2024 Spurwink Marsh Monitoring Activities Summary

In 2024 multiple partners converged on the Spurwink Marsh to collect data in support of upcoming and ongoing habitat and species restoration projects, including funded projects at Willow Brook and Sawyer Road (MNRCP) and Spurwink Avenue (NFWF), and town marshes (NERR BIL). The Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve (WNERR) partnered with the Gulf of Maine Coastal Program (USFWS GOMCP), Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge (USFWS RCNWR), the University of New Hampshire (UNH), Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, Bates College, the University of New England (UNE), and the towns of Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth to monitor a suite of ecological conditions including tidal inundation, marsh surface elevation and accretion, vegetation, avian diversity, demographics, and reproductivity, aerial imagery, and greenhouse gas fluxes.

Water Level Monitoring (WNERR, USFWS GOMCP)
● Sawyer Road (June - August)
● Spurwink Ave (June - July)
● Route 77 (June - July)
● Willow Brook (June - July, September - October)

Salt Marsh Sparrow/Nelson’s Sparrow Nest Searching (USFWS RCNWR, WNERR)
● Sawyer Road (June - August)

Tidal Marsh Bird Monitoring at Sawyer Road and Spurwink Ave (Point Counts, Rapid Demo, Nest Monitoring, Vegetation) (UNH, RCNWR)
● Sawyer Road (June - September)

Surface Elevation Tables (SET) and Accretion (USFWS RCNWR)
● Sawyer Road (June)

GIS Mapping and UVVR modeling (WNERR, USFWS GOMCP, Viewshed)
● Sawyer Road (August - September)

UAS Imagery Acquisition and Analysis Testing (WNERR, UNE)
● Sawyer Road (September)

Greenhouse Gas Flux (Bates College)
● Spurwink Ave