Annual Audubon Bird Count

With Twelve Days of Christmas nearing and “a partridge in a pear tree” somewhere…. 

I remind myself to help promote the 114th  Annual Christmas Bird Count supported here on Island by the Henry Ferguson Museum December 28th.

This Citizen Science Survey encourages the Naturalist in all of us as we can help volunteer to bridge Local Traditional Knowledge (LTK) with Science and collect data that will help document worldwide species habitat and migratory trends.

I feel it is being part of that “Neighborhood Wildlife Watch” idea that embraces Fishers Island, becomes familiar with its unique environment, shares pertinent information, and ultimately better protects and conserves for the future.

So, if you’re looking to gift a bit more than “5 golden rings” this year…

Lookouts at Hungry Point, Dock Beach, and The Peninsula all have diverse species in numbers AND quite a few flying solo:

Canada geese, Common Eider, Cormorant, Merganser, Bufflehead, Brant, Swan, Blue Heron, Kingfisher, Loon …

Don’t forget to be still and listen too. You’ll hear Pheasant, Jays, Cardinal, Crow, Catbird, Chickadee-dee-dee and who knows maybe even that partridge!

President’s Message: 2013

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The Fishers Island Conservancy has had another wonderfully busy year. The Conservancy increased funding for our existing programs and took on new responsibilities with dedicated vigor, all the while maintaining our mission and promise to protect and enhance the natural environment of Fishers Island.

We have continued to grow and expand in our core competencies such as mosquito control, water testing, invasive plant education, and outreach within the Long Island Sound Community. Newer initiatives, such as the Parade Ground Habitat restoration project, are a model of Conservancy success.

Habitat Restoration: Started just three years ago, the grassland restoration project now includes over 50 acres of native cool and warm season grasses. Paths have been mowed and benches have been set out for viewing the abundant bird and insect life. To watch a Northern Harrier float three feet off the ground in pursuit of prey is truly a site to behold. At the same time, we have fought and appear to be winning the battle against invasive Japanese knotweed and kudzu. Just a few short years ago, it looked like the entire Parade Grounds could be lost to these unwelcome guests. Now look for bird boxes this coming spring as we attempt to lure back the likes of the Eastern Bluebird, Bobolink and Meadowlark. Parade Ground birding has never been better.

Island Naturalist and Island Sentinels: Grants by the Conservancy continue to fund the work of Island Naturalist Justine Kibbe, and a new grant this year initiated the Island Sentinels program with students from the Fishers Island School. Justine, with help this summer from the Sentinels, gathers valuable data and observations at over a dozen sites on the island. Data on weather readings, as well as observations of flora and fauna, help us to understand our precious environment and what we should be doing to help preserve and protect it. Your support enabled the Conservancy to fund this exciting partnership with the Community Center and the FI School. Click here to learn more from one of the first Sentinels: FI School senior, Olivia Backhaus.

Otter Research: Another Conservancy grant brought a team of researchers to the Island to confirm the existence of a healthy River Otter population. Who knew? There are plans in the works to bring more scientists on island to help us find and catalog the island’s natural assets.

Advocacy and Outreach: While we are an island, we are not alone. The Fishers Island Conservancy continues to reach out to other similar and like-minded organizations who share our concerns and views on the natural world around us. We have the responsibility to learn what is going on in the waters surrounding us and how it could impact our environment. Dredging, dumping and run off from the lands that make up the Long Island Sound watershed could have great consequences for Fishers Island, so it is imperative that we, as the Conservancy, stay on top of these issues.

The Fishers Island Conservancy is a small group of volunteers dedicated to the well-being of the natural environment of Fishers Island. As the Conservancy closes another ambitious and busy year, we look forward to meeting the challenges that may confront our little island oasis. Please consider a generous gift to the Fishers Island Conservancy. A gift to the Conservancy is a gift to Fishers Island, a truly special place that deserves our care and support.

 

Cheers and thanks.

Tom Sargent
President, Fishers Island Conservancy

Ripple Reflect

Hay Harbor/ 2:41pm/ Cold Winds W 15 G22mph/ Incoming Tide/Ocean Temp 44

Winds are sharp

Desolate now

Tides are arriving

Before any snow

Grackle sees own reflection in the sands

We both take flight and head back

To Land

Thank The Giver

For the nature of Nature

An ever Presence

So simple

Light

Granting such Beauty

Giving Thanks on sight.

 

Creator’s Custom Camouflage

Plumage protects in branch and thicket

Pelage conceals upon rock

Cartilage safeguards among sands

Behold.

 

Saving Sea Meadows

I counted 75 Harbor seals on a day filled with high winds and chop.

  I am standing on a hillside, “clicking” as fast as I can the clumps of seals, on clumps of rocks. Then a recount looking for bobbing heads.

With winter approaching, tidal zones are sometimes extremely low- giving me a grander view of the state of health of surrounding eel grass ecosystems.

The opportunity to observe smaller meadows surrounding Fishers Island has sparked a personal interest for me in the Seagrass Research & Restoration Initiative for Southern NY, and New England which today has lost 65% of area eelgrass meadows.

For decades, these thick carpets of swaying grass that once provided critical habitat for Flounder, Scallops, and Clam have degraded.

Research Science supported by NOAA and coordinating with organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, has conducted lab analysis of eel grass from 10 locations stretching between Long Island and Cape Cod.

While I am still learning about the specific findings of the study-the need to reduce nitrogen pollution was highlighted to protect the resilient eel grass.

Recently, I shared these photos with The Nature Conservancy in Long Island noting how diverse a feeding ground this is ….even greener pasture for a Sea Horse sighted last summer!

 

Make Tracks

One Track:

Cock Pheasant find hen.

Crow find clam cache.

Stay on Track:

Snow Fence keeps back

Dune & Wave

Keep Track:

Beach Grass habitat

Converge

Conserve.

Lone Sea Star

Asterias:

When I turn back the pages of my "rite in rain" notebook to early summer 2011 on Fishers Island, I was jotting observations that had me realize I had not seen so many starfish washed ashore-ever.

As I walked both Isabella & South Beaches, I would tally up to 20-40 of these delicate sea creatures.

Recently I read that researchers of invertebrate at Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. did indeed note a population explosion of starfish during the same 2011 time frame.

Last November on Chocomount I noted just one Asterias sea star in a shallow tidal pool

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This past summer, University scientists in nearby Rhode Island observed so few starfish between New Jersey and Maine that they were asking local divers to “let them know if ANY starfish population existed that might help with area research.”

A massive die off is noticed on our East Coast.

This November, Race Point at twilight gifted me and my field notes with this lone star.

Mantis Mantra

I met a Mantis along the Path.

It artfully displayed perfect mimicry of dried grass stems and fallen leaves.

Hidden from whirling bicycle spokes

Dressed in the finest camo

Aiming its mantic antennae

I knelt to hear a hissing mantra:

“Let us prey”