Back in June 1975, our premier Fishers Island naturalist Ed Horning published a small pamphlet titled “Fishers Island Birds.” Its intention was to document the distribution and occurrence of bird species between a five-year period, from 1970 to 1975. Nearly 40 years later I am savoring each moment of data that Ed jotted down.

Very much like monitoring island sites today, the guide mentions familiar, local island habitat, rare and common bird species documented seasonally, plus a map so any birder might expect to note an observation again.

A bit of natural history recorded trends back then in species population data.

Take Ed Horning’s note on the Common Eider: In 1970, sightings were rare, and if they did occur it was only between December and January. But during the five years that Ed “monitored” habitat like Race Point, 6 to 10 ducks were sighted!

Imagine now, all these years later Common Eider are even more common!

In fact, flocks congregate south side at Isabella and Chocomount and stretch north side now from the castle, hugging our coast nearly all year now.

Monitoring local Common Eider ducks in 2015, I noted they remained, foraged and congregated long enough to see their plumage change with the seasons.

Justine Kibbe is a naturalist for the Fishers Island Conservancy. A lifelong environmentalist, Kibbe offers weekly wildlife snapshots from the island. She can be reached at bjkibbe@gmail.com.