Hello, my little birding friends! Hope all is well. So, tell me, is it winter or spring? My daffodils are coming up, as are my tulips. I saw crocuses up in someone’s yard! It’s still February! By the time you get this newsletter, it will be April, spring, but geesh. I guess Mother Nature is still going through menopause. Poor thing. I know the real reason is climate change. It’s very sad for humans and wildlife, although some people think it’s great not to be so cold. Even though I would rather be cold than hot, it’s not good, especially if we don’t have a freeze. The freeze helps get rid of some bad things, such as ticks. I do like the snow, and when I was an Art Teacher, it was nice to get a snow day, but now that I’m retired, it doesn’t matter. Every day is a snow day!! I haven’t seen any migraters back yet, but I did hear a red winged black bird in my yard Feb. 23rd and still have the hooded mergansers in my back yard. One night, while lying in bed, I heard a great horned owl. I’ve never heard one in my neighborhood. And, in about 3 weeks, the ospreys will be back!
We had two great speakers in January and February, Rusty Schmidt and John Turner, and will have had Tamson Yeh in March. We have a new volunteer at Brookside, Steven Steinbaum. He will be at Brookside on two Wednesdays a month. Thanks Steven! Our festival is slated for September at Brookside County Park. We decided to have an art show, among other things, for the festival. Any member can enter a painting, sculpture, or photo. Send me up to 3 entries to be considered for the show. They can also be up for sale. Contact me at crabnose88@yahoo.com.
We had a meeting with the County Parks people in January about Brookside. It seems the that the community wants to get involved with Park cleanups and monitoring for people entering the park, especially at night. The County Parks is going to create a new path to the bridge, which will make a nicer way to access the bridge, and give a better view any teenagers that may gang out there after hours.
Jonathan Pryer, Department Head of Community Outreach at the Sayville
Library, will sponsor an Historical tour of the park on April 18th through the Sayville Library and GSBAS. The library would also like to have an outdoor yoga and photo class at Brookside. A lot going on!! Hope you can join us and I hope you liked our new newsletter!
Happy birding!
P.S. – I think I figured out how to go down a few pant sizes. While coming out of Stop and Shop in Sayville, I noticed a lot of receipts in the parking lot. I figured if I spent every other day going there, bending down to pick them up, and any other garbage such as flyers and produce bags, I could lose a few inches off my waistline!!