Upper Lord Cove, Lyme

Lord Cove on the banks of the lower Connecticut River in Lyme is an amazing area of tidal/brackish wetlands that is owned in conservation by organizations such as the CTDEP, The Nature Conservancy, the Lyme Land Trust and the Potapaug Gun Club. The Lord Cove marsh system is part of a series of wetlands in the lower estuary that transition from a true "salt" marsh at the mouth of the river through to the relatively rare fresh water tidal wetlands above Brockway Island in Deep River over a relatively short distance (see photo below). The unique circular creek patterns seen toward the top (north) of the photo encircle "Coults Hole". Just off to the west and within the Connecticut River in the lower left of the photo is Nott Inland, which is currently owned by the CT DEP as a preserve. Nott Island was orginally owned and farmed by Colonel George Fenwick of the Saybrook Colony in the mid-1600's. Through the years, various owners used the island for the grazing of cattle and other passive activities. Toward the upper left and slightly upriver, Great Meadows enclosing North Cove in Essex can be seen just south of where the Connecticut River turns northwest toward Deep River. One of the early ferries across the river traveled between Lyme and Great Meadow in the area where the river converges at the narrowest point.

In recent years, the growth of the invasive common reed Phragmites (Phragmites australis) has resulted in efforts by the DEP to perform marsh restoration by slightly lowering higher topographic spots where the Phragmites grows just out of the reach of the brackish water. Phragmites is native to North America, but the particular species that is abundant in the Northeast is not. The problem with the Phragmites is that when this hearty reed grows, it tends to squeeze the natural vegetation out, leaving a monoculture that isn't as beneficial to the ecology as the normal array of vegetation.

In the smaller photo at right, Lord Cove (left and center foreground) is separated from the main stem of the river by Goose Island and the linear reaches of the Lord Cove marshes extending from the lower right. The lighter green color on Goose Island is Phragmites while the darker green color around the outside of the island is the more desirablenative tidal wetlands vegetation. In that Phragmites growth is greatly controlled by slight elevations in topography, the invasive common reed tends to grow in circular patches. A closer look at the linear marsh feature in the lower right of the photo - known as a pendant bar or riverine levee - shows soil patches where the DEP removed elevated sections of the marsh surface so as to allow the nativel vegetation, vegetation that "likes" salt water inundation, to grow in its place. Phragmites is said to be expanding in the marshes of Lord Cove at a rate of 3% per year.