Musquash Marshes - bone china mug

6 July 2013 finds me holding up my skirt to wade into the saltmarsh of the Musquash Estuary in search of the best spot for a painting. Crossing the dry thatch of the Broadleaf Cattails, I feel for firmer footing through the wetter bed of grass, sedges and rushes, and head for the bank of the red clay channel for a view toward the landmark Norway Spruces in the forest that lines the horizon. From the old schoolhouse across the road, this channel is only a faint groove in the uninterrupted green of vast marshes. The Musquash Estuary is considered a "fully functional estuary", complete with a thriving and diverse community of salt marsh plants and invertebrates, a rich source of food for fish and fowl. Fred, who has studied both native and invasive Phragmites reeds, says that the message to New Brunswickers is “Be scared, be very scared!” If this marsh were in southern New England, or along the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in Quebec, 3-4 meter tall invasive Reeds would dominate, reducing its flora to an alien monoculture.