The Monk Parakeet: A New York Success Story

Much to the delight of south shore Long Islanders, monk parakeets are popping up more and more each year in our area. Personally, my wife and I are fortunate enough to have a company of about 30 living in our neighborhood year round, adding a dash of tropical vibes to dreary winters and putting the final touches on our idyllic summer scenes.

While most Long Islanders are surprised to see them, monk parakeets have been hanging around here since the late 60s, and have beautifully acclimated themselves to the New York City area. They’re tough, resourceful, and build massive communal nests similar to the apartments a lot of New Yorkers reside in, making them a perfect fit for the region. Also, like a lot of New Yorkers, the New York parakeet community is rumored to have started at JFK airport.

This article will take a look at our new(ish) tropical friends - how they got here, and the similarities they share with a lot of other enclaves in the tristate area.

NTVLI Halloween Stories: Disappearance of Young Filmaker Linked to 'Hidden Portal Phenomena' (Debut of Latest Hidden Portal NFT)

ver the past few months, hikers and wildlife photographers throughout the region have been making claims of strange ‘portal like’ encounters while enjoying the outdoors. The common thread throughout each story seems to be the appearance of a rotating green triangle inside of a purple circle that appears out of nowhere. Almost every tale being told in this regard seems to mention a ‘warping’ of reality as these ‘portals’ expand before disappearing completely. While the idea of hidden portals deep in the woods may seem outlandish, there are several instances of video footage that support the claims.

GUEST POST: Jacqueline Molina of Long Island Babes and Bucks on the Empowerment of Female Hunters and Anglers

Guest post from Long Island Babes and Bucks co-founder, Jaqueline Molina. Jaqueline gave us a look at her love of the outdoors, the formation and goals of Long Island Babes and Bucks and the thriving community of female hunters and anglers growing throughout the country.

A Guide To Responsible Wildlife Photography (From Some of My Favorite Long Island Photographers)

There are pros and cons to the surge in interest around wildlife photography that has been sweeping Instagram over the past few years. On one hand, that need to get as close to the subject as possible “for the gram” can cause serious stress to the subject - affecting every aspect of their life from hunting to raising their young. On the other side of the trend is the amazing platform it creates for raising awareness around important issues like local conservation and species awareness. Those who take it up as a hobby can find grounding in being outdoors in close proximity to the wide array of species that we share Long Island with. This becomes particularly important in a day-and-age where we are constantly overstimulated by too much screen time and often miss out on the beauty in these intimate moments.

It’s important that we as a community try to steer people towards the latter and do our best to welcome and educate photographers interested in wildlife as their subject. For that reason, I wanted to talk to some of my favorite Long Island-based wildlife photographers about what makes it such a special hobby (or profession) and how we can all be responsible in our approach.

Long Island’s Winter Visitors: Some motivation to brave the cold and get outside!

Each winter, Long Island plays hosts to a spectacular array of visitors from the north. The chance to encounter one of these seasonal species is enough to get wildlife lovers and photographers to brave the icy island winds and return to the beaches and state parks they frequent in warmer months. In this article, we’re taking a look at a few of these cold weather Long Islanders through the photography of the super talented Shane Etter (@BigOleMrKanish). I’ve had the pleasure to work with Shane on three other blogs - Raptors of Long Island, Owls of Long Island, and the Oral Account of Striper vs Bluefishing - and it’s always an honor to get to feature Shane’s work. Make sure to follow him on Instagram if you don’t already!

We’ve highlighted a handful of species below, but there are plenty of additional winter pilgrims that we get on Long Island when the weather dips and I encourage you to do some more research!

Long Island Canines: The Native (Red Fox) and the Newcomer (Coyote)

Over the past decade, coyotes have began to conquer their final frontier here on Long Island. While much is being made in the news about their expansion, this newcomer is not the only wild member of the canine family to call Long Island home. The red fox (and the elusive gray fox) have made their home here for as long as humans have. With no other large predator around, the red fox plays an integral role in our ecosystem and it will be interesting to see how their role evolves now that their larger cousins are moving into the neighborhood.

#NTVWoodworking 101: Build a Custom Frame In 10 Easy(ish) Steps

Over the past few years, I’ve been able to incorporate my woodworking hobby into what is now NTVLI by building custom frames for my prints, which I sell through my website. Frames are a relatively easy project for beginners, so I wanted to share the process in case any would-be-woodworkers happened across this post. There are a myriad of options for how to build a frame, depending on what your desired aesthetic is, and I am happily starting to experiment with different methods at the moment. For the purpose of this blog, I am going to outline the tried-and-true method that I’ve been tweaking for the past few years.

The Perception of Stripers Vs. Blues: An Oral Account from Respected Long Island Anglers

Bluefish and Striped Bass are two iconic species that inhabit the waters around Long Island. They’re both top-tier predators integral to our marine ecosystem and prized targets for anglers throughout the northeast. Despite playing a similar role in the food chain, they are vastly different fish. I was lucky enough to speak with a handful of anglers that I have a lot of respect for in order to get a better idea of how blues and stripers are perceived by anglers and where the similarities and differences lie.

Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation on Long Island Featuring the Photography of JR Aurature

The diversity of Long Island’s wildlife is dramatically underrated. From its year round residents to seasonal visitors, our bountiful habitats are full of beautiful creatures ranging from insects to mammals; birds to amphibians and lizards. That doesn’t even factor in the important marine ecosystems that exist along our shores and inland lakes, ponds, and rivers.

With so much life and vibrancy right in our backyards, it’s important for Long Islanders to be responsible guardians of our land. Our actions can have a myriad of consequences, and when they cause harm or distress to the other creatures who call Long Island home, it’s important that we proactively work to remedy the situation. Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers are integral to successfully assuming this responsibility.

#NTVArtists - Made in Menhaden: How an Unassuming Baitfish Fuels NY’s Marine Ecosystem (featuring footage + photos from Tim Regan (@SouthForkSalt))

They go by many names - Bunker, Menhaden, American Sardine, Pogy (not Porgy!), Mossbunker, Bug-head, Fat-back. No matter the nomenclature, it is indisputable that these pedestrian-looking baitfish are an important cog in the machine of the marine ecosystem around Long Island. They filter our water, they are an amazing source of omega-3 proteins with a myriad of human-based uses and, perhaps most importantly, menhaden are the primary food source for a lot of our ocean’s top predators. As Paul Greenberg pointed out in his 2009 NY Times Op-Ed, “Nearly every fish a fish eater likes to eat eats menhaden”.

#NTVArtists: A Sampling of Long Island Songbirds Through the Lens of Carolyn Novak (@crnphoto)

It’ officially summertime, and New York State is starting to open back up just in time for the weather to prod us all into spending more time outside. No matter what corner of Long Island you call home, one element of the natural world that remains constant is the serenity of songbirds soundtracking your outdoor experience.

For this month’s blog, we’re taking a look at some of those singers through the lens of the incredibly talented Long Island photographer, Carolyn Novak. We highlighted 24 species here, but that number far from encompasses the entirety of the different songbirds that call our little island home in the spring and summer.

If you enjoy the photography in this blog, please make sure to follow Carolyn on Instagram for more incredible captures of songbirds, raptors, shorebirds, waterfowl, and all sorts of other great wildlife and landscape photos.

#NTVArtists: April Showers Bring May Flowers Through the Lens of Kelly Teleglow

We may be stuck in isolation as the cold, damp month of April is giving way to warm, sun-soaked May afternoons, but at least we can begin to enjoy the life that is blooming all around us! As one of my favorite Long Island photographers, Kelly Teleglow, points out there is beauty even in the weediest corners of our lives - from the flowers in our own backyards to random clusters on the side of the road. Hopefully, we can all take a ray of hope from the beach blooms and accented park views that flowers provide. Even a walk around the block is a special thing this time of year and, while the rest of our lives may be in a state of disruption, we still have that opportunity to look forward to each day.

This month’s blog will be another #NTVartists feature; this time around Kelly’s exquisite captures of the flowers we all enjoy on Long Island this time of year and what they symbolize. In the midst of a pandemic, it feels even more fitting to feature Kelly, as I really admire her ability to utilize different perspectives, colors, edits, moods and natural settings to find something extraordinary in everyday experiences -something we all need to try to do with the current limited state of things.

#NTVartists: Raptors of Long Island Through the Lens of Shane Etter (@BigOleMrKanish)

While I may not ‘love’ social media, Instagram has provided the opportunity to develop friendships with a lot of awesome people in the Long Island wildlife and photography communities. One of those friends is Shane Etter, a prodigiously talented photographer whose bird portraits are always a highlight of my Insta-feed.

Last February, Shane and I collaborated on a #NTVblog featuring his photos of the various owls that can be found on Long Island at different times throughout the year. Today, I am excited to post our follow-up, exploring the diverse non-owl species of raptors that can be found here as well.

For more of Shane’s photography, please follow him on Instagram.

Fire Island: Lighthouse Fun Facts And the Highly Disputed Name Origin

Fire Island is a prime example of Long Island’s diversity. It’s a virtual “choose-your-own” adventure where one can have a tranquil beach day or party to the break of dawn depending on what sort of weekend you’re looking for. The 9.6 square miles of barrier island also hosts great breaks for surfing, as well as, a unique sunken forest, and both ocean and inlet host some of the best fishing on Long Island.

With so much to offer, the fact that the lighthouse largely defines Fire Island shows just how special the structure is. It has played a pivotal role in Long Island’s maritime history dating back to 1826 and its distinctive black and white patterning make it one of the most beautiful of the over twenty lighthouses on Long Island.

A lesser known, yet no less interesting, aspect of the Fire Island is that no one can agree on the source of its name. There are four different ‘stories’ as to the origins of the moniker and each one is supported by credible reasoning as to why it could be true. But before we lay out each origin story, let’s look at a few more fun facts about the region’s most recognizable landmark.

Robert Moses and the Creation of Jones Beach State Park

There are few places more identifiable with Long Island than Jones Beach. The 6.5-mile state park, with its white sand beaches and iconic water tower, conjures warm nostalgia for nine decades worth of Long Islanders. Personally, Jones Beach State Park was the first place I met the Atlantic Ocean, and I still have vivid memories of my cousins coming down from Connecticut for a few days each summer to hang out at Field 6 and then get dinner at Borelli’s Pizzeria in East Meadow. While our family would eventually switched to Robert Moses State Park and I personally made the change to Long Beach once I hit high school, I can’t drive down Ocean Parkway without being brought back to those early days taking in deep breaths of salty air from the back of my parent’s minivan.

The Fall Run Is Upon Us! A look at the Fall Striper Blitz with Photos and Video from Tim Regan (@southforksalt)

Long Island fisherman, rejoice! The summer doldrums are behind us and soon enough those monster Stripers are going to be hitting your line like a freight train again. Of all of the amazing species we have in our waters at various points in the year, few garner more respect than New York’s official State marine fish, The Striped Bass.

Morone saxatilis is an incredibly dynamic species - athletic and complex in their behavior - that deserves every bit of their reputation as a prized game fish. For this month’s #NTVBlog, we take a deeper look at the Striped Bass and the sacred Fall run Long Island gets every year.

Luckily, we are honored to have photography and video content from a great Long Island fisherman and photographer, Tim Regan (@SouthForkSalt). In addition to his amazing Instagram and YouTube pages, Tim also does a weekly Long Island Fish Report for On The Water Magazine, which you can check out here.

The Rich Geological History of Long Island's Gold Coast!

For most people familiar with the area, Long Island’s north shore conjures images of palatial estates and the serene waters of the Long Island Sound. Members of New York’s cultural elite have been making their homes on the Sound’s beautiful beaches long before F. Scott Fitzgerald drew international acclaim for his portrayal of “East Egg” and “West Egg” (based on Port Washington and Great Neck respectively) in The Great Gatsby. It’s safe to say that the “Gold Coast” has a long and storied history for New Yorkers, but what isn’t spoken about as often is the fact that the area’s geological past runs much deeper and is just as interesting.

The Artistic Imprint of Kaaterskill Falls

Today, Kaaterskill Falls is one of the most popular hikes in the Catskills region. The breathtaking 260 foot cascading waterfall that serves as its calling card is one of the tallest in New York state and standing in its presence evokes an intimate awareness of just how epic and powerful the natural world is. Before it became a hub for extreme selfie seekers, Kaaterskill was the subject of local lure that drew countless artists and other lovers of nature from all of the region.

Keep Me Where The Light Is Part 1: Orient Point + Montauk Lighthouses

Montauk Point + Orient Point Lighthouses
As one would expect from an island located just outside a major port, lighthouses have played an important role in the history of Long Island. Since 1796, over twenty five lighthouses have been built on Long Island, each with their own unique story. On the north shore, lighthouses helped sailors navigate the jagged rocks and abrupt shoals of the Sound. On the south side of the island, lighthouses were often the first thing European immigrants saw when they reached their new home.
The Keep Me Where The Light Is series will look at two of Long Island’s lighthouses in each part. The goal is to provide a better view of the underwater geography of Long Island, as well as, the history of some of our most beloved historical structures and how to enjoy them today.