Upper Newport Bay
The Upper Newport Bay is a bay in Newport Beach in the US state of California . It is the inland part of the larger Newport Bay that connects to the Pacific Ocean .
The bay is designated as a nature reserve and therefore a retreat for numerous animal and plant species. At the northern head end, the canalized San Diego Creek flows into Upper Newport Bay.
geography
Geographical location
The road bridge of the Pacific Coast Highway forms the dividing line between Newport Bay and Upper Newport Bay to the south. The bay extends far inland to the city limits of Irvine . The districts of West Santa Ana Heights and Corona del Mar frame the area to the north and east. At the northern head end of the canalized San Diego Creek flows into Upper Newport Bay, which is surrounded by high cliffs here. Below the rocks there is a wetland that extends along the shore zones. The area covers almost four square kilometers and is under nature protection.
Flora and fauna
A diverse flora and fauna has developed in Upper Newport Bay .
The fauna of the bay is very species-rich , especially from an ornithological point of view. During the migration period, large flocks of birds rest in Upper Newport Bay. The wetlands serve as a rich source of food for the animals. During the winter months up to 56,000 birds can be found in the area, including the Hudson's harrier ( Circus hudsonius ), blackwood warbler ( Wilsonia pusilla ) and ruby-gold cockerel ( Regulus calendula ). Likewise are brown pelicans ( Pelecanus occidentalis ) and rare copies of the California gnat catcher ( Polioptila californica ) found. The land areas are populated by coyotes and raccoons , among others . Lizards can be found in the drier areas .
The flora of Upper Newport Bay is divided into different habitats. Salt plants are the most common plants on the banks . The wet bank zones are mainly overgrown by cattails and samphire . Willows and poplars can be found in the drier locations , while succulents tend to thrive on the cliffs .
history
The bright cliffs of Upper Newport Bay formed about 15 million years ago. The bay was formed by the prehistoric course of the Santa Ana River and hollowed out in the Pleistocene . The remains of mammoths , bison and giant sloths were found in the deposits on the bottom .
The earliest human settlers have been recorded for around 9,000 years. Gabrielino Indians arrived 2,000 years ago and ate the bay's fish and plants. Barely 50 years after the arrival of the Spanish missionaries at the end of the 18th century , all the indigenous people had disappeared.
Since then, cattle grazed on the hills of the surrounding countryside, which the Spaniards called Bolsa de Gengara (bay with high slopes). The ship Vaquero reached the bay in 1870, which at that time was given its current name Newport ("New Harbor"). James Irvine had bought the property six years earlier for 37 cents an acre . Salt was extracted from the wetlands between the 1930s and 1969 .
When a water ski facility was supposed to be built in the bay in the 1960s , the residents resisted. The state of California then placed an area of four square kilometers under nature conservation as the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve . The surrounding rocks were also designated as a nature reserve in 1989 as the Upper Newport Bay Nature Reserve .
Web links
- Information on the Upper Newport Bay (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Upper Newport Bay. OC Parks , accessed June 4, 2009 .
- ↑ Chamois Anderson: Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve. California Department of Fish and Game , accessed June 1, 2009 .
- ^ Upper Newport Bay Habitat Restoration. (No longer available online.) OC Parks , archived from the original on March 24, 2009 ; accessed on June 4, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c d Upper Newport Bay History. (No longer available online.) OC Parks , archived from the original on May 21, 2012 ; accessed on June 1, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Coordinates: 33 ° 38 ′ 32 " N , 117 ° 53 ′ 12" W.