Water Willow (Decodon verticillatus)
Photo courtesy of Donald J. House

Saturday, March 5, 2016, 10:00 AM
Late Winter Botany Workshop: Buds, Bark, Berries & More, Muttontown Preserve, East Norwich, NY
Trip Leader: Lois Lindberg

Indoor-Outdoor Workshop. In spite of spring’s approach, there is still plenty of time for some winter botany. Rid yourself of those confusing leaves and flowers to sharpen your botanical skills on buds and leaf scars. We will meet indoors at the Bill Paterson Nature Center to study the winter characteristics of some common deciduous trees and herbaceous plants. Weather permitting, we will head outdoors after the program for a closer look at bark textures, tree branching patterns, and remnants of last summer’s wildflowers. Bring a hand lens, winter field guides, snack or lunch, and come prepared for a hike.

Directions: Bill Paterson Nature Center, Muttontown Preserve
Muttontown Lane, East Norwich, NY
(LIBS monthly meeting location - Contact the trip leader for further directions)

Saturday, May 21, 2016, 10:00 AM
Oak Slope Communities, Tiffany Creek Preserve, Oyster Bay Cove, NY
Trip Leader: Allan Lindberg

Situated atop the Oyster Bay Recessional Moraine, Tiffany Creek Preserve offers excellent views of the slope communities within the Oak Forest. We will hike through Hilltop, Mid and Low Slope communities, offering examples of both mixed shrub and Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) understories. We will eventually reach the wetland interface at Shutter Lane Pond with its rare North Shore stand of Atlantic White Cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides). Other rarities along the way will include Cucumber Tree (Magnolia acuminata), Umbrella Magnolia (Magnolia tripetala) and Bigleaf Magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla). Come prepared for a hike, bring lunch and liquid. Tick/insect repellent is recommended as Deer Ticks are a problem at Tiffany Creek. Bathroom facilities are not available.

Directions: Tiffany Creek Preserve, 45 Sandy Hill Road, Oyster Bay Cove, NY.  Meet at 10 AM at the preserve parking area.  For further directions and to register please email.

Friday, June 10, 2016, 10:00 AM
Botany for Beginners, Forest Park, Queens Co., NY
Trip Leader: Michael Feder

Learn how to easily identify plants using the Newcomb's Wildflower Guide. The walk will last about 2 hours. Participants are encouraged to bring their own copy of the book.

Forest Park is the third largest park in Queens and was designed by Frederick Olmsted in the 1890's.
(Co-listed with the Torrey Botanical Society.)

Directions:We will meet at 10 AM at Wallenberg Square which is located at the southwest corner of Park Lane South and Metropolitan Avenue in Kew Gardens. Take the Grand Central Parkway or Van Wyck Expressway to the Jackie Robinson Parkway. Get off at exit 6, Metropolitan Avenue. Make a left onto Metropolitan Avenue. Wallenberg Square will about 1/4 mile down the road on your right at the intersection with Park Lane South.

Saturday, August 27, 2016, 10:00 AM
Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park, Great River, NY
Trip Leader: Rich Kelly (cell phone: 516-509-1094)

We will look for interesting weeds around the community garden and at the maintenance/dump area, then on to the Paradise Island Native Woodland trail which has a pine barrens type wet woods as well as a variety of sandy soil species. We will walk along the bulk-headed Connetquot River, but there are many interesting plants along the way. There is also a series of small wooded ponds which we will explore.

Sunscreen, insect repellent, and water to carry are all recommended. I will carry a lunch/snack to eat on the go. There is a café, but this may be crowded if the weather is nice

Directions: We will meet just after 10AM (the gate opens at 10:00) in the southern (far) end of the main parking lot. This is closest to the main building. Take the Southern State Parkway east and continue south on the Heckscher Spur. Get off at Exit 45E and head east on Montauk Highway. Travel about ¾ mile and the entrance will be on the right. The address is 440 Montauk Highway, Great River. There is an $8 Vehicle Use Fee unless you have an Empire Pass. This walk is co-listed with the Torrey Botanical Society. Please call to register.

Saturday, September 10, 2016, 10:00 AM
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, Oyster Bay, NY
Trip Leader: Lois Lindberg

Sagamore Hill includes a variety of habitats on its 80+ acres. We will explore an old carriage road, fields, woodlands, and Eel Creek marsh on the shoreline of Cold Spring Harbor. One species of note here is Vernonia gigantea (Tall Ironweed), endangered in New York State. Theodore Roosevelt was an avid naturalist who loved his Oyster Bay home, and this trip is a follow-up to an article in the Fall 2014 LIBS Newsletter.

For those interested, we may visit the Roosevelt Museum at Old Orchard, and we have also secured a reservation for a guided house tour of TR’s home at 2:30 PM.

Bring lunch. Space is limited for the house tour, so registration is required.

Directions: From Northern State Parkway, Long Island Expressway (I-495), or Route 25A (Northern Blvd.), take Route 106 North into downtown Oyster Bay. Following the brown-and-white signs, turn right onto East Main Street (at Nobman's Hardware Store) and travel 2 miles. Turn left onto Cove Neck Road and drive 1.5 miles to Sagamore Hill. For GPS navigation use the address 12 Sagamore Hill Road, Oyster Bay, NY 11771, which is the Visitor Center, located at the entrance of the park.

Saturday, October 22, 2016, 10:00 AM
Goldsmith Inlet and Soundview Dunes County Parks, Peconic and Southold, NY
Trip Leaders: Andrew Greller, Vicki Bustamante, and Louise Harrison Cell phone: 631-428-1315 (Harrison)

We will walk from Goldsmith Inlet County Park along the inlet, through a forest and a maritime freshwater interdunal swale, onto a Long Island Sound beach, eastward to Soundview Dunes County Park, back into the interdunal swale, through the park’s forest and possibly around the park’s “hidden” freshwater lake, depending on time. We can walk or drive along Soundview Avenue back to the starting point, stopping at a private residence deck for refreshments and a view of one of the inlet’s salt marshes.

We will look for Quercus muehlenbergii, found last year on the South Fork and known from the North Fork, and will have opportunities to explore a wide variety of ecological communities. If time allows, a secondary foray to see an ancient post oak with a remarkable survival strategy may be visited following refreshments.

Please bring lunch, sunscreen, tick/insect repellent, water, and wear long pants that can be tucked into socks. Shoes appropriate for walking in loose sand are recommended.

Registration is limited and required. Please email consnap.li@gmail.com to register.

Directions: : From the LIE eastbound, take Exit 71 and go north (left) on Edwards Avenue to Sound Avenue. From the South Fork, take 105 north to Sound Avenue. Proceed east on Sound Avenue onto C.R. 48 (a.k.a. “Middle Road” in Mattituck and “the North Road” thereafter). You will go through Mattituck and Cutchogue, then past the BP gas station in Peconic, to the next light, where you will make a left onto Mill Lane (it is called Peconic Lane on the south side of C.R. 48). From Mill Lane, make the first right onto Soundview Avenue. Less than ½ mile down Soundview you will see a short length of a split-rail fence on the left. That marks the trailhead for Goldsmith Inlet County Park.

A maximum of three cars can park at the trailhead at Goldsmith Inlet County Park, but parking along the road is allowed. Please park between the trailhead and Diamond Lane, on the left side of Soundview Avenue, avoiding the fire hydrant at the base of Diamond. (Hint: Diamond Lane looks more like a driveway than a road.) Additional cars may park on the right side of Soundview. We will arrange one or two cars to be available for the return trip from Soundview Dunes County Park.