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Outdoors

Virtual Nature Programs at South Fork Natural History Museum

The South Fork Natural History Museum and Nature Center has introduced a new digital program to help people stay connected to nature while stuck at home helping to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Apr 21, 2020
Fishermen See Market Dry Out

Unable to sell a 1,000-pound catch of fluke last week, Capt. Chuck Morici of the dragger Act 1 spent three days filleting the fish at Montauk commercial dock and offering it for free straight from his boat. On Saturday morning, he gave it away from the back of his pickup truck in downtown Montauk, a big handwritten sign announcing, “Free Fish.”

Mar 26, 2020
Nature Notes: The Cutest of All

Halfway through March, chipmunks are up for good, it would seem. I see ours almost every morning running about, looking hale and sassy.

Mar 19, 2020
On the Water: Early Season Optimism

As of this week, spring officially arrives. While it’s pretty clear we will be dealing with the effects of the virus for the foreseeable future, I’m putting forth in solitude, preparing my boat for the season and launching my lobster traps into the still-cold waters.

Mar 19, 2020
Nature Notes: True Blue

The eastern bluebird, the New York State bird, is the only North American thrush that doesn’t build a typical nest in a tree or bush during breeding season. It lays its eggs in a hole in a tree or a nonliving substitute, a bird box.

Mar 5, 2020
Nature Notes: For the Birds

For the last 81 and 67 years, annual end-of-the-year, or Christmas, bird counts have taken place without fail in two nearby areas, Quogue to Water Mill, and Central Suffolk. The tradition lives on and is increasingly revealing.

Feb 27, 2020
Parasite May Be Factor in Scallop Die-Off

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s commissioner announced on Friday the detection of a coccidian parasite in a sample of bay scallops collected from the Peconic Bays, which is believed to have contributed to the massive die-off discovered in the fall of 2019.

Jan 31, 2020
Nature Notes: Birds of a Feather

The theory of evolution is still intriguing. It is “survival of the fittest” in one sense, but not totally so. And it’s going on all around us today.

Jan 30, 2020
Nature Notes: Smart, Quick, Amusing

Squirrels are the closest thing to monkeys that I can think of in our area. Not only are they consummate climbers but they can also jump from branch to branch and tree to tree, using their furry tails as ailerons to guide them as they fly through the air.

Jan 16, 2020
Ken Morse, a Fisherman’s Best Friend

Tight Lines Tackle on Bay Street in Sag Harbor is jammed from the roof to the floorboard with just about every kind of tackle, apparel, and bait imaginable. You name it, you will likely find it.

Jan 9, 2020
Nature Notes: The Downdrift Beaches

The East End of Long Island came into being more than 10,000 years ago. Up until the present time the North and South Forks have been wearing away, first by the melting of the thick sheets of ice covering them — the South Fork first, then the North Fork as the glaciers melted away and retreated.

Jan 9, 2020
Nature Notes: Wake Up!

Southampton Town has more than 60 freshwater ponds. Most of these ponds are contaminated to this or that degree, but the most contaminated are given a label by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation that speaks to their fragility.

Jan 1, 2020
Nature Notes: View From Long Beach

Last Thursday we were visited by a full moon. It was mostly hidden by clouds, but just because the seas can’t see the moon dosen’t mean they don’t feel its tug.

Dec 19, 2019
On the Water: A Great Low-Tide Bounty

The timing was perfect. Last Thursday’s full moon, backed by a strong wind, finally brought in a great low tide. It had been at least nine months since I’d witnessed one of such magnitude. Its significance also prompted me to head over to one of my favorite sand flats to dig up some steamer clams.

Dec 19, 2019
Rain Suspends Shellfishing

A New York State Department of Environmental Conservation conditional shellfish harvest program that was to open the northern section of Accabonac Harbor yesterday has been postponed at least until Tuesday because of the recent rainfall.     

Dec 19, 2019
On the Water: Local Tackle, Local Skill

They seem like national holidays these days. I’m not referring to National Fruitcake Toss Day or National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (yes, they do really exist); I’m talking about Black Friday and Cyber Monday. For better or worse, these two days are marked on many a household calendar, and just about every consumer has latched on to them with great enthusiasm.

Dec 12, 2019
On the Water: Futile Search for Scallops

The rumors of a lousy scallop season appear likely to be true, according to The Star's fishing columnist, whose early-season reconnaissance mission turned up almost nothing in all of his usual haunts.

Nov 4, 2019
Nature Notes: Greetings From Utopia

I wake up, look out the window, and instead of Noyac Bay and North Haven beyond, I’m looking at the Santa Barbara Channel and Santa Cruz Island looming up in the background. One day it’s one view, the next day another. Three thousand miles apart, but the water is blue, the sky cloudy, the country one and the same.

Oct 24, 2019
Nature Notes: They Own the Place

Just as the Norway rat may be the most adept of all the mammals, gulls — in particular, the herring gull — may be the most adept of all the birds.

Oct 17, 2019
On the Water: Blown Away, Far Away

It was déjà vu all over again and again. The weather, especially the wind, has been relentless of late. It started early on Oct. 8 and finally blew itself out by Sunday. Chicago may be dubbed the Windy City, but the eastern end of Long Island can certainly hold its own when accounting for prolonged periods of gusty weather.

Oct 17, 2019
Back on the Water

Coming off the new moon, the incoming tide was screaming as we approached the rip. Combined with an east wind, it was running at over four knots, and according to the tide chart slack water was only 45 minutes away.

Oct 10, 2019
Nature Notes: Sweet Mysteries

How many of you know what the megagroups Pangaea, Gondwanaland, and Laurasia represent? Very few I’ll bet. In fact, I have only lately begun to study them.

Oct 10, 2019
Nature Notes: Signs of Autumn

Monday was mostly sunny and calm. Most of the summer crowd had gone back to the city and parts west. It was also the last day of September and the eighth day of autumn, a perfect opportunity for a leisurely drive around Southampton, Sag Harbor, and East Hampton to see how fall was shaping up.

Oct 3, 2019
On the Water: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Back in 1982, the British rock band the Clash — one of my favorite groups of all time — came out with the song “Should I Stay or Should I Go.” A classic rocker of a song with a steady beat, it is punctuated with some hard-hitting, sarcastic lyrics, backed by some great guitar licks. It’s a catchy tune that topped the music charts and can still be heard on the airwaves.

Oct 3, 2019
Nature Notes: The Marvelous Monarch

Two of the greatest movements to warmer climes from colder ones that take place each year in both the Old and New Worlds are the great migrations of butterflies and dragonflies.

Sep 26, 2019
On the Water: Fall Fishing on the Upswing

As seems to happen every year, summer appears to get shorter and shorter. Memorial Day arrives and with a quick blink of the eye, Labor Day appears to roll right in.

Sep 26, 2019
Nature Notes: Blue-Green, but Not Algae

Just a month ago nine dogs died from drinking pond water in New York City’s Central Park that was thick with blue-green algae, oops, I mean cyanobacteria, which is not actually algae at all.

Sep 19, 2019
On the Water: Bluefins on the Prowl

Fishing this summer for various species of tuna, including albacore, yellowfin, bigeye, and bluefin, has been the best witnessed in many years, and it looks like it will continue well into the upcoming fall season.

Sep 19, 2019
Suffolk Archery Permits Available Starting Monday

The bowhunting season for deer opens on Oct. 1, and in Suffolk County licensed archers can obtain permits starting on Monday for access to designated areas in select county parks. 

Sep 13, 2019
Nature Notes: So Much to Learn

Did you know that according to the Encyclopedia Britannica there are 43 different species of the deer family, Cervidae, worldwide?

Sep 12, 2019