Battle Creek Cypress Swamp
Encyclopedia
Battle Creek Cypress Swamp | |
 The Battle Creek Cypress Swamp, Maryland, in spring | |
| Designation | U.S. National Natural Landmark National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmark program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only natural areas program of national scope that identifies and recognizes the best examples of biological and geological features in... |
| Location | Calvert County, Maryland Calvert County, Maryland Calvert County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. It occupies the Calvert Peninsula which is bordered on the east by the Chesapeake Bay and on the west by the Patuxent River. Calvert County is part of the Southern Maryland region. Calvert County's residents are among the highest... |
| Nearest City City A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S... | Prince Frederick, Maryland Prince Frederick, Maryland Prince Frederick is a census-designated place in Calvert County, Maryland, United States, not to be confused with the incorporated, and much larger, city of Frederick some to the northwest in Frederick County... |
| Area Area Area is a quantity that expresses the extent of a two-dimensional surface or shape in the plane. Area can be understood as the amount of material with a given thickness that would be necessary to fashion a model of the shape, or the amount of paint necessary to cover the surface with a single coat... | About 100 acres About 40 ha |
| Date of Establishment | April, 1965 |
| Owner(s) | Private |
Battle Creek Cypress Swamp (BCCS) is a forested wetland near Prince Frederick
Prince Frederick, Maryland
Prince Frederick is a census-designated place in Calvert County, Maryland, United States, not to be confused with the incorporated, and much larger, city of Frederick some to the northwest in Frederick County...
in Calvert County, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, USA. It is one of the northernmost sites of naturally occurring bald cypress (Taxodium distichum
Taxodium distichum
Taxodium distichum is a species of conifer native to the southeastern United States.-Characteristics:...
) trees in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, and the only large stand of the trees on the western shore of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. In 1965, the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
designated the BCCS a National Natural Landmark
National Natural Landmark
The National Natural Landmark program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only natural areas program of national scope that identifies and recognizes the best examples of biological and geological features in...
.
The BCCS Sanctuary
The Nature ConservancyThe Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive....
purchased the wetland, which became the "Battle Creek Cypress Swamp Sanctuary", in 1957. It was the Conservancy's first preserve in Maryland and encompasses 100 acres (about 1% of the 10060 acres (40.7 km²) watershed of Battle Creek). A portion of it is now open as a public park with a nature center and quarter-mile boardwalk
Boardwalk
A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments....
through the swamp. Since 1977, the preserve has been leased to Calvert County and operated as a county park.
Natural history
CypressCupressaceae
The Cupressaceae or cypress family is a conifer family with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27 to 30 genera , which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130-140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdioecious or dioecious trees and shrubs from 1-116 m tall...
es, such as the bald cypress, and their relatives once covered much of the northern temperate zone. It is thought that these trees disappeared from the BCCS area during the most recent Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
glaciation ("Ice Age"), but then reappeared around 5,000 to 10,000 years ago as the climate warmed.
In addition to the cypress, the Sanctuary protects many songbird
Songbird
A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds . Another name that is sometimes seen as scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin oscen, "a songbird"...
s (prothonotary warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
The Prothonotary Warbler is a small songbird of the New World warbler family. It is the only member of the genus Protonotaria....
, waterthrush
Northern Waterthrush
The Northern Waterthrush is one of the larger New World warblers. It breeds in the northern part of North America in Canada, and in the northern United States, . This bird is migratory, wintering in Central America, the West Indies, and Florida; also Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador...
) , frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
s (green frog
Green frog
The Green Frog is a species of frog native to the eastern half of the United States and Canada. There are two subspecies—the Bronze Frog and the Northern Green Frog.-Description:...
, spring peeper
Spring Peeper
The Spring Peeper is a small chorus frog widespread throughout the eastern USA and Canada.-Subspecies:There are two subspecies of the Spring Peeper, the Northern and the Southern Spring Peeper . The Northern is similar to the Southern except for a strong dark marking on the Southern frog's belly...
) and several wildflower species (cardinal flower, jack-in-the-pulpit). Skunk cabbage
Eastern Skunk Cabbage
Eastern Skunk Cabbage, Clumpfoot Cabbage, Foetid Pothos, Meadow Cabbage, Polecat Weed, Skunk Cabbage, or Swamp Cabbage , commonly known as simply Skunk Cabbage, is a low growing, foul smelling plant that prefers wetlands...
s emerge early each spring.