Humans Clean Home For The Ducks

“Look!” said Peter Davis as he pointed at a turtle (pictured at right) napping on a log. ​“That’s why we clean this.”

Davis, the city’s retired riverkeeper, was in a canoe in the Edgewood Park Duck Pond, volunteering for the latest weekly communal clean-up of New Haven waterways.

The turtle was less than three feet away from the canoe. Red marks on its shell were clearly visible.

Davis and fellow volunteers assembled this Saturday at 10 a.m. to clean the pond. These cleanups are cosponsored by Save the Sound and West River Watershed. Neighbors, government employees, and members of environmental groups all attended.

An important part of Edgewood Park, the duck pond was originally a flood plain for the West River. The pond ​“floods easily, so there’s still a significant tide,” said Dennis Riordan, president of the Menunkatuck Audubon Society, as he pointed to various puddles. The pond has undergone various developments, mostly recently in 2012 when the Connecticut Fund for the Environment created new walkways and restored marsh habitat.

As he paddled around, Davis used a metal claw to grab various pieces of trash: an empty Lays bag, a beer can, and more. In the back, Riordan steered the canoe.

“It’s been a while since the duck pond was cleaned,” said Riordan. ​“Probably not since the city drained and dredged the pond.” That was eight years ago, part of the 2012 restorations.

Volunteers pulled up in kayaks to the banks, showing their discoveries: an electric toy boat, a soccer ball, a backpack.

“Usually, we wait for the tide to lower, and then we wade along the shoreline or kayak into the water,” said Elizabeth Kaplan, a park ranger. ​“The park service provides PPE and a couple of canoes, but a lot of our volunteers bring their own gear.”

What exactly were volunteers looking for? Usually floatable plastics, such as bottle caps, plastic bags, or larger items like tires or even mattresses.

These volunteers are crucial to maintaining clean parks. ​“Since Covid-19 has begun, more people have time to help clean,” said Kaplan. ​“That’s great, because with city budget cuts over the years we’ve dwindled from nine to two park rangers.”

Jenna McDermit and Terrence McTague are two new volunteers. Both are New Haven public school teachers. They decided to come after McTague read about the previous week’s cleanup in the Independent.

“It was almost exciting to look for litter hiding in the crevices,” said McDermit.

They hope to bring others along in the future. ​“I take my students to the West River each year, and it’s probably our highlight,” said McTague, who teaches biology. ​“Now that I’ve come here, I hope I can bring them on a cleanup sometime.”

Trash in The Ecosystem

Trash enters Duck Pond in various ways.

“Since the park borders Chapel Street, litter from cars on the road often comes down the hillside,” said Riordan. The duck pond is also connected to Beaver Pond, which has two sewage drains flowing into it. ​“Often, trash flows upstream” into the duck pond, said Kaplan.

Indeed, the connection between various waterways is one reason cleanups are so important.

“The duck pond flows out to Long Island Sound,” said Davis. ​“When we clean the duck pond, we also prevent that trash from entering into the Sound and its ecosystems.”

Each volunteer has directly seen the threats that litter can pose to local wildlife. Pointing to a blockage with several fallen over trees, Kaplan explained that ​“some fish swim upstream to lay their eggs, but large blockages, like these trees that trap litter all around them, stop these migrating routes.” A few days earlier, Riordan found a water-filled balloon. ​“It could have easily gotten tied to a bird and killed it,” he said.

Hidden litter has tragic consequences. In 2018, Robin Ladouceur, the advocacy chair of Menunkatuck Audubon Society, found a cormorant trapped in a fishing line on the Mill River. Its death prompted her to create a program that put disposal boxes for fishing lines in all the New Haven parks.

Preserving the duck pond’s wildlife is crucial. There are a variety of birds, including ​“ducks, mallards, Canada geese, double crested cormorants, and more,” said Riordan.

Several families stood along the banks during the clean-up, admiring the birds.

Ladouceur comes to the park everyday. She likes to observe the unique species of dragonflies. ​“There’s always something new,” she said. In the spring, for example, ​“there’s a stunning warbler fallout, or when a huge flock of warblers comes to rest by the pond during their spring migration.”

After a few hours, the volunteers returned to shore with plastic bags of trash. Slightly tired, but satisfied with their work, they admired the view: a clear sky, with sparkling water and an air of calm.