Little River by Beginning with Habitat
This area includes the Little River, Sagadahoc Bay, the environs of Reid State Park, and nearly 700 acres of salt marsh. With little or no evidence of manmade ditches, this marsh could be one of the largest unditched marshes in midcoast Maine.
The upper part of the Sagadahoc Bay marsh has saltmarsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), but somewhat low-salinity conditions are suggested by the presence of creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera), wire rush (Juncus arcticus var. balticus), seaside crowfoot (Ranunculus cymbalaria), red fescue (Festuca rubra), and narrowleaved cattail (Typha angustifolia). Ditch-grass (Ruppia maritima) lives in the numerous natural pools or pannes. Southward toward Sagadahoc Bay, the creeks become larger and are lined densely with saltmarsh cordgrass. On the eastern side of Indian Point Road, toward the Little River salt marsh, is more high-quality marsh with patches of spike grass (Distichlis spicata). The surrounding uplands are forests of mixed pine and oak, with a few houses near the water.
At nearly 700 acres, Reid State Park supports a variety of intact natural communities, including uncommon pitch pine woodlands (about 20 acres in four separate patches) and dunegrasslands. Piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) and least terns (Sterna antillarum) have nested on the beach, and roseate terns (Sterna dougallii) use the area for feeding.
