Parade Grounds, Fishers Island.
Monarch Caterpillar feeding on milkweed, getting ready to pupate.
Field Note, From the Field by Justine Kibbe, July 16, 2018
Wonderful news for our Island!
Marked increase in observations of least terns this summer. Thank you to the Nature Conservancy Long Island for new informative signage near least tern breeding activity in a unique critical habitat.
Please tread lightly.
Stewardship is as Stewardship does.
Least terns are returning to Fishers Island.
Field Note, From the Field by Justine Kibbe, July 12, 2018
This Evening, Hay Harbor.
Grateful on Fishers Island: Thank you Fishers Island Conservancy!
The Island Sentinel Program, in its 6th year.
Helping me to share Local. Traditional. Knowledge. with generations to come.
So Proud of my 2018 Tribe:
Wilson & Gardner Thors, with Marc Rosenberg monitoring Eel Grass meadows and wildlife trends.
Stewardship is as Stewardship does.
Field Note, From the Field by Justine Kibbe, July 16, 2018
Parade Grounds.
Help Fishers Island
Help Monarch butterflies
To help themselves…
Keep ‘em coming back for more!
Field Note, From the Field by Justine Kibbe, July 6, 2018
Low tide: Hungry Point, Fishers Island.
Looking forward to working on the Fishers Island Seagrass Management Coalition with the Nature Conservancy Long Island & Henry L. Ferguson Museum.
Stewardship is as stewardship does.
Field Note, From the Field by Justine Kibbe, July 6, 2018
Helping Fishers Island Conservancy eradicate plant invasives and restore Critical Wildlife Habitat… Erick Jones, Nickia Gibson and Ben Sammarco from the University of Delaware. “The core invasive species we’re encountering are autumn olive, oriental bittersweet, and bush honeysuckle.”
PS. Incredibly tough work within 185 acres of historic Parade Grounds-inviting more insects, butterflies and migrating birds back each year.
– from The Field by Justine Kibbe June 26, 2018.
Great news!
I spied this Piping plover on Chocomount beach mid-week. Note the single black neck- band (breeding plumage) and sand colored camouflage. I was happy to see it feeding within the morning tidal wrack line; deposits from healthy Seagrass (Eel grass) meadows that surround Fishers Island. This shorebird species is listed as threatened in Connecticut and endangered in New York.
*Please be mindful about leashing dogs on beach walks during these nesting weeks.
– Field Note by Justine Kibbe May 10, 2018
Marine debris is very apparent clogged within harbors, coves, and washed ashore on all beaches of Fishers Island. While most items of trash are more obvious, I include here the most insidious…ribbon and balloon along with fishing line, which have become a constant observation in any daily data collected. This incoming debris is slowly but steadily becoming treacherous to sea life and shorebirds that “are” our Island. Here is recent culprit on Big Club beach & older photo of entangled bird on South beach.
– Field Note by Justine Kibbe May 2, 2018
Back in June 1975, our premier Island Naturalist Ed Horning published a small pamphlet: Fishers Island Birds. Its intention was to document the distribution and occurrence of bird species between a five year period from 1970-1975.
Nearly 40 years later I am savoring each moment of data that Ed jotted down.
Very much like monitoring Island sites today, the guide mentions familiar, local Island habitat, rare and common bird species documented seasonally, plus a map so any birder might expect to note an observation again.
A bit of natural history that back then recorded trends in species population data.
Take Ed Horning’s note on Common Eider: In 1970, sightings were rare and if they did occur it was only between December and January. But during the five years that Ed “monitored” habitat like Race Point, 6-10 ducks were sighted!
Imagine now, all these years later Common Eider are even more common!
In fact they congregate south side at Isabella and Chocomount and stretch north side now from the castle down….nearly all year!
Monitoring local Common Eider ducks in 2014, I noted they swam still long enough to see them change WITH the seasons.
I have been thinking a lot about Stewardship and just what principles it takes to effectively oversee and protect the Island we all cherish and value-enough to “preserve, enrich, and enhance our resources and surrounding waters”
Here,this morning I headed for the beach and trekked through Smyrna Dunes Park, navigating atop its elevated boardwalks. With the sun beating down on sandy slopes of these uplands, short shadows fall behind native Gopher Turtles emerging from burrows. I can hear the breaking of ocean waves.
At first glance, floating on their boards in glistening wetsuits, surfers remind me of seals rafting together off Alaskan shores I once monitored.
I am struck by the beauty of a pristine beachscape despite the prevalent human element.
As I step off the boardwalk I notice a weathered sign-a bit of rust, a letter or two faded but never the less a message put to GREAT use!
The Smyrna Surfari Club has “adopted” a mile of beach here.
Well known for 35 years, the Club not only historically sponsors competition, but provides scholarships and has awarded over $150,000 to senior high school graduates who love to surf!
Thank you Smyrna Surfari Club for reminding me that sharing the responsibility
in caring for our environment is the essential principle that establishes Stewardship.
Back home on Fishers Island I can envision “Adopt-A Beach” signs perhaps in discreet spots along South, Isabella, and Chocomount…representing maybe a softball team or two, a store, a family or three, even a graduating class, or sailing team.
Simply put….. Litter is “Bogus” and Stewardship is “Bodacious”!