The other morning I was sitting on the bow section of the Race Point ferry –a great seat for observing one of my favorite monitored sites: Silver Eel Cove where I grew up. Back then it was the old Mystic Isle ferry along with the Olinda both on which I looked forward to my big voyage to New London. A lot has changed. I don’t dive off the old Navy dock anymore, but it is still standing near the old brick pump house. King Mackerel no longer swarm within the slip during August. But red jelly fish still drift in and often stay. Kids don’t spend the day crabbing off the middle dock anymore. They sit there though and use their Smart Phones, then hop on Paddle Boards.
At the end of the school year I treated Jen Burn’s 3rd and 4th graders to a morning of monitoring on land-actually they treated me!
I likened Silver Eel Cove to a great story which they could read over and over again. How the weather will change, the seasons, the scheduled boats, tides, and let’s not forget all those interesting characters. I introduced them to local barn swallows nesting under the ferry dock and a diving cormorant near the Coast Guard Station. Then there is the gang of six local crows that meet the 4:15 boat, two egrets that regularly fly in from Race Rock in the evening time fishing for dinner. Close your eyes and you can hear Pheasants and crickets cheer on the pedestrians. New residents Mr. & Mrs. Mallard waddle up towards Fort Wright. Lately, I’m reading how Black- crowned Night- heron stands sovereign over Silver Eel Cove. Lots of summer reading.
