Nesting Terns On and Around Fishers Island One Hundred Years Ago
From the Files of the Museum: Nesting Terns On and Around Fishers Island One Hundred Years Ago
Great Horned Owls
Great Horned Owls on the Rafferty osprey nest and the Red-tailed hawk nest on Island Pond (Oyster Pond), spring 2011. Photos by Pierce Rafferty, John Wilton and Hank Golet.
The Piping Plover
2011 Nature Notes Two years ago, a bird not seen at Fishers Island for a number of years, returned. The bird was the Piping plover (Charadrius melodus), a federally threatened species in the Atlantic region. During the 1970s, the island supported a small colony of this species near Middle Farms; however, habitat change and other causes resulted in the disappearance of this bird from Fishers.
Great Gull Island Terns
Great Gull Island has the largest nesting concentrations of Common Terns in the world (9,500 pairs) and the largest nesting concentration of endangered Roseate Terns in the western hemisphere (1,300 pairs). Some of these photos were taken during a Museum trip
Owls of Fishers Island
2010 Nature Notes For a relatively small island, Fishers has a thriving owl population. Owls are sighted frequently and often heard calling at dusk and during the night. In southern New England, the Barred Owl (Strix varia) is the most common large owl. This holds true on Fishers Island as well and many of us have seen or heard this owl with its distinctive eight-note call and/or its several variations.
The Wood Warblers: Sprightly ‘Butterflies’ of the Bird World
2009 Nature Notes The month of May brings with it the assurance that spring is fully underway. The landscape is fresh and green and the woodland wildflowers make their appearance, capitalizing on the sunlight that filters to the forest floor. Insects, some more welcomed than others, reappear.
The American Woodcock (Scolopax minor)
2006 Nature Notes The American woodcock (Scolopax minor) is a breeding bird on Fishers Island although it is seldom seen due to its reclusive habits.
