Lemon Creek natural area

The 23-acre Lemon Creek natural area contains the largest and most intact salt marsh on Staten Island's south shore. The marsh is contiguous with a larger expanse of state-owned marsh north of Hylan Boulevard. Steep forested slopes rise on either side of the marsh. The park includes a brackish pond only 100 feet from Raritan Bay and is adjacent to one of only a few purple martin (Progne subis) colonies in New York City. These gregarious birds nest in apartment-house-style structures maintained by volunteers.

Lemon Creek is fed by a watershed that begins 2.5 miles from the creek. The main source is a small freshwater pond near Woodrow Road, known as Porzio's Pond. The water travels over and under ground to Lemon Creek, which carries it down to Prince's Bay, and ultimately to Raritan Bay. The red clay bluffs in the park, reaching 85 feet above Prince's Bay at Mt. Loretto, are part of the Harbor Hill terminal moraine. A glacier that receded approximately 15,000 years ago created these bluffs, which are the tallest ocean-facing cliffs in New York State.

Lemon Creek Park's waterfront area provides spawning grounds for many species of fish and shellfish. Although clamming is now prohibited due to human health concerns, the Lemon Creek fishing pier at the foot of Sharrott Avenue offers the opportunity to cast a line and catch summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus), striped bass (Morone saxatilis), bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix), weakfish (Cynoscion regalis), and others. Every May and June, horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) emerge from the Raritan Bay onto the beaches in Lemon Creek Park. Female horseshoe crabs arrive on the beaches to lay their eggs, with their male counterparts in tow: males grasp onto the back of the female's shell using their specially adapted, hooked legs, sometimes two, three, or four males onto one female. When they arrive on the beach, female horseshoe crabs dig a hole in the sand and lay up to 20,000 tiny olive-green eggs inside. The males then rush to be the first to fertilize.