Saturday November 3: Hungry Point, my first look at the Island’s northern side since “Sandy” I think this site is the most diverse and active for my wildlife viewing. There is still enough sand area left that I can make out raccoon tracks heading inland. Another “new” beachscape as the shrubbery has been up rooted or shoved back.
Friday November 2: Late afternoon on Chocomount Beach. There is a dramatic change in the topography here. The debris field is not as “heavy” with trash accumulation as seen on South Beach. I do note the trash has been shoved back as far as across the pond on the western tip. Mounds of rocks minus ANY sand make my favorite spots unrecognizable.
Thursday November 1: It is late morning and I have trekked down the once dirt road that leads to Race Rock (Point).The road is blocked with a “CLOSED sign now, I have a tough time getting through even riding on my bike. Like most of the circumference of the Island, it looks as though topography of beaches has shifted dramatically-here it has jumped onto the airport runway. The Ocean’s ferocity poured onto the dirt road access. The marine debris field is enormous, loaded with huge logs and shredded tree limbs, trees, telephone poles, and ripped docks. I am swamped in eel grass and sink with each step. There is trash of all types and from who knows where. My senses are shocked by the foreign seascape in front of me. A mountain of rocks and sand has been shoved down the runway where race Point “broke down” and collapsed during the storm. I do note cactus here in the tide line and more than a few “treasures” or “ another man’s trash” perhaps from the old Fort Wright dumping station.
My senses are a bit overwhelmed at the enormity of change that has occurred on the beaches of Fishers Island during the aftermath of this hurricane. Mostly because I have been out and about exploring and monitoring them weekly (sometimes daily) over the last year and a half. Like someone ferociously shook the “Etch o Sketch” picture….
South Beach @ 1:30pm -2:45pm: I am noting that in the past it normally took a half hour or so to walk and monitor this beach site. This afternoon I have spent over an hour just surveying the enormous mass of the debris field. I note tons of trash, lumber, and seaweed. There is an endless mass of tiny plastic particles and Styrofoam. Plastic everything from cigar holders to tampon applicators, bottles to kid’s toys and lawn furniture, crib toys, shoes, highway signage, commercial fishing gear, tires from tractors and cars, an ice machine! Hundreds of golf balls, even interestingly enough- cactus plant remains along the tidal line. I spot familiar coyote tracks along with the 4 neighborhood crows. There is hardly a breeze today. Quiet.
Hay Harbor @ 4:45pm: The tide is low and there is a calm breeze over the Island. I notice that part of the old dock has been uplifted and washed away-its foundation visible. The tidal line and debris stretches towards the lower parking lot. While there appears to be drastic change in the coastal topography for this season, I sense the wildlife community has taken “Sandy” all in stride…2 Blue Herons continue to argue for their territorial rights with the Cormorant flock out on the rock “clumps”. A lone Coyote leaves tracks along the inner harbor sands, the ferry (back on schedule) heads for New London
3:20pm: The wooded area surrounding the house where I am living has started to explode. Trees are snapping and toppling left and right. Branches whip at the windows as leaves are plastered against the glass. A blanket of humid sea air has swathed the house as the furious winds funnel through the gulley in the forest outside. I smell salt and raw wood.
East Harbor@1:50pm: Fishers Island Sound appears to be bridging with Long Island Sound-waters have now surged onto the golf course.
3:12pm: Electrical power is out on Fishers Island
Big Club Beach@1:45pm: By now the winds out of the NE are 45mph with gusts of 50mph.
Through the salt spray and wind I can barely see flocks of Herring Gulls and Great Black Backed Gulls hunkered far west into the nearby wooded area of the cove. Two swans appear anchored in Money pond which has breached its banks.
Isabella Beach @ 12:15pm: The ocean waters here on the South side are green, brownish red and black. Despite the outgoing tide the wild surf and washed out sands make for an unrecognizable beachscape.