Island History: Moose on Fishers Island by Pierce Rafferty Colonial records indicate that in the early 1700s, just over three hundred years ago, moose could be found on Fishers Island. Then, as now, inhabitants of our region would have been shocked to bump into a live “moose-deere,” for Fishers Island was well south of
Geology of Fishers Island Excerpted from “Rocks, Plants, Birds, and People of Fishers Island” [1999] by the late Edwin Horning. One of the expressions I sometimes heard during my early years on the island was “getting off the rock.” This was said by people as they took the ferry to the mainland. These few
An Update on the Osprey Population on Fishers Island by Pierce Rafferty Fishers Island was one of many eastern seaboard sites that contributed to Osprey research when ornithologists were first grappling with the causes and restoration of the declining Osprey population in the late 1960s and 1970s. Two young graduate students, Paul Spitzer and
Nature Notes: House-hunting Ospreys by Rob Bierregaard The decade of the 1980s was a buyers’ market for househunting Ospreys. Two decades before, our widespread application of DDT on coastal marshes caused Osprey population numbers to plummet. New England Ospreys were decimated (literally) to about 10% of their pre-DDT levels because breeding Ospreys couldn’t raise
The term ‘predator’ may bring to mind images of a muscled mountain lion ready to pounce in an isolated gully or a muddied crocodile lying in wait at a quiet Saharan watering hole. Fishers Island hosts its own murderer’s row of predators, no less fascinating though decidedly less threatening (to humans, at least), and they each have a vital role in keeping the island’s ecosystem healthy, diverse and robust.
The Coalition’s focus this spring and summer will be on reaching out to the island community and off-island stakeholder groups for feedback on proposed seagrass management areas.
The Land Trust has acquired two significant parcels of undeveloped land, partnered with the New York Natural Heritage Program to prepare a “wall-to-wall ecological community map” of our sanctuary areas, worked with the conservation class at the Fishers Island School on vairous projects as well as continued ongoing projects to restore wetland plants and maintain our nature trails.
Perhaps this year more than ever, I feel as if I’m coming out of hibernation after a long winter’s nap. Spring and optimism are in the air and I am looking forward to another summer on Fishers Island.
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F.I. Sketchbook 2005
