Numbers reach tens of thousands per cubic meter of water. The marsh plants also respond to longer days. In March, everything is drab and brown stubble, with only a little green showing at the base of the stalks. By April though, longer green shoots start to appear, and broad-leaved plants like arrow arum and yellow pond lily begin to take shape. May. Though they do not play significant roles in the creek waters they are delights to our eyes.
Mammals become more active.
Otters, who have been working hard for few fish all winter, find their food much more abundant, as do raccoons, who have been picking at anything they can find. Tender shoots of marsh plants mean new food for muskrats, and new growth on creekside shrubs provides the same for beavers. As spring progresses, other animals move into the upper rivers. In April white perch make their spawning runs, and their cousins the rockfish follow them , as do shad and herring. Like the yellow perch, all these species have been experiencing spawning difficulties, so Bay scientists and state fishery personnel watch them closely each year.