I received word from Bruce Hubert’s Crew of a Gray Seal pup north side up east-documented, and actively in touch with Mystic Aquarium Stranding Network-so grateful for Island Community “keeping watch” – its Fishers Island stewardship!
Springtime on Fishers Island brings us ALL out of our shells! Please drive with awareness – Don’t Speed -and enjoy our Turtles even at a snail’s pace!
– A Snippet from The Field by Justine Kibbe April 14, 2017.
Ravens fly westward to My Neck of the Woods, Fishers Island! Familiar with their Autumnal magic up east at Big Club, I am in awe this breezy spring morn as we meet again – invited into their world of twig collecting and nest building.
– A Snippet from The Field by Justine Kibbe April 12, 2017.
Or so it should be. Stewardship on Fishers Island should be a constant – Marine Debris certainly is.
– A Snippet from The Field by Justine Kibbe April 6, 2017.
Spring Peeper Frogs serenade Islanders along Fort Stretch – Parade Grounds, Fishers Island.
– Field Note by Justine Kibbe March 03, 2017.
It’s often during the dead of winter here on Fishers Island when it appears everyone wants to know everyone’s every move; just exactly all the “he saids” and “she saids” and of course the who saw “so and so” with whom. Sometimes I think just the opposite -that surviving the harsh and desolate comes with minding our own business like nobody’s business; to lighten up and see it’s truly in our own NATURE-the real things to talk about and perhaps put out there:
My S.O. and I have been in a discreet relationship for nearly five years. In August 2012 River Otter biologist Mike Bottini visiting from Long Island introduced the two of us. Admittedly in the beginning, I did enjoy the thrill of the chase; a bit exciting as we both have a reputation for being elusive. Islanders whispered that we were on- again, off- again, that I ran hot and cold. That’s all a bunch of “scat”! Especially up by Oyster Pond and Middle Farms.
I took a leap of faith with tips from local residents, thinking living west on the other side of the tracks really didn’t matter and apparently it doesn’t. The two of us have been sighted enjoying each other’s company at Duck Pond before the morning ferry.
Who knows maybe there is something to the whole idea- Ignore the Otter, Get the Otter: The Art of No Contact…at least another book.
Signage: Williams Timber Corp.
– Field Note by Justine Kibbe February 28, 2017.
You are the fog horn of my heart. You wait in silence, then respond, thru thick and thin I know you. You are there.
As thought gives birth to grand ideas – you give a wider berth.
When I think I know exactly where I am headed with all this precious cargo, you remind me to take it slow – especially amidst the rip tides.
Yes, I am always listening. You have reminded me “again and again” just how to take direction.
Yet, you have trusted me at the helm.
With tips from Community members, Island Naturalist finally meets River Otter in our unsuspected Duck Pond.
We meet again this very early morn at Duck Pond.
Observations note: Otter prefers lunchtime across the road.
Hope to have signs painted and placed this week- “Significant”
Otter Crossing!
– A Snippet from The Field by Justine Kibbe February 22, 2017
Young Gray Seal pup discovered Jan 22, 2017 on Southside Fishers Island parallel to Elizabeth Field airport.