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Prime Hook Beach

7/3/2013

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Get Ready For Great Photographs of Prime Hook Beach & Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge

This Sunday, Delaware's The News Journal will feature beautiful photographs of a hidden wonder along the Delaware Bay--Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge and Prime Hook Beach. Breathtaking photos of wildlife and the open access areas for public enjoyment will be featured. The article is entitled, "Prime Hook: Photographs of the Off-the-Beaten Path Beach." 

A few miles east of Milton, Delaware, and 22 miles southeast of Dover, the quiet shores of Prime Hook Beach can be reached via Prime Hook Road, a left turn off of Delaware Route 1 South. 

Directly behind the community of homes lining the beach is the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge was created in 1963 by the authority of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act as a sanctuary expressly for migrating birds. It encompasses nearly 10,000 diverse acres of freshwater and saltwater marshes, woodlands, grasslands, bottomland forested habitats, scrub brush zones, farming lands, ponds, and a seven mile long creek. Naturally occurring tidal salt marshes make up 2300 acres of the refuge, and man-made freshwater ponds cover 4000 acres. Administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the freshwater impoundment systems were built in the 1980's to provide refuge officials the means to raise and lower water levels in the ponds to accommodate the needs of migratory birds during different seasons of the year. The ponds provided habitat for wintering waterfowl, places to feed for spring and fall migratory shorebirds, and nesting areas for wading birds in the summer.  

And therein lies the rub. Having provided beautiful habitat for bird watching and wildlife viewing, the refuge created the perfect conditions for housing development along the bay coast: water views both east and west of established residences and newly built homes. But since 2006, multiple hurricanes have caused sea water to breach the dunes, causing an influx of sediment and saltwater into the freshwater ponds, killing most of the vegetation and limiting the use of the ponds by migrating and local birds, as well as by local wildlife populations. 



The beauty of Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge will be preserved in the beautiful photo layout in The News Journal on Sunday, but all of Delaware and the nation needs to rally behind permanently preserving our national wildlife refuges.
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Egrets Resting in Trees at the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge
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DNREC Tests the Water at the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean Beaches

7/21/2012

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Making the Delaware Beaches Safer Through Quality Beach Water Testing by DNREC

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Why does Dr. Kate Connors worry about beach water quality in Nocturne, Opus 1: Sea Foam? First of all, she is the mother of a precocious three-year-old daughter and she loves her dearly. Which parent among us wouldn't pay attention to our child's surroundings, especially in new places like on vacation at the beach? Our first concern would be strangers, followed by activity safety, which includes monitoring how close our child gets to the water, or how far into the water our child goes, or how deep of water our child swims in. Then we think of sharks! (Sorry. But that topic does lurk in the back of most parents' minds, whether they care to admit it or not.) More realistically, in terms of probability of contact, we scan the water's surface for the bobbling, rounded shape of jellyfish. But how many of us also see this standard beach scene through the microscopic and macroscopic eyes of a scientist? 

Kate Connors is a scientist, a medical researcher studying the effects of bacteria on the human body. Specifically, she studies Bacillus nocturne, a normally passive, estuary bacteria that floats harmlessly in rivers, bays and oceans. Why does she study this bacteria? Because the organization that hired her, the Institute for Public Policy and Safety, knows that someone has genetically altered Bacillus nocturne. Kate sees danger where we see children laughing and tumbling in the surf. 

Is there a problem with our beach water quality in the United States? Yes, in some places. A few years ago, I found a sign posted by DNREC, Delaware's Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, at an entrance to an inland bay beach. It read:

 “The waters of the Inland Bays may contain organisms that could be harmful to your health. Swimming could result in an increased risk of rashes, infections or gastrointestinal distress, especially during and after rainfall. For your health and safety, please swim at beaches with lifeguards where the water quality is tested weekly. For information on beach water quality or to report illnesses resulting from contact with these waters, please call 1-800-922-WAVE or visit www.dnrec.state.de.us.” 

Have you seen water quality warning signs near any of the beaches you've visited? What did they say? 




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On Memorial Day

5/26/2012

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A Salute from the Shore to All Veterans and Present Armed Forces Personnel:

You Have Made All of Our Beaches and Our Entire Homeland Safe Because of Your Bravery, Good Will, and Heroic Patriotism.
             Thank You Forever!

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From the West Coast to the East Coast, we enjoy the beauty of our beaches thanks to the national safety provided by our Armed Forces. 

In the middle of all the excitement of a Memorial Day Parade, or on the outer edges of a beach full of multi-colored beach umbrellas, or sitting in front row seats watching bright fireworks fragment in the night air, we sometimes forget what Memorial Day is all about. 

Memorial Day is a time of remembering, a time of thankful praise for a courageous job well done, and a time to offer prayers for the well-being of all military families. 

We truly live in the home of the brave, and America's service personnel and their families deserve the best of everything. On this Memorial Day and every day, remember to say, "Thank you for your service" or "Thank you for protecting my family and me" whenever you meet someone in uniform.  Just as important are the kind words, smiles, and help that you offer to all the military families that you meet as you thank them for their sacrifice for us. 

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Pickering Beach, Delaware

3/3/2012

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A Quiet Beach Along the Delaware Bay--Pickering Beach 

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The Approach to Pickering Beach Along Delaware Route 9

Looking for a quick trip to the beach without having to drive to the Atlantic Ocean? Try the beaches along the shore of the Delaware Bay. Last week, I featured Woodland Beach near Smyrna, Delaware. This week I visited Pickering Beach and brought back photos for you. 

Pickering Beach is a small beach town about 8 miles southeast of Dover, the capital of Delaware. Travelling along Delaware State Route 1 S to Dover, take Exit 98 
to State Route 8 toward Downtown Dover. Follow 
Route 8 until you are able to make a slight right onto 
State Route 9. After 2.8 miles, turn left onto Pickering 
Beach Road, and in 1.8 miles you will see a small village 
of beach homes lining the Delaware Bay. 

As you approach the central crossroads in Pickering  Beach, you will see to the left of center a Delaware Public Beach Access sign indicating the allowed path across the protected dunes to the sandy beach. 

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Delaware Public Beach Access Across the Dune at Pickering Beach

Every time I walk across a dune and see the expanse of water on the other side, I am awed by the splendor, beauty, and peacefulness. After six years of walking along the Delaware shore, that feeling has never diminished. 

Pickering Beach is serene, uncrowded, and beautiful. 


 
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Across the Dune at Pickering Beach and Suddenly--The Delaware Bay
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View to the Left of the Entrance to Pickering Beach
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View to the Right of the Entrance to Pickering Beach
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A Multitude of Stones Washed Up on the Beach


Pickering Beach has white sandy beaches and gentle waves that wash up a variety of rocks, minerals, plant life, and sea/bay glass. Rock collectors will enjoy identifying a wide selection of pummeled stones, and beachcombers will find something new on the beach every time they visit.  

To learn more about another Delaware Bay beach, read about Woodland Beach near Smyrna, Delaware:                     www.norenemoskalski.com/norenes-environmental-blog.html 

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    Author

    Dr. Norene Moskalski can often be found walking the beaches of the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, collecting sea glass, weathered minerals, unusual shells, and artifacts from colonial shipwrecks. A naturalist and environmentalist by nature, and a medical diagnostician by avocation, she has a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration and has held administrative and teaching positions at Penn State University and Temple University. She has spent most of her life preparing administrators and teachers to lead and teach ethically with love and respect for everyone. The settings for her novels are authentic vignettes from university campuses and places around the world she has visited. Each novel presents a variation on a theme, using literary techniques and musical innuendos to move the action forward. Her plots revolve around the unexpected: What if the most beautiful things in the world are the most dangerous?

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