The Oyster Bay waterfront is an area of wonderful restorative beauty. Visiting the harbor on a cold Sunday morning we watched the changing scene.

Sitting in the sand, away from the flock, about 10 sea gulls sunned themselves, looking like an advanced warning system. We assumed if we got out of the car and began walking down toward them, the gulls would send up an alarm to the flock sitting on the ice that remained in the Beekman cove. Ice covered much of the area out to West Shore Road where frozen waves were immortalized until the next thaw. Some of the gulls were in the outfall area of Mill Pond. They seemed to take turns, flying back and forth to splash and feed in the warmer tidal water.

Looking at the scene, we noticed that the concrete sea wall that created the bulkhead of the Jakobson Shipyard was gone. Gone were the rusty stains and high tide markings in greens and black. Sitting on the field were the earth moving machines that took down the wall's concrete slabs.

NYS Senator Carl Marcellino's Communication Director Kathy Wilson said, "The bulkhead's 113-day contract began on Jan. 17, but then had added into the contract a stop of four weeks because of the weather. The bulkhead should be finished in June. In the spring the Request For Proposals will go out for the restoration of building J."

As we watched the bay water recede small islands of land stood out. The Mill Pond waters formed two streams that burbled their way over rocks, channeled into pebble-lined rivulets heading for the bay and the ocean.

The water was coming from the area that local children used to call "the Eel Creek" because of the small eels they would see swimming there.

After the new sea wall is constructed, the Western Waterfront plan says that the area it borders will be planted with beach grasses to create a healthy habitat for sea creatures and to become a filter to purify the water of the Mill Pond as it heads for the bay.

It's a fascinating and important area. We recently took a photo of the Mill Pond stream. It is described in the Friends of the Bay press release about the new Coalition to Save the Mill Pond.

It says, "Downstream of the Mill Pond, an unnamed, unmapped tributary enters the mainstem between the access road to Beekman Beach and the LIRR tracks. This tributary holds a spawning population of brook trout, the only known spawning population of brook trout in Nassau County."

(That is amazing. We only knew about the eels.)

The picture on our front page this week shows the Phragmites growing along the bank of the tributary. It is not a native species, but an invasive plant. You should see cattails growing there. We remember they were there when we first visited the area about 35 years ago. Restoring the native species is an important part of keeping the bay healthy.

We are strongly in favor of preserving Mill Pond. Its health will be reflected in the health of the bay. It is of prime importance to this area that we do whatever is needed to keep this pristine waterfront intact.

The harbor is there for recreation, for people to learn and enjoy.

That Sunday, we watched a little family who came to enjoy the beach. They sat on the bench platform and began to toss crumbs to the gulls. Some of the gulls formed what looked like a concert audience gathered to see what was happening. Gulls were coming and going. They always have places to go, things to visit. The toddler called out "Where are you going birds? Why are you leaving?" The birds didn't answer, they were leaping up to catch the crumbs, and others were returning to the flock with information about the bounty.

We must be vigilant to preserve that quiet beauty of the harbor area. Whatever it takes, it is important we do it. It would be awful to one day wake up and have to say "We should have done something to preserve the harbor." Go down to the waterfront and make sure you truly appreciate what is there for you, your children and with enough effort, your children's children.

-DFK