What can I say?? Snakes creep me out almost as much as it does Advisory Board Member Sandi Brewster-walker! Sorry Sandi! But isn't our cover photo amazing? Park visitor Laura Colosa spotted this water snake enjoying a lunch of eel near the Mill Pond spillway. I think that SSSC Members might have enjoyed such a meal at that location too!
Joking aside, this photo is SO important! It should remind us that we are a NY State Park Preserve and that comes with some very special distinctions. Connetquot has fauna and flora that you wouldn't find in most of the other Long Island parks. It's our pristine environment that makes Connetquot so very special, and, as stewards of this Preserve, each of us have the opportunity and responsibility to maintain its unspoiled beauty. Besides scary (though non-venomous) snakes, where else might you hear peeper frogs, smell skunk cabbage, enjoy the beauty of the Southern Twayblade orchid (which is just one of the many rare plant species we protect), marvel at American eels and our ever-growing Purple Martin community? These beautiful fascinations of nature are just bonuses as we hike, ride or fish along the Connetquot.
Then too, serendipity heightens the diversity of the park. No matter how familiar you are with our preserve, you may, on your twentieth, fiftieth or hundredth visit, happen upon something you haven’t seen before.
Enjoy the summer—but when it gets too warm, remember that the waters of the Connetquot are always 52 degrees and the trees provide cooling shade!
See you soon,
Janetmarie
Past President's Letters:
Summer 2024
Winter 2024
Fall 2023
Summer 2023
Spring 2023
Winter 2023
Fall 2022
Summer 2022
Spring 2022
Winter 2021
Fall 2021
Summer 2021
Spring 2021
Winter 2020
Fall 2020