Plum Island 2

Here's a couple of addenda to my Saturday Plum Island post.

First of all, I confused the name of the old fort on the island; as Joe Polashock points out, it is Fort Terry, not Fort Tyler (Fort Tyler, now a ruin out in the water, is off Gardiners Island).

Secondly, there were a few things that I neglected to mention in the report on our visit. One was the probable presence of storm-petrels (they were a little too far off-shore in the Sound between Plum and Great Gull to identify with complete certainty but their silhouettes and behavior made a pretty good case). And the entire island (and, in particular, the slightly elevated areas just back of the shore-lines) were an amazing flower garden dominated by native species (although there are plenty of introduced species as well). These floral displays were frequented by a notable number of Monarch Butterflies and at least one Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

Finally, Mike Bottini and Michael Sperling point out that organized efforts to save Plum Island are well underway. There is a Preserve Plum Island web site and Huntington Audubon also has a page devoted to the subject . Both sites have more information about the island and links to a petition which I urge everyone to sign.

For a slide show on the Plum Island visit by Sally Newbert (the only person with permission to take photographs) you can go to http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Top&_requestid=45082

Eric Salzman