It is no secret that our salt marshes are some of our richest, biologically diverse habitats teeming with wonderful plant and animal life, from the microscopic, to worms, crustaceans, birds, mammals, plants and more.

And yet we have not always been kind to salt marsh habitats, often regarding them as "wastelands" to be filled with industrial trash. Thankfully, attitudes have changed but sadly, our present salt marsh habitats, like Maplewood's, are but a fraction of their former selves.

Bathed by daily tidal water, and lashed by winter storm waves at other times, plants and animals living here must be adapted for life in "pickle juice.'' There are remarkable plants like glasswort (Salicornia), whose fleshy stalks have given it the name "sea asparagus." Goose tongue (a plantain), sedges, grasses and the beautiful golden flowered gumweed are some other plants that flourish here. Sea watch (Angelica) deserves special mention, not only because of its rarity on the North Shore, but also because it is the larval food of the lovely anise swallowtail butterfly. Efforts are being made by the Wild Bird Trust's Dick Beard to bring it back from extirpation on the North Shore (see details about July's special guided walk and butterfly event).

It is the green plants that form the foundations of food chains in the marsh which not only includes the higher plants, but algae as well -- all are vital to the well-being of the habitats.

An interesting effect happens over Maplewood's salt marsh each mid-summer -- patches of bright orange colour appears over the plants, from a parasitic plant called dodder, or the "devils innards." At Maplewood it is parasitic on sea asparagus.

Bird life at Maplewood's salt marsh varies greatly with the seasons. In summer numbers of swallows (violet-green, tree, barn, Northern rough-winged, cliff and possibly bank -- six swallows species, and that doesn't include the purple martins that come to hawk dragonflies that patrol the air.

And if there is a low cloud ceiling, watch for Vaux's and/or black swifts. Nearby flowers attract hummingbirds -- check for two species: Anna's and Rufous. You might also see common nighthawks, especially on warm summer evenings if there is a good insect hatch, like termites.

Shorebirds usually visible in summer include the killdeer (a plover), and the spotted sandpiper (spotty), but there could also be early migrants like Western and pectoral sandpipers, lesser and greater yellowlegs, or dowitchers.

Waterfowl also frequent the salt marsh at certain times, especially dabblers like green-winged teal, mallard, Northern pintail and American wigeon. A favourite food of these ducks is sea lettuce, a type of seaweed (Ulva).

Raptors seen hunting the marsh can include the bald eagle, Cooper's hawk and red-tailed hawk. The merlin, a small falcon, like the purple martin, also has a taste for dragonflies.

Mammal life of the marsh ranges from small rodents to deer, raccoons, coyotes, weasels and river otters.

Deer at Maplewood are called black-tails, a sub-species of the mule deer. Occasionally, a black bear might ramble through in search of tasty morsels. Otters come, of course, to dine on fish along with other fishers like herons, kingfishers and the osprey.

Invertebrates are harder to appreciate, since animals like crabs, worms and molluscs are largely hidden from our sight - but they are all vital links in the food webs, and health of the marsh.

Maplewood's salt marsh is a wonderful world alive with fascinating plants and animal life -- a vulnerable habitat that cannot take much human disturbance, which means visitors are not permitted into the area except on one special day. A viewing area has now been constructed at the salt marsh's edge giving visitors an excellent view in all directions.

Please join us this Saturday, July 10, at 10 a.m. for a special guided walk at Maplewood's Salt Marsh. Maybe we can find the 'devil's innards.'

Al Grass is a naturalist with Wild Bird Trust of British Columbia, which sponsors free walks at Maplewood Flat Conservation Area on the second Saturday of each month. Meet at Maplewood Flats, 2645 Dollarton Hwy., two kilometres east of the Iron Workers Second Narrows Memorial Crossing. Walks will go rain or shine. For details, visit www.wildbirdtrust.org.