LET'S GO "DUCKING" on the North Fork with Jody
WINTER DUCKS ON THE NORTH FORK
CEDAR BEACH
SOUTHOLD
Cedar Beach is one of the only marsh areas with exposed low tide mud flats accessible from dry land. Not being a boat person, this fact is important to me because, laugh if you will, I’ve been known to get nauseous in a kayak! Cedar Beach is now in the hands of Suffolk County, with Cornell Cooperative Extension utilizing sections for marine research and education, as well as a summer day camp for children. At the entrance, a boat ramp is available with access to the bay.
Cedar Beach is located off Main Bay View Road on the hog's neck in Southold. At the south end of the parking area begins the marsh area. I live close by, so I go there throughout the year. In fall/winter, I go for ducks & loons, in spring and fall for migrating shorebirds. In summer I go to experience terns and gulls. To my mind the late summer & early fall are the best times to visit; you will find many species of shorebirds and waders.
As you pass through the gated barrier, at the southern end of the parking lot, there are stone/sand pathways. As you walk into the area, on the right, there are 2 small ponds where I’ve seen Least Sandpipers. Bearing to the right brings you to a small finger of creek. Along the shore is a good place to set up a scope to view the exposed flats & edges. (Along that section of the creek are some of Cornell’s marine experiments.) Along that shore is a good spot to see fiddler crabs. Scan the cedar trees for sparrows, finches and mockingbirds. Waders may be on the opposite shores and in the grasses. As you head back along the pathways to the beach, walk down the beach for a better view of the active Osprey nest. All around are gulls, terns, cormorants or ducks, depending on the time of year. Parts of the beach, usually the southwestern most section, are closed off for the nesting terns and one or two pairs of Piping Plovers.
Also nesting are Ospreys. This season, 2005, had three successful fledglings. In recent years, Willets have nested here and seeing Willets perched in Cedar trees is always amusing! Mallards, geese, swan & possibly Green Herons nest here also. And in one surprising sighting, I observed a Clapper Rail with 2 chicks running behind! Song Sparrows love the cedars and often can be seen and heard singing there. Goldfinch, Yellow Warblers, Prairie Warblers and Common Yellowthroat are also Cedar Beach nesters.
For me, the fun begins mid/late summer when the shore birds return. For whatever reason, fall migration is more active with more species in larger numbers than in the spring. One mid-August day, I had 51 species, with 17 shorebirds and waders! Amazing! The fall migration brings in other sparrows & warblers as well, and can be rewarding through September and into October. An added bonus is that, at this time of year, the marsh is visually beautiful with the heather in bloom, the grasses turning to fall colors, beach plums & rose hips.
In late summer/early fall, when the Ospreys have fledged and the nesting barriers have been taken down, you are able to walk the whole shore to the inlet channel. This point attracts various gulls, terns, and shorebirds (plovers, turnstones and sanderlings). It is, perhaps, a half-mile walk to the channel. In the grasses and on the flats you can see a variety of peeps, herons, egrets, yellowlegs, short-billed dowitches and whimbrel.
Cedar Beach is surrounded by woods, yards & gardens from which emanate sounds of non-beach birds; wren, cardinal, oriole, woodpecker, catbird, robin, chickadee, titmouse, jays and many others. Also, as in all marshes, there is a lot of non-bird life going on as well; so be on the lookout for turtles, fish, frogs, crabs and colorful dragonflies.
Views from Cedar Beach; to the east is Shelter Island, to the south the view stretches to the South Fork. The peninsula jutting out into the Bay is Jessup’s Neck (part of the Morton’s Wildlife Refuge).
So, whatever time of year you can go to Cedar Beach; whether it’s winter for ducks (& blowing out the mental cob-webs), spring & fall for migration, or summer for birds and a swim, there is always something to see and experience!
Good Birding, Jody
CEDAR BEACH LIST
SUMMER:
Double-crested Cormorant
Mallard
Common Tern
Least Tern
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Green Heron
Little Blue Heron
Piping Plover
Willet
Osprey
Mute Swan
Canada Geese
Killdeer (nested on beach in 2000)
Roseate Tern (1997)
Belted Kingfisher
Clapper Rail
Barn Swallow
Tree Swallow
Chimney Swift
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Prairie Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Baltimore Oriole
Red-tailed Hawk
Great-crested Flycatcher
Catbird
Cedar Waxwing
Cowbird
WINTER/RESIDENTS
Song Sparrow
European Starling
House Sparrow
Blue Jay
Mourning Dove
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Flicker
American Crow
Chickadee
Titmouse
Mockingbird
Robin
House Finch
Cardinal
Carolina Wren
Herring Gull
Greater Black-backed Gull
Ring-billed Gull
American Goldfinch
Northern Bobwhite
DUCKS/LOONS/GREBES
Common Loon
White-winged Scoter
Surf Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
Horned Grebe
Black Duck
MIGRANTS/FALL & SPRING
Short-billed Dowitcher
Spotted Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper (2003)
Upland Sandpiper (2004)
Ruddy Turnstone
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Sanderling
Black Skimmer (not currently)
Laughing Gull
Royal Tern (2000)
Caspian Tern (2004)
Forster’s Tern
Dunlin
Oystercatcher
Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs
Whimbrel
Willet
Great Blue Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
Eastern Kingbird
Meadowlark
Horned Lark
Savannah Sparrow
Sharp-tailed Sparrow
Salt Marsh Sparrow
Rough-winged Swallow
Purple Martin
Peregrine Falcon (2004)
Northern Harrier
Short-eared Owl (1995)
Palm Warbler
Magnolia Warbler (2004)
DIRECTIONS:
From the west take Route 25 (Main Road) to the town of Southold, approx. a mile past the Southold Town Police Station make a right onto South Harbor Road, make the next left onto Bay Water Avenue. At the end of the road, bear right onto Main Bay View Road. Stay on that road until you reach a four-way stop sign and continue forward into Cedar Beach Road. Bear right into parking lot and continue to south end to park.
From the east, as you pass through the Village of Southold, bear left on Route 25 past two churches (left and right side of road). Bear left onto Main Bay View Road; pass a gas station on the right. Continue on Main Bay View Road as it curves left to the beach (3.3 miles). At four-way stop continue forward onto Cedar Beach Road and bear right into parking lot. Park at south end of lot.
Note: There are no facilities (bathrooms or lifeguards.
