Spatterdock, wild rice and invasive plants such as purple loosestrife and common reed also grow in North Bay and provide food and nesting opportunities for other species. In the winter ice scours the wetlands and shorelines. The dead cattail stalks, wild rice, spatterdock, pockerel weed and other marsh plants are swept under water where they decay and add nutrients to the Hudson River food web. Occasionally bald eagles scavenge water around the bays. As soon as the ice is out, kingfish and megansers return to fish in the open waters.
Spring brings new life to the bays.
Migrating ducks, shorebirds, and ospreys feed and rest in the bays before continuing their flight north. American toads, spotted salamanders, and green frogs breed in shallow pools on Cruger Island. Bright yellow blossoms of marsh marigolds brighten the swampy areas. In early summer snapping turtles leave tidal creeks to lay eggs in dry soils adjacent to the marsh. Noisy splashes signal carp spawning in the bays.