Out in the field I caught up with Conservancy’s Autumn Bird Migration Survey and chatted with birds of a feather Adam Mitchell & Will Almeida; discovering 48 bird species in a day that depend on our Island’s healthy native habitat.
– Audio Chat by Justine Kibbe September 24, 2017
In the photo, the group obsessed over a variety of bird called a brown thrasher.
Photo by: A. Sargent
– Field Note by Justine Kibbe September 18, 2017.
Summer fades now. Tawny dune grasses bend and bow towards brilliance- Monarchs that float and morph between orange and red maple leaves.
Most families have packed up here on Island, boarding ferries, migrating across the Sound, perhaps heading south or who knows where, but bound to return as trees promise to bud next year.
While shore birds and waders like 6 American Oyster Catchers of South beach, 2 Willets along Big Stony spit, Hay Harbor and several Egrets near 14th hole and bridge up at Big Club will soon all follow suit and leave Island too.
But then many bird families fly in, fly thru or stay on here. And the Fishers Island Conservancy counts on it (literally!) and so can Islanders.
The Blue Jays-there’s a talkative bunch heading east behind navy fencing; the birds sounding alarm from pine stands there, and more chiming within the conifer woods nearing Gray Gulls.
Listen, pretty much everywhere now-open grass lands like Parade Grounds, brushy habitat around Isabella cliffside, and the Northern Cardinal rules – “tik…tik…twik…”
Look up and down between sun shadows within lichen covered tree trunks that hug Oyster Pond and see Northern Flickers and Downy Woodpeckers poking and scratching for ants.
It is wonderful to become familiar with birds here and quite an opportunity.
Back in my neck of the woods over the years a band of now 8 crows has kindly adopted me. I think they must know I have an affinity towards their clan. Each morning awakens with quite a raucous-especially with coveted autumn fruit dropping to the ground. Sunny afternoons I happen upon the squawking squadron waiting for takeoff; their jet black feathers with the look of warm upon a windswept runway. Usually by the time the 4:15 ferry arrives for Island workforce and students, the crows have circled round to preen atop a chimney and bid farewell till the morning.
PS. We’re meeting 8 am at the *Community Center.
– Field Note by Justine Kibbe August 30, 2017.
Late August, Fishers Island Recreational Bike Path, 06390.
Summer has flown. Shadows are getting longer; the towhee bird is not singing “drink your tea” but a sounding cicada reminds me of warmth that is nearly tinged with melancholy. I do not know where summer goes, or why this particular one has felt so fleeting, but as I pedal and coast now around Oyster Pond heading from the Big Club beach towards Race Point, I have just enough time to recollect, and find summer again.
I remember now – I laughed with early summer when a neighbor called to tell me my Significant Otter was swimming in June’s deep rain puddles right outside my cottage.
I saw summer in the smiles of IPP’s youngest nature lovers back in July while sharing local stories of Silver Eel Cove’s snoozing Black- crowned Night herons.
I also heard summer early that same month when the Conservancy hosted Doug Tallamy and Adam Mitchell who toured and talked about the unique conservation work taking place in the Parade Grounds along Fort Stretch. I’m still learning with Islanders just how invasive plants like black swallow wort and kudzu vine alter the quality of habitat for insects; and how that might affect the birds that depend on insects and native plants for food. Summer showed me the simplicity of planting milkweed as just one example towards success in bringing monarch butterflies back home to the Island. Just now, on this very bike ride I have seen more fluttering monarchs than I have in 5 years of monitoring!
I found summer’s joy and shared it in between August’s morning hours where young Island Sentinels learned how to monitor sea grass meadows from atop their paddle boards within Hay Harbor.
I laughed again, with midsummer, when I was asked to name the very local 4 ft. sand shark observed deep inside West Harbor – that somehow we Islanders have all become intimate with the same exact wildlife on a tiny island. Summer came with mink sightings (over 30 remarks!) and for the first time in over a decade, fishermen off shore spoke of waters swarming with mackerel. From a sturgeon sighting off Chocomount to a pod of dolphin north side off Clay Point Rd., summer pointed out that Fishers Island is blessed with healthy seagrass meadows.
I found summer taught me simple lessons in patience, but tougher ones in diplomacy and active stewardship. I found too though, that this particularly ephemeral summer gifted the Island and its community tribes with more respect and better practices towards conservation.
I hear the noon whistle now as I round the bend at Duck Pond and head west. If I pedal faster uphill I’ll make Race Point in five. The wind picks up, the leaves on the trees do indeed appear to clap their hands and it feels like a wondrous summer – still.
– Video Snippet by FIConservancy Naturalist Justine Kibbe, February 15, 2018
Alongside Elizabeth Field Airport Fishers Island, sitting on a sandy sanctuary, a banded American Oyster Catcher visits me- with a tiny Killdeer just passing by!
– A Snippet from The Field by Justine Kibbe August 25, 2017
Balanced atop a wobbly ladder, I am awe inspired with the truly delicate world of these two nestled Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.
– A Snippet from The Field by Justine Kibbe August 25, 2017.
A juvenile Little Blue Heron still wearing white plumage dances a bit during lunch: “leaping frog’s legs” in Madeline Pond, Fishers Island.
– A Snippet from The Field by Justine Kibbe August 25, 2017.
American Redstart, New World warbler enjoys cooling off in My Neck of the Woods on Fishers Island.
– A Snippet from The Field by Justine Kibbe August 22, 2017.
Grounded juvenile Osprey with injured wing watched over near Dock Beach. Fishers Island community lent a hand this past August weekend- getting the bird across the Sound, where rehabilitators from Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, Mystic will assess and keep us posted.
– A Snippet from The Field by Justine Kibbe August 22, 2017.
Tree swallows soar above a field of Queen Anne’ Lace (Wild carrot) near South beach on Fishers Island.
– A Snippet from The Field by Justine Kibbe August 17, 2017