| Issue #49, March 16, 2007 |
It’s All For The Birds
You Need To Know About The North Fork Audubon Society
By Phyllis Lombardi
You may not believe this but there are some among us who think the North Fork is for the birds. That sounds pretty hostile to me. What’s more, they are, at this very moment, seeking to swell their ranks to bring about their agenda. They met in Greenport a couple of weeks ago for this very purpose.
That meeting seemed routine enough. Early afternoon, the front rooms of a sunny building on 50 acres of land stretching from Route 48 to Long Island Sound. In one of the rooms, a table set with tea, cookies and cake. How very comfortable.
And yet those hosting the meeting were dedicated to their goals. Almost zealous. They’d devised ways to entice new members into their group and they anticipate considerable impact on North Fork life.
If all this sounds shockingly sinister, yet very much in keeping with our troubled world, rest easy. The “for the birds” group that met in Greenport is concerned with things feathered (furred and finned, too) and is most certainly not part of an evil empire. We’re talking here about the North Fork Audubon Society.
This particular Saturday afternoon gathering was a first – a Volunteer Information Tea in the Red House at Inlet Pond County Park. North Fork Audubon chapter president Maureen Cullinane, an Orient resident, would meet with all those who stopped by, tell them about the various Audubon programs and encourage them to volunteer.
You know, even before Maureen met with us, I figured we owed something to the birds. For all the years of verbal abuse we’ve flown their way. For example, we speak of a bird’s beady eyes, glossy and intimidating. Others mock a bird’s beak, assigning that word beak to an elongated, fleshy human nose.
Then there are some who spend hours and dollars working to eliminate crows feet. Now I’ve never carefully examined a crow’s foot, but how bad could it be? Perhaps only a birdbrain would worry about crows feet. I guess a silly goose would, too. There’s no real way to duck crows feet, though. Not if you live long enough. And just how does a birdbrain give birth to an egghead? That egghead is a label so injurious it defeated a presidential candidate some years back.
Speaking of years ago, who hasn’t heard since childhood that birds of a feather flock together? Every time you cut a class with a friend along came that parental reprimand.
And how about killing two birds with one stone? Most North Forkers I know have never even dreamed of killing one bird.
If I do something stupid, I’m cuckoo. If I earn a meager wage (believe me, I do) it’s chicken feed. If I’m reluctant to drive 85 miles per hour on the L.I.E., I’m chicken.
You get the idea, I’m sure. We gotta make it up to the birds. We gotta volunteer at North Fork Audubon. And President Maureen told us how.
For starters, join the Plover Patrol. North Fork endangered species include the piping plover and the least tern. A bit of training and you’re ready to monitor the protection, nesting, growth and survival of the plovers and terns.
Or get involved with trail maintenance and improvement at Inlet Pond. Get physical and rip out invasive vines in the forest area and then head to the beach for litter removal Perhaps help build an observation blind or install benches along the trails. That bench part – that’s for me.
Got a passion for planting? A native wildflower meadow is planned, as well as a shade garden. Needed are weeders, feeders, mulchers and dead headers. I do know what a dead head is but I didn’t think there were any on the North Fork.
You’d rather be an indoor volunteer? Fine. At the Red House you can greet visitors, distribute trail maps, accept Audubon membership applications, answer phones, keep notes about the day’s activities. And you won’t have to dab sunscreen all over your anatomy.
In short, whatever your interests or skills, from accounting to zoology, North Fork Audubon at 323-0103 welcomes you. You’ll meet staff members Dianne Taggart, John Sepenoski, Diana Van Buren, Tom Damiani, Bernadette Voras and Heather Cusack (who bakes great banana bread). And you’ll meet new volunteers such as Cutchogue’s Chuck Crofts and Sarah Cumming of Greenport.
You’ll surely be greeted by Nigel and Kiwi when you volunteer. Nigel is Diana’s Norwich terrier and Kiwi is fondly designated the Red House cat. You’ll love ’em both as well as yourself for helping out. Thus ensuring the North Fork remains for the birds.
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