plum Island Animal Disease Center

Plum Island Animal Disease Center

Plum Island Animal Disease Center is a United States federal research facility dedicated to the study of animal diseases. It is part of the DHS Directorate for Science and Technology....

Current geography

The northern portion of the island is bordered by the mouth of the Merrimack River

Merrimack River

(in which stands Badgers Rock

Badgers Rock

Badgers Rock is a small barren rock within the Merrimack River, in Salisbury, Massachusetts, USA. The rock is just south of the light campground area of the Salisbury Beach State Reservation and north of Plum Island Point on Plum Island in Newburyport....

), the western portion by the Plum Island River in the north (which joins the mouth of the Merrimack to Plum Island Sound), Plum Island Sound in the south (into which empty the Parker, Rowley

Rowley River

The Rowley River is a small river between Ipswich and Rowley, Massachusetts.The river lies within in the estuary of Plum Island Sound, and is formed by the confluence of the Egypt River and Muddy Run in Ipswich, with numerous tributaries in the estuary...

and Eagle Hill River

Eagle Hill River

The Eagle Hill River is a small river in Ipswich, Massachusetts.The river arises within salt marshes just north of Ipswich, and empties into the Plum Island Sound. Broad and shallow, its total length is approximately 2 miles.See also: Bagwell Island....

s) and the southern portion by the mouth of the Ipswich River

Ipswich River

Ipswich River is a small river in northeastern Massachusetts, USA. It is long, and its watershed is approximately , with an estimated population in the area of 160,000 people. - Geography :...

(into which the sound empties). The Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

lies to the east. The sound is a tidal estuary.

Now situated in Essex County

Essex County, Massachusetts

-National protected areas:* Parker River National Wildlife Refuge* Salem Maritime National Historic Site* Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site* Thacher Island National Wildlife Refuge-Demographics:...

, Plum Island is divided between four cities and towns: Newburyport

Newburyport, Massachusetts

Newburyport is a small coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, 35 miles northeast of Boston. The population was 21,189 at the 2000 census. A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island...

, Newbury

Newbury, Massachusetts

, Rowley

Rowley, Massachusetts

Rowley is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,500 at the 2000 census.Part of the town comprises the census-designated place of Rowley.-History:...

and Ipswich

Ipswich, Massachusetts

. Developed areas of the island, with public beach

Beach

A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...

es, businesses and private residences, lie wholly within the boundaries of Newburyport and Newbury, the latter containing the village of Plum Island

Plum Island, Massachusetts

Plum Island is a small village on the island of the same name in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States.Technically it is a precinct in the town of Newbury. Plum Island is the Easternmost of three precincts dividing the town. The other two precincts are Old Town and Byfield, the westernmost...

. The island's pristine largest section is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...

as the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the world's premiere system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife and plants...

. On the mainland opposite Massachusetts Audubon Society
Massachusetts Audubon Society
The Massachusetts Audubon Society, founded in 1896 by Harriet Hemenway and headquartered in Lincoln, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "Protecting the nature of Massachusetts." Mass Audubon is independent of the National Audubon Society, and in fact was founded...

operates the Joppa Flats Education Center & Wildlife Sanctuary.

Plum Island is accessed by one road running from Newburyport to the north of the island on a causeway and drawbridge over the Plum Island River. A charter to build the road between Rolfe's Lane (Ocean Avenue) and the island was granted in 1806 to the Plum Island Turnpike and Bridge Corporation. The road remained a private one until in 1905 the General Court required Essex County

Essex County, Massachusetts

to lay it out as a county road, compensating its then owners with a cash settlement.

Plum Island Drive runs along the inland side of the island. In the north it is lined with homes. In the refuge it is paved for about half its distance and is a "washboard" dusty dirt road for the remainder. Along it are numbered parking lots with boardwalks leading to the beach, overlooks and trails, and facilities for the maintenance of the refuge.

Toward the south is the former site of Camp Sea Haven, a therapeutic camp for those stricken with Polio, closed and removed, now that the Salk vaccine has all but eradicated the disease. Visitors are restricted from the levelled site. At the southern end of the road, the tip of the island, is Sandy Point State Reservation

Sandy Point State Reservation

Sandy Point State Reservation is a Massachusetts state park located in Ipswich. The park is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation. Sandy Point is a coastal park located at southern tip of Plum Island. The reservation is an important nesting area for the piping plover and the...

, a state park. It is for day-use only. At the northern end of the road, the northern tip of the island, is the historic Plum Island Lighthouse, the only lighthouse remaining on the island. It marks the narrow entrance to the mouth of the Merrimack River. The swift tidal currents through the outlet and through the channel between Ipswich Bay and Ipswich Harbor on the southern end periodically claim the lives of unsuspecting bathers and boaters, deceived by the sandbars and shallow waters.

Touring facilities

Like most coastal communities, Plum Island has historically been a popular vacation destination. Several large hotels operated during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, there are numerous lodging options for tourists, including B&B

Bed and breakfast

A bed and breakfast is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast, but usually does not offer other meals. Since the 1980s, the meaning of the term has also extended to include accommodations that are also known as "self-catering" establishments...

's, inns, and rental cottages. In addition, there is a population of year-round residents.

Great Marsh

Plum Island is a barrier beach protecting the extensive estuaries of the Parker

Parker River

The Parker River is a river in southwestern Victoria, Australia. It lies wholly within Port Campbell National Park in the Otway Ranges and enters Bass Strait near Cape Otway....

, Rowley

Rowley River

and Ipswich River

Ipswich River

Ipswich River is a small river in northeastern Massachusetts, USA. It is long, and its watershed is approximately , with an estimated population in the area of 160,000 people. - Geography :...

s. Combined with the barrier beaches at Castle Neck (Crane Beach) and Coffins Beach, the estuary extends south to include the Essex and Annisquam Rivers. This area is called the Great Marsh and has been the focus of a coalition of environmental groups and agencies to protect this area from degradation.

Beach

Plum Island Beach is a gently sloping shelf extending some distance out to sea. As result of the slope tidal flow does not reach very far horizontally, while breakers are small and close to shore. Boats can easily be launched from or landed on the beach. The shelf causes strong undertow currents that can pluck the thoughtless bather out of the shallows and draw the unsuspecting swimmer out to sea. During severe storms the beach is inundated and the breakers strike the dune line. Over the centuries a number of ships have been wrecked in the shallow waters off Plum Island Beach.

The Labrador current

Labrador Current

The Labrador Current is a cold current in the North Atlantic Ocean which flows from the Arctic Ocean south along the coast of Labrador and passes around Newfoundland, continuing south along the east coast of Nova Scotia...

flows from north to south along the shore, migrating sand in that direction and chilling the coastal waters. Several breakwaters have been constructed along the north coast of the island to protect the beach and impede the process. Over the centuries the migrating sand moves the outlet of the Merrimack River, which has been artificially fixed at its current location.

Vascular plants

On the dunes a fragile cover of beach grass

Ammophila breviligulata

Ammophila breviligulata is a species of grass that is native to eastern North America, where it grows on sand dunes along the Atlantic Ocean and Great Lakes coasts...

, beach pea

Lathyrus japonicus

Lathyrus japonicus is a legume native to temperate coastal areas of Asia, Europe, North and South America....

and beach heather

Hudsonia

Hudsonia is a small genus of three species of flowering plants in the family Cistaceae, native to North America.They are evergreen subshrubs growing to 20 cm tall....

stabilize the sand. Visitors to the refuge are restricted from the dunes except on boardwalks to protect this cover. Destabilization has been a problem. In 1953 the U.S. Soil Conservation Service planted several thousand black pine

European Black Pine

Pinus nigra, the European Black Pine, is a moderately variable species of pine, occurring across southern Mediterranean Europe from Spain to the Crimea, in Asia Minor and on Cyprus, and in the high mountains of the Maghreb in North Africa....

s, a hardy alpine tree, to help hold the sand.

Stands of black pine, pitch pine

Pitch Pine

The Pitch Pine, Pinus rigida, is a small-to-medium sized pine, native to eastern North America. This species occasionally hybridizes with other pine species such as Loblolly Pine , Shortleaf Pine , and Pond Pine The Pitch Pine, Pinus rigida, is a small-to-medium sized (6-30 meters or 20-100 feet)...

and occasional eastern red cedar

Juniperus virginiana

Juniperus virginiana is a species of juniper native to eastern North America, from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, east of the Great Plains...

trees can be found in the depressions between the dunes. There also are thickets of beach plum

Beach plum

Prunus maritima is a species of plum native to the Atlantic coast of North America, from Maine south to Maryland. Although sometimes listed as extending to New Brunswick, the species is not known from collections there, and does not appear in the most authoritative works on the flora of that...

, from which the island takes its name, bayberry

Myrica pensylvanica

Myrica pensylvanica, the Northern Bayberry, is a species of Myrica native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland west to Ontario and Ohio, and south to North Carolina.Myrica pensylvanica is a deciduous shrub growing to 4.5 m tall...

and honeysuckle

Honeysuckle

Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to the Northern Hemisphere. There are about 180 species of honeysuckle, 100 of which occur in China; Europe, India and North America have only about 20 native species each...

(the latter being intrusive).

Maximum dune elevation is about 50 feet (15.2 m). In the deeper depressions and more sheltered regions between or next to the higher dunes are vernal pools in whch black oak, red maple and black cherry can be found. In the underbrush are cranberry

Cranberry

Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium. In some methods of classification, Oxycoccus is regarded as a genus in its own right...

. The ferns, moss and leaf cover there shelter salamander

Salamander

Salamander is a common name of approximately 500 species of amphibians. They are typically characterized by a superficially lizard-like appearance, with their slender bodies, short noses, and long tails. All known fossils and extinct species fall under the order Caudata, while sometimes the extant...

s and spadefoot toads

American spadefoot toads

Scaphiopodidae is a family of American spadefoot toads. They are native to southern Canada and USA south to southern Mexico. Scaphiopodidae is a small family, comprising only seven species....

.

The native salt-water marshes between Plum Island and the mainland (Great Marsh) are visible from the western edge of the island. Before the observer lie prospects of "the high marsh", where extents of salt marsh hay meet the eye. The colonists who could purchase acres of high marsh counted themselves lucky: the grass needs no cultivation and can be harvested as hay for feeding farm animals.

Less visible in "the low marsh" at the margin of the water is smooth cordgrass

Spartina alterniflora

Spartina alterniflora is a perennial deciduous grass which is found in intertidal wetlands, especially estuarine salt marshes. It grows 1-1.5 m tall, and has smooth, hollow stems which bear leaves up to 20-60 cm long and 1.5 cm wide at their base, which are sharply tapered and bend down...

. Also in the marsh are the sedge

Cyperaceae

Cyperaceae are a family of monocotyledonous graminoid flowering plants known as sedges, which superficially resemble grasses or rushes. The family is large, with some 5,500 species described in about 109 genera. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group...

s, Cyperus

Cyperus

Cyperus is a large genus of about 600 species of sedges, distributed throughout all continents in both tropical and temperate regions. They are annual or perennial plants, mostly aquatic and growing in still or slow-moving water up to 0.5 m deep. The species vary greatly in size, with small species...

and Carex

Carex

Carex is a genus of plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges. Other members of the Cyperaceae family are also called sedges, however those of genus Carex may be called "true" sedges, and it is the most species-rich genus in the family. The study of Carex is known as...

.

In the 1940s and '50's the wildlife service created two fresh-water marshes, North and South Pools, from island run-off by diking a section of the marsh contiguous to the island. It serves as a nesting area and stop-over for migrating birds. Originally the common cattail

Typha latifolia

Typha latifolia is a perennial herbaceous plant in the genus Typha. It is found as a native plant species in North and South America, Europe, Eurasia, and Africa...

dominated the fresh-water marshes, but two intrusive plants, the common reed

Phragmites

Phragmites, the Common reed, is a large perennial grass found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Phragmites australis is sometimes regarded as the sole species of the genus Phragmites, though some botanists divide Phragmites australis into three or four species...

and purple loosestrife

Purple loosestrife

Lythrum salicaria is a flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae, native to Europe, Asia, northwest Africa, and southeastern Australia. It should not be confused with other plants sharing the name loosestrife that are members of the family Primulaceae...

, have replaced much of it.

Mammals

The mammal

Mammal

Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

s are typical of Massachusetts woodland: the striped skunk

Striped Skunk

The striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis, is an omnivorous mammal of the skunk family Mephitidae. Found over most of the North American continent north of Mexico, it is one of the best-known mammals in Canada and the United States.-Description:...

, the raccoon

Raccoon

Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...

, the red fox

Red Fox

The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...

, the woodland jumping mouse

Woodland jumping mouse

The Woodland jumping mouse is a species of jumping mouse found in North America. It can hop surprisingly long distances given its small size. The mouse is an extraordinary part of the rodent family. Its scientific name in Latin is Napaeozapus insignis, meaning glen or wooded dell + big or strong...

, the white-tailed deer

White-tailed Deer

The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...

and others.

Avians

Plum Island and its surrounding estuaries are a popular destination for birders. The Parker River basin is on a migratory

Bird migration

Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...

route for many varieties of bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

s, as well as a nest

Nest

A nest is a place of refuge to hold an animal's eggs or provide a place to live or raise offspring. They are usually made of some organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves; or may simply be a depression in the ground, or a hole in a tree, rock or building...

ing area for piping plovers

Piping Plover

The Piping Plover is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange legs, a black band across the forehead from eye to eye, and a black ring around the neck...

. Much of the beach in the National Wildlife Refuge is closed to visitors during the nesting season, which can last most of the warm months.

Several prepared observation posts of birds are usually populated by birders with equipment ranging from simple binoculars to expensive telephoto cameras. Some posts are blinds; others are simply a paved shoulder with a sign. Birds are usually observed in the native salt-water marshes, the artificial fresh-water marshes and the thickets and isolated trees of the refuge.

The birds most commonly observed are listed in the Visitor Center in the refuge. They are the greater yellowlegs

Greater Yellowlegs

The Greater Yellowlegs, Tringa melanoleuca, is a large North American shorebird, similar in appearance to the smaller Lesser Yellowlegs. Its closest relative, however, is the Greenshank, which together with the Spotted Redshank form a close-knit group...

, mallard duck, least sandpiper

Least Sandpiper

The Least Sandpiper is the smallest shorebird.This species has greenish legs and a short thin dark bill. Breeding adults are brown with dark brown streaks on top and white underneath. They have a light line above the eye and a dark crown. In winter, Least Sandpipers are grey above...

, great egret

Great Egret

The Great Egret , also known as the Great White Egret or Common Egret, White Heron, or Great White Heron, is a large, widely-distributed egret. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, in southern Europe it is rather localized...

, snowy egret

Snowy Egret

The Snowy Egret is a small white heron. It is the American counterpart to the very similar Old World Little Egret, which has established a foothold in the Bahamas....

, herring gull

American Herring Gull

The American Herring Gull or Smithsonian Gull is a large gull which breeds in North America. It is often treated as a subspecies of the European Herring Gull but is now regarded as a separate species by some authorities.Adults are white with gray back and wings, black wingtips with white spots,...

, great black-backed gull

Great Black-backed Gull

The Great Black-backed Gull is the largest gull in the world, which breeds on the European and North American coasts and islands of the North Atlantic...

, osprey

Osprey

The Osprey , sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and across the wings...

, Canada goose

Canada Goose

The Canada Goose is a wild goose belonging to the genus Branta, which is native to arctic and temperate regions of North America, having a black head and neck, white patches on the face, and a brownish-gray body....

, tree swallow

Tree Swallow

The Tree Swallow, Tachycineta bicolor, is a migratory passerine bird that breeds in North America and winters in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe....

, grey catbird, killdeer

Killdeer

The Killdeer is a medium-sized plover.Adults have a brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with two black bands. The rump is tawny orange. The face and cap are brown with a white forehead. They have an orange-red eyering...

, glossy ibis

Glossy Ibis

The Glossy Ibis is a wading bird in the ibis family Threskiornithidae.This is the most widespread ibis species, breeding in scattered sites in warm regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Atlantic and Caribbean region of the Americas...

, red-winged blackbird

Red-winged Blackbird

The Red-winged Blackbird is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found in most of North and much of Central America. It breeds from Alaska and Newfoundland south to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, and Guatemala, with isolated populations in western El Salvador, northwestern Honduras, and...

, northern mockingbird

Northern Mockingbird

The Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos, is the only mockingbird commonly found in North America. This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Turdus polyglottos....

, least tern, piping plover

Piping Plover

and peregrine falcon

Peregrine Falcon

The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...

.

Even the uninitiated are likely to linger over a strange bird wading in the marsh. Those less intensely interested in birds can enjoy their calls first-hand sitting on the benches in some of the thickets of the park away from distracting vehicle noise.

Greenhead flies

The greatest visible pest to humans is the greenhead fly. Before insect control they swarmed the beach and dunes so thickly as to make human presence there difficult if not impossible from June through September. In recent years the near elimination of the population with traps has reduced their impact to an occasional bite.

The cruising flies land surreptitiously on the skin, catching their victim unaware. Their sudden sharp bite elicits an unpleasant reflex reaction and raises a welt. Another attack point is the hair, into which they work their way to bite the scalp. They are however slow and easily swatted.

Ticks

Less obtrusive are the dog tick and the deer tick

Deer Tick

Deer Tick is an American indie folk band from Providence, Rhode Island led by guitarist and singer-songwriter John McCauley. Deer Tick's music has been described as a combination of folk, blues, and country.-History:...

, which enter the clothing of their victim from the vegetation and later crawl into the soft tissue, where they attach themselves. The area usually becomes infected even after they are removed.

Dog ticks are the least harmful, except to dogs, from whom they can in sufficient numbers remove a dangerous amount of blood. Dog ticks are large and easily visible. Deer ticks are almost invisibly small. They often carry Lyme disease

Lyme disease

Lyme disease, or Lyme borreliosis, is an emerging infectious disease caused by at least three species of bacteria belonging to the genus Borrelia. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto is the main cause of Lyme disease in the United States, whereas Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii cause most...

, which is endemic to the region. The only manifestation of a deer tick bite is a red ring on the skin. The victim is advised to seek medical care immediately. The disease is best cured if detected early.

Mosquitoes

The mosquito

Mosquito

Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...

is a pest anywhere in Massachusetts. Mosquito control has reduced the presence of the pest in the Newbury region. Usually they are only annoying; that is, it is not possible to be in the refuge without the hands being constantly in motion to kill or ward off insects. More rarely a few cases of Eastern equine encephalitis virus

Eastern equine encephalitis virus

Eastern equine encephalitis virus , commonly called sleeping sickness or Triple E, is a zoonotic alphavirus and arbovirus present in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. EEE was first recognized in Massachusetts, USA in 1831 when 75 horses died of encephalitic illness...

, carried by mosquitoes, occur each year, usually to the south of Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, but potentially anywhere.

Poison ivy

Toxicodendron radicans, better known as poison ivy , is a poisonous North American plant that is well known for its production of urushiol, a clear liquid compound found within the sap of the plant that causes an itching rash in most people who touch it...

is indigenous to all the woodlands of Massachusetts. It especially loves the margins of paths. On Plum Island it grows in every thicket and in mats along the sand. The visitor is cautioned to learn to identify its three shiny leaves immediately, which he can do at the visitor center or by reading the brochures.

Reactions to the toxic oil secreted by the leaves of poison ivy depend on the individual. Highly sensitive persons are advised that brushing against vegetation at the side of a trail can smear the oil on clothing, from which it gets transmitted to the skin without warning. A victim who has touched it or touched the blisters on the skin is advised against rubbing the eyes or face.