A variety of environments within the park contribute to many types of flora and fauna. A coastal forest follows the northern moraine, while a coastal thicket occupies the southern moraine. Much of the rest of the park, behind the beach and dune area, is salt marsh, one of the largest in Connecticut. Each of these plant communities has different plants and thus different animal occupants. The developed parts of the park (parking lots, campground) are mostly planted with grass and trees.
The southern moraine coastal thicket survives in a combination of dry and moist till soil. The most common shrubs are beach plum (Prunus maritima), bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica) and winged sumac (Rhus copallina). On the seaward side of the moraine, where salt spray sometimes reaches the plants, dominant plants are bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica), poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), dewberry (Rubus sp.), Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), English plantain (Plantago lanceolata), yarrow (Achillea millefolium), seaside germander (Teucrium canadense), and daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare). Grasses include poverty grass (Danthonia spicata), red fescue (Festuca rubra), switch grass (Panicum virgatum), velvet grass (Holcus lanatus), orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata), and quack grass (Agropyron repens).
The coastal forest is dominated by pignut hickory (Carya glabra and Carya ovalis), black oak (Quercus velutina), wild black cherry (Prunus serotina), shadbush (Amelanchier canadensis), mockernut hickory (Carya tomentosa) and hackberry (Celtis occidentalis). A prominent tall thicket is dominated by hawthorn (Crataegus sp.). Herbs include richweed (Pilea pumila), tall meadow-rue (Thalictrum polygamum), jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), wild geranium (Geranium maculatum), dewberry (Rubus sp.), Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), fringed loosestrife (Lysimachia ciliata), and feverwort (Triosteum aurantiacum).
Plants of the salt marsh must be able to withstand high salinity water. Thus, the plants found here are especially adapted to their salty conditions. The lower marsh is flooded twice per day at high tide. Only tall salt-water cord grass (Spartina alterniflora) lives here. In the higher marsh the sides of creeks and ditches are also usually lined with this cord grass. Normally flooded by salt water only twice monthly during spring tides, the higher marsh contains more variety of plants. There you can find salt marsh hay (Spartina patens), which has a cowlicky appearance, spike grass (Distichlis spicata), perennial seaside aster (Aster tenuifolius), seaside gerardia (Agalinis maritima), and sea lavender (Limonium carolinianum). Stands of black rush (Juncus gerardia) and the shrub marsh-elder (Iva frutescens) occur in some places at the upper edges of the high marsh.
Importance of the salt marsh ...
Salt marshes are incredibly productive habitats, possibly the most productive on Earth. Periodic salt water from tides flood the marshes, sustaining micro algae, bacteria and fungi that eat the decaying plants and become a source of food for invertebrates such as snails, crabs, amphipods and pill bugs. These are eaten by a large number of forage fish during high tides. These fish then become prey for the larger fish important to fishermen, both commercial and recreational. Waterfowl, shorebirds and long-legged waders also feed on these forage fish. Mussels, oysters and clams live buried in the mud of the low marsh. Inhabiting the grasses of the marsh are various insects such as flies, grasshoppers, crickets and spiders. These provide food for various birds. Within the marsh, creeks and ditches provide habitat for crabs and the diamondback terrapin.
In addition to being a home for numerous organisms, the thick peat formed in the marsh by decades of decayed plant material serves as a giant sponge for floodwaters and also filters pollutants from the waters passing through the marsh.
Man has altered the salt marsh over time. Mosquito ditches were dug throughout the marsh in the past in an effort to eliminate surface pools, ponds and creeks which might be breeding grounds for mosquitoes, especially the aggressive types which tend to breed along the shore. These ditches have not been maintained for over twenty years, thus are beginning to fill in. Some shallow pools have begun to form, but not deeper pools. A mud flat was recently reestablished near the center of the park.
The Hammonasset salt marsh exists because it is protected by the beach dunes and the moraine. During the 1938 hurricane, waves and sediment deposits overtopped the dunes and debris damaged the marsh. The dunes slowly began to rebuild from wind-blown sand. However, numerous visitors to the beach kept walking over the dunes, preventing the growth of vegetation. In 1971 salt-resistant vines, shrubs and American beach grasses were planted on the dunes and poison ivy was encouraged to grow. The combination of planting and the placement of occasional fences have allowed the vegetation to become established enough to trap and hold sand, thus forming new dunes. These dunes again protect the marsh from all but the very highest storm waves.
Birds ...
The varied environments of Hammonasset provide habitat for as many as 300 bird species at various times of the year. The Meigs Point Nature Center keeps a record of birds seen in the park. Among those species using the park are several state listed species. Least terns (Sterna antillarum) and piping plovers (Charadrium melodus) nest in the park. Willets (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus) are known to breed in the wetlands. Other listed species using the park are the horned lark (Eremophila alpestris), the seaside sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus), the salt marsh sharp-tailed sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus), the savannah sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis), the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), the great egret (Ardea albus), the snowy egret (Egretta thula), the glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus), the short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) and the long-eared owl (Asio otus). The park is a favorite site for over wintering owls.
More common birds include osprey (Pandion haliaetus), whose numbers increased partially as a result of human-built nesting platforms, such as the one in the marsh east of Meigs Point Nature Center. Large numbers of marsh wrens (Cistothorus palustris) flit through the phragmites along the southern edge of the picnic area near the nature center in summer. Great horned owls (Bubo virginianus) spend both summer and winter in the park. Migration time in fall and spring brings large numbers of warblers through the park. Several varieties of rails (Rallus sp.) also find food and shelter here.
Birds are attracted by the variety of insects and seeds found within the marsh. The various berries and fruits of Willard Island, left behind by the former farm, also supply food.
On the mostly barren-appearing beaches birds such as sanderlings (Calidris alba), black-bellied plovers (Pluvialis squatarola) and ruddy turnstones (Arenaria interpres) scavenge for insects and small crustaceans, while gulls (Larus sp.) scavenge for whatever they can find, including human food.
Crabs ...
Crabs live in most of the Hammonasset habitats, from beach to salt marsh, to tidal creek. Occasionally the tiny Atlantic sand crab (Emerita talpoida) has been seen in the intertidal zone of the beach.
Among the rocks of the Meigs Point moraine, green (Carcinus maenas) and rock (Cancer irroratus) crabs occupy the tidal pools. The tiny long wrist hermit crab (Pagurus longicarpus) may also be found here, while the larger flat claw hermit crab (Pagurus pollicaris) prefers sandier areas. Spider crabs (Libinia emarginata) live among the rocks in deeper water. The invasive Japanese shore crab (Hemigrapsus sanguineus) is now also an increasingly-common resident of the tidal pools and shoreline, driving away some of the other crabs.
The brackish and fresh water streams and shallow salt waters are home to the edible blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus), eagerly sought by crabbers. Lady crabs (Ovalipes ocellatus) also live in shallow waters, hiding in the sand by day to catch small fish.
Two types of fiddler crabs live along the banks of tidal creeks and mosquito ditches. Marsh fiddlers (Uca pugnax) prefer salt-water marshes and mud flats. The red jointed fiddler (Uca minax) is found in burrows in upper sections of tidal marshes where the salinity of the water is lower.
Other marsh dwellers ...
The state protected diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) lives in the creeks of the marsh, feeding on plants, mollusks and crustaceans. Other reptiles and amphibians include snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina), Fowlers toad (Bufo woodhousii fowleri), American toad (Bufo americanus), and Wood frog (Rana sylvatica). Juvenile striped bass (Morone saxatilis), white perch (Morone americana) and winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) live in the marsh.
Amphibians and reptiles are regulated under Sections 26-55 and 26-57 of the Connecticut General Statutes.
Most of the mammals seen in the park are common in Connecticut, such as deer (Odocoileus virginianus borealis), fox (Vulpes vulpes), mice (Peromyscus sp.), voles (Microtus sp.), raccoons (Procyon lotor lotor), rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus), muskrat (Ondatra zibethica zibethica) and woodchuck (Marmota maonx preblorum). In winter harbor seals (Phoca vitulina concolor) sometimes rest on the beaches.
The Meigs Point Nature Center frequently has a variety of live park inhabitants on display.
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