Bird CountsField Notes

Annual Audubon Bird Count

by fic0n5erv

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!

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Conservancy NewsNewsPresident's Message

President’s Message: 2013

by fic0n5erv

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

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Sentinels 2013 Recap
grantsSentinel ArchivesVideo

Island Sentinel Grant – 2013 recap with video

by fic0n5erv

This summer, the Fishers Island Conservancy and the Community Center launched a new program – Island Sentinels – to enable students from the F.I. School to learn about wildlife monitoring and connect with the natural environment of our Island on a scientific level. Guided by naturalist Justine Kibbe, the first two Island Sentinels, the brother-sister team of Olivia and Rob Backhaus, did a fabulous job of observing and recording conditions at ten different sites around the island.

Olivia, who is now a senior, is building on her work this summer by engaging in an independent study project. With mentoring from Justine Kibbe, as well as the guidance of Carol Giles and other faculty at the school, Olivia is analyzing and interpreting the data she gathered this summer.

Olivia has put together two videos about their work. Learn what Sentinels do!

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Conservancy NewsgrantsHabitatNews

River Otter Survey Report

by fic0n5erv

In April, we wrote about Mike Bottini’s river otter survey on fishers Island. A Conservancy grant funded the survey of river otters on Fishers Island, which included FI School 9th graders and members of the Island community.

Shortly following board approval of their proposal, Mike Bottini and a team of three other wildlife biologists visited Fishers and conducted a successful survey, determining the presence of established river otter territories on Fishers Island. They surveyed 40-50 sites on the island by foot and kayak and found otter sign at 20, including an otter den (pictured below)! The research team presented to the Senior Lunch and gained critical information from island residents Steve Malinowski, Lou Horn and Ken Edwards, Bob Evans and Pierce Rafferty. They were accompanied and assisted by FI school 9th graders in some of their survey work. Mike Bottini will return to the Island in July to provide educational programming to FI residents regarding the research and the broader implications for wildlife on Fishers Island.

The team was fascinated by Fishers’ natural environment, including our coyote population. The researchers were thrilled to make their first osprey sighting in 2013, and to see a great-horned owl feeding its chicks on an osprey nest at the east end. To quote team lead, Mike Bottini: “Fishers Island is an amazing place, both the landscape and the folks living there. Although geologically so similar to eastern Long Island, in some ways it is very different. You have some of the largest swamp azaleas I have ever seen, and stands of yellow birch in some of your forests – a species that we don’t have on eastern Long Island. We have some fairly deep and dramatic kettleholes here, but I have never seen anything as striking as the clay pit kettleholes near Isabella Beach…”

Mike’s report is complete and available at the below link.

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Rob and Olivia Backhaus
Island SentinelsSentinel Archives

Meet the Island Sentinels!

by fic0n5erv

The Conservancy welcomes our first Island Sentinels, the brother-sister team of Rob and Olivia Backhaus. Rob graduated this year from the Fishers Island School and is headed to college this fall. Olivia will be a senior at the F.I. School this fall.

Rob and Olivia settled right into their jobs monitoring sites around the island. Keep your eyes out for them riding their bikes from site to site and gathering data at various locations – including Silver Eel Cove, South Beach, Dock Beach, Middle Farms Pond, Isabella, Big Club and Chocomount beaches, Hay Harbor, East Harbor, and Race Point. Give them a big welcome and a thank you for their work!

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Field NotesHorseshoeCrabs

Along Came a Spider

by fic0n5erv

Horseshoe Crabs are really spiders-arachnids of the sea.

The ancient species has been around for years- something like 400million.

A living fossil- even a “live museum” exhibiting  and supporting an array of organisms such as barnacles, algae, and Slipper snails.

I have read that the Horseshoe Crab is uniquely equipped with a “sword-tail” detecting light, and that this spider has nine eyes!

But these weeks they only have eyes for each other as they crawl and scoot to shallow waters for breeding season.

Tomorrow night’s full moon may be very inviting-as the animals are guided toward each other with the help of lunar and high tidal cycles

 

Like today, East Harbor may be the place to take a quick peek.

 

Then there is the Spider crab which actually IS a crab not a spider, but sat down beside me anyway…..

 

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River Otter USFWS Chris Paul
Conservancy NewsgrantsNews

New Conservancy Grants Fund Otter Research, Naturalist Work, Student Program and Native Trees

by fic0n5erv

The FI Conservancy Board voted March 9 to fund work under four new grants. The first grant will fund planting of native trees in the FI Cemeteries. Another grant will support Justine Kibbe in her work as our island naturalist for another six months. The board also approved a second proposal by Justine and the FI Community Center to work with two FI high school students on stewardship and monitoring of our island’s natural environment. The fourth grant funded a survey of river otters on Fishers Island, which included FI School 9th graders and members of the Island community.

Read more about the grants:

Native Trees – Fishers Island Cemetery Committee – The Cemetery Committee asked for support of their hurricane recovery effort, which involves clean-up, removal, and replacement of damaged and dying trees on the three island cemeteries. The board approved funding for replacement trees, which will be native trees chosen from a list generated in consultation with Penny Sharp and Edward Richardson, President of the Connecticut Botanical Society.

Justine Kibbe, Island Naturalist – Justine has successfully completed her first six months of for the Conservancy. Justine monitored a wide range of sites, collecting data, documenting and reporting on her findings with notes and photographs. She has also authored Field Notes on the Conservancy’s website, in an effort to engage our membership with the state of the island’s natural communities. The board approved Justine’s work for another six month cycle, beginning April 2013.

Island Sentinels – Justine Kibbe – The Conservancy board voted to approve a pilot environmental stewardship program for Island high school students, being developed by Justine Kibbe with support from Island Community Center Director, Elizabeth Reid. Justine will start the program with two students, chosen in collaboration with the FI School. Justine will train the students, the “Island Sentinels”, in late June. During the months of July and August, Justine will work with the students each week to conduct an environmental survey of the island by monitoring key sites. She will then work with the students to help them present their data and findings to the community. The hope is that the data will also provide the basis for further student work during the school year, and, if successful, that the program may expand to the full year.

Mike Bottini/Group for the East End – Shortly following board approval of their proposal, Mike Bottini and a team of three other wildlife biologists visited Fishers and conducted a successful survey, determining the presence of established river otter territories on Fishers Island. They surveyed 40-50 sites on the island by foot and kayak and found otter sign at 20, including an otter den (pictured below)! The research team presented to the Senior Lunch and gained critical information from island residents Steve Malinowski, Lou Horn and Ken Edwards, Bob Evans and Pierce Rafferty. They were accompanied and assisted by FI school 9th graders in some of their survey work. Mike Bottini will return to the Island in July to provide educational programming to FI residents regarding the research and the broader implications for wildlife on Fishers Island.

The team was fascinated by Fishers’ natural environment, including our coyote population. The researchers were thrilled to make their first osprey sighting in 2013, and to see a great-horned owl feeding its chicks on an osprey nest at the east end. To quote team lead, Mike Bottini: “Fishers Island is an amazing place, both the landscape and the folks living there. Although geologically so similar to eastern Long Island, in some ways it is very different. You have some of the largest swamp azaleas I have ever seen, and stands of yellow birch in some of your forests – a species that we don’t have on eastern Long Island. We have some fairly deep and dramatic kettleholes here, but I have never seen anything as striking as the clay pit kettleholes near Isabella Beach…”

 

Photo by USFWS Chris Paul.

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Conservancy NewsNewsPresident's Message

President’s Message: 2012

by fic0n5erv

2012 has been a fantastic year for the Fishers Island Conservancy. The Conservancy has continued to fund and expand our existing programs while taking on several bold new initiatives thus further expanding our mission.

While we continue our core responsibilities of mosquito control, beach monitoring and clean up, water testing on and around the island, invasive plant education and control, and continued outreach within the Long Island sound community, the Conservancy has launched and funded our grants program to stimulate and encourage environmental research education and related studies.

Starting this fall, we awarded one of our first grants to an island resident, Justine Kibbe . She will serve as our resident naturalist and will be responsible for observing, monitoring, collecting and recording data related to all things environmental on Fishers Island from weather observations to wildlife sightings and tracking. Through her field observations, we will get a concise picture of what is happening environmentally on Fishers Island and what we can do as a community to enhance and protect our precious ecosystem. We look forward to sharing this information with all of you.

We are very excited to announce that the Habitat Committee, whose restoration work is in evidence around the grasslands at the airport and parade grounds, has been brought under our charter. With the help of volunteers and other island support, more than 35 acres have been reclaimed, plowed and over seeded with native grasses. Not only has this resulted in an overwhelming victory against invasive species such as Japanese Knotweed and Kudzu but we have seen an increase in birdlife not enjoyed on Fishers Island for years. Late last summer, the grasslands provided a cornucopia for migrating warblers and other birds as they stopped to feed on seeds and insects before heading to warmer climates. Listening to their varied and lovely calls is a true delight. I hope that it is only a matter of time before we hear the once familiar call of the Bob White quail. As I write, there are plans to expand and enhance the Parade Grounds / Airport grasslands project thus continuing the Conservancy’s commitment to the natural environment.

Lastly, once again we have teamed up with other island organizations and individuals to spearhead a coastal study of the south side of Fishers Island. This study will give us an idea about the trends in erosion patterns of our vulnerable south coast and how we can prepare for potential changes to our fragile shores. Stay tuned as this project evolves.

As you can see the Conservancy has been very busy this year and we show no signs of slowing down. We have dramatically increased our commitment to Fishers Island so as we close out our year, I ask you to please consider making 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 love and support.

Cheers and thanks.

Tom Sargent
Preisdent, Fishers Island Conservancy

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