NAP- Neighborhood Alliance of Pawtucket

Prosperity in Rhode Island is committed to the proposition that we must heal ecosystems in order for the economy to serve the human members of the community.  I therefore devote a fair amount of time to looking at some of Rhode Islands most productive ecosystems to see how they are doing.  My two areas of study are the two little ponds in the North Burial Ground in Providence, in the Moshassuck Watershed and the Swan Point section of the Seekonk River, a Upper Bay tidal zone with varied shoreline and protected forest.

This past week there have been large schools of very small menhaden in the shallows at Swan Point.  The silver flashes when they turn sharply or jump through the air are very apparent, and we have even seen some of the little predators, barely bigger than the infant menhaden, darting among the schools.  There were 3 herons hunting one day, yesterday we saw an osprey carrying a fish, and cormorants have been common.

I spent much of the spring wondering about the fate of the tadpoles in the Bull Frog pond in the NBG as none could be seen.  There also seemed to be only 6 or so frogs along the western shore whereas in past years there had been many.  With what seems to be an increasing fish population I was wondering if it was affecting the frogs. Or maybe the pond was just murkier.  But in the last week I have seen many tadpoles jumping, more frogs along the shore, and an abundance of fish babies skittering in schools.

The little pond in the NBG is a breeding site for Gray Tree Frogs.  The first year I noticed them they were changing from tadpoles to frogs in July, while this year early June seems to have been the season, with tadpoles disappearing around July 1 as the pond seemed to get stagnant and algae filled with the hot dry weather.  Also this year I noticed a terrestrial frog away from the pond shortly after the frogs metamorphosed.  i have no idea what the difference in timing means, so I guess I have something to look for next year.