At Hooverness

Armstrong’s “Hooverness” on November 8: My first travels in the Conservancy car-winds are strong. I have not been back to survey since “Sandy”. There is more driftwood debris and trash than ever here. I have noted that of the few sites observed on the north side of Fishers, this beach manages to attract the most diverse trash debris for such a small beach.

The car battery dies but thankfully Aaron Rice from FIDCO happens around the bend and rescues me with a jump start. 

Dock Beach Extra Sandy

6:55am Wednesday Nov 7: Due for a Nor’Easter today. My dock site near Mobile station in West Harbor has been pulled up since the Hurricane. I will broaden survey over to Dock Beach. Two raccoons scurry in front of my bike on my way home

Silver Eel Pond back to business

November 6: It was a damp 27 degrees this morning. Silver Eel Pond is back to business as usual with the ferry Race Rock’s engine humming and cars lined up. Wildlife is scarce with this routine hub of activity. Plastic debris is plentiful now washed in from “Sandy” and wrapped around the inner harbor.  

Tons of Driftwood on Isabella Beach

Monday November 5: Isabella Beach close to 3:00pm: Dozens of migrating Robins swoop among the last of the berry bushes as the Cardinals, Chickadees and Jays arrive in this neighborhood.  There is hardly a wavelet on this peaceful day. I take a long look at remnants of Hurricane “Sandy”. There is tons of driftwood. Huge trees and trunks, mangled roots and limbs, telephone poles, pilings and shredded docks line the upper most part of Isabella. There is a gigantic assortment of rubbish from A-Z. Shotgun shells, treated wood frames, plastic toys (doll appendages on every shore!) cigarette lighters, tires, fencing, plastic flower pots, basket ball, tennis balls, golf balls, shoes…..No cactus remains here, plenty of pine cones.

Beach Cactus

Sunday November 4 @11:00 this morning I rode  my bicycle up to the Big Club. The golf course is closed now and hunting for pheasants is in progress. I hear shots sounding and note both pheasant and coyote tracks on the beach. The remains of cactus plants are evident here as well as on  other Southerly facing sites-except for Isabella. I have asked about this unusual find –I am told the plants are found in Georgia and the Carolinas.

Baby Sand Dollars have continued to grow larger-I find a larger specimen hidden in the white sands.

I travel farther up Island and climb down on the South shore of boulders. The water is completely calm and flat and I am looking for spouts of passing whales. A large seal bobs up and down spying at me. I am assuming because of its almost 7 ft. length and horse shaped head it is a Gray seal. He is just as curious as I am and for 20 minutes dives and returns to the surface always keeping an eye on me. I can hear his exhale. It is just so still today, hardly a ripple. I spot a Loon as I am leaving-a lonely song follows me.

 

New Beachscape at Hungry Point

Saturday November 3: Hungry Point, my first look at the Island’s northern side since “Sandy” I think this site is the most diverse and active for my wildlife viewing. There is still enough sand area left that I can make out raccoon tracks heading inland. Another “new” beachscape as the shrubbery has been up rooted or shoved back.

Chocomount Debris Field

Friday November 2: Late afternoon on Chocomount Beach. There is a dramatic change in the topography here. The debris field is not as “heavy” with trash accumulation as seen on South Beach. I do note the trash has been shoved back as far as across the pond on the western tip. Mounds of rocks minus ANY sand make my favorite spots unrecognizable.

Race Point Road to Nowhere Now

Thursday November 1: It is late morning and I have trekked down the once dirt road that leads to Race Rock (Point).The road is blocked with a “CLOSED sign now, I have a tough time getting through even riding on my bike. Like most of the circumference of the Island, it looks as though topography of beaches has shifted dramatically-here it has jumped onto the airport runway. The Ocean’s ferocity poured onto the dirt road access. The marine debris field is enormous, loaded with huge logs and shredded tree limbs, trees, telephone poles, and ripped docks. I am swamped in eel grass and sink with each step. There is trash of all types and from who knows where. My senses are shocked by the foreign seascape in front of me.  A mountain of rocks and sand has been shoved down the runway where race Point “broke down” and collapsed during the storm. I do note cactus here in the tide line and more than a few “treasures” or “ another man’s trash” perhaps from the old Fort Wright dumping station.

South Beach post-Sandy

My senses are a bit overwhelmed at the enormity of change that has occurred on the beaches of Fishers Island during the aftermath of this hurricane. Mostly because I have been out and about exploring and monitoring them weekly (sometimes daily) over the last year and a half. Like someone ferociously shook the “Etch o Sketch” picture…. 

South Beach @ 1:30pm -2:45pm: I am noting that in the past it normally took a half hour or so to walk and monitor this beach site. This afternoon I have spent over an hour just surveying the enormous mass of the debris field.  I note tons of trash, lumber, and seaweed. There is an endless mass of tiny plastic particles and Styrofoam. Plastic everything from cigar holders to tampon applicators, bottles to kid’s toys and lawn furniture, crib toys, shoes, highway signage, commercial fishing gear, tires from tractors and cars, an ice machine! Hundreds of golf balls, even interestingly enough- cactus plant remains along the tidal line. I spot familiar coyote tracks along with the 4 neighborhood crows. There is hardly a breeze today. Quiet.

Hay Harbor post-Sandy

Hay Harbor @ 4:45pm: The tide is low and there is a calm breeze over the Island. I notice that part of the old dock has been uplifted and washed away-its foundation visible. The tidal line and debris stretches towards the lower parking lot. While there appears to be drastic change in the coastal topography for this season, I sense the wildlife community has taken “Sandy” all in stride…2 Blue Herons continue to argue for their territorial rights with the Cormorant flock out on the rock “clumps”. A lone Coyote leaves tracks along the inner harbor sands, the ferry (back on schedule) heads for New London