text: At Staten Island's Wolfe's Pond Park: Opportunity or disaster is in the eye of the beholder | SILive.com
  on July 25, 2012 at 12:13 PM, updated July 26, 2012 at 12:09 PM
  High tide/low tide at Wolfe's Pond Park in Staten Island
  STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Last Wednesday, Summer Earth campers observed seven snowy egrets feeding in the tidal stream at Wolfe's Pond Park. A freshwater pond until last August when Tropical Storm Irene barreled through, it became a tidal inlet when the berm that held in the fresh water broke and the water emptied into the bay. Now the salty sea flows in and out with the tide. The snowy egrets, greater numbers of shorebirds and a nesting pair of American oystercatchers have taken advantage of the situation. "Nature will always use whatever resources are available," said Seth Wollney, director of the Staten Island Museum camp. In the meantime, repair of the berm, which will re-establish the pond (there is a freshwater stream that feeds into it at the northern end), awaits approval by the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), in a bid to get FEMA moving, dismissed the current condition as "nothing more than a mud-filled hole." He is not alone in his dismay and disgust at the slow pace to remedy current conditions at the park, which borders Prince's Bay and Huguenot. The combination of freshwater and sea, beach and woodlands is central to the park's beauty. Neighbors of the pond and visitors to the park lament the absence of the swans and the opportunity to fish. They also, misguidedly, blame the pond for smelly conditions. However, the campers are not the only ones who have observed what a rich place a "mud hole" can be. Shore birds at Staten Island's Wolfe's Pond
  LOTS TO SEE Naturalists on Staten Island have pointed out that the breach of the berm, something that had happened routinely over hundreds, if not thousands, of years, is an opportunity to observe first hand, nature's immediate response to the devastation of a hurricane. Seeing the loss of the pond as a disaster is understandable, said Ed Johnson, director of science at the Staten Island Museum, "if you aren't really paying attention to what is going on." Far from a "mud hole" or environmental disaster, said Johnson, Wolfe's Pond is "just different; a change in the environment due to natural forces; in this case, a hurricane." After the breach occurred, wading birds such as great blue herons, great egrets, snowy egrets and little blue herons swooped in to devour the exposed fish and small invertebrates that were suddenly in great supply. An immature bald eagle was sighted among the opportunistic predators. With the fall migration, shore birds, which travel thousands of miles for nesting, used the new territory in higher numbers for resting and recharging, something noticed and appreciated by local birders. JUST DIFFERENT AN ANOMALY FOR YEARSWolfe's Pond is perhaps the most peculiarly located body of fresh water on Staten Island. Along one portion, a mere neck of land, less than 50 yards across at the narrowest point, separates the body of fresh water from the salt water of the ocean. An outlet at one end forms a creek. This flows into the Raritan Bay, but almost every spring, a storm comes along that swells the pond until it overflows its banks and rushes out by the shortest route to become one with the sea. At the other end, something less than half a mile away, the pond extends up from the shore, and on its westerly bank, there are farm lands, a small pasture, and the barn yard of a dairy. SOURCE: Howard H. Cleaves, "Two Seasons Photography Work with Sandpipers at Wolfe's Pond," Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences (Staten Island Museum), 1910 Anthony Ciancimino was one, who recorded his sightings, a Western sandpiper his most prized, with photographs. He counted 15 species of shorebirds during the spring migration and is looking forward to the fall."So really it should not be referred to as a mud hole because it may look like one or just because it looks less attractive than a pond does. It is just another habitat that some bird species need," said the Pleasant Plains teen.On a visit to the area on Sunday, some 30 great egrets could be seen wading near the mouth of the pond during high tide while a lone snowy egret entertained itself further up-water where it is more of a stream.A closer look revealed killdeer and semi-palmated sandpipers scooting along on their stick legs.Where some species thrived, others perished."When Wolfe's Pond drained, it was a calamity for the fish, frogs and turtles living in the pond. Most, but not all, perished. The stronger, more competitive, survived in the upper marshes and eventually these individuals will repopulate a restored pond," said Cliff Hagen, president of Protectors of Pine Oak Woods.Johnson reports seeing a good number of turtles, snappers, painted turtles, and red-eared sliders.Although no one is lobbying for the alternative, Hagen is has mixed feelings about it. "Eventually, if the pond is not restored, the flora and fauna will creep from the beach inward creating a brackish water habitat replete with its own amazing collection of birds, blooms and butterflies," he said.
  Wolfe's Pond Park on Staten Island: High and low tide
  Where the freshwater Wolfe's Pond once stood, the tide flows freely in and out, when Tropical Storm Irene came through in August 2011, the pressure from the flood waters broke the berm that separates the pond and bay. A recent inundation of seaweed and mussels created a stench; however, it was unrelated to the emptying of the pond.
  That process is already happening, points out Wollney, with clumps of American beachgrass taking hold. The in-between stage is neither pond nor marshy estuary, and for most people, it looks downright ugly. Old tires, a wheel barrow, pipes from a car, old jars and bottles are also exposed when the tide is out.SADDENED Neighbors of the pond on Holton Avenue are bereft with the loss of the serene pond."It's very sad to see it muddy," said Lauren Franza who lives across the street. The mother of three young children, her family loved watching the swans and seeing the babies in the spring. People were always picnicking and fishing she said.Neighbors maintain the area along the edge. They plant flowers and one mows the grass in a large clearing for access to the pond."I really hope they fix it. It smells so horrendous," Mrs. Franza said on Thursday after the record high temperatures last week. She said the smell and the flies kept them inside with doors and windows shut tight.Since this is the first summer in recent times that the pond has been drained, she, along with a number of others who contacted the Advance about a nauseating stench, presumed the conditions in the pond area were to blame.However, Mrs. Franza also mentioned an inundation of mussels which was the real culprit, not in the pond area, but on the beach. They were piled up like coffee beans. Along with seaweed, they bake in the sun, and the aroma is the opposite of appetizing.The phenomenon happens periodically when tides and storms conspire to wash the shellfish up on land.MUST COPE On Sunday, the main parking lot at Wolfe's Pond Park was full, the picnic tables laden with food, barbecues smoking and the air full of the sounds of many accents, Spanish and Russian among them. For some, it was the first visit since the storm and they couldn't get over the change.Brooklyn residents Irina Yasinska and Maria Kot explored along the path on the perimeter of the pond with their children. They were stunned at the change and missed the swans and ducks."I like to explore. I always wanted to go into the woods," said Dasha Kot, 9, who had spotted a bird. She and Christina, 8, and Vlad, 2 1/2, Ms. Yasinka's children, were making the most of their walk.Louis Petillo of Dongan Hills and his ex-wife Cathy Petillo of Great Kills were enjoying a stroll in the park, something they often do. They lamented the loss of the pond, but the longer Ms. Petillo stood there, the more she noticed – things like the yellow slippers of the wading snowy egret and the killdeer, one of the shore birds running on the mud flat."I have never seen that bird before," she said. Although it may not have made up for the absence of the pond, she seemed pleased with the sighting."It is far from a worthless mud hole in its present state; it is an important wildlife resource. Would I like to see the berm restored and for Wolfe's to become a pond again? Yes, I would. But it should not be portrayed as some kind of environmental disaster, because, quite frankly, it isn't," concluded Johnson.