Fall Foliage Fun in New York

Hi All,

As you know the Fall is here.  And also....you probably have realized that leaves are starting to fall from trees.  Leaves and trees....trees and leaves.  They make for great tree and leaf watching this time of year. 

And because New York State has so many trees and because tourism is such a vital industry to New York State, the NYS Department of Economic Development has created a site called I Love New York - Things To Do - The Fall Foliage Report.

As you would expect the site has great pictures, lots of information and more on the site. For example, there are links to Best Foliage Spots, a New York Fall Bucket List and a more general list of Fall Events in New York State. 

Users can request a printed copy of the New York State Travel Guide/Foliage Guide by clicking on this link.   The site also has a leaf identifier feature which is very helpful when leaf watching.

Enjoy the links, leaves and the site!

Regards,
Stu

Earth Day 2016

Hi All,

Welcome to Earth Day 2016!

If you're not sure what Earth Day is, click here for the Wikipedia entry for what actually is and does and stands for.

Click on this link for the United States EPA website discussing Earth Day.  There are links to Events/Activities, Project Resources and Ideas.  There is also a section called Earth Day Every Day.

The History Channel has an excellent Earth Day site - here's the link. The link has a lot of historical information regarding Earth Day as well.  This link explains how the first Earth Day came about.

 This next link helps to coordinate various Earth Day activities around the country.  Click here for various links... Tree for the Earth, and Earth Day Toolkit,
 
Finally, click on this link for information from the United State Census Bureau about Earth Day.

Happy Earth Day,

Regards,
Stu

It's Fall - and the Leaves Are Falling

Hi All,

If you didn't notice it, the Fall season is here.  Its starting to get blustery and temperatures are starting to drop at night.  Brrrrr.   And with the Fall season upon us, leaves fall.  Turning all different colors and shades of red, brown, orange, yellow and colors in between its a great time of year for taking walks in parks or near where there are lots of trees.

Click on this link from ILoveNY for the Fall Foliage Report.  And another interesting website for accurate foliage information comes from the Foliage Network.  The site has Pictures, Foliage Reports, Place To Stay, Foliage Spotters and Webcams.  Neat stuff.

In addition, there is a site called Yankee Foliage which also has Fall Foliage Maps, Foliage Drives and more.  Note that the site is a variant of YankeeMagazine.com. 

Finally, the library has a bunch of books on taking nature walks on Long Island.  Click on this link for a list of titles the Farmingdale Public Library has in its collection on the topic of nature walks.

Enjoy the hiking, enjoy the leaves.

Regards,
Stu

Enature.com

Hi All,

Just found out about one of the most popular nature sites on the web: Enature.com. I never heard about it before...but wow.  What a vast treasure trove of information about wild animals and plants of the United States. 

The core content of the wildlife is information about nearly 6,000 individual species.  Information on the site comes from the same data set used to created the printed edition of the Audubon Field Guides.  Awesome - the information is basically free!!!

So - what does the site offer viewers?  There are Wildlife Guides, links to Local Nature, Ask an Expert, Fun & Games, an Advanced Search and a blog.  Users can also conduct a species search and look for Field Guides for more than 5,500 species. 

Field Guides run the gamut of animals:  from Birds, Butterflies, Fishes, Insects & Spiders, Mammals, Reptiles & Amphibians, Seashore Creatures, Trees and Wildflowers.  Clicking on this link brings you to the Field Guides search page where you can search the Field Guides by the category listed above - and you can search within the Field Guides by keyword.

Each Field Guide has the name of the animal, its family, a description, dimensions, habitat, observation tips, range, voice, similar species and a brief discussion of the animal.

Awesome, awesome, awesome - comprehensive, authoritative and easy to use information is available.  What a great site for a nature lover who is conversant with the internet and computers. 

Also on this page is a box that users can use to find a particular option:
1. Learn what wildlife lives in my area.
2. Identify an animal or plant I just saw.
3. Ask a specimen question.
4. Get information about a National Park or Refuge.
5.  Know what endangered species live near me.

Finally, click on this link for the Free iPhone Apps from eNature.com!

Enjoy the site and the information!

Regards,
Stu

Spring+Warm Weather=Gardening Time

 
Hi All,

You might not be able to recognize it from todays' weather, but spring is here. Over the last few weeks we've been getting less rain and more sun in this area and that's great for backyard gardeners.  Central Nassau - and from what I hear from patrons at the reference desk - and our patrons are ready for a traditional spring that is full of warm weather, sunny skies and blooming flowers.  Bring it on!!!!

So, without further ado, I've found a really excellent gardening site called Treehugger.com. Click here for a link to the site. 


The site has an excellent article titled '10 Great Gardening Websites You Must Read' - which is basically a list of 10 high-quality, unbiased, current gardening websites.  One of which is 'Kitchen Gardeners International'.  Tabs on the homepage of the KGI site include 'Education', KGI Garden Planner and more.

Other sites that Treehugger covers include the Royal Horticultural Society, You Grow Girl, and Plants are the Strangest People.

Plants Are the Strangest People (aka PATSP) is a self-proclaimed 'long-winded but frequently humorous blog about houseplants or working in a garden center'.  The blog has been around since 2007 and is well-written, interesting and darn clever.  The clever part is self-evident from the tab entitled  'Praise for PATSP From Spambots'. 

And finally, indulge me for a shameless plug...here it goes.


Finally, the library is hosting a program on Thursday, April 18th at 6:30pm called 'How Does Your Garden Grow?'  The program will be held in Room E and we are expecting a large turn out.  So, be sure to register for the program ahead of time on the library Calendar of Events page.  Click here for the link to that page.

Here's to all your gardens blooming and for all your plants growing abundantly this Spring.

Enjoy the sites!
Stu

Birding on Long Island

Hi All,

You see them all around - possibly even feeding some of them. They have vibrant colors, sing wonderful songs in the morning and have adorable shapes. What am I talking about you ask? Birds of course!

And Long Island is home for some fantastic birds! Click here to find a small article about Suffolk County birds. The article discusses Dune Road in near Shinnecock and Moriches.

If you are a beginning birder this site from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a must see. Birding Basics, bird guides and more are all available from this very authoritative website. Note that users can find birds by name, bird shape, bird family and more.

Furthermore, when you find a particular bird, users get a picture of said bird, identification methods, a life history of the bird, sounds the bird makes and video of the bird. There is also a range map which describes the locations and geographical places that the bird can be found.

This is a wonderfully comprehensive birding website even for the intermediate birder in your life.

Click here for the Wikipedia entry on birding. The entry gives context to the hobby and is well written. Notice also that the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is mentioned about half-way down the article. The SSAS has a wonderful mission statement that can be found on the home page link.

The organization sponsors birding outings and is active in promoting environmental education. Definitely worth looking into if you like birding or if you think you might like birding, click here for a more informal view of Long Island birding from Long Island Birding.com.

Going back to a site that I use often in this blog is About.com. Click here for the About.com birding entry - which, while somewhat similar to the Wikipedia entry, is more thorough and more comprehensive. Click here for About.com entry on '3 Steps to Easy Bird Identification'

Reades should note that there are many, many organizations dedicated to birding, especially on Long Island. Click here for the South Shore Audubon Society webpage.

Finally, click here for a more informal view of Long Island birding from Long Island Birding.com.

Regards and happy birding!
Stu

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Finding Fall Foliage on Long Island

Hi All,

Fall is definitely here! Did you see the thermometer temperature last night? Brrrr...time to get your longjohns out, your sweatpants on, and start thinking about snow shovels and the holiday season. But before we get into the holidays maybe you can have some outdoor fun by seeing some local fall foliage on Long Island perhaps?

Click here for a link from Tripcart which has some links to Fall foliage on Long Island. Click here for a foliage color report for all of New York State. Note that the reports are updated and that this entry is from 10/23/10.

I never thought about it but the Weather channel should (and in fact does) have foliage maps. Obviously it is an authoritative site - click here to see the link from the Weather Channel. Notice that there is a legend at the bottom right part of the map that, if you click on, will tell you 'How to Read This Map'.

Finally, you can use this link to identify trees - if that is your interest. The link is from About.com and is called Tree Identification Using a Tree Leaf Key.

Enjoy the great outdoors.

Stu