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Four Harbors Audubon Society

Stonebridge Nighthawk Watch returns to Setauket

by Heidi Sutton - September 14, 2024

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Nighthawk Watch 2023 — Participants of the 2023 Stone Bridge Nighthawk Watch. Photo by Kathy Ishizuka

VOLUNTEERS WANTED

It’s that time of year again! Four Harbors Audubon Society invites the community to join them for their 8th annual Stone Bridge Nighthawk Watch at Frank Melville Memorial Park, 1 Old Field Road, Setauket every evening through Oct. 6, from 5:30 p.m. until dusk.

The group will be tallying migrating Common Nighthawks to better understand nighthawk population trends. Join them at the Stone Bridge to witness nighthawks as they pass over during their migratory journey to their wintering grounds in Brazil and Argentina. Bring binoculars. Visit www.4has.org for further details.

Harbor Day celebrates the beauty of Stony Brook Harbor

by Rita J. Egan - September 13, 2024

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By Rita J. Egan

Hundreds visited Long Beach in Nissequogue on Saturday, Sept. 7, to satisfy their curiosity about Stony Brook Harbor and the waterway’s inhabitants.

The villages of Head of the Harbor and Nissequogue, along with The Friends of Stony Brook Harbor, partnered to host Harbor Day at the Long Beach boat launch with Stony Brook Harbor as its background. Last year, the event returned after a 15-year hiatus.

Nissequogue Mayor Richard Smith presented Peter Scully, Suffolk’s former deputy county executive, with The Friends of Stony Brook Harbor Lifetime Achievement Award. “There is no better candidate,” Smith said.

The mayor congratulated Scully, who resides in Stony Brook and grew up in St. James, on his longtime commitment to improving the health of local waterways, including his work with nitrogen remediation during his tenure with the county.

Upon accepting the award, Scully, dubbed Suffolk’s “water czar” when he was deputy county executive, said he didn’t consider himself a water champion but someone who had been in the right place at the right time on many occasions “working with a lot of outstanding elected officials.”

Environmentalist John Turner, of Setauket and the Four Harbors Audubon Society, accepted the Dr. Larry Swanson Environmental Award from Head of the Harbor Mayor Michael Utvesky.

“Name any endangered part of nature on Long Island, and John L. Turner will be there to help preserve it,” Utevsky said.

Turner said he was honored to accept the same recognition as the 2023 recipient, Suffolk County Legislator Steven Englebright (D-Setauket), and the award that bears Swanson’s name.

“I knew Larry and had a great deal of respect for him,” Turner said.

In addition to the awards ceremony, attendees enjoyed various activities including live music, a talk by historian Vivian Nicholson-Mueller about harbor life in the 1860s and a dunk tank. Representatives from Four Harbors Audubon Society, Sweetbriar Nature Center, Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons and more were on hand with educational activities and to answer questions about Stony Brook Harbor and its aquatic animals.

Letters to the Editor: August 1, 2024

by TBR Staff - August 1, 2024

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letters_page-scaled-1-700x467-1-1-2-3-2-1 — Photo by Raymond Janis

Unjustified dismantlement of West Meadow Beach cottages

I am writing in response to last week’s article concerning the new West Meadow Beach sign which memorializes the cottages that once stood there [“New West Meadow Beach sign evokes old controversy,” The Village Times Herald, July 25]. Like the sign, the article fails to reflect the more nuanced story of the West Meadow Beach cottages and their significance to our community. As someone deeply connected to this community, I must address the misrepresentations and the devastating loss we have suffered.

Steve Englebright [D-Setauket], the former state assemblyman [and current county legislator], has shown himself to be a disgrace. Even if his story from his 20s about landing on the beach and being chased away were true, his relentless pursuit to remove the beach cottages was an abuse of his office. Englebright’s personal crusade and the narrative he and his associates crafted used circumstantial evidence to paint a false picture of a community that I knew intimately.

The beach cottages were not the domain of a privileged few but a bucolic community of families who created memories and contributed to the fabric of Stony Brook. Englebright’s claim that “most of the people of Brookhaven Town were denied access to their own public land” is simply untrue. Instead of addressing a genuine community concern, he pursued a personal agenda with the help of a few local activists who exploited his political influence to achieve an extreme outcome.

Herb Mones, of the West Meadow Beach Advisory Committee and one of the privileged homeowners behind West Meadow Creek, pursued a hateful agenda rather than working with the community on solutions. His group started the first legal challenges against the cottages in 1991, resulting in rulings that public parkland didn’t belong to private interests. This act has torn a hole in our marvelous town and demonstrated a cruel use of legislation to destroy a special place for so many. Rather than seeking an alternative zoning plan to balance access and preservation, Englebright and his cohorts chose destruction.

Today, the strip of land where the cottages once stood is a barren wasteland, neglected and unprotected. The community that once thrived there is gone, and the town is poorer for it.

Englebright’s defeat from his Assembly seat is a small consolation, but he should be further removed from any position of power. His version of events starkly contrasts with the experiences of many other town residents. My stepfather, for instance, was welcomed and rescued by the cottage community when his boat ran ashore. Similarly, I witnessed my late father coming to the aid of a pilot who crashed his lightweight aircraft on the beach. We welcomed the pilot into our home, shared stories, and my father helped him repair his aircraft.

Englebright’s defensive claims and narrative paints a very different picture than The New York Times story from 2004 [www.nytimes.com/2004/06/27/nyregion/long-island-journal-cottages-at-west-meadow-beach-face-end.html] reflecting a community of caring residents who became legislative victims. Nancy Solomon, a folklorist and executive director of Long Island Traditions, rightly pointed out that the bungalows reflected local architectural tradition and that tearing them down was a loss of history. George Barber, president of the Brookhaven Bathing Association, feared that the removal of the cottages would lead to the beach becoming a garbage dump, which we now see happening.

If there is to be a second sign, it should inform the community of Englebright’s abuse of office and the destruction of a cherished treasure of the Three Villages. He and his cronies should be ashamed of themselves, and their actions will not be forgotten.

Jen Schaedel, Stony Brook

Editor’s note: Our front-page story covered the erection of a new sign at the beach and was not a detailed history of the cottages controversy, which was still discussed.

An alternative view of the West Meadow cottages controversy

Last week’s Village Times Herald article, “New West Meadow Beach sign evokes old controversy,” reminded me that it’s been 19 years since the beach liberation.

Back then, our local newspaper was besieged with letters, including those from owners who promised dire consequences if the cottages were razed — arson, crimes, drugs, pollution and increased traffic. I was one of the people who wrote letters arguing that they must come down, and that the beach be returned to the public.

I thought back to a Brazilian trip where all the beaches were accessible to the public. No hotels or houses were built along the waterfront. A local explained to me that such building was illegal because beaches belong to the public, not the wealthy, would-be homeowners.

Here on Long Island we have a system where, generally, people of means reside on the waterfront and the rest of us share the places that remain public. The West Meadow Beach cottages were one of the worst examples of beachfront land abuse, because it was rented at a discount to those who “voted correctly.” And, yes, I was approached by more than one cottage owner who menacingly advised, “We know where you live.”

A champion of the beach reclamation was Herb Mones who first brought the issue to the taxpayers. And Steve Englebright will always be considered a heroic figure to me because he risked his career against overpowering odds and personal threats in order to do the right thing.

The dire predictions never materialized. No arson, crime, crack houses or increased traffic — just less sewage. It’s a joy seeing people taking that beautiful, serene walk on our peninsula, which is slowly evolving back to its natural state.

Bruce Stasiuk, East Setauket

Horseshoe crabs need our help!

To readers of this newspaper there is good news about horseshoe crabs but your help is needed.

Legislation to prohibit the harvest of horseshoe crabs has passed the New York State Assembly and Senate (A10140/S3185-A) and awaits action by Gov. Kathy Hochul [D].

Please take a moment to urge her to sign the bill into law. You can do this by either:

1. Calling her office at 518-474-8390.

2. Sending a letter of support to:

The Honorable Kathy Hochul

Governor of New York State

New York State Capitol Building

Albany, NY 12224

3. Going to this website: www.governor.ny.gov/content/governor-contact-form and type in a comment in the message box.

We have never been closer to stopping the killing of tens of thousands of horseshoe crabs —NYS regulations allow baymen to kill 150,000 annually for bait — and your voice is needed.

Horseshoe crabs have declined significantly over the past several decades and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission earlier in 2024 determined that New York’s horseshoe crab fishery is in “poor condition” — the only state along the East Coast with this troubling designation.

This poor condition is borne out by our personal experience: Who over the age of 50 doesn’t remember our bay and harbor bottoms once being filled with these iconic animals? This species, known as a living fossil, plays a vital role in the coastal ecosystem with their eggs being eaten by a number of migratory shorebird species, including the red knot which is protected by the federal Endangered Species Act. Their eggs are eaten by many fish species too and the adults are consumed by sea turtles, also listed and protected in the Endangered Species Act.

There are bait alternatives baymen can use that have proven effective. Over the past 25 years about 3.6 million horseshoe crabs have been killed for bait. It’s time that New York joins our neighboring state Connecticut, which recently enacted a statewide ban on the taking of these living fossils and stops the slaughter. These fascinating animals deserve better. We call on Gov. Hochul to sign the ban into law. It is vital the governor hears from the public by expressing your support for the ban. Please contact Gov. Hochul today!

John Turner

Four Harbors Audubon Society

St. James

Wet Paint Festival planned for historic Setauket neighborhood

by Rita J. Egan - May 30, 2024

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Artist Stuart Friedman paints at Frank Melville Memorial Park during a previous Wet Paint Festival. Photo courtesy of Gallery North

Two-day plein air painting event combines art, history and nature

By Rita J. Egan

Gallery North’s 20th annual Wet Paint Festival will take place in what was once considered a Setauket hub.

Held on June 1 and 2, the plein air painting event, featuring more than 40 artists, will be held on the grounds of the Tyler Homestead. Located at 97 Main Street, the mid-1700s home sits across the street from the Setauket Post Office and Frank Melville Memorial Park. Right in the homestead’s backyard is the Patriots Rock Historical Site, where the Battle of Setauket was fought.

For the 2024 event, Gallery North has partnered with Three Village Community Trust (TVCT), which owns the Tyler home. Erin Smith, Gallery North’s director of development, said they were pleased that the land trust was willing to make the Tyler Homestead available for the event.

The property will serve as the center point, where artists can explore around and near the property to decide the subject of their paintings. Choices include the house and property, Frank Melville Memorial Park, Patriots Rock, the Setauket Green, Emma S. Clark Memorial Library, nearby churches and the three Factory Worker Houses located less than a mile down the road.

“You bring your easel, and whatever vignette or view that moves you, you paint,” Smith said. “It’s nice because the whole idea of plein air painting is that it captures the light really well, and it gets you outside. You can really capture the historic beauty of the area in a unique way.”

Smith added that, during past festivals, some artists have chosen to paint objects such as an ice cream truck or bench. As for the Tyler Homestead and the area, it was chosen for “its historical significance and natural beauty.”

“It’s a highly visible central location for the community,” she explained.

Herb Mones, TVCT president, agreed that the Tyler house is the perfect location.

“It not only has the expansive yard, but it’s on Main Street, and it’s so close to so many other historical sites, parks and venues that the artists could spread out, and yet the Tyler house is the central focus,” he said.

In addition to various activities set up in the Tyler Homestead’s back and side yards, Mones said TVCT will provide tours of the Patriots Rock site and discuss the role early Setauket residents and British occupiers played during the American Revolution.

Artist Angela Stratton, who has participated in past Wet Paint Festivals, said she always looks forward to being outside and choosing what to paint.

“When you go out to paint, and you’re looking around, it’s kind of what hits you in your heart,” Stratton said. “One day, to some, a certain spot can look beautiful. The next day you can go and that doesn’t intrigue you.”

The artist added that she welcomes spectators’ questions and appreciates children being exposed to art at the festival. How quickly an artist completes a painting, she said, depends on the person and the canvas size. She said many base how long they spend on a painting on how the sunlight hits a subject during a certain time of day or some will stay despite the light passing.

For Three Village Historical Society Historian Beverly C. Tyler, the homestead is more than a landmark; it’s the home he grew up in. The historian said for a time the property had flowers all over, from front to back, that his stepfather, Lou Davis, cared for. Tyler described the flowers as “absolutely gorgeous.”

“Having the Wet Paint Festival there is sort of a continuation of his efforts to use the property,” Tyler said.

The historian fondly remembers playing on the grounds.

“Everything was very interesting around there, and I would sometimes sit on the front porch and just watch the cars go by and count the number of Chevys and Fords and other types of cars that were going by, and I could see everybody that came into the post office.”

Tyler added the area appeared in several postcards, and the Neighborhood House next to his family home was once a summer boarding house his grandfather ran in the late 1800s and the early 1900s.

In addition to viewing artists at work, attendees can participate in wildlife and plant life lectures or go on a guided tour of plein air paintings with regional artists Doug Reina and Christine D’Addario. WUSB 90.1 FM/107.3 FM will present live musical performances each day. Visitors will also be able to purchase food from LevelUp Kitchen and enjoy a delicious picnic in an idyllic setting.

Later in the month, from June 25 to July 7, art lovers can enjoy an exhibition at the Reboli Center for Art and History, 64 Main St., Stony Brook featuring the participating artists’ paintings. An opening reception will be held on June 25 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Schedule of Events

Saturday, June 1

11 a.m. History Walk with members of the Three Village Community Trust

Noon to 2 p.m. Music by Tom Killourhy

12:30 p.m. Meet local wildlife from Sweetbriar Nature Center

2 p.m. Take part in a plein air art tour with artist Christine D’Addario

Sunday, June 2

11 a.m. History Tour with Margo Arceri of Tri-Spy Tours

11:30 a.m. Nature Walk with the Four Harbors Audubon Society

Noon to 2 p.m. Music by Kane Daily

1:30 p.m. Plein air Art Tour with artist Doug Reina

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Generously sponsored by the Village Art Collective and Suffolk County’s Department of Economic Development and Planning., the Wet Paint Festival will be held on the grounds of the Tyler Homestead, 97 Main St., Setauket from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 1, and Sunday, June 2. The event is free of charge for spectators. A rain date is scheduled for June 15 and 16. For more information, call 631-751-2676 or visit gallerynorth.org/pages/wet-paint-festival.

Your Turn: A sad farewell to Flaco the owl

by TBR Staff - March 6, 2024

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Flaco, Eurasian Eagle Owl — Flaco spotted in Central Park over the summer. Photo by by Gil Yang

By Patrice Domeischel

It was inevitable. Life for any bird is fraught with perils. That Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle-Owl illegally released over one year ago from the confines of his lifetime home in the Central Park Zoo would survive despite having no life experience outside his enclosure, would be nothing short of a miracle.

We had all waited, expecting the worst. Would he make it? The tentative answer appeared to be “Yes”. And it did seem that he just might have bucked the odds as instinct kicked in, and he mastered the unfamiliar, urban environment.

Flaco spotted in Central Park over the summer. Photo by by Gil Yang

Birders, photographers, city residents, tourists, all wanted a glimpse of the famous escapee owl. He delighted all who viewed him as he perched at some of his regular Central Park haunts, and later in the Upper West Side neighborhoods of Manhattan. Flaco had become a symbol of freedom, surprising and eluding those who sought to bring him back to the zoo’s safe confines. To New Yorkers and out-of-towners alike, some whom had never seen any owl, Flaco was an avian celebrity.

Then our greatest fears were realized. Flaco became one of up to one-billion birds EACH year that die in the United States alone after flying into windows, his death determined to have been caused by “traumatic impact.” And although a necropsy report indicated Flaco’s good condition, his weight only slightly less than when last taken at the zoo, he may also have been exposed to infectious diseases like West Nile Virus or Avian Influenza, and/or toxins including rodenticides that would have weakened him, contributing to the strike.

Now Flaco has become another painful window-collision statistic. His passing shines a harsh light on this serious issue. Window strikes can occur at any time of year, but take place most often during spring and fall migration when billions of birds travel to and from breeding and wintering grounds. Strike incidents occur with great regularity when birds collide with the highly reflective glass used in building construction. Birds see the reflections in these panes as a continuation of the natural landscape and attempt to fly through them. Most collisions occur with the windows of one-and-two story buildings; many are residential homes.

Flaco the owl in his Central Park Zoo enclosure. Photo by Mary Lor

But there may be a silver lining to this tragedy. The urgent need to protect birds from death caused by window strikes has already resulted in legislation in New York City that requires the use of bird-friendly materials in new construction. The City also has a lights-out requirement for city-owned and city-managed buildings. In Albany also, a bill is now on the table that requires the incorporation of bird-friendly designs into new or altered-state buildings in New York State. Maybe Flaco’s needless end will help to propel the bill to completion and law.

What can you do? We all have the power to make a difference. We can prevent window-strike collisions at our own homes and in the community. Simply affixing decals that reflect ultraviolet sunlight, or that create visual interference, on problem windows can dramatically cut strike numbers. Birds detect the stickers, recognize something to avoid, and fly elsewhere.

Flaco will be remembered always in the hearts of New Yorkers; we mourn his loss. But his name will live on in the meaningful and important legislation now on the table in Albany, a bill renamed the FLACO ACT: “Feathered Lives Also Count,” after this iconic and charismatic raptor.

Note: Do you know of a building prone to window strikes? Let us know at: [email protected].

Learn more at these and other websites:

American Bird Conservancy

Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP)

windowalert.com

featherfriendly.com

theaudubonshop.com

Author Patrice Domeischel is a board member of the Four Harbors Audubon Society.

4HAS Stone Bridge Nighthawk Watch wraps up for 2023

by John Turner - October 19, 2023

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By John Turner and Patrice Domeischel

The 2023 season of the Stone Bridge Nighthawk Watch, run by the Four Harbors Audubon Society (4HAS) in cooperation with Frank Melville Memorial Park in Setauket, came to a close on Oct. 6 with 36 Common Nighthawks observed, many of which circled overhead as they actively fed on aerial insects above both ponds. We suspected the birds were feeding on a recent hatch of aquatic insects — midges, gnats, etc. — supplied by the nurturing waters of the ponds.

The Watch runs annually from 5:30 p.m. to dusk from Aug. 27 to Oct. 6, and is designed to count Common Nighthawks migrating from New England and eastern Canada during their southbound autumn migration. Many pass over Long Island on their journey to the Amazon region of South America so Long Island serves as a “migratory motel” for this species.

The seasonal total was 1,022 nighthawks, by far the lowest total 4HAS has tallied in the seven years we’ve been conducting the count. Previous totals (year — number of common nighthawks seen) were: 2017 — 2,046; 2018 — 2,018; 2019 — 2,757; 2020 — 2,245; 2021 — 1,819, 2022 — 1,625; 2023 — 1,022.

We don’t have a clear reason why the total was so much lower than in past years. The numbers were “dampened” somewhat by three days in a row of rainy weather at the Watch, the first time this has ever happened. We speculate the fires that have raged for so long in eastern Canada, where some common nighthawks breed, also played a role in either affecting reproductive success or shifting their migrational movements away from smoke and Long Island.

We thank the many dozens of people who visited the Watch this year including two individuals from California and one from New Zealand! It was fun to be able to tally nighthawks together and to marvel at their abilities in flight and their long distance migratory exploits.

It was also rewarding to answer the questions posed by inquisitive visitors to the park as they walked by on the Stone Bridge, inquiring what the crowd of birders were doing. Hundreds of individuals now know a little bit more about nighthawk ecology and migration and the challenges these birds face as they head to overwinter in the Amazon.

Visitors also learned about the current plight many migratory birds face and what they can do to help birds, such as putting decals on their windows, making their pet cat an indoor cat, drinking shade-grown coffee, and limiting the use of pesticides and other chemicals.

See you next August!

John Turner and Patrice Domeischel are members of the Four Harbors Audubon Society.

Stone Bridge Nighthawk Watch returns to Setauket Aug. 27

by TBR Staff - August 24, 2023

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Nighthawk Crew 2021 Photo by Thomas Drysdale — John Turner, center with participants from a previous Nighthawk Watch. Photo by Thomas Drysdale

On Aug. 27 at 5:30 p.m., the Four Harbors Audubon Society will begin its seventh “Common Nighthawk Watch” on the Stone Bridge located along the southern boundary of Frank Melville Memorial Park in Setauket. The watch will run through to Oct. 6.

The Common Nighthawk, a bird quite adept in flight, passes through Long Island on its southbound migration in the autumn after leaving their breeding grounds across northern North America and heading to the Amazon region and beyond in South America. The nighthawks passing over the Watch are very likely birds that nested in eastern Canada and New England.

The Audubon chapter began the Watch in 2017 in response to concerns about declining nighthawk numbers. Based on the last published NYS Breeding Bird Atlas, this species has experienced a 71% reduction in the number of birds that possibly or probably bred or were confirmed as breeders in New York State from 1985 to 2005. While continental figures paint a slightly better picture, the trend in nighthawk numbers is still a downward one.

Common Nighthawk. Photo by Dennis Whittam 2021

“Anyone who witnesses the daily evening migration of Common Nighthawks at the Stone Bridge is hooked; the spectacle is no less than addicting. Yet the bigger picture is disheartening, as we know nighthawks are in steep decline, and the numbers we see are but a small percentage of their historic population levels,” notes Patrice Domeischel, a chapter board member and a co-founder of the Watch. “Hopefully in time our data collection will prove useful in determining ways to preserve this species.”

Why so many nighthawks appear over the Stone Bridge is not fully clear but two aspects appear to contribute: the geographic position of Setauket along Long Island’s north shore is ideal for intercepting southbound nighthawks as they reach Long Island after crossing the Sound and the presence of the pond that regularly produces an insect hatch that provides a cafeteria for the birds.

“Common Nighthawks are related to whip-poor-wills” said John Turner, Conservation co-chair of the chapter and a chapter board member, “but are distinctive with their bright white wing bars that flash as they dip and turn in pursuit of the aerial insects that form their diet.”

The reduction in the abundance of aerial insects due to spraying and habitat loss appears to be the main driver of reduced nighthawk numbers. “These birds serve as bellwethers for the quality of the environment and their decline should be a concern to us all,” Turner added.

The totals for the number of common nighthawks counted as they zip, bob, and weave erratically overhead for the past six years is as follows: 2,046 nighthawks in 2017, 2,018 nighthawks in 2018, 2,757 nighthawks in 2019, 2,245 nighthawks in 2020, 1,819 nighthawks in 2021, and 1,625 nighthawks in 2022. The single best day observers have had was on Sept. 8, 2017 when 573 nighthawks passed overhead. Last year the best day was the first— Aug. 27 — when 243 birds moved through.

Many other bird species are observed at the Watch including Bald Eagles and Ospreys, Double-crested Cormorants, Barn and Tree Swallows and Chimney Swifts, several duck species including the beautiful Wood Duck, Belted Kingfisher, wading birds such as Great Egrets, and many species of songbirds. Toward dusk, several species of bats often emerge to feed over the pond and if any planets are visible in the sky a birding scope is set up to look at them (the ring of Saturn can be seen with a high powered bird scope).

For more information, visit www.4has.org.

Wet Paint Festival makes its mark at Old Field Farm

by Julianne Mosher - June 22, 2023

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By Julianne Mosher

On June 17 and 18, visitors from across Long Island headed to Old Field Farm in Setauket for Gallery North’s 19th annual Wet Paint Festival, a fun-filled weekend to not only admire local artists practicing their craft en plein air, but to see the excitement of a derby. According to Sally Lynch, owner and farm operator, the festival couldn’t have come during a better weekend.

The 2023 Seaside Hunter Derby took place on June 18 on the campus and as the riders competed, over 40 artists took to their canvases to paint and sketch the local scenery and content.

“All the horse people are thrilled to see their horses painted,” said Lynch. “There’s a reason why the horse remains a constant subject of the arts.”

She added that the day before, the farm hosted vintage riders (ones who ride side saddle) in full old-school costume who also modeled for the artists on-site.

The two-day festival also featured nature walks courtesy of the Four Harbors Audubon Society, live music by Tom Killourhy and the Keenan Zach Trio, plein air art tours with Jim Molloy and Nancy Bueti-Randall, a history tour with Margo Arceri of Tri-Spy Tours and an animal presentation by Sweetbriar Nature Center.

The event was sponsored by bld Architecture, Jefferson’s Ferry and Suffolk County’s Department of Economic Development and Planning.

All of the artwork created at the festival will be on display at the Reboli Center for Art and History, 64 Main St., Stony Brook on July 5 through August 27. The public is invited to an opening reception on July 21 from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

Four Harbors Audubon Society to host spring lecture on bird banding

by Press Release - April 21, 2023

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The Four Harbors Audubon Society kicks off spring with a lecture on bird banding at the Bates House, One Bates Road, Setauket on Tuesday, April 25 at 6:30 p.m.

What have we learned from bird banding? How do you band a bird? Guest speaker Darlene J. McNeil will answer these questions and more.

McNeil got her start birding in 2004 after taking a master birder course in GA. She got her first camera in 2007 and became a “birder who holds a camera” to document her rare bird sightings. In September of 2011 she began volunteering at a bird banding station in TX and attended several bird banding courses to learn banding skills for her sub permit at Powdermill in PA, Braddock Bay in Rochester, NY, Appledore Island in NH and Belize.

Currently she holds a subpermit to band birds only in CT. To date she has handled over 1,500 birds in the banding process and has had the unique opportunity to hold every eastern warbler. Although Darlene does not band birds in New York, she is an avid birdwatcher and can be seen in the field often. Currently she works as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, and is a mom to 2 adorable Siberian Huskies, one whom is a certified Pet Therapy Dog.

All are welcome. There is no fee to attend this lecture. Masks are recommended.

Email [email protected] to register.

Port Jeff civic resurrected, members set their priorities

by Raymond Janis - January 13, 2023

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Screen Shot 2023-01-12 at 3.11.33 PM — Screenshot from portjeff.com/opentodayvideo/

Over a decade since disbanding, the Port Jefferson Civic Association was back in action Monday, Jan. 9.

Eighteen village residents filled the Meeting Room of the Port Jefferson Free Library, discussing several pressing local issues and establishing their priorities as a body.

Michael Mart was a member of PJCA under its previous configuration. He shared a history of the organization and why village residents have banded together in the past.

“The history and importance of the Port Jefferson Civic Association, as I recall it, was to serve as a vehicle by which individuals come together,” Mart said. “Its concerns are essentially local in nature: streets, safety, recreation, parks and open government.”

He added the civic association “acts to represent opinions, concerns and agendas of its members to the local governing body.”

Mart said PJCA has functioned in various capacities in the past. At one time, it had produced a regular newsletter, held meet-the-candidates events, offered scholarships to local students and even took the village government to court.

PJCA was “a very active group,” Mart said. “It starts small here, like in this room, and makes itself known to other residents, offering to give voice to their concerns.”

The members of the newly formed civic gave introductions, outlined their reasons for joining and discussed their priorities.

Ana Hozyainova, a 2022 candidate for village trustee, organized the event. She stated her goals for the civic body.

“I hope that we can have a group that can be a force for discussion and greater transparency in the village,” she said.

Myrna Gordon discussed communications between the village and residents and other environmental themes. “I would love to see better transparency or communication and more of our village residents getting involved in the important issues that we face,” she said.

Other residents echoed the call for greater transparency within the village government.

Among them, a 2022 trustee candidate for the Port Jefferson school board, Paul Ryan, identified a supposed divide between the public will and the decisions made by elected officials.

“Since I ran for the BOE last year, I’ve noticed a lot of disconnect between what people want and think is important and what is happening, the decisions that are being made,” he said. “I hope as a civic association, we can channel that voice more strongly and more effectively to make positive change.”

Suzanne Velazquez, candidate for village trustee in 2021, spoke of the “sense of apathy that has crept in” among residents. She also considered the civic association as fulfilling a necessary community end.

“I have had a lot of good conversations about the need to revitalize the civic association,” the former trustee candidate said.

Holly Fils-Aime, president of the local environmental group EcoLeague, described continual development within the village as among her priorities.

“We really have to consider how overdeveloped Long Island is,” she said, adding that residents must be vigilant about looking out for their forests, wildlife and the natural environment.

Steve Velazquez echoed this sentiment. He criticized the alleged overdevelopment of Upper Port, arguing that plans for the property that formerly accommodated PJ Lobster House are “not in character with this village.” Velazquez expressed a desire to see a “true historic district” within Port Jeff village.

In common, those in attendance voiced similar concerns over the perceived lack of transparency, environmental issues and the implementation of projects without resident input. Bluff stabilization at East Beach, according to Mart, encompasses each of these themes.

Referencing the $3.75 million the village recently received to construct an upper wall between the East Beach bluff and the Port Jefferson Country Club clubhouse, Mart said the money “is not the issue — the issue is that we didn’t get to vote on it.”

Also in attendance was guest speaker John Turner, conservation chair of the Four Harbors Audubon Society. He advocated for a villagewide open-space program along with a sustainability plan.

Turner pinpointed specific examples on Long Island of progress concerning the environment. He cited the novel irrigation system at Indian Island Golf Course in Riverhead, which uses wastewater from a sewage treatment plant to irrigate the golf course.

“That wastewater is no longer dumped in the river and the bay,” Turner said. “The nitrogen is all taken up by the grass,” averting contamination of local surface waters. He suggested the village could explore comparable wastewater reuse opportunities.

He added, “The other beauty about this water reuse, from a water quantity perspective, is that we have water quantity challenges on the Island. … Using that water for the golf course means that 66 million gallons of water stay in the ground.”

Expressing her vision for the civic, Gordon said the organization could prevail so long as its members stay persistent. “You have to stay the course,” she said. “We can’t get tired. We have to support each other, we have to ask questions, and we have to go in front of our village trustees and ask, ‘What is going on?’”

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