What’s Happened, What’s Happening, What Will Happen & What Won’t

 We have had a busy few months. In August, Great South Bay Audubon stepped into the cultural arts realm and hosted Lumiere Ballet Russian Dance School at Brookside County Park as they performed “The Blue Bird of Happiness,” Lumiere’s ballet adaptation of Maurice Maeterlinck’s fairy play, “The Blue Bird.” Maeterlinck’s story shows a significant understanding of nature and reminds us that there truly is nothing new under the sun. The evening was lovely as the ballet dancers (adults and children) leapt and twirls across the grass stage with the lake in the background. It was really enjoyable to have the opportunity to partner with Lumiere to express how nature has influenced the arts. Thank you to Legislator Piccirillo for making the funding for this available. 

We had our first in person general meeting in September, since the beginning of the Covid nightmare in early 2020. The meeting was held at Seatuck Environmental Center in Islip. Miguel Valentin, master beekeeper, was our guest. He shared how he got involved with bees through his grandfather, as a young boy in Puerto Rico, his working as a NYC detective and bee rescuer for the City and about the dangers that are facing bee survival now. We had the opportunity to see live bees and buy some blueberry/locust honey. 

Also in September, we partnered with Islip Arts Council to host a Buddy Merriam concert at Brookside County Park. Another beautiful afternoon – the sound of Buddy’s mandolin and bluegrass music wafted through the air as about 100 people In spite of tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and raging forest fires, Nature is not out to get us, really – even if it frequently does. But we seem bent on being out to get Nature. 

As if we could, but a recent study indicated that plant and animal species are becoming extinct 1,000 faster since our history began. The “Sixth Extinction” is now the latest global anxiety. We either crowded species other than ourselves out of existence or allowed species that shouldn’t be where they are in the first to take over. 

General meetings, scheduled for the third Thursday in October and November at Seatuck, with Bob Labuski and Joe Giunta, will have happened by the time you read this and I hope some of you will be able to say you were there. 

Still to come is our December get together. This event will be also be at Seatuck on December 16 (third Thursday). Some of our members will be making short presentations of some of their photography. We will enjoy snacks, stories and a little fellowship before we go back into Zoom meeting mode for the cold winter months. For the months of January, February and March, we will hold our monthly meeting remotely, via Zoom, safe and warm while continuing to share about birding and environmental issues of concern. You can read more about the speaker line up in this newsletter. 

Sadly, what will not be happening – as you know already, is our dinner. The board of directors didn’t feel that people would be comfortable enough to venture into a closed room setting at this time. We polled several people who agreed with our determination, as did speaker Mike Bottini. Captain Bill’s has been very generous in allowing us to cancel 4 times. However, they have informed us that this is it. 

We must hold our dinner in 2022 or lose our deposit. We are going back on the schedule of the first Monday night in May. Please mark your calendars to join the event.