Common name: Gray-edged hypena, Fishers Island NY, June 2017
Scientific name: Hypena madefactalis
Season: One generation per year, adults common by June.
Food: As caterpillars, the gray-edged hypena feeds exclusively on walnut, and in the Northeast, black walnut (Juglans nigra) is its favorite.
Ecology: The gray-edged hypena, like many moths and caterpillars, are specialist feeders, meaning they depend on only one or two kinds of plants to survive.
L to R: Conner Wakeman, Gardner Thors, Justine Kibbe, Olivia Backhaus, Aaron Kane (not pictured Alan Eastman)
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”!
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!
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
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!
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.
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!
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…..
