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Characterized by beaches and dunes, tidal marshlands, swamp and upland forests, and a patchwork of agricultural lands, the landscape at Milford Neck offers natural beauty and biological diversity. This is where more than a million migratory shorebirds arrive each spring to feed on eggs laid by horseshoe crabs converging on Delaware Bay beaches, adding to an already impressive array of plants, amphibians, waterfowl, wading birds, small mammals, reptiles and fish.
One thing that makes Milford Neck stand out along the eastern seaboard it its forests. While many have been fragmented by agricultural activities, the landscape still contains the only remaining forested area greater than 1,000 acres on the entire coast of Delaware. The forest provides crucial habitat required by birds and other species that depend upon large tracts for migration, breeding and shelter.
To protect and build on what remains, the Conservancy has engaged in intensive and forward-thinking restoration at Milford Neck since 1998. Part of this work has included planting clusters of diverse vegetation and trees — including five varieties of oak, southern arrow wood, winterberry, persimmon, and tulip tree — in the form of habitat islands. These small patches of native habitat provide shelter from weather and predators for many species, and attract the birds that transport and deposit tree and shrub seeds needed to rapidly regenerate the forest. Much of this has been achieved through an ongoing partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF).
Size
2,801 acres
Location
Eastern Kent County, along the Delaware Bay
What’s At Stake
State-rare plant species, such as Cypress-swamp sedge and Carolina petunia. During spring, red knots and other birds arrive to feed on eggs deposited by the world's largest population of spawning horseshoe crabs. Sand dunes provide resting habitat and shelter for visiting shorebirds when not actively feeding. Black ducks, a species of particular conservation concern, represent one of many varieties of waterfowl inhabiting tidal marshes and freshwater wetlands. Throughout the year, river otters, wild turkeys, and green treefrogs — a rare species in Delaware — make their homes at Milford Neck. Habitat islands have begun welcoming migrant songbird species including Pine Warbler, Indigo Bunting, Blue Grosbeak, Common Yellowthroat, Eastern Bluebird and Yellow-breasted Chat, a species of special conservation concern.
Threats
Development, habitat fragmentation, non-native invasive vegetation
Milestones
Acquired in 1990 and began restoring former agricultural fields and other portions of the landscape into native coastal deciduous forest. In 1998, established the 10,000-acre Milford Neck Conservation Area with assistance from the Delaware Department of Fish & Wildlife and Delaware Wild Lands, Inc. During this time, the Conservancy also enrolled carefully selected farm fields in the USDA's Conservation Reserve Program. Since 1999, focused on restoring former farm fields and other portions of the landscape in the form of habitat islands, including as part of an ongoing partnership with NFWF in 2004, 2005 and again in 2008-2009.
Action
Under a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Delaware Bay Estuary Project, the Conservancy is reforesting 33 acres of fallow agricultural land and restoring 15 acres of freshwater wetlands at a site that is contiguous to another restoration another restoration project recently completed with assistance from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). The Conservancy’s volunteer Weed Team also locates, maps and controls non-native invasive weeds within the project area.
Partners
United States Fish and Wildlife Service's Delaware Bay Estuary Project, United States Department of Agriculture, the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation’s Delaware Estuary Watershed Grant Program, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Delaware Division of Soil and Water Conservation, Kent Conservation District, AstraZeneca, GreenWatch Institute, ERTHNXT, Gatewood, Inc., many volunteers.
Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photos © Harold E. Malde (Milford Neck Preserve); © Jeff Lepore (Horseshoe crabs); © Stephen Kirkpatrick (Milford Neck Preserve)
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