THE OTTER'S TALE NEWSLETTER

The following articles are selections from our quarterly newsletter: "The Otter's Tale". The entire newsletter is available at the Estuary Center or you can download it here.

In Design: CBNERR-MD Begins Planning

for a Field Station at Monie Bay

OPCA President's Letter

This is a week to celebrate the waters and coastal lands we love and campaign for them in a positive way.

Welcome to National Estuaries Week (September 19-26) sponsored by the National Estuarine Research Reserve Association (NERRA). NERRA asks us this year to reach out to others using social media to promote our beloved Estuary Center and the people there that pour efforts into education, research, and stewardship. Got a picture of the Otter Point Creek sunset? Post it with the hashtag #estuariesweek. Got a great picture of Lauren and Missy teaching about canoe safety? Post it with the hashtag #estuaryheroes. Using these hashtags will help promote the message that estuaries are important for the health of the bay, great places for recreation, and are worthy of our care. For all your posts, also use #ACLEC and #CBNERR to connect them with us.

Estuaries face many challenges. Some of the pressures we see locally in Otter Point Creek include nutrient pollution, conversion of natural lands in the watershed to impermeable surfaces, and invasive species, which reduce habitat and resources for native species. Each of us can help counter these threats by taking care of our own properties in a way that reflects concern for the watershed and estuary: don’t overuse fertilizers, minimize pavements, and plant native species instead of invasives.

A group at the Estuary Center is directly involved in dealing with invasives. This group of volunteers works to pull, cut, and dig out the roots of plants such as multi-flora rose, oriental bittersweet, and japanese stiltgrass on the Estuary Center property. These three plants are not widely beneficial to Maryland’s wildlife and occupy habitat that would otherwise host plants like cardinal flower, black-eyed susan, milkweed, and blueberry: all native plants that are rich resources for native birds, butterflies, and other animals. A big thank-you goes out to the staff and volunteers who work on the Invasinators team, especially the three mainstays: Kriste Garman, Bryant deBruyne, and Jeniece Suddoth. These are three of our #estuaryheroes!

Take Care and Stay Well,

--Kathy Baker-Brosh, PhD
President, Otter Point Creek Alliance

More Information

Calendar of EventsView all

Kayak Cruising on the Creek10/30/2020 @ 10:00 am-12:30 pmNudge around the endless nooks and crannies of Otter Point Creek and the upper Bush River with an adults only group. Choose one trip or all three to track the changes on the water through the fall season of migration and leaf color.
Saturday Trail Running10/31/2020 @ 9:00 am-10:00 amLog your miles while enjoying some beautiful scenery and some fellow nature enthusiasts! All skill levels/paces welcome. The course is an out and back, single track, approx. 2 miles long (but you can run it more than once if you choose). Sat., Sept. 12, Oct. 31, Nov. 7
Halloween Scavenger Hunt10/31/2020 @ 10:00 am-2:00 pmDon costumes and step into the forest in search of clues hidden at creature stations. Complete a word puzzle to earn a Halloween prize! Two families per one-hour time slot.
Full Moon Halloween Canoe10/31/2020 @ 6:30 pm-9:00 pmSpend this Halloween having a hauntingly good time paddling a canoe under the full moon’s light. Costumes are welcome but please make sure they are paddle safe!
To Catch a Dream11/01/2020 @ 1:00 pm-2:30 pmListen to the legend of the Native American dream-catcher while crafting one of your own.