Spring Island Nature

Spring Island Nature

"The last great maritime forest" is how one resident describes Spring Island. Perched on an aquifer of limitless fresh water and surrounded by salt water estuaries, the island is nature’s most ideal setting for coexistence of woods and wetland. There are several salt water ponds along the island’s shore. In addition, there are dozens of fresh water ponds throughout the island’s forest. Where to fish depends on your appetite: salt water for shrimp, crab, oyster, redfish, sea trout or flounder -- fresh water for largemouth bass or bream.

One of the beautiful truisms about Spring Island is that the views are constantly changing, whether it is spotting a wild turkey or bald eagle or simply watching yet another glorious sunset. Salt water marshes are always far more interesting than, say, the ocean. The light changes not only by the season but by the hour; so does the marsh itself. The number of plants and animals that live in this habitat of mixing and slushing water is mind boggling. Biologists claim that salt marshes produce up to 10 tons of organic matter per acre a year. The Atlantic Ocean’s food chain starts here.

The Nature Center 

The Nature Center is the focal point of all activities related to nature on Spring Island. It houses the offices of our four naturalists and their staff. It is a library, a museum, a zoo and a classroom. It is a place where grade school students from surrounding communities get close to their first wild animal, touch a turtle and a snake and open their eyes to the magnificence of nature around them.

It is also an educational institution for our members. There’s always something going on here... from bird-song identification seminars to a twilight gathering prior to climbing onto a flatbed truck for nocturnal owl prowls to something as advanced as our 12-week Master Naturalist course.

The Maritime Forest

The region’s long growing seasons and mild winters create ideal growing conditions for the huge oaks and hickories that cover much of our landscape. These trees produce literally tons of acorns and nuts that provide a highly nutritious food for turkey, deer, quail, blue jay, woodpecker, wood duck and our ubiquitous fox squirrel.

 Salt Marsh Nurseries

 A huge food source comes from the thousands of acres of salt marshes that ring the island. Shrimp, crab and oysters are born here, to be eaten by fishes of many species. Redfish, born at sea, come here to grow up. Constantly changing water levels, regulated by daily tide changes, are a fertile base for vegetation and organisms too tiny for human appreciation but quite tasty for the hundreds of egrets, ibis, wood stork and heron of many species. What is appreciated is the sight of marsh wildlife feeding heartily on a bountiful menu of fiddler crabs, shrimp, minnows, marine worms, and a variety of crustaceans before flying off to feed the babes of the wild, insuring continuation of the breed.

Open Fields 

Spring Island is blessed with over 600 different species of plants and bushes which provide another generous source of food. They produce highly edible seeds and berries and also nourish insects. The insects are a high protein food and vital to the growth and development of young birds. Warblers, vireos, bluebirds, painted bunting, blue grosbeak, orchard oriole and many other species prosper on the seeds, berries and insects from our plants and bushes.

Predators 

With all the natural food available, we have prodigious numbers of animals on the island. This wildlife provides an ample food source for predators who prey upon the weak and the excess animals. Predators keep our fauna healthy and insure survival of the fittest. Among our predator residents are great horned owls, barred owls, red tail and copper’s hawks, eagles, osprey, raccoons, mink, otters, fox and bobcats.