View of the salt marsh on the Reed property, looking across the mouth of Hoadley Creek toward the Thimble Islands. (Photo by Peter Borgemeister) "I'm really happy to do it!" Mrs. Reed said to Beth Dock and me as we sat on her terrace overlooking the salt marsh and uplands she recently donated to the Land Trust. In return, Beth and I felt most grateful to her as we watched an abnormally high tide flow into Hoadley Creek and submerge the marsh grasses. The marsh was the scene of intense activity. A school of small fish roiled the water's surface. Gulls made tight circles around the school diving to the surface when food became available. Not to be outdone by gulls, two cormorants swam over and began diving. Snowy and great egrets lined the marsh's shore hunting in the shallows. The 14 acre donation is valuable for several reasons: 1. It includes the mouth of Hoadley Creek. The Branford Land Trust and the Guilford Land Conservation Trust together protect land across the Branford/Guilford border along this Creek forming the Hoadley Creek Preserve. 2. The Hoadley Creek Preserve's uplands and salt marsh complement the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Stewart A. McKinney Preserve that includes nearby Outer Island in the Thimbles and Falkner Island off the Guilford coast. 3. This gift protects twelve acres of unspoiled salt marsh and valuable border lands adjacent to uplands and salt marsh owned by Yale University and close to the Land Trust's Washburn and Partnership properties, forming an important coastal preserve. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated the Connecticut coast between Milford to Sachem's Head in Guilford as one of only 40 critical habitats between Cape Cod and New York harbor, making this thoughtful gift all the more important. Beth Dock, co-chair of the Land Trust's acquisition committee, commented, "This donation has added one of the most spectacular pieces of undeveloped shoreline in our town to Land Trust holdings. The salt meadow and upland islands at the confluence of Hoadley Creek, Stony Creek River and Long Island Sound in Branford will now be under our permanent protection, and the Land Trust is sincerely grateful to Barbara Reed for her most generous gift ".   (Click on map for larger view.)