SOFO

The South Fork Natural History Museum (SOFO) is dedicated to educating visitors about the unique natural history of the East End. Follow us for weekly programs!

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Species of the week:
The Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis)
Striped bass are anadromous fish, meaning they spawn in freshwater rivers but will live their adult lives in the ocean. The Hudson River is the main spawning ground in New York.

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Announcing SOFO's Holiday Toy Drive beginning today October 1st through November 30th.
Please stop by the museum to drop off your gifts

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The Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum)
Their breeding season occurs during the fall, they lay their eggs at the edge of dry vernal pools, where the female stays with the eggs until the rain fills the pools, initiating hatching.
Photo credit: Paul King III

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A Common Buckeye butterfly ( Junonia coenia) seen taking a break at the dry edge of the museum pond.
Starting in late summer and continuing through the fall, Buckeyes migrate south to Florida. Keep an eye out for these butterflies and their prominent eye-spots along their wings.

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2022-2023 Federal Duck Stamps are in! Available in our gift shop.

Ninety-eight cents of every dollar generated by the sale of Federal Duck Stamps goes directly to buy or lease wetland habitat for protection in the National Wildlife Refuge System.

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It's official-Monarch butterflies are on the Endangered Threatened Species "Red List." Their status was announced by the International Union For Conservation of Nature in July.

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Ephemeral ponds (vernal ponds) means that they are uninhabited by fish. They sometimes dry up in the summer, like this one across from SOFO. This makes them the perfect habitat for a variety of amphibians and invertebrates to breed and develop with less chance of predation.

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Thank you to everyone who participated in this years Balloons for Sharks Tournament benefiting the SOFO Shark Research Program. This years tournament removed 2,871 balloons from the environment,This is over 1,000 more balloons collected than last years tournament.
#SOFOsharks

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The SOFO Shark team is in collaboration with Stony Brook SoMAS as part of a study to collect data on various shark species. Our shark team has already deployed five acoustic transmitters on five Dusky Sharks and PSAT tags on one thresher shark and one spinner shark.
#SOFOsharks

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Close to 60 volunteers joined the Horseshoe Crab NYSDEC and CCE survey on June 14th, some 400 horseshoe crabs were tagged. Tagging and count data for the USF&W are critical to understand the population changes and behaviours of horseshoe crabs. Thanks to all!

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Friends of The Long Pond Greenbelt and the Town of Southampton thank everyone for coming out on Saturday June 11th to celebrate Dragonfly Day. The event took place at SOFO. It was great to see so many families support all the sustainable green energy vendors.

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Happy World Oceans Day! Help protect and preserve the ocean by joining SOFO's Balloons for sharks tournament. Help support this very important conservation initiative. #SoFoSharks

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Trail cam update: we've spotted a Turkey Vulture in our cam! Turkey Vultures are scavenger eaters. Because of their highly acidic stomachs, most bacteria is unable to survive, which means they help to reduce the spread of salmonella. Keep an eye out for them in your area! @SOFO

[Dr Tobey Curtis @Mojoshark]

If you’re in NY, NJ, or CT and hate balloon pollution, join this #Balloons4Sharks tournament and you could win some cool prizes while supporting local shark research! #SOFOsharks

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Trail cam update: As we are seeing warmer weather, we will start seeing more birds out and about in the wild! In the last few weeks, we have captured more birds with our trail cam: Red-Tailed Hawk, Northern Mockingbird, & juvenile Black-Backed Gull. Stay tuned for more pics #SOFO

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Last Sat., Salamander Commander Andy Sabin took us to explore the wetlands in Montauk in search of the pure genetic form of the Blue Spotted Salamander. There we found one but also Four-toed Salamanders, Spring Peepers, &a Green Frog! Join us for the next one! #SOFO

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Trail cam update: We are starting to see more Red Foxes as spring gets closer. You might see Red Foxes feeding on smaller prey like birds or rodents. Although they often eat live/dead animals, they are also known to feed on grasses, berries, fruits, and vegetables! #SOFO

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Trail Cam Update: Here are a couple of images of wildlife that was captured this week: another Red Fox and American Crows were seen. American Crows are a native bird and are thought to be one of our most intelligent birds! #SOFO

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Trail Cam Update: Our trail cam captured a few visitors last week including a Red-tailed Hawk, Eastern Cottontail Rabbit &a Virginia Opossum. The hawk &rabbit are native to Long Island. The opossum are nocturnal animals and are North America's only marsupial! #SOFO

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SOFO trail cam update: Through winter, we see a lot of different animals moving around to find food, shelter, &water. One of those species on the South Fork are turkeys! Another species are red foxes!