Living Observatory Projects

On May 3, we got our waders on and headed to the bogs. Students at Clark University spent the semester learning about soundscapes, how they are used to monitor habitat health, and how to process sound data to extract information about landscape acoustic complexity. The final stage was learning how to deploy the sensors, and what better way to do that than spending a day walking through nature at the Living Observatory sites of Eel River, Tidmarsh, and Foothills?

It has been a slow herring count season this year, so massive thanks to all those hardworking volunteers recording those important zero counts! Thus far, our volunteers have seen eight fish pass the second (iron) bridge - 5 fish on May 1st, and three single fish on May 12-16. We spoke to the Town of Plymouth, thinking there might be passage problems at White Horse Beach again, but it's clear, and the Town reports a slow year at Town Brook as well. One point for optimism is that the counts were low four years ago, in 2021, so this could be a less vigorous year class, and we might see a recovery next year. Keep counting - one week left!

Reports from the field

Glorianna and volunteers planting AWC in block 1 (Cell A). Ponded areas, which were avoided, indicate low spots created by excavation of micro-topography.

It’s been a busy few months for the Marks Cove Restoration Project!

At Tidmarsh we're always keep an eye out for our neighbors, who can be a little odd at times. Here are a few highlights from 2025. You can find more video highlights on our Vimeo page. You can also monitor live footage and audio for the central stream and marsh cameras.

Some fish have arrived! So far, five river herring have been seen at Bridge #2. Right now, that was the only sighting, but there's still the whole month to go as well. The lowest year to date (2018) had 16 herring sighted by May 2nd and a total of 38 by May 31st, so hopefully this year can exceed that and perhaps rival previous, higher years. It is exciting that there are river herring traveling through the system - keep collecting that data so we can have a valid population estimate at the end of the season. Happy May!

That time of year is here again! Herring count trainings are scheduled for our new and returning volunteers!

The Nantucket Conservation Foundation (NCF) is very excited to report that the contractor for the Windswept Bog Wetland Restoration Project, SumCo Eco-Engineering, is finished with all earth-moving construction work. We plan to re-open the property at the end of March, once the trails have had a chance to dry out after a long, icy winter. This milestone completes two phases of construction which were preceded by four years of planning, permitting and fundraising. Construction activities for this project took place only during the winter dormant seasons (from November to mid-March) to avoid impacting rare plants, nesting birds and breeding wildlife on the property. Phase 1 construction began in January 2024 and was completed in March 2024, with ~14.0 acres of former cranberry bog cells restored to hydrologically connected wetlands. Restoration of the remaining bog cells (~26.2 acres) began in November 2024 and was completed in mid-March 2025.

A River Renaissance: Restoring the Coonamessett