Introducing Fishers Island Nature Discovery (FIND)
UPDATE: This August, the Museum will be offering a one-week long “Fishers Island Nature Discovery” program for children beginning on August 12th.
Brickyard Sanctuary Nature Walk July 4
Henry L. Ferguson Museum NATURE WALK Brickyard Sanctuary Led by Terry McNamara Thursday, July 4, 2019 Meet at the Museum at 10:30 A.M. From the 2019 Fishers Island Trail Guide: The Brickyard Pond Trail in the L. F. Boker Doyle Sanctuary This 15.5-acre tract of land, sometimes referred to as the Brickyard Sanctuary, was given
Nature Notes: North American River Otter
Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS. (Lontra canadensis) by Terry McNamara The sight of a group, or “romp,” of otters crossing the bank of a pond with their playful, loping gait can’t fail to elicit a smile. Sleek and weasel-like, these carnivorous mammals have rich brown fur and grow to between three and four feet
Land Trust Volunteers Needed
Bench overlooking swamp on Chocomount Trail. The Museum’s Land Trust has miles of nature trails that need to be kept clear and passable. A relatively small group of board members and volunteers tackle this herculean project in all seasons, seeking to maintain the level of clearing we attain collectively during our annual Thanksgiving group effort. Please consider contributing
Fishers Island Seagrass Management
Eelgrass dampening wave action, Barley Field Cove, F.I. Photo: seagrassli.org. Coalition Update (June 2019) Fishers Island may be relatively quiet over the winter months, but the Fishers Island Seagrass Management (FISM) Coalition has kept busy continuing its work to establish a co-management process for the Island’s seagrass meadows with the island community and
New Trail Guide
An updated Trail Guide will be published in time for this summer season that provides individual maps and descriptive text for each of 10 Museum Land Trust trails. The Guide was first published in 1995 and republished with revisions in the early 2000s. The acquisition of new Land Trust properties, plus the creation of several
Four Ospreys on OspreyCam Nest, May 2019
A struggle for occupancy of the OspreyCam nest east of the driving range broke out on May 7th. At first three ospreys were involved, then four. According to ornithologist Rob Bierregaard, these “nest in turmoil” (a.k.a. “nit”) scenarios some-times stem from one of the paired mates
Island History: Pirates in Our Region
Island History: Pirates in Our Region by Pierce Rafferty On Block Island On July 12, 1690, the residents of Block Island were alarmed when a small fleet—consisting of one bark, one ketch, two sloops and smaller craft—appeared off their coast. Although the vessels were flying English colors, there was no certainty of their allegiance to
A Grant for Today and Tomorrow
In December 2017, the Museum received a generous five-year grant from the Jeanann Gray Dunlap Foundation to make the Museum’s collections more interactive and accessible for its members and visitors. In 2018, the first year of the grant, the Museum chose several thousand images and hundreds of historical documents from our archives that were
From the President
The muddy paw prints running across my kitchen floor are a sure indication that spring has arrived. The Museum has been just as active in preparing for a great summer season as my dog has been in the spring puddles. I am very pleased to announce that over the winter, the Museum has hired two fantastic
