South Fork Natural History Museum & Nature Center (SoFo)

01/04/2023

Coming up at SoFo!

January 6 @ 5pm: Full “Wolf Moon” Hike with Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt: This free program is for all ages. @ SOFO. Join us to mark the first of the year’s full moons on this leisurely-paced, one-hour hike through Vineyard Field’s open-field trails.

January 7 @ 10:30am: Photographing Nature in Winter─Walk and Chat: This program is for adults and teens @ East Hampton. While we hike together we will have a conversation on how to use natural lighting and how to spot some of the most interesting areas to photograph. We will also learn about nature and art and how to use different aspects of an ecosystem in one’s art.

January 7 @ 2pm: Seal Walk at Cupsogue County Park: This program is for adults, teens, and children ages 5 and older. @ Cupsogue Beach. Join us on a walk toward the ocean at Cupsogue Beach County Park, where you can expect to see some of these seals sunning themselves on the distant sandbar at low tide.

January 8 @ 10:30am: Evergreen Plants in Winter Walk: This program is for adults, teens, and children ages 8 and older. @ SOFO. We’ll see all these different evergreen plants on a walk along a woodland trail and learn where they grow and how to identify them.

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01/02/2023

Wishing you and your family a happy and healthy New Year!

12/29/2022

Species of the week
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 🦅

The Latin name “Haliaeetus” means sea eagle and “leucocephalus” means white head. Both male and female exhibit at maturity their white heads, white tails, and yellow beaks. Young Bald Eagles are uniformly brown. Bald Eagles exhibit reversed s*xual dimorphism which mean the females are larger than the males. The females have around an 8 ft wingspan and weigh up to 12 pounds while males have a 6 ft wingspan and weigh around 10 pounds.
A Bald Eagles diet includes fish, rodents, wading birds, ducks, and roadkill. Their keen eyesight identifies objects four times farther away, they use their talons to capture and kill their prey, and their sharp beak is used to tear their prey.
Bald Eagles prefer to build their nests in pine and cypress trees made up of large sticks and grass and must be 2 miles from a body of water. 🦅

12/28/2022

Holiday School Break: Where Do Bugs Go in Winter? (2022-12-29)

Join us tomorrow, Dec 29 at 10am, for Where Do Bugs Go in Winter, part of our Holiday School Break!

Advanced reservations are required for all events. To register for this program, which has limited enrollment please contact us at [email protected] or call 631-537-9735. Spots will be reserved on a first-come, first-served.

One Hour Outdoor Nature Adventures for Children of all Ages In Vineyard Field, the field behind the museum, with the SOFO Environmental Educators 10-11AM * For Children of All Ages * Thursday December 29: Where Do Bugs Go in Winter? For nonmembers, there is a $15 fee for Adults and $10 fee for

12/27/2022

Join us tomorrow, Dec 28, for Holiday School Break: Winter Nature Walk and Scavenger Hunt at 10am!

One Hour Outdoor Nature Adventures for Children of all Ages In Vineyard Field, the field behind the museum, with the SOFO Environmental Educators

* For Children of All Ages *

12/25/2022

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

12/24/2022

We are closed for the next two days to celebrate Christmas! We look forward to seeing you after the holiday.

12/20/2022

Species of the week
Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus)

Male snowy owls are all white while females are white with brown feathering patterns. They can be found near marshes, dunes, beaches, fields, and prairies but prefer open tundra near the coast.
Unlike most owls that hunt at night, the snowy owl is diurnal which means it hunts during the day. The snowy owl’s diet consists mainly of lemming which is a small rodent found in tundra biomes. When lemmings are not available, they feed on rabbits, voles, ground squirrels, ducks, and fish.
Snowy Owls will nest in the tundra, the female will scrape the ground and shape it by pressing her body into it to form a depression. She will then lay anywhere from 3 to 11 eggs depending on food availability, the more food she catches and eats during the years the more eggs she will lay. The female will sit on her eggs until they hatch, while she sits on the eggs the male will bring her food. When the babies are born, they are born with white down feathers and as they become older brown feathers will replace the down. Since snowy owls make their nests in the tundra, the young are vulnerable to predators such as foxes, wolves, skua, and jaegers.
Photo credit: Frank Quevedo

12/15/2022

At the SOFO gift shop, you can find gifts for all ages! Stuffed animals, books, tee-shirts, tote bags, jewelry, and mugs are just a few of the items we have to offer!
Stop by our gift shop for your holiday gifts!
🎄☃️🎁🧸

12/13/2022

Coming up at SOFO:

Join Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt on a moderately-paced 1.5-mile hike from Vineyard Field to the grasslands of Poxabogue County Park.

Grassland to Grassland Hike─Vineyard Field to Poxabogue County Park: This program is for adults, teens, and children ages 10 and older.

For nonmembers, there is a $15 fee for Adults and $10 fee for children for this program. This program fee will also provide non-members with free admission to the museum on a day of their choice. SOFO Members are free.

Advanced reservations are required for all events. To register for this program, please contact us at [email protected] or call 631-537-9735. 

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12/13/2022

Species of the week:
American Holly (Ilex opaca)

American Holly (Ilex opaca) is an evergreen native to the central and eastern United States. American Holly typically grows up to 25 feet high but can reach up to 60 if grown in specific moist locations. American Holly also goes by a few other names such as White Holly and Christmas Holly. This evergreen has a pyramidal shape, stiff branches, and dark leathery spiky leaves.
The American Holly has male and female plants, and they are dioecious. Dioecious refers to a plant species which has male and female reproductive organs in different individuals. The male trees pollinate the female trees to produce the distinctive red berries, to produce berries you need to have both male and female trees.
American Holly berries attract many animals such as white-tailed deer, small mammals, wild turkeys, and songbirds. While wild animals can eat them, humans, and domesticated animals such as cats and dogs cannot due to the berries being poisonous.

12/08/2022

Coming up at SoFo!

December 9, 10am-12pm: MUSUEM CLOSED

December 10, 8am: The Black-capped Chickadee─Up Close and Personal: This program is for adults, teens, and children ages 8 and older. @ Noyac. We’ll see chickadees up close and personal as the tame population at Morton readily takes unsalted sunflower seeds from your hand. Come join SOFO for this enjoyable family experience.

December 10, 10am: Beach or Trail Cleanup─Help Needed! This free program is for all ages @ TBD. We hope you will join us on our mission to pick up as much trash as possible.

December 10, 10:30am: SOFO’s Annual Decorate a Holiday Tree for the Birds: This is a family workshop. @ SOFO. Join the SOFO staff in a holiday tradition and make bird-friendly decorations for a holiday tree using seeds, dried fruits, and some surprising additions.  Bring a shoebox to take home some of your decorations. Material fee: $5 per participant.

December 10, 1:30pm: Nature Walk Along the Trails of : This program is for adults, teens, and children ages 8 and older. @ Noyac. Join LeighAnn as you walk two different trails in the refuge and discover the beauty of this national treasure.

REMINDER: Advanced reservations are required for all events. To register for this program, please contact us at [email protected] or call 631-537-9735. 

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12/08/2022

Species of the week :
The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

The Northern Cardinal can be found in dense brushy areas or semi-open habitats. Their diet consists of berries, insects, and seeds. They will forage for food on the ground or in low lying bushes. When the opportunity is given, they will pick through bird feeders for sunflower seeds, which is one of their favorite seeds to eat. Cardinals have strong thick beaks perfect for crushing and cracking open seeds.
Male Northern Cardinals are a bright red all over with black around their bills and their distinctive crest. Female Northern Cardinals have a pale brown color with red on their wings, tail and crest, and they have a dull black color around their bill.
Northern Cardinals are monogamous which means they have one mate but every breeding season they choose new mate. In courtship, both male and female will raise their heads, sway back and forth whiling singing. The females will prefer to make her nest in dense shrubs, so it is well hidden from predators. The female will make her nest out of weeds, strips or bark, grasses, twigs, and leaves. The male will sing to defend his nesting territory and will attack intruding males. She will lay 2-5 eggs; the eggs are a pale blue or white with brown markings.

12/01/2022

Coming up at SoFo!

December 3, 10am: Seashells of the South Fork! Join Emily to learn about our native South Fork animals that either create their shells or find new ones to live in.

December 3, 11am: Seal Walk at Cupsogue Beach County Park! Join us on a walk toward the ocean at Cupsogue Beach County Park, where at low tide you can expect to see some of these seals sunning themselves on the distant sandbar. It may be cold and windy, so please bundle up.

December 7, 10am-4pm: Museum Closed.

December 7, 5:30pm: Full Cold Moon Hike with Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt! Join us for this leisurely paced one-hour hike in Vineyard Field, the field behind SOFO. Hikes are limited to twenty-five participants.

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11/30/2022

Species of the week: Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina) 🦭

Harbor Seals are a part of a marine mammal group called Pinnipeds, this group includes seals, sea lions and walruses. Pinnipeds are animals that live in the ocean but come out to spend time on land. They are also descendants of carnivorous bear-like ancestors. Pinniped means fin- or flipper-footed, describing their front and rear flippers. Harbor seals have front and rear flippers that do not rotate.
Harbor Seals live in temperate waters along the coasts of Asia, Europe, and North America. They have the widest distribution of any seal. They can be seen hauling out (resting) on the rocks, drifting ice and on the beaches. Harbor seals haul out not just to rest but to molt (shed their fur), give birth, nurse their pups, avoid predators, and to regulate their body temperature.
Depending on their range, Harbor Seals will have different patterns and coloration on their fur. They can have light grey with dark spotting or dark brown with light spotting.
Adult males can weigh up to 300 pounds and are between 5 and 6 feet long, adult females are smaller than the males and weigh less. They weigh up to 280 pounds and are between 4 and 5 feet long. Their diet consists of shellfish, crustaceans, and fish. While hunting for food the harbor seal can complete both shallow and deep-water dives and come up every 30 minutes for air.
In the wild, Harbor Seals can live up to 30 years. 🦭

11/29/2022

Double your donation this ! Today, November 29, 2022, we celebrate , a global day of unity for nonprofits as part of a global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world.

From now until December 31, the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation will double your donation by matching each gift made to SOFO's 2022 annual appeal.

We at the South Fork Natural History Museum (SOFO) hope that you and your families will continue to help SOFO secure a better future for our children as we continue our mission to educate and promote environmental awareness. We are asking for your support to continue our efforts to teach and inspire families to become engaged and responsible caretakers of our planet now and for generations to come.

11/27/2022

Thank you Dr. Joan Maloof, author and founder of the Old-Growth Forest Network, and Bill Miller, local Sag Harbor Treeman & SOFO Board of Trustee
for a very special Tree Time Experience program on Saturday in our local woods!
As our Board President Andy Sabin says, “The outside world is always happy to nurture us, so please enjoy nature as much as you can.”

This program was cosponsored by the Southampton Arts Center in conjunction with their A CELEBRATION OF TREES, a multi-media art exhibition
on view at the Southampton Arts Center through December 18, 2022.

11/24/2022

Happy Thanksgiving!

11/23/2022

Species of the week:
Wild Turkey 🦃(Meleagris gallopavo) are native to New York, and live in woods, wooded swamps, and mountain forests. Wild Turkeys were around when Southern New York was being colonized by the Europeans, but their habitat was cleared out for timber and farmland. Habitat loss was not the only issue for Wild Turkeys, they were being over-hunted and became exterminated by the mid 1840’s. Wild Turkeys did not return until 1948 while crossing into Western New York State from Pennsylvania, with the help of the State Conservation Department in 1959, the Wild Turkey was re-introduced to New York State.
Adult males are called “Toms”, they stand about 2.5 feet tall and weigh around 18 to 20 pounds. Adult females are called “hens”, they are much smaller than males and weigh around 10 to 12 pounds. Males will have dark black-brown bodies with long hair-like feathers on their chest while the females have rusty brown feathers. Another way to determine the s*x of Wild Turkey is to look at their droppings, a male will have a J-shaped dropping and a female will have a spiral shaped dropping.
Based on the season, they will change their diets. During the Spring and summer, they feed on insects and plants, in the Fall they feed on corn, nuts, acorns, oats, and other seasonal plants and during the Winter they feed on seeds and nuts. Wild Turkey are very adaptable and can go without food for up to two weeks. 🦃

11/22/2022

ONE WEEK LEFT OF OUR HOLIDAY TOY DRIVE! Have you heard about our toy drive? This year The Retreat () will be the recipient! About The Retreat: The Retreat provides free and confidential services to anyone who has experienced abuse by a partner, family member, or friend. Services include a 24-hour hotline (631-329-2200) individual and group counseling, legal advocacy and assistance, emergency shelter, and violence prevention education programs for all ages.

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11/20/2022

Saturday's Young Birders Club exploration 11/19/22
Munn Point, Southampton NY
Photo credit : Frank Quevedo

11/18/2022

Nov. 19 @ 10am: SOFO's Young Birders Club: For ages 8 to 18. Birding is a
great way to make new friends, learn about the environment, and get
outdoors. Join our Young Birders Club!

Nov. 19 @10:30am: Nature Walk on the Montauk Seal Haul Out Trail: This
program is for adults, teens, and children ages 10 and older. @ Montauk.
Join us for this moderately-paced hike through Maritime Forest. Bring your
binoculars to look for seals sunning themselves on the rocks.

Nov. 19 : Bird Banding--What's it all about? This free program is for
adults, teens, and children ages 8 and older. @ SOFO. Darlene will be
giving a presentation that is typically given during a bird banding
demonstration.

11/17/2022

DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT! The Andrew Sabin Family Foundation will double your donation by matching each gift made to SoFo’s 2022 annual appeal.

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11/16/2022

SOFO’s 2023 calendar is now available at our museum’s giftshop! This would make for a nice holiday gift. The calendar has moon phases and environment dates as well as many nature photos taken by staff and members.

Cost: $10.00 at Museum
$15.00 if they would like shipped which includes shipping fee.

All proceeds go directly to SOFO’s educational programs.
 
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11/16/2022

Please consider donating!

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11/16/2022

Species of the week: Bay Scallop

Bay scallop season started the first Monday of November.
The Bay Scallop (Argopecten irradians) is a member of phylum Mollusca in the class Bivalvia. Bivalves have two shells joined by a hinge. Bay scallop shells can grow to 3 inches, and they can live up to two years.
They feed by opening their shells and filtering small particles of algae and organic matter from the water. To breath, they open their shells and use their gills pulling oxygen from the water. Bay Scallops have a lining of tiny blue eyes on the outer rim of their shells to detect movement. Bay Scallops need to close their shells to protect themselves from predators such as Sea Stars, Whelks, and crabs and to prevent silt from clogging their gills. To move away from predators, they contract and relax their adductor muscle to open and close their shell, this pushes water out and propels the scallop away.
Bay Scallops can produce male and female s*x organs to produce both s***m and egg. They reach s*xual maturity at age one, spawning occurs in the summer months.