dinner celebration at suffolk theater - eastern long island

EASTERN LONG ISLAND AUDUBON SOCIETY – From the Barrens to the BaysFormerly Moriches Bay Audubon, established 1967

November/December— Vol. XXXVIII No. 6

Dinner Celebration at Suffolk Theater

The beautifully renovated Suffolk The-ater welcomed ELIAS and NormanSmith, our speaker, on October 16.

Over 85 people enjoyed the evening filledwith old and new friends. Byron Youngprepared a slide show as people came infeaturing the birds of Long Island. Oh yes,he has also put together a calendar that

will be available at the upcoming seed sale.There were over 40 raffle prizes rangingfrom bird feeders, gift certificates to a tripon The Priscilla, a oystering boat run bythe Maritime Museum in Sayville.

Norman Smith spoke about the SnowyOwls and Saw-whet Owls he hasworked with. He has used telemetry totrack the owls in an attempt to learnwhere the owls go when they leaveMassachusetts and how far and howfast they are able to travel.

Ridgie Barnett won The OspreyAward for her tireless effort as ourHospitality Chair, only one of thehats she wears.

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Ridgie Barnett, near left, withNorman Smith, the SnowyOwl expert from Massachu-setts and Byron Young, ELIASpresident. Far left, anoverview of the theater aspeople were coming in,below, the audience.

On Wednesday, October 5, 2013 at 6:00 pm Join Eastern Long Island Audubon Society for a dinner celebrationat the newly renovated

118 East Main Street • Riverhead

Featuring Norman Smith’s presentation AA PASSION FOR SNOWY OWLS

Cocktails, Dinner, Raffles & Fun

For reservations or more information call 631-727-0417 or 631-281-6008or download a reservation form at:www.easternlongislandaudubonsociety.org $50 per person

The Suffolk Theater is located at 118 East Main Street in Riverhead.

The newly renovated theater is decorated in the art deco style with a

woodland motif, it is taking its place among the best event venues on the

East End. Come and enjoy the dinner, presentation, the comradery and

the fun!

THE OSPREY November/December 2013 2

Byron Young

It does not seem possible that a yearhas past between Annual Dinners. Lastyear at various times was a struggle

dealing with Hurricane Sandy and its af-termath. If that wasn’t bad enough anearly snowstorm followed by an even big-ger mid-winter snowstorm made forrough sledding as we tried to recoverfrom Sandy and dig out from a recordsnowfall. However, not everything wasbad news.

ELIAS members carried on with a fine se-ries of bird walks, by my count from TheOsprey, nineteen. The William Floyd Estatereceived top billing with three visits fol-lowed by Smith Point, the North ForkPreserve, Wertheim Wildlife Refuge andDune Road with two each. Visits weremade to the Lakes around Patchogue andfurther west, to Jones Beach West End,and Robert Moses State Park, and ofcourse to the Quogue Wildlife Refuge.Unfortunately, the trip to the Sunken For-est had to be canceled due to the FederalBudget mess. ELIAS members participatedin the Christmas Bird Count, the GreatBack Yard Bird Count, the Winter Water-fowl count, and our own bird feeder sur-vey. Add to that our involvement in EarthDay, Migratory Bird Day, and our AnnualBird Seed Sale in with the QuogueWildlife Refuge and we had a busy year.

Members also attended several localmeetings to express our interest andconcerns regarding local environmentalissues such as the Calverton Grasslands,the Carmen’s River Watershed Manage-ment Plan, and the EPCAL scoping plan, alocal legislative environmental RoundTable, Plum Island, and the North ForkPreserve. This is not intended to be acomplete list but does provide and indica-tion of some of the events we attendedlast year. In addition to that were ourmonthly meetings and organizational ac-tivities. I am certain that I have forgottensomething important.I would like to conclude by thanking every-one who participated in these events.Without your help and participation noneof this would have been possible.

The Pres ident ’s Corner

Year in Review Seed Sale FundraiserSaturday, November 9th from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm

Stop by and check out the seed sale at Quogue Wildlife Refuge. Every-one was asked to order seed and send in their order forms, but East-port Feed is bringing some extra seed so you will be able to pick upsome seed that day. Bay Gardens is bringing feeders and other nice giftitems. ELIAS president, Byron Young, has put together a calendar in avery limited edition which features our local Long Island Birds. Thesewill also be available. It would make a very special gift.

New this year is a calendar with photos by ByronYoung. All the photos of the birds featured were takenin our area. Calendars will be available at the SeedSale and at meetings through the end of the year.Quantities are limited.

Find us on the web at www.easternlongislandaudubonsociety.orgor on Facebook


Come to a MeetingMeetings are held at Quogue Wildlife Refuge, 3 Old Country Roadin Quogue, NY. All are welcome, there is no charge.

Monday, November 4, beginning at 7:15 pm

Long Island: A Migratory MotelJohn Turner

Long Island provides permanent,year-round habitat for manyspecies of wildlife such as chip-munks, deer, raccoons, black-capped chickadees and downywoodpeckers. What is less well appreciated is the role the Islandplays in providing essential habitat for a wide variety of migratoryspecies. This lecture introduces you to the fascinating stories of twodozen species that migrate through or to Long Island.

John Turner, co-founder of the Long Island Pines Barrens Societyand recently retired director of Brookhaven Town’s Division of Envi-ronmental Protection, is the author of Exploring the Other Island, aseasonal guide to the non-paved areas of Long Island

Monday, December 2, beginning at 7:15 pm

A Brief History of Bird Field Guides:Their authors and illustratorsKen Thompson

This should be an interesting talk, one that explores the dilemmaswe are faced with each time we bird. What is the best approach,who has the best illustrations? Should they be drawings or photos?This will be Ken’s second program for us — I'm sure you can recallhis unique and very entertaining, Birding from inside my car... and whocan forget the finale, involving a rabbit, a mink and a bald eagle!

Remember there is no January meeting.

See you in February!

Join a Nature WalkJohn McNeil

Saturday, November 16th @ 9:00 am

Jamesport State Park andHallockville Farm FieldsTrip Leader: MaryLaura LamontThe varied habitats of the farm fields, woods, ponds, anddunes on Long Island Sound provide a diversity of migrantsand wintering bird residents. Bring binoculars for this 2 hourwalk of spectacular views and good birding. For additional de-tails call Hallockville at 631-298-5292. There is a $5 chargefor this walk benefiting the Hallockville Museum Farm.

Sunday, November 17th @ 9:00 am

Old Mastic Autumn Bird WalkWilliam Floyd EstateTrip Leader: MaryLaura LamontThe William Floyd Estate in Mastic is 613 acres. The propertyincudes mowed fields, woods, creeks and salt marshes. Roundtrip walk of 3 miles will turn up wintering hawks, ducks, spar-rows, and perhaps Bluebirds. Bring binoculars. Main entranceis 245 Park Drive, Mastic. Call the trip leader MaryLaura La-mont at the Estate at 631.399.2030 for details.

December 2012No field trips scheduled because we hope you will join oneof our leaders on one of the Christmas Bird Counts.

Saturday, January 4th, 2014 @ 9:00am

Lakes around PatchogueTrip Leader: John McNeilCome see our winter-resident waterfowl on the lakes ofPatchogue. John tells us “these lakes are God’s little oases forwintering waterfowl.There’s always a surprise or two to peekyour interest!” Join John for either a half or full-day excur-sion (conditions permitting). Meet at 9 am at the Swan LakeClub House on Swan Lake in East Patchogue. Contact John at631.281.2623 for details.On the day of the trip, John’s cell is631.219.8947.


“Nobody can do everything but everyone can do something”

Beth Gustin

With autumn starting to wind downand the holiday season right aroundthe corner, it is a good time to

think about Christmas trees. Environmen-tally speaking, is it better for us to pur-chase a live tree or an artificial one?

n Growing Christmas trees as agricul-tural products helps to preserve openspace by keeping tree farmers in business.

n Christmas trees are renewable—foreach tree that is cut down, a farmermay plant up to 3 trees in its place.

n Real trees reduce the amount of carbon in the air. A single Christmastree can soak up one ton of CO2 in its lifetime!

n Real trees are easy to recycle—manymunicipalities collect the trees and turn them into mulch. The also workextremely well in a backyard brush pilewhich provides shelter for birds andsmall mammals.

n Artificial trees are usually made ofpolyvinyl chloride (PVC), a type of plastic that is difficult to recycle and isnot biodegradable. Although recycledPVC is sometimes used in the manufac-turing process, it requires lots of fossilfuels and electricity from coal firedpower plants to produce an artificialtree.

n 85% of artificial trees sold in theUnited States are produced in China,where various harmful chemicals (in-cluding lead in older models) may havebeen used in the manufacturing anddecorating processes (think fake snowon the needles). Shipping the treesaround the world requires even morefossil fuels. Although families generallydo not purchase a new artificial treeeach year, there are still at least 10 million fake trees sold each year in the U.S. alone!

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n Some downsides of growing realtrees are that fertilizers are oftenused in the growing process andthe trees are often sprayed withpesticides.

n For those people who live inwarm climates, the live trees areshipped longer distances whichrequires lots of fossil fuels.

With these things in mind, the gen-eral consensus among tree huggersis that it is better to go with a liveChristmas tree than an artificial one.Try to buy it as close to home as

possible, from a local tree farm (cut ityourself!) or nursery, and make sure itgets recycled properly. If you are feelingreally green (and ambitious) buy a balledand burlapped tree that can be plantedafter the holidays. I have three of thesegrowing in my yard and my dream is thatone of them will end up in RockefellerCenter in about 60 years!


Count Date Compiler Contact Information

Quogue to Sat., Dec. 14 Steve Biasetti Hm 874.4684Water Mill Wk 765.6450 x205CBC [email protected]

[email protected]

Montauk CBC Sat., Dec. 14 Karen Rubinstein [email protected] Wilson [email protected]

Sagaponack Undetermined Consult ELIAS web CBC site for compiler & date

Central Fri., Dec. 27 Eileen Schwinn 516.662.7751Suffolk CBC [email protected]

Orient CBC Sat., Dec. 28 MaryLaura 631.722.5542Lamont

Smith Point to Contact Jay Kuhlman [email protected] Coordinator 631.878.4461Inlet WF Census

Yaphank to Midweek John McNeil 631.281.2623Peconic Bay Jan 19 to 27 [email protected] Census

Montauk to Jan 18 to 26 Frank Quevedo 631.537.9735Amagansett Target Jan. 18 [email protected] Census

Reeves Bay Midweek John McNeil 631.281.2623to Noyack Bay Jan 18 to 26 [email protected] Census

Fresh Pond to Midweek John McNeil 631.281.2623Sag Harbor Jan 18 to 26 [email protected] WF Census

As the holiday season approaches, it isonce again time to think about thewinter bird counts. Each year, ELIAS

members participate in a series of tencounts — five Christmas Bird Counts(CBC) sponsored by the NationalAudubon Society and five winter water-fowl censuses sponsored by the New York Ornithological Association (NYSOA).Dates and compilers for the counts arelisted below.

If you would like to participate as either afield observer or a feeder watcher in anyof the listed CBC’s, or as a participant inany of the waterfowl censuses, please con-tact the compiler of that count. No fee willbe collected this year and the results willbe available online. There is no fee to par-ticipate in the Waterfowl Censuses. Usuallythe compilers are very flexible and partici-pants can bird with the group until theyneed to go. So…please do not hesitate toask if you can participate. All help is wel-come.

Experienced birders are needed for eachof the counts, but beginners are most wel-come. If you are not an experiencedbirder, field parties who are familiar withthe territory will help you learn your wayaround. We hope that new observers willfind the counts to be as exciting as experi-enced birders find them to be, and thatthey will continue to participate in the future. This is the way we can we developan adequate pool of skilled, committed observers to continue the tradition.

Feeder watchers who live within the countcircle are needed to provide additionalcoverage by recording the number of indi-viduals and the variety of species that ap-pear at the feeder during the count day.

For the most part, counting begins as soon

Christmas Bird Counts & Winter Waterfowl Censuses John McNeil

as it is light enough to see (around 6:30 to7:00 am) and continues until it is too darkto see anymore (around 5:00 pm). How-ever, to hunt for owls, some observersstart a few hours before daylight and con-tinue for a while after dark. At least eighthours of field observation during daylighthours in a CBC circle is required for ac-ceptance of a CBC report.

Field coverage is primarily done by somecombination of walking and driving, but bicycles, boats, motorcycles, and othermodes of transportation may also be used.

The Winter Waterfowl Censuseshave been compiled throughout the stateof New York since 1955. These too aredone in assigned territories, but onlybirds such as ducks, geese, swans, cor-morants, grebes, and coots are counted.These censuses are usually done in mid-January by the same CBC compilers. Ifyou would like to participate please con-tact a compiler.

See the chart above are the people tocontact to join the CBC and the Water-fowl Census.

Contact the compiler if youwould like to participate. You don’t need to be an

expert birder to participate. If you are in a count area, you can offer to count birds at your feeder.


Across1. Winter ____, aptly named for the season3. Tiny birds with short, slender bills, shorttailed

5. ______ Bunting 6. Great Blue _____7. ____ Sparrow 9. Cat got your tongue swan?10. ____’_ Shearwater13. __________ Shrike, seen at TheodoreRoosevelt Sanctuary 2010

16 Great _____-______ Gull18. Eastern _____, onomatopoeia name?19. Tundra ____, uncommon visitor from …well the tundra

20. Snowy ___22. ____- crowned Kinglet23. ________ Starling, would that Shake-speare’s Hotspur never mentioned thisspecies to vex his in-law.

25. _____________ Cormorant27. Blue or Green-winged ____29. _____-______ Teal32. Another onomatopoeia?33. ___-________ Nuthatch35. Blue ___36. _____-winged Crossbill, part of an irrup-tion last year

Down1. Birders on our ELIAS hike at the WilliamFloyd Estate last November were lucky tosee this Kingbird

4. Red or White-breasted2. ______-_______ Kinglet5. ____ Scoter, the one with the one with thewhite head patch

8. Iceland ____, a little early but check IronPier

11. Northern _____, hooked tip bill12. Downy or Hairy __________14. Barrows or Common ______-___15. Cory’s __________17. _____ Woodpecker21. Cave _______, seen at Point Lookout lastNovember

23. _______ Bluebird24. ________ Swan, will dredging at YaphankLake be appreciated?

26. Great _____28. Northern _______, rare visitor fromacross the pond, seen at Montauk DeepHole last November

30. _____ Duck31. Having two or more colors in blotches32. Easy prey for an Eagle34. Northern ___-whet Owl. Seem last yeararound this time at North Fork Preserve.

Winter Birds by Tom MoranEastportFeeds,Inc.

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Get InvolvedWould you like to submit

an article or a photo?

We would like

to hear from you. Contact:

[email protected].

Answers to last issue’s Sept/Oct puzzleAn Autumn Puzzle by Tom Moran


Dear Eastern Long Island

Audubon Society

Thank you so much for sponsoringme to attend a week at the DECcamp, Pack Forest. I am very gratefulfor the opportunity of a this, maybe,once in a lifetime experience. I had agreat time there, Not only was itbeautiful, but I learned many newthings about the environment. I metnew friends and I got to met newcounselors there. I went fishing,woke up at seven each morning tojump in the lake and then take a nicehot shower. We played Frisbee everymorning, and eagerly looked forwardto the day’s lesson. The food therewas superb. I always looked forwardto it, breakfast, lunch and dinner. OnWednesday we went an “overnight”.We choose between differentthemes, hunter safety, hiking orclimbing with a choice of two moun-tains. I chose Giant Mountain whichis one of the forty-six high peaks inNew York State. It is, in fact, thetwelfth. From the top there werespectacular views of the AdirondackMountain Range. According to ourcounselor we could see over 150miles to the mountains of Massachu-setts and to the edge of the Catskills.

All together my time there wasamazing. I believe your sponsorshipwas definitely worth it. It was themost fun I had all summer, and Ihope I can go back next year, I can’twait to see what new experiencesthat would bring. I now believe thatthese great DEC camps have made asignificant influence on the way Iview the environment, and I believethat one of my career paths is lead-ing to becoming an environmentalist.I want, not only to learn how to con-serve, but create new ways we canconserve by reducing the resourceswe waste on this planet and reduce-ing the harmful objects that we pol-lute the earth with. This has becomeon of my goals in life and I am grate-ful that you gave it to me. Thanks you so much!

David, Riverhead

Oystercatcher Farm D/B/A

THE FARMERS MARKET FARM STAND

Proprietors: John and Patricia Carson76 Montauk Highway, Westhampton, NY 11978 (631.375.0612)

(just west of Buoy One Restaurant)

Featuring Blue Duck Bakery Breads & PiesAnd the finest - fresh seasonal local produce -

including our own hand-pressed lemonade, fruit jams,

raw honey, maple syrup, chowder, fruit and savory tarts.

Sc h ola rS h i pS a r e ava i la b lefor teens to attend Dec Summer camp

Eastern Long Island Audubon Society is offering scholarships for four students in grades 7through 12 to attend New York State Department of Conservation camps for one week. Camperswill choose between camps in the Adirondacks, Catskills, or western New York State. Campers

enjoy fishing, hiking, canoeing, volleyball, and hunter safety training. Activities such as sampling streams foraquatic life and hiking in the dark to listen to the sounds in the woods are designed to bring conservationconcepts to life. More information about the camps is availabe at www.dec.ny.gov. Search for teen camps.

A perfect candidate would be interested in the environment, and anxious to learn more. (Although par-ents do not have to be Audubon members, the camper must live in Eastern Long Island.)

Here is what the candidates need to do,

n Write an essay stating why they are worthy candidates for the scholarship. Include environmental experiences and interests. Also, describe what benefit they might derive from the experience.

n At the bottom of the essay, the candidate should include his or her name, address, city, state, zip, phone,date of birth, name of school and grade. The student should also note if and when he or she has attended an outdoor education/ecology camp. Previous scholarship winners may reapply.

n Have parents attach a letter stating that they are aware of the transportation stipulation (see below).

If accepted

n Campers are responsible for their own transportation to and from the camp and for their own physi-cal examination, if the camp requires it.

For more information, call Ridgie at 288-3628 or -Evelyn at 631-727-0417.

Please send essay and information by January 12, 2014 to: Education Committee, Eastern Long Island Audubon Society, PO Box 206, East Quogue, NY 11942-0206

Name __________________________________________________________________________________

Address ______________________________City/State/Zip ______________________________________

Phone ________________________________Date of Birth ______________________________________

Name of school ____________________________________________Grade ________________________

o Have you ever attended an outdoor education/ecology camp? If SO, what camp, where, and when________

________________________________________________________________________________________

Applicant’s signature ________________________________________________________________________

Date ____________________________________________________________________________________


MaryLaura LamontOCTOBER 2013 There is a fair andbeautiful island I must tell you about. It iscalled Monhegan, and is about 10 milesout to sea, off the mid coast of Maine.That’s what this ancient Algonquin namemeans– Out to Sea. You can get there byreservation on a charter boat line out ofNew Harbor, Maine, and it is well worththe trip. Going over to the magical islandcan be a smooth crossing, or a rough onedepending on the sea and winds. It takesabout an hour or so, but in that time youcan find seals, whales, dolphins, a variety ofsea birds and even a forlorn and lost landbird.

Upon reaching Monhegan in autumn youwill find that the island has trapped, andsaved, thousands and thousands of landbirds from the open treacherous watersof the mighty Atlantic. Its headlands arethe last piece of land before the open andunforgiving sea. There isn’t a land bird alivethat likes flying over open water, andsometimes in migration they get blown offcourse and blown out to sea where theyface a sure death from the salty sea or thegulls, which drive them into the sea andfeast on them.

Enter Monhegan, the last piece of earth inthe area before the deep sea, so the birdsall strive to land there if they get blownout to sea from the Maine mainland. Lastyear, as we just started our hike on the is-land we were greeted by a little Red-breasted Nuthatch in a red spruce tree. Icalled to my husband “Oh look– a Red-breasted Nuthatch!” A man nearby cameup to me and whispered in my ear “lady,there are 10,000 Red-breasted Nuthatchon this island today, maybe even 20, 000!”You know what? He was right! As we en-tered into the magical island forest ofabundant spruce and fir we indeed did en-counter about 10,000 Red- breastedNuthatch. It was a tremendous fallout, andthey were going about their business offeeding and calling. I literally can’t explainwhat it is like to hear that many calls of“negh, negh, negh.” It will always be one ofthose moments frozen in time that onewould never forget for the rest of theirlife. This year, we had solid northwest

winds for about a week before we got tothe island, and those winds brought in justabout everything almost imaginable in theway of land birds. When my husband Ericasked a bird watcher what he had seen sofar that day, his reply was, “every land birdin North America is here today!” Therewere incredible numbers of warblers;Black and White Warblers (hundreds), Yel-low-rumped Warblers, Parulas, Magnolias,Palm, both Black-throated Blues andGreens, to name just a few. On Long Is-land, we may see 1 or 2 Blue-HeadedVireos in the course of a migration but Itell you at one time alone in the thick for-est we had 20! What a birders delight tobe surrounded by vireos, warblers, and lit-tle nasal sounding negh, negh birds! Thereis a small fresh-water marsh and pond onthe island too. I had never seen a Sora be-fore. A Sora is a rail, very shy, secretive,and rare. Because the island is such a mag-net for birds in migration, it also is a mag-net for bird watchers as well, and birdwatchers who can really “jostle” with you.I was just about knocked over by a birderwho just pushed me out of the way to seethis bird. Upon seeing this incident, akindly birder took me by the shouldersand said “here-look over here!” Who intheir right mind would ever think that onan island, off the Maine coast, you wouldsee your first Sora rail?

I won’t go on to list all the birds we sawbut some are certainly worthy of mention.We saw 8 species of predators in the 2days we were there this year, and I real-ized that although this island saves many

little birds from the wild Atlantic it can bea killing field for them as well. The hawksget trapped here too, although they arestronger flyers than the little jobs. Theytake their toll on the smaller land birds,and I witnessed this many times. Therewere lots of Merlins and Peregrines.Down at the south point of the island, inthe area named Lobster Cove, I cameupon a small meadow that had at least 50Savannah Sparrows creeping about it. Ididn’t mean to but since I spooked themup they all went to the end of the rocks,before the open sea. They scrambledabout, below and into the rocks like rockpipits! There was no place else for themto go, except into the sea. So, I backed offand went slowly, giving them enough timeto flit away back towards the tiny grassyarea, which had a spruce tree or two pop-ping up. Out of the open sea came a Mer-lin, right past me, and it took a perchedsavannah in the spruce! I was horrified be-cause I felt I had caused it to lose its life.Savannahs are one of my favorite spar-rows, and are in steep decline becausethey nest in fields which are disappearingin the American landscape.

Countless times, sitting on the easternheadlands before the ocean sea, I had ob-served Peregrines and Merlins chasedown a hapless Flicker or Yellow-rumpedWarbler. They patrol the cliffs, and when agust of wind takes the land bird to sea, thehawks will chase them down or into thecliffs. The only hope for the smaller bird isto cling to the land and the forests where

Monhegan Island

continued


they can perhaps escape.

The smaller land birds have to wait forthe cover of night to leave their Mon-hegan way station. If they try it in the day,the hawks will get them, and so will thegulls. They have to wait for a perfect nightto take them back to the mainland ofMaine, where they can continue on theirsouthbound migration. As I walked on pastthe area where my little Savannah lost itslife, I was surprised to find a Red-neckedGrebe near another cove. Here on LongIsland we usually, if ever, see them in De-cember and January, so to see one thisearly (last week in September,) even inMaine, I thought a good find. For a mo-ment it made me forget about the Savan-nah.

This year was a bumper year to observe

many things. In the stillness of the greatforest you could hear millions of bees ofall kinds, droning on with their prepara-tions for winter. Birds of all kinds wereabout – on the forest floor, in the treetops, and in the bushes. Their calls wereincredible to listen too, and they neverstopped. You knew a hawk was about be-cause it was just about the only time theyall became silent.

Sitting on the headlands near Pulpit Rock,and just below me, I saw common dolphin,grey seals, and a large group of harborseals bounding away going out to sea. Theywere breaching out of the water all to-gether – it was like a herd, or pod ofbreaching whales! And of course therewere whales. I spotted several minkewhales feeding. When my husband Eric re-turned to where I had set up I told him

about all the marine mammals I had seen.As we turned to leave he said “what’sthat-it’s a large whale!” Sure enough, itwas a large whale, and I had my binocsright on it. He said it must be a fin whalebecause it was so big. Well, I can’t prove it,but I think it was a blue whale, because Iclearly saw a lot of whitish spots on it. Ihad crewed on the old Okeanos whaleboat off of Montauk as a volunteer for 14years, and I’ve seen plenty of fin whales inmy time. Whether it was a finback or bluewhale it just adds to the lure of this magi-cal island.

There are no vehicles allowed on Mon-hegan, as it is just a small island (2500acres). There are only perhaps 6 trucksthat belong to a small handful of fisher-men. The island has about 45 year roundresidents who make their living as fisher-men, lobstermen and artists. It has been apopular colony for artists to go to sincethe late 1800’s. Those of you familiar withAmerican art know that famous artistslike Rockwell Kent, Edward Hopper, theWyeth family, all painted Monhegan in allher majesty and mystery. The artists arenewcomers. The birders are even newer.The fishermen and lobstermen have beencoming to Monhegan since the first NativeAmericans got there hundreds of yearsago. And the birds and whales and sealscame before them. We’ll hopefully alwaysreturn to Monhegan in the autumn. Thereis no place like it. We met a hiker whotold us “People either get Monhegan, orthey don’t.” We “get it”, and always will.

Field Trips were scheduled forSept. 14th and Oct. 5th. The October trip was suppose to

go to Sunken Forest, but that wasclosed due to the government shutdown. Let’s hope we can rescheduleit next year. Many people were look-ing forward to it.

Instead we went back to Smith Point and notified people by emailand facebook. John McNeil lead thefirst trip, and Eileen Schwinn the second. Both were beautiful days, but perhaps not

the birdiest. I recorded about 22 speciesin October and just 16 in September.

Left, on September 14th worked to iden-tify a flycatcher and above on October5th, at Smith Point.

From our field trips Sally Newbert


The second annual Long Island NaturalHistory Conference will take place Fri-day, December 6 at the U.S. Depart-

ment of Energy’s Brookhaven NationalLaboratory in Upton, NY. The conferencewill comprise sixteen presentations byleading Long Island wildlife biologists andnaturalists. Topics include the impacts ofHurricane Sandy on our flora and fauna,survey results for the American eel, bats,mammals, moths and carnivorous plants ofLong Island, conservation issues related tothe eastern box turtle, eastern tiger sala-mander, red knot and saltmarsh sparrow,and two interesting history presentationson the menhaden fishery and Long Island’senvironmental movement.

The conference is open to the generalpublic and promises to be the largest re-gional forum for researchers, natural re-source managers, students, and naturaliststo present and exchange current informa-tion. It will serve as a premier venue toidentify research and management needs,foster friendships and collegial relation-ships, and encourage a greater region-wide interest in Long Island’s naturalhistory by bringing together people withdiverse backgrounds.

The conference is a project of the Long Is-land Nature Organization, committed topromoting nature studies on Long Islandby sponsoring specific projects, providingopportunities to increase communicationamong wildlife researchers, managers, andthe general public, and building a web-based clearing house for Long Island Natu-ral History information.

Conference sponsors include Coastal Re-search and Education Society of Long Is-land, The Nature Conservancy, NorthShore Land Alliance, Peconic Land Trust,Quogue Wildlife Refuge, Seatuck Environ-mental Association, South Fork NaturalHistory Society, Group for the East End,Long Island Pine Barrens Commission andBrookhaven National Laboratory.

To register, go to LongIslandNature.org

General admission: $25; students: $15.

So many people have asked me “What hap-

pened to the Monarch Butterflies?” Here is

an concise answer from Rick Cech the author

of Butterflies of the East Coast. When I

emailed him to ask if I could use the answer

he put on the NYS bird list, I mentioned a

large roost I had witnessed along Dune Road

a few years ago, when hundreds were clinging

to a pine tree. Sadly, I guess, at least for now,

those days are gone.

Sally Newbert

Here is Rick Cech’s answer to wherethe butterflies have gone:

My book (Butterflies of the East Coast) hasa shot of an evening roost of migratingMonarchs along Dune Road. Small world.

I gave a talk to Huntington Audubon thisevening (in Cold Spring Harbor) and indi-viduals there had the same questionsabout the reduced Monarch flight. But it’snot just Long island! Wish I were thatlocal.

To simplify a bit, there are two major mi-gratory Monarch populations in NorthAmerica, east of Rockies and west ofRockies. We’ll discuss the former here.

Each year, the final brood of summerMonarchs in the East fly down to overwin-ter in Oyamel Fir forests in the Transvol-canic mountains of Michoacán, Mexico (at2400 to 3600 meters).

In the spring, new broods travel north, re-populating North America. Historically,millions of Monarchs have congregated ina small areas in Mexico each winter.

Many of these southbound emigrantscome from the East (incl. southernCanada), but numerically most hail fromthe upper Midwest.

Lately, illegal logging in Mexico has dam-aged the overwintering sites

More importantly, perhaps, much of thecorn grown in the Midwest is geneticallymodified to be resistant to the herbicideRoundup; farmers douse the landscapewith this herbicide to eliminate weeds,thus destroying the host plant for Mon-archs (milkweeds), while leaving the cornunaffected (at least by this; their special-

ized genetics seem to be leaving them sus-ceptible to other blights, however, such asGoss’s wilt, as recently reported in NYT.)

Some are now suggesting this will lead toa loss in the biological phenomenon ofMonarch migration.

A number of factors led to a small north-ern return flight of Monarchs in 2013

Some reached northern climes late in thesummer, however where milkweed wasprofuse this year, so there is at least someeastern southbound migration this fall

It is likely to be small trickle compared toearlier years, however

Invertebrates are hearty and resilient, butno telling how long they will be able towithstand the headwinds they now face

That is the story for the moment….Thanks for asking,

Rick Cech

What happened to the Monarch Butterflies?

The attractive Monarch Caterpillar feeds onMilkweed which is growing scarer.


John McNeil

The Survey will be conducted the first fullweek of the month starting on Sundayand ending the following Sunday. This sur-vey takes place from October to June.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FEEDER SURVEY

n Define an area containing feeders thatyou can see all at once from a window.The area should be one you glance atfrequently during your daily routine.

n Don’t include birds seen off premises.

n Predators perching in or swoopingthrough the count area (not just flyingover) may be counted if you feel thatthey were attracted by the birds at the feeder.

n Record the largest number of eachspecies that you see in your count areaduring the eight-day count period.

n Do not add counts from previous daystogether. Be specific with the speciesname, e.g. we can’t use just the nameSparrow, Blackbird or Gull.

n At the end of the count period, recordyour final tallies and send in the formimmediately.

Personal observations and comments arewelcome as are suggestions to improvethe surveys and reports.

Please send your report to:John McNeil168 Lexington RdShirley NY 11967-3212

Survey Dates:

Sun., Nov. 3 to Sun., Nov. 91

Name ________________________

Address ______________________

______________________________

Town ________________________

Phone ________________________

_______Mourning Dove

_______Northern Cardinal

_______Blue Jay

_______House Finch

_______Black-capped Chickadee

_______Tufted Titmouse

_______Downy Woodpecker

_______White-throated Sparrow

_______Dark-eyed Junco

_______House Sparrow

_______White-breasted Nuthatch

_______Song Sparrow

_______Red-bellied Woodpecker

_______American Crow

_______European Starling

_______Common Grackle

_______Carolina Wren

_______Northern Mockingbird

_______American Goldfinch

_______Red-winged Blackbird

_______Hairy Woodpecker

_______Common Flicker

_______Rufous-sided Towhee

_______American Robin

_______Brown-headed Cowbird

_______Sharp-shinned Hawk

_______Rock Dove (pigeon)

_______Gray Catbird

_______Yellow-rumped Warbler

_______Red-breasted Nuthatch

_______Other ______________________

Survey Dates:

Sun., Dec. 1 to Sun., Dec. 7

Name ________________________

Address ______________________

______________________________

Town ________________________

Phone ________________________

_______Mourning Dove

_______Northern Cardinal

_______Blue Jay

_______House Finch

_______Black-capped Chickadee

_______Tufted Titmouse

_______Downy Woodpecker

_______White-throated Sparrow

_______Dark-eyed Junco

_______House Sparrow

_______White-breasted Nuthatch

_______Song Sparrow

_______Red-bellied Woodpecker

_______American Crow

_______European Starling

_______Common Grackle

_______Carolina Wren

_______Northern Mockingbird

_______American Goldfinch

_______Red-winged Blackbird

_______Hairy Woodpecker

_______Common Flicker

_______Rufous-sided Towhee

_______American Robin

_______Brown-headed Cowbird

_______Sharp-shinned Hawk

_______Rock Dove (pigeon)

_______Gray Catbird

_______Yellow-rumped Warbler

_______Red-breasted Nuthatch

_______Other ______________________

Feeder Survey for November & December

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Published by: Eastern Long Island Audubon SocietyP.O. Box 206East Quogue, NY 11942-0206

Address Service Requested

EASTERN LONG ISLAND AUDUBON SOCIETYFrom the Barrens to the Bays

Serving Eastern Brookhaven, Western Riverhead & The Hamptonswww.easternlongislandaudubonsociety.org

ELIAS Officers & DirectorsPresident: Byron Young 631-821-9623

Past President & Current Vice President: Eileen Schwinn 631-728-8342

Recording Secretary: Chris Schmitt 631-727-2860

Corresponding Secretary: Gigi Spates 631-765-1436

Treasurer: Tom Moran 631-849-4434

Board of Directors:

Bob Adamo 631-369-1958

Ridgie Barnett 631-288-3628

MaryLaura Lamont

John McNeil 631-281-2623

Sally Newbert 631-281-6008

Suzi Stewart

Evelyn Voulgarelis 631-727-0417

Dan Wilson

Committees/ProjectsMembership, Mailing, Field Trips & Feeder Stats: John McNeil 631-281-2623

Program Chair and Nature Chat Open

Liaison - Kaler's Pond Audubon Center: Alfred Scherzer 631-728-2898

Hospitality: Ridgie Barnett 631-288-3628

Conservation & Bluebird Restoration:Gigi Spates 631-765-1436

Education: Evelyn Voulgarelis 631-727-0417

Webmaster: Annette Oliveira 631-833-4451

Newsletter Editor & Publicity: Sally Newbert 631-281-6008

[email protected]

Please check the date on your label.If your membership is has expired or isabout to expire please use the member-ship/renewal form below to keep yourmembership current.

NON PROFIT ORGU.S. POSTAGE P A I DPermit No. 3

Center Moriches, NY 11934

Chapter Renewal & MembershipFor $20 a year, you will receive 6 issues of The Osprey and you will be

supporting our local education and conservation activities.

This is a m Renewal m New Membership

m I would like to make a donation of ________ in addition to my membership.i

Name __________________________________________________

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Email__________________________________________________

Please be sure to include your email. You will receive an email confirma-tion, a pdf of the first newsletter and occasional updates and notices ofany program changes. This list is not shared.

Make check payable to: Eastern Long Island Audubon Society

and mail to: ELIAS Membership,

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East Quogue, NY 11942-0206

dinner celebration at suffolk theater - eastern long island

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