I was just doing my job.

Zipping to and fro, clocking endless miles repeatedly between West end at Race Point and the East end’s Big Club Beach,pedaling speedily past the Parade Ground at Fort Wright…

“Remember to put together that field note about invasive plant species”

I meditate on this thought-especially the “remember” part even with the heavy luscious scents I love but should learn to identify….

Treking by bicycle diligently and cautiously around the old Boroleum Factory across from Hay Harbor Golf Course…..

“Remember to SLOW down with the morning ferry’s truck traffic around this curve!”

“And don’t forget to look up the types of migrating hawks”. I see them swooping over the putting greens…

I reach my starting line at the Gate House, always waved on by gracious smiles, and I’m off!

“Remember to check on Osprey nests, remark on autumnal sights-the sky blues of Jays and Kingfishers, and  remember the sounds-chirping crickets, zipping dragonflies, look up tidal chart for Chocomount, pack clicker to count Hungry Point seals, photograph and document plastic debris covering area ponds, examine Mussels and Knotted Wrack at Hooverness, remember to slow down for tiny baby Snapping turtles finding their way and Praying Mantis sunning themselves….”

I’m coasting now down carved twists and turns hugging the Oyster Pond.

“Remember to STOP and smell the roses.”

“What?”

I tightly grip my hand brakes and hop off my bike and for the very first time stand quietly upon the newly erected Scenic Lookout.

I am grateful that simple sights fill me with awe (remember this).

A welcoming bench, two Swans with their three gorgeous ugly ducklings(cygnets)grazing on thick algae, an egret balancing on a rock, rows of oyster beds floating in symmetry,  tree leaves hanging so still you can only imagine that you see them changing hue right here- right now.

A large, heavy duty dump truck barrels by behind me, a window rolls down, motor revved, an unfamiliar face …

“What are you seeing?”

“You wouldn’t believe the size of this Blue Claw crab! Quick come look!”

The gigantic truck pulls over and stops with the same ease of putting a kickstand down.

Poking out from under the thick algae, there is a crab with size worth noting (remember to jot this down).

“Wow, look at that, that’s a beauty”.

“This is the first time I have stopped here!”I exclaim this like I can’t believe it, like it's history…..

“Me too”. The driver walks back to  the truck and drives off to his job.

I pedal standing up, continuing on the path with purpose.

“Remember to post a field note about being grateful today” myself reminds me.

For an Island, and a recreational path, a sturdy bench, sharing wonder with a stranger, a chattering Kingfisher…..

  Just for starters.

 

It all started with just one “peep”.

I was walking and monitoring the shore of South Beach, following a tiny shadow of a bird playing zig-zag tag with lapping waves.

As a kid I remember seeing many of these small shore birds darting about the surf around Island.

Not anymore.

So, I went back to school (in thought) and gave myself a homework assignment.

I know I have mentioned I don’t consider myself a “birder” but I can’t escape the fact that there are quite a few shore bird species on and along Fishers Island.

The Sandpiper for instance-there are 21 different types.

Narrow the area down to Long Island Sound, we might see 8 such types of these “waders” and “surfbirds”

My homework assignment got even tougher when I read that out of the “Sandpiper 8”there are “5 Peeps”-slang for the smallest North American Sandpipers……that I might observe on South Beach.

Holding steady my binoculars, squinting tightly without wobbling, then trying to focus the camera, I quickly snapped a few photos.

This tiny lone bird about the size of a sparrow became the subject of a few emails  with the Henry Ferguson Museum. I also compared my photos with different species noted on various websites.

No wonder birders believe that these 5 Peeps create more identification debates than the rest of the shore birds put together. Back and forth comparing my observations detailing plumage, bills, leg color……

Finally, I called it:

The Least Sandpiper.

The clues I thought were its yellowish legs that only this type Sandpiper has, and if I look ever so closely-the mere rounded slant at the end of its bill.

I haven’t spotted or heard another Peep since.

I did though give myself an A for effort.

Nature’s Design

Spider’s Domain

Bird’s Browser

Flies, hits..

Morning’s temporary Under Construction page.

Tree Swallows are back this summer’s end.

Skyward they soar and tumble in vast swarms while migrating and navigating southward along our Atlantic coast.

I observe flocks resting and roosting in grassy fields, bayberry scrub, and marsh along the Parade Ground shoreline and Hay Harbor golf course.

Subsisting on flying insects of all types, Swallows on the move inhabit these perfectly sheltered areas feeding on dragonflies, moths, butterflies, beetles, ants, bees, spiders-their menu goes on and on! During summer breeding months they even swoop back and forth to the beach for high calcium clam shells and fish bones.

From 1966 to 2010 New England saw the Tree Swallow population in serious decline. Perhaps there is too much managing and clearing of woodlands for these tree cavity dwellers.

Welcome back beautiful birds….

 

There are more sightings of helium balloon debris on and around Fishers Island then than I care to count,but I count them.

I see them entangled in shrubs or seaweed, deflated under coastal rocks, collapsed and buried under tidal sands, and bobbing eerily across both Island Sounds.

I used to be curious about their decorative messages or how far they had traveled.

I am not curious any more.

The endangered Leatherback Sea Turtle subsists largely on a jellyfish diet.

More and more of these sea turtles are mistaking floating helium balloon debris for jellyfish and fatally ingesting them.

In the forest a standing dead or dying tree is referred to as a Snag.
Also termed Coarse Woody Debris, I see a few of these areas off dirt roads and around Island trails.

Many species of birds can thrive in this critical habitat. Bare branches make for convenient look out. Decayed and hollow cavities provide a dark and safe nest. And for both birds great and small there is the convenient diet of insects that live off rotting bark and naturally recycled nutrients.

Actually, a dead tree can be a perfect “living” example of biodiversity.

On Fishers Island, look for water hunting birds like Kingfishers and Osprey with a fresh fish catch or perched and watching for predators. Then listen for the tapping of a Woodpecker dining out.

A few Snags stand along the Peninsula and offer primping and preening posts for local Fish Crows and Egrets.

Common Terns are a more common sight these summer weeks, especially on both west and east ends of the Island.
Step lightly along well worn boulders at Race Point, and bring your binoculars to watch these sea birds hover across rip tides and then dive- plunge to feed on small fish.

Observing Common Terns “working” usually hints at bigger fish stories waiting to be told by fishermen off shore.

Terns aren’t too picky when it comes to nesting on the ground-a pile of dead vegetation or nothing at all, but islands, marshes even lake shores are desirable habitats.

Breeding adults are “brighter” to spot with black cap, orange-red legs and a red bill. Juvenile birds display a dull and duskier plumage of brown, ginger and gray.

  Note the Tern’s long fork-like tail that had ancient sailors calling the Common Tern a “Sea Swallow”.

Dawn’s beam shines through Summer’s mist.

The fruit of Day’s past ripens towards Ready.

 
These past days I have observed a lone Surf Scoter off the western tip of South Beach, diving and foraging in and out of the breaking wave zone.

Judging from sea duck ID photos it’s a male with white feathers on nape and forehead. Get a closer view through binoculars and you’ll see a bulbous yellowish, red with white bill, and a pair of beautiful golden, green eyes. And perhaps see why they nick name the duck “skunk-headed coot”.

But really what caught my attention was that it was indeed on its own.

These ducks breed in Alaska and Canada, including Labrador and usually visit a more temperate coastline (like Fishers) just during the warmer winters.

There are though plenty of mollusks (mussels) and crustaceans (crabs) to keep this distant traveler around a bit-I bet.

It is my observation that Fishers Island does not have a river-that is for certain.

 

I observed this week on the overgrown trails by the swampy woods near Brick Yard that this does not preclude River Otter from visiting and even taking up residence on Island.

 

Becoming familiar with signs of this mostly nocturnal ambassador to the wetlands may prove a bit difficult though.   I am learning to scout the forest floor that connects the animal’s leafy “scent station” mounds to its paths across salt marsh grass marked with fishy smelling scat.

 

So as Islanders enjoy kayaking up at Middle Farms, or biking past Island Pond, even trail blazing  around Barlow Pond….remember a River Otter runs through it.