From Scully

Let there be Lights. Ferns, too.

The electricians started installing lampposts around the Scully driveway and parking lot this week.  They look great - as if they've been there all along.  The outdoor lighting will be a welcomed addition for anyone who has tried to navigate their way back to their car in the dark over the past few years.

And in checking out the lights, I noticed that some ferns are starting to come up around the property, too.  With all of the grading that took place we were worried that some of the larger stands of ferns might be lost under inches of new topsoil.  But it looks like at least some of them are pushing their way through.  Guess it's no real surprise though - ferns have been toughing it out for, what, 300 million years or so? They can handle a little topsoil, right?

- Enrico 

One of the new lampposts along the driveway.

A fern pushes throgh the new topsoil.

More Renovations ...

Work on Scully continued throughout October, with the pace ebbing and flowing from week to week ... even day to day. One day there would be a dozen workers buzzing around the place, the next day it'd be quiet. The painters were the most steady presence in the early part of the month (as was the near constant beeping of their hydraulic lifts). More recently it's been the electricians - they've been on site rewiring the entire first floor. Activity picked up noticeably this week with the commencement of two new jobs: insulating the attic and tiling portions of the first floor.  Here are some recent photos ...

County officials (including Parks Commissioner John Pavacic, second from left) 

pouring over plans with the GC's job Superintendent.

Work on the Nature Center is Underway!

After more than a year and a half of limited progress, the County has commenced work on the final phase of renovation at the Scully Sanctuary.  Contractors have been on site for most of the past two weeks and have already transformed the look of the place.  They've cleared the area for the parking lot, opened a route for a new exit driveway, and started painting the building's windows and trim.  In the coming weeks, work is also slated to start on public restrooms, a new high-tech septic system, an expanded main entrance, and new walkways, among other improvements. When this phase of work is complete, the Suffolk County Nature Center should be ready to open to the public.  The renovations are expected to be finished in early 2009.  Here's a few photos of what's been happening ...

Painters have relied on a lift to access the building's dozens of windows.

 

Turning the blue trim brown; the building's trim is returning to its original color.

Bringing down a dead pine tree that's in the way of the main walkway.

Clearing trees and brush for the parking lot.

This large spruce was spared and will grace the parking lot's center island.

Hundreds of feet of silt fence was installed to protect the surrounding wetlands.

The excavation drew curious deer for an easy meal.

It's Official!!!!

As those of you who have been following Seatuck's saga know, we have been working for years to secure our involvement in the future of the Scully Sanctuary. Despite the fact that we played a central role in protecting the 70-acre property in 2003 and in making it the future home of the Suffolk County Nature Center (and even despite the name of this blog), our continued involvement in the undertaking has always been somewhat hypothetical and our relationship to the county uncertain.  That is ... until now.

I'm excited and pleased (and very relieved) to report that, after years of negotiation, Seatuck has a final and fully-executed Custodial License Agreement for Scully.  The more-than-60-page document makes official what we have been talking about for years -- that Seatuck will be offering our educational programs and operating the Suffolk County Nature Center at the Scully Sanctuary for many, many years to come.

While it will still be several months until renovations are complete and the nature center is ready for the public, the signing of the contract will finally make it possible for us to get people in to see the place, schedule some on-site nature walks, and get volunteers involved.  We might even throw a celebration party (or two)!  Keep an eye on this blog for updates and opportunities - we welcome your involvement.

Thanks to all for your patience with Seatuck over the past four or five years.  It's been a long wait, but it should be a fun ride from here on out!

Officially "from Scully" for the first time,

Enrico

Fox Scream

Have you even heard a red fox scream? Well if not, let me tell you it's a terrifying sound. At first, it vaguely sounds like a woman screaming the most horrified "ow" you can imagine; like she's trying to escape an attacker or something. If you happen to be stirred from sleep by it (as I was late last night) it can be truly frightening. Apparently it is the call of a young female red fox (or vixen) trying to find a mate to pair up with for the year. This is the second year in a row we've heard it at Scully, both times in late spring or early summer.  We have a healthy population of red fox in the area and had two successful dens within a few hundred yards of the building this spring.  One produced three healthy kits and the other four -- we regularly see them running around and playing together.  They're great fun to have around (I guess that is until they grow up and start screaming in the middle of the night!)!  If you're interested in hearing the fox scream, there's a bunch of people who have captured the sound on video and posted it on Youtube.  Here's a link to one.

Enrico

Spring Bird Survey

After dealing with driving rain and cold temperatures for our winter bird survey of Scully in December, we were disappointed to have been unlucky in picking another rainy day for our spring survey in May.  But we forged ahead and counted what we could through the rain.  The weather kept the bird numbers down, but not the spirits of volunteers who came out to help.  Thanks to Steve Terr, Bill Mattimore and Larry & Helga Merryman for joining Seatuck staff for the survey.  The complete list of birds from the spring survey is below.  We'll be conducting our summer breeding bird survey in the coming weeks.  Please let us know if you'd like to join us; all are welcome.

Spring Survey Results (May 2008):

American Crow

American Robin

Black-and-white Warbler

Black-capped Chickadee

Black-throated Green Warbler

Blue Jay

Brown Thrasher

Canada Goose

Carolina Wren

Catbird

Common Grackle

Comorant

Crested Flycatcher

Downy Woodpecker

European Starling

Fish Crow

Glossy Ibis

Green Heron

Herring Gull

House Wren

Mallard

Mourning Dove

Mute Swan

Northern Cardinal

Northern Flicker

Northern Mockingbird

Northern Oriole

Northern Parula

Osprey

Pine Warbler

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Red-eyed Vireo

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-winged Blackbird

Snowy Egret

Song Sparrow

Tree Swallow

Tufted Titmouse

White-throated Sparrow

Yellow-throated Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Peepers Peeping

Is there any more welcome sound this time of year then the nighttime chorus of spring peepers? This tiny tree frog, pseudacris crucifer, is one of our most common, but given it's size (less than two inches) and nocturnal habits, it is rarely seen. But they are thankfully easy to hear. Starting now and building for the next few months, the night air near any wooded wetlands will be filled with their mating calls. For many, the sound of spring peepers is one of the true harbingers of spring.

I heard my first "peep" at Scully a few nights ago on Easter. It was solitary and somewhat lonely, but still exciting. Within a few days the single peep was joined by many others in a chorus of peeping frogs. For the rest of the spring and into the summer it will become such a familiar sound that it will be hard to remember the quiet winter nights.

If you can't hear them where you are, take a walk or ride down South Bay Avenue towards where the woods meet the marsh. Or you can visit just about any other woodland on the South Shore and you're sure to hear them. Enjoy!

Enrico

Scully Update: When Harry (& Jamie) Met Scully

Now I'm sure -- the ball's definitely rolling! Electricians Harry Gavers and Jamie McCarthy, from All Service Electric, showed up at Scully a few days ago to start installing the new fire alarm system. This is the first work done on the building since the "phase one" renovations wrapped-up in late December 2006.

Harry and Jamie certainly have their hands full. They're tasked with installing smoke detectors, alarms and strobe lights in each of the more than 30 rooms and alarm "pull stations" at just about all of the building's many exits. And these aren't the battery operated units we might screw to the ceiling in our own homes. These units are part of a high-tech, integrated system that is completely inter-connected. That means these guys have to run wires to every single unit! Not such a big deal in new construction perhaps, but in a 90-year old steel and wood framed stone building with historic protection, it's a huge job. In an effort to avoid cutting too many holes or running unsightly molding, they'll be exploring every crawl space, nook and cranny in the building to find places to hide wires. They expect the job to take several months. When they're done, they'll know the place better than just about anybody! Good luck, guys.

- Enrico

Scully Update: Walk-through & Kick-off

Is that a ball I see rolling? While no actual work has been done yet, the County really got things going on second the phase of the Scully renovations with a pair of meetings this week. The first was a "mandatory walk-through" for the plumbers, electricians and general contractors interested in bidding on the project. The second was a kick-off meeting for the already-awarded fire alarm installation. I tagged along on both and took a few photos.

The first meeting, which was attended by more than twenty people and lasted nearly three hours, involved a complete tour of the building and detailed discussions of the project. The theme of the morning seemed to be "that's not in your plans!" The County's point-man for the project, Gerry Anderus, an architect with DPW, was put on the hot-seat a few times as various attendees (especially the electricians it seemed) complained about this omission or that under-estimate. In the end, I was told it was a relatively routine walk-through and that, despite all the moaning, most of the attendees would submit bids by next week's deadline.

The second meeting involved the whole-house fire alarm system. And by "whole-house", they mean the whole house -- it seems that every room, closet, nook and cranny is getting a smoke alarm! When it's done, the entire system will be connected to a central office so the fire department will know exactly where in the building a fire has occurred before they even arrive on scene. Pretty high-tech, but I'm told its a required system for all public buildings now. The meeting was attended by staff from Simplex (who designed the system) and All Service Electric (who will be doing the actual installation), as well as officials from County Parks and DPW. The County's historic services officials, Richard Martin and Eric Crater, were there to discuss efforts to hide wires and otherwise avoid interfering with the aesthetics of the historically-protected building. Work on the project is expected to commence within a week and take as long as six weeks to finish (I told you there are a lot of alarms to install!)

- Enrico

DPW's Gerry Anderus (right) with a few walk-through attendees at the greenhouse.

The fire alarm kick-off meeting kicks off.