Whistling Wings
and Pintail Duck Clubs (Area 4, Newark)
Lest
We Forget
Every
once in a while it's important to step back from our wetlands
struggles and remember just why our wetlands mean so much
to us; why we get so involved and committed. Wally Peters
has, for many years, been fighting to preserve the Whistling
Wings/Pintail Duck Club wetlands. Wally remembers these
wetlands from thirty years back and, in this letter he sent
us, movingly describes what a wonderful experience they provided.
"Some
time ago I shared with my friend Florence LaRiviere some lines
from an old text on the South Bay. The passages were
about the ducks, shorebirds, salmon, oysters, shrimp, etc.,
that were so very abundant in our unpolluted sloughs and Bay.
I now cannot
find the source of those passages. However, as I thought
about the subject, I thought, "I'll just tell Florence
what I saw on the South Bay just thirty years ago."
It is always an easy subject for me, only difficult to keep
it brief.
It is easy to
recall our one room hunting shack at Whistling Wings Duck
Club, surrounded by a carpet of pickleweed, saw grass and
other marsh grasses. At certain times of the year the
patches of orange dodder were brilliant. The surrounding
area was primarily farm land. We were located on Mowry
Slough and had a great view of Mission Peak.
The South Bay
I saw was home to thousands of migratory waterfowl as well
as countless other migratory shorebirds. Of course,
the marshes were the permanent home of mice, owls, hawks,
muskrats, reptiles, marsh wrens, etc.
I remember fall
days when pintail ducks would drop into our fresh water ponds
by the hundreds. And, of course, the teal, spoonies, widgeon,
gadwall, and an occasional canvasback were all present as
well.
In the spring,
the teal would nest in the grasses and the mallards on the
higher ground. We did not take our retriever dogs to
the marsh at this time of year as they would disturb the nests.
There was a small family of deer on the slough. We had
several badgers, and of course, raccons. When I see
the deer that live at Coyote Hills Park today, I catch myself
hoping that they may include the offspring of our local "duck
club deer herd."
It is difficult for me to comprehend
that the things I was priviledged to see and live among were
only a shadow of the days, just 250 years ago, of waterfowl-blackened
marshes and overwhelming natural resources - days when man
was sure there enough to last till the end of time."
[Ed. - with these kinds of memories, we cannot ever rest easy
until we have brought all these lands into the Refuge and
see them once again supporting hosts of waterfowl, shorebirds,
and all the creatures that once inhabited these lands.]
This entire
excerpt was published in the Save Wetlands Newsletter Issue
9 - 1990, and all that was stated then is of even more importance
today.
Click
here to learn about plans to develop these lands.
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