NATURE WALKS / EVENT REPORTS - 2011

Recap by Ken Thompson

It was a beautiful day for a walk. Mild temperatures made for an enjoyable morning. As we proceeded down the main path we were greeted by two “not so wild” Turkeys who watched as we passed by them. As usual we were greeted by an array of panhandling birds. Bob Grover brought his family entourage with grand children and watching their reactions was worth the price of admission.  At the end of the main path on the beach there was only a lone Long-tailed Duck on the Bay. The wind was blowing fairly hard so we only stayed for a short time.

We all had a very enjoyable, relaxing morning walk in the Morton National Wildlife Refuge escorted by all the local avian residents everywhere we went in the park. I am looking forward to next year already.

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Photos Below courtesy of Ken Thompson

Recap by Juliane Wohler

On Sunday, November 6th, our Young Naturalists Club was joined by Girl Scout Troop 626 for a Scavenger Hunt at Brookside.  In all we had 18 children participate, and 11 adults in attendance.

Under sunny skies, the children searched the grassy field between Green's Creek and the Gate House for acorns, moss, sassafras leaves, feathers, etc.  It was a lot of fun and after the Hunt we called out each item to make sure everyone found the right leaves, rocks, etc.

Our last item to find was litter!  The children divided into groups and took to the trails.  They did a fantastic job and the trails are looking very clean over at Brookside!  Following the litter collection we sorted out the recyclables from the garbage.

GSBAS is very thankful for all the efforts Troop 626 has made to clean up Brookside! And for helping make our Scavenger Hunt with the Young Naturalists Club such a great time!

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Photos Below courtesy of Juliane Wohler

Agenda recap courtesy of Alice Heller

Friday, 10/07/11 at 1:00 pm: Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge a Division of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, eight (8) miles outside of Atlantic City, NJ - an Atlantic Flyway for our birds.

Saturday, 10/08/11 at:
Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area, West Cape May, NJ in am;

2. The Beanery, West Cape May, NJ - a working farm - later am & early pm; and

3. Cape May Bird Observatory, Cape May Point, NJ mid/late pm for its Hawk Watch, participating in its Monarch Butterfly tagging program; birding one of its walks; the Concrete Ship; visiting the Cape May/NJ Audubon's gift shop and seeing the Cape May Lighthouse, Cape May Point, NJ.

Sunday: 10/09/11:
1.The Meadows, West Cape May, NJ which is owned by The Nature Conservancy, early am;

2. The Wetland Institute, Stone Harbor, NJ mid-morning and

3. The fishing pier in Avalon, NJ - late am and early pm.

As a group we saw two (2) sightings of a pod of dolphins at "The Meadows" beach area. And later Peter, Steve, Jody and I saw yet another pod of dolphins at the fishing pier area in Avalon, NJ. You can see a photo below of one of the pods at The Meadows/Nature Conservancy's, West Cape May, NJ.

We spotted a total of 101 species.  This list below is provided courtesy of Steve D'Amato:

On Saturday, September 17, 2011, thirteen (13) GSBAS members and friends traveled by ferry to Fire Island to participate in the “Ed Davis Memorial Beach Cleanup”. This cleanup is part of the 26th Annual International Coastal Cleanup led by the American Littoral Society (ALS).

The weather was clear and cool as we scoured the dunes and shoreline finding and documenting over 1,960 items (approximately 90 lbs.). These included an abundance of miscellaneous plastic pieces, plastic bottles, and balloon remnants along with shotgun shells and fishing debris.

This is a significant increase in debris collection, up 31% from last year!

Our team included Judy Davis, Janet Gremli, Peter Schramel, Jody Banaszak, Meg Newman, Lenora Daniel, Peter Daniel, Valerie Smith, Karen Smith, Andi Green, Neal Tuttle, and Peter Wimett, Jr. The National Park Service’s Ranger Dave Raymond provided information about the park and its not-so-friendly inhabitants (poison ivy and ticks) as he accompanied us on the cleanup.

We were not alone. During the month of September, the beaches of New York State, including Long Island Sound, the Hudson River, Atlantic Ocean, and the Great Lakes, Finger Lakes, and creeks and bays were cleaned up by thousands of other volunteers. The information collected by the ALS documents what litters our shores, increases public awareness, and helps devise strategies to combat pollution.

You can find out more about the American Littoral Society at http://www.alsnyc.org/

Thank you to all our volunteers!

Carol Jansch, Beach Captain

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Photo courtesy of Carol Jansch

Recap by Alice Heller

On this bright and sunny Saturday morning, GSBAS's Hummer Nature Walk took place with Field Trip Coordinator, Alice Heller and 21 attendees meeting Paul Adams at his Private Hummingbird Sanctuary in Baiting Hollow. Please see all of the great nature/hummer pictures posted below courtesy of Jody Banaszak, Megan, Michael and Mike Mike McBrien and Helga Merryman.

All Nature Walk attendees enjoyed a wonderful visit: seeing hummers at Paul's many feeders, seeing hummers chasing each other - zipping directly overhead in hot pursuit of each other; being treated to seeing two Osprey fly by - gracefully and seemingly leisurely so - and enjoying oh those spectacularly views of the sound. And thanks to Michael McBrien, some of us got great views of a beautiful male Prairie Warbler and heard Eastern-towhee. Butterflies abounded - flitting from the many flowering plants and shrubs Paul has planted and growing in containers. We all fell in love again with Paul's special private hummer sanctuary situated on the bluff of the Long Island Sound.

GSBAS's sincere thanks to Paul Adams for scheduling this August 2011 GSBAS Hummer Nature Walk and to Dr. Mark Bridgen at Cornell for again allowing GSBAS to use its Sound Avenue parking lot.

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Photos Below courtesy of Megan, Michael & Mike McBrien

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Photos Below courtesy of Helga Merryman

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Photos Below courtesy of Jody Banaszak

Recap by Michael McBrien

On Saturday, May 28th, I led GSBAS's trip to Jamaica Bay NWR.  A walk through the gardens was relatively unproductive with Blackpoll Warbler being the only non-breeding songbird seen.  Near Bench 12, we saw a large rail as it crossed the main trail.  The rail was unusually bright with a rufous breast, jet black flanks with noticeable white lines, and bright upperparts.  The rail was quite interesting and we speculated at its identification (King, Cling, or Clapper).  Around the West Pond, we found many shorebirds including 3 White-rumped Sandpipers.  Some waterfowl still remained including many Ruddy Ducks, 2 Greater Scaup, and 2 Red-breasted Mergansers.  In addition, an immature Snow Goose was seen as it flew by. Overall the trip was quite productive with 64 species seen.

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Photos and recap courtesy of Steven D'Amato

The GSBAS field trip to Bashakill and Doodletown Road was from Saturday, May 14th, through Sunday, May 15th. We had 8 people attend, and a total of 95 species seen and/or heard. On Saturday, we went to Doodletown Road, Bashakill, and Mine Road. The highlight species for that day were Wood Duck, Wild Turkey, American Bittern, Turkey & Black Vultures, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Killdeer, Solitary & Spotted Sandpipers, Black-billed & Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Pileated Woodpecker, Olive-sided & Willow Flycatchers, Yellow-throated & Red-eyed Vireos, Common Raven, Bank & Cliff Swallows, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Veery, Wood Thrush, Blue-winged, Tennessee, Northern Parula, Yellow, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Pine, Prairie, Blackpoll, Cerulean, Black-and-white, American Redstart, Worm-eating, Ovenbird, Northern & Louisiana Waterthrushes, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Chipping, Savannah, & Swamp Sparrows, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Brown-headed Cowbird, and Baltimore Oriole.

On Sunday, we started again at Bashakill, then went to Linear Park/McDonald Road. We added another 16 new species for the field trip. The new highlight species we saw were Green Heron, Bald Eagle, Common Moorhen, Black Tern, Chimney Swift, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Alder & Least Flycatchers, Warbling Vireo, House Wren, Swainson's Thrush, Mourning Warbler, and Bobolink.

We spotted a total of 95 species:

Thanks to the Environmental Office personnel at Connetquot River State Park Preserve, the museum now boasts special Northern Bobwhite Quail posters, designed by Annie McIntyre. The “feathers” on these quail posters contain the names of all the generous Adopt-A-Quail participants. One feather was created for every quail chick adopted. Why not stop by the museum and find your special feather.

On May 4th, seven hundred day old Northern Bobwhite Quail chicks arrived at their new home. A team of six volunteers worked quickly to remove the chicks from the packing crates, give each chick a few drops of fortified water by hand, and place them under the warmth of the brooding lights. It is amazing to see how tiny they are at a mere 1/5 of an ounce!

By May 13th, the chicks were already big enough to graduate from their “baby” pens to an intermediate area within the brooding house. Soon they will be ready to move to the flight pen where they will grow stronger before their release into Connetquot River State Park Preserve.

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Photos courtesy of Carol Jansch and Judy Davis

Our Annual May Dinner fundraiser was held at Capt. Bill’s Restaurant in Bay Shore on Monday, May 2, 2011.  Thanks to the generosity of our members and friends we had many lovely prizes.  The dinner was a huge success and all who attended had a grand time.

This year’s award winners are:

Shai Mitra, Bob Laskowski Conservation Award
Ken Thompson, Fran File Award
Steven D’Amato, President’s Award

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Photos courtesy of Helga Merryman, Steven D'Amato, and Judy Davis

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Photos and recap courtesy of Steven D'Amato (group photo courtesy of Ken Thompson)

On Sunday, May 1st, the chapter had its annual field trip/nature walk to Central Park.  With a group of 14 people, we were able to get a combined total of 68 species of birds and one unidentified Empidonax flycatcher, though the best guess is leaning toward an Acadian Flycatcher.  The highlight species at Central Park were Wood Duck, Northern Shoveler, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Chimney Swift, Belted Kingfisher, Blue-headed & Warbling Vireos, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Veery, Swainson's & Wood Thrushes, Northern Parula, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Northern & Louisiana Waterthrushes, Common Yellowthroat, Nashville, Yellow, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Prairie, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, Black-and-white, Worm-eating, & Canada Warblers, Chipping & Swamp Sparrows, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Orchard & Baltimore Orioles, and American Goldfinch.

Many people decided to go to the Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge afterward.  Here, we added another 34 birds to the total number of species seen by the group in general.  The highlights here were Brant, Gadwall, American Black Duck, Green-winged Teal, Greater & Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Snowy Egret, Little Blue & Tri-colored Herons, Glossy Ibis, Osprey, American Coot, Black-bellied Plover, American Oystercatcher, Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Laughing & Great Black-backed Gulls, Common & Forster's Terns, White-eyed Vireo, Palm Warbler, Boat-tailed Grackle, and Brown-headed Cowbird.

A few of us continued to the Jones Beach-West End area.  Here we added another 16 species to the trip.  These were Surf Scoter, Red-throated & Common Loons, Northern Gannet, Northern Harrier, Semipalmated Plover, Willet, Red Knot, Sanderling, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, Gull-billed & Least Terns, Northern Mockingbird, and Brown Thrasher.

We spotted a total of 69 species at Central Park:

Spotted at JAMAICA BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, we added to the field trip/nature walk:

Finally, some of us went on to the JONES BEACH AREA (West End, Coast Guard Station, etc.) to see what was around. Here we added to "our" trip:

People in the group photo – from left to right:

1. Peter Murphy
2. Vera Capogna
3. Kathleen O’Connor
4. Bill Redshaw
5. John Gluth
6. Johnna Vullo
7. Nick Laviola
8. Sandy (I don't know her surname and it seems no one else I contacted did either)
9. Mike McBrien (sr.)
10. Michael McBrien (jr.)
11. George Form
12. Steven D'Amato
13. Anne Gibbone

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Photos courtesy of Randy Schmitt

The cold, damp weather didn’t stop our volunteers from spending their day planting 100 berry bushes at Connetquot River State Park Preserve.  The bushes will become a natural food source for the Northern Bobwhite Quail.

After a morning of planting, volunteers Jody Banaszak, Judy Davis, Meg Newman, Elena Salina, Aimee and Randy Schmitt, Edith and Bob Wilson, and Cathy Wilvert were treated to a home made ziti lunch thanks to Cathy and Megan Wilvert.

With full stomachs, we returned to work creating fencing around each plant to protect them from being nibbled on by the deer.  We finished up just as the rain arrived.

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Photos and recap courtesy of Steven D'Amato

We met at the Parking Field 10 by the Boat Basin/Marina next to the Coast Guard Station, and had a total of 15 people.  Weather was a little cool but sunny and clear.  We observed the bay and ocean sides from West End, then drove to the Fishing Parking Lot by the inlet and walked to the inlet to see if we could find waterfowl, shorebirds, seals, etc.  Then we went around the Loop Parkway to Point Lookout to see the Jones Inlet from the other side.  From there we went back to Field 10, then drove down Ocean Parkway to the Gilgo Marina.

We had a total of 50 species:

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Photos courtesy of Helga Merryman and Rosanna DeVergiles

Saturday, 15 January 2011 was a picture perfect winter day.  The air was crisp, no harsh wind, and the snow was twinkling on the trees.  The Breakfast & Birding Program at Connetquot River State Park Preserve (CRSPP) held in collaboration with the preserve, the Friends of Connetquot (FOC), and the Great South Bay Audubon Society (GSBAS), was attended by ~40 people, all anxious to get out of the house and into nature.

The morning began with a scrumptious continental breakfast put together by Pam Hunter and the FOC.  While everyone enjoyed their goodies, GSBAS trip leader, Ken Thompson, presented a “Winter Visitors of Connetquot” slide show put together by Pam Hunter and photographer and FOC Chairman, Bob Labuski.

Our walk began at the pond where we viewed Bufflehead, Common Merganser, and Hooded Merganser.  As we started up Hatchery Road, we stopped at the bird feeders to see which species were having their breakfast.  We saw Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmouse, White-throated Sparrows, and to our delight, Northern Bobwhite Quail!  These quail were raised by and reintroduced into the preserve by Cathy Wilvert.  (Please see our Adopt-A-Quail form in the Jan/Feb issue of The Sandpiper, on our website, or on our Facebook.)

During the remainder of our walk we saw Canadian Geese, a Mockingbird, Brown Creeper, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Red-tailed Hawk, and a Great Blue Heron in flight.

Spending the morning with new friends while enjoying nature is a wonderful way to shake off the winter blahs.