Ponds on Cape Cod with toxic algae, 2009-2011

Blue-green algae creates "toxic algae blooms." They have been known to kill dogs and people. While only a few people have been sickened by algae blooms in the US, about 50 people were killed in Brazil from drinking water tainted with algae.

In 1998, four dogs were poisoned--two of them died--from drinking water at Cliff Pond in Nickerson State Park.  One of the dogs that died belonged to Jeff Hook--and he thinks the four dogs are just the tip of the iceberg.  A few years later, he had a second dog die at Cliff Pond.

Protecting fragile vegetation at Hawksnest

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The soil's surface... is the living skin of the earth.

When vegetation is destroyed, erosion creates a wound--as dangerous to the ecosystem as a festering sore.  In the resulting scars, invasive plants and animals can become established.

Healthy soil stores nutrients for plants--but with erosion, phosphorus escapes, creating imbalances in waterways downstream.

If erosion is allowed to continue unchecked, the resulting gullies will be very expensive to repair.  At Walden Pond State Reservation near Boston, erosion that went unchecked for decades cost over a million dollars to repair.

Trail over "Sunset Hill" closed for erosion control

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Rising to a breath-taking altitude of 79 feet, "Sunset Hill" is one of the highest places in Hawksnest State Park.  A trail over the top didn't exist when the park was established, but it soon became a favorite route of equestrians and off-road vehicles.

The trail is useful, because it links Round Cove Rd. with Nathan Walker Rd.  But to provide that link, it doesn't have to go over the hilltop.

Recently, Friends of Hawksnest secured permission from the State to detour the trail away from the top of the hill.  One of the equestrians was consulted, and agreed to use the new route.

Drug use at Hawksnest

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The New York Times reports growing drug use on Cape Cod.  Recent events show drug users are causing litter and fire damage at Hawksnest.

If drug use at Hawksnest isn't stopped, it may lead to break-ins in houses surrounding the park.  Report any campfires you see to the police.  Campfires are illegal in the park and lead to water pollution.

Hash pipe found in campfire at Hawksnest--the "jackknife" they were looking for.

Hawksnest is a showcase for coastal plain ponds

The Coastal Plain Ponds of Cape Cod are mostly deep ponds formed during the last Ice Age by large chunks of ice breaking off the retreating glaciers and causing depressions in the ground called "kettle holes." If the hole was deep enough to reach the water table, then the hole filled with water and became a kettle pond.

Seasonal changes in groundwater level are mirrored by changes in the level of these ponds. The fluctuating water levels alternately flood and expose the shore, and this determines the plant types that can live in these habitats. A rich diversity of wildflowers, grasses, sedges, and rushes inhabit these shorelines, with small, sheltered ponds, and sand/peat soil mixtures having higher diversity. The sandy soils are nutrient poor, so it is not uncommon to find insectivorous plants along the shores.

Global distribution of coastal plain ponds is extremely limited, and therefore so are the plants which grow abundantly on their shores, such as Plymouth gentian (Sabatia kennedyana) and slender arrowhead (Sagittaria teres), which are mostly confined to Plymouth and Barnstable counties. The densest populations of rare species found in Massachusetts are in the Mary Dunn Pond area of Hyannis.

Rare wildlife is also found around coastal plain ponds, occasionally even bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), but they avoid ponds surrounded by homes.

Coastal plain ponds are threatened by recreational vehicle traffic, development, littering, water pollution and water table draw-down by nearby municipal wells.

Source

Coyote sighted at Hawksnest

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Alert but not afraid.

On July 12 at about sundown, I saw a coyote along the east border of Hawksnest, near Seth Whitfield Rd.  See lower right of photo.

Hiking around Hawksnest and Black ponds

The cove--or the "hawks head"-- from Walker Rd near the cemetery.



There's some lovely hiking at Hawksnest.  You can hike most of the way around the park, although at some distance from the ponds, on Nathan Walker Rd, combined with Seth Whitfield Rd (Hawksnest Rd).  These historic roads, looking much as they did 50 or 100 years ago, are one of the assets of the park.

There's a particularly charming loop that goes around both Hawksnest and Black ponds.  To avoid some very rough driving, you can park on Seth Whitfield Road near the "four corners," or closer to Queen Ann Rd.