Saturday October 6: It is a spectacular fall morning, the sky putting on its bright and bluest face. One of those days when you look south across to Block Island you imagine that Island’s Salt Pond stretches for miles, or that there are actually two islands, and that sandy cliffs are a stone’s throw…all illusion without binoculars.
I try at least a couple times a month to venture along the outer coast of West Harbor, rock hopping precariously when the tides are extremely low.
Today I spy 14 Harbor Seals clumped together on the Big & Little “Clumps” off to the north side towards Noank, CT. The low tide and warm boulders provide a perfect haul-out for the seals to bask on- in their familiar “banana” pose.
King Fishers are abundant this year-chattering while they escort me deeper into West Harbor. There were particularly strong winds this past week so I am curious to see what debris the blankets of eel grass have draped ashore. After an hour or so of surveying the field of old boat remains, buoys, plastic bottles, ropes, beer cans, Bic lighters, deflated birthday balloons, tangled ribbon, fishing line, lures, flip-flops, etc, etc. I decide to go home. So much trash-but alas a treasure……
8:21am:
Stretching from log to rock then to boulders, I must be positioned perfectly because I receive connectivity from my cell phone (I rarely do out in the field) and smile at a beautiful text sent from a loved one in Long Island.
Hunkering Birds
Field NotesWednesday October 10 around noontime: Winds have picked up considerably and rain whips sideways from the north. While surveying South beach I note the beach is vacant of any sea going birds .The neighborhood crows peck away at low tide’s tidbits This is the time of year when flocks of Herring Gulls and Great Black-Backed Gulls hunker down on the Golf Course sand traps and putting greens awaiting a vigorous round of “Gullf”
Message in a Bottle
Field NotesSome of us dream of finding a message in a bottle, you imagine during your life’s journeys along countless beaches of perhaps finding one. You imagine your reaction will be a joyous burst of laughter, that you will look upwards and thank the universe aloud for a nudge to journey on and the “hug” that reminds you of being in just the right place at the right time….and then I realize I am not imagining.
On this day of discovery I am in awe of the extraordinary coincidence of finding a message in a bottle thrown into the sea from Long Island only 4 minutes after receiving a text from Long Island.
I send along a hand written letter via postal mail to 12 year old Colton Barrett of Westbrook, CT who two weeks ago launched his message while on Long Island.
Strike a Banana Pose
Field NotesSaturday October 6: It is a spectacular fall morning, the sky putting on its bright and bluest face. One of those days when you look south across to Block Island you imagine that Island’s Salt Pond stretches for miles, or that there are actually two islands, and that sandy cliffs are a stone’s throw…all illusion without binoculars.
I try at least a couple times a month to venture along the outer coast of West Harbor, rock hopping precariously when the tides are extremely low.
Today I spy 14 Harbor Seals clumped together on the Big & Little “Clumps” off to the north side towards Noank, CT. The low tide and warm boulders provide a perfect haul-out for the seals to bask on- in their familiar “banana” pose.
King Fishers are abundant this year-chattering while they escort me deeper into West Harbor. There were particularly strong winds this past week so I am curious to see what debris the blankets of eel grass have draped ashore. After an hour or so of surveying the field of old boat remains, buoys, plastic bottles, ropes, beer cans, Bic lighters, deflated birthday balloons, tangled ribbon, fishing line, lures, flip-flops, etc, etc. I decide to go home. So much trash-but alas a treasure……
8:21am:
Stretching from log to rock then to boulders, I must be positioned perfectly because I receive connectivity from my cell phone (I rarely do out in the field) and smile at a beautiful text sent from a loved one in Long Island.
Spiderweb at Middle Farms
Field NotesMonarch Butterfly
Field NotesSeptember 17 Evening @ Race Point: The Monarch butterflies are still very prevalent in numbers here. The Golden Rod seems to be a flower of choice this warm eve. Sunlight and shadows this time of month are my favorite. I am learning different seaweed types and note that the Irish moss, Sea Lettuce and Knotted Wrack appear healthy here.
Sea Turtle on Chocomount
Field NotesSeptember 8 @ 12:35pm: I Came upon a washed up, dead Leatherback sea turtle on Chocomount beach this afternoon. I was, dare I say pleasantly surprised. It was Interesting to see a beachgoer walk right past it-going unnoticed. I took photos and sent along data to Mystic Aquarium as part of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network. I am happy to find out that fellow Islanders Joe & Carol Hirshfield are also on this Network team.
Coyote Scat
Field NotesFriday August 24 @ 12:25 pm: Observed first Coyote on back dirt road by Burr Residence. Very wolf like about 75lbs.Stopped in middle of the dirt road, had eye contact and returned to bushes on left. No doubt the noon whistle disturbed a summer’s nap in time for lunch
Large Snapping Turtle
Field NotesOn a mid August evening, while sitting upon a large rock to the right on Chocomount overlooking the Wreck of the Thelma Pheobe I observe two Ospreys dive with torpedo -like precision. One snatches a Porgy and heads west overhead.
I also see what appears to be a bobbing piece of driftwood. Then I think, no it’s a wee baby Sand shark with a swish of its fin. I walk waist deep into the surf and discover a Snapping turtle. An unusual sight I’m thinking. The turtle stretches its neck to get a better view of the shore. It swims and crawls upon the first seaweed covered rock perhaps heading for the brackish pond beyond… “ahh Terra Firma” I announce in a congratulatory way…or is that “Terrapin Firma”!
Dead Harbor Seal
Field NotesConservancy Grant Supports Osprey Cam
Conservancy News, NewsThe Fishers Island Conservancy is pleased to announce that the first recipient of a Conservancy 25th Anniversary Grant, the Osprey Cam Project, has launched!
In February 2012, the Conservancy Board unanimously voted to make a grant to the H. L. Ferguson Museum to fully fund the costs of establishing the Osprey Cam.
Many thanks go to the work of our Grant Program Committee, to the Board’s support of the Grant Program and to donors to our 25th Anniversary Grant Fund.
We all now have web access to a special view on the nesting activities of Fishers Island ospreys.
The Osprey Cam can be viewed live here.