Governors Island, once military, then coastguard, but now lots of nature!

I have now been to Governors Island (part of New York County) five times, and I am finding it to be a very interesting and rewarding place to go iNatting.

Governors Island is an 172-acre island situated between Brooklyn and the tip of lower Manhattan. The original island is the northern part, a large chunk of which is now a National Monument, including Fort Jay (1794) and Castle Williams (1811). The lower half of Governors Island was created during 1901 to 1912, using landfill, and recently three artificial hills have been built near the southern tip of the island for the entertainment of the public.

The island was decommissioned as a military base in 1966. Then it was finally decommissioned as a coast guard base in 1996. It was first opened to the public in 2005. It is accessed via ferries. I go there using the ferry that leaves from the attractive antique terminal building which is just north of the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.

Every time I have visited Governors Island I have been able to find new "lifers" (species I have never seen before), something that has become very difficult for me to achieve in my familiar areas, such as Randall's Island and Central Park.

I am not quite sure why Governors Island has so much interesting biodiversity, especially because it basically does not have any truly wild areas, but perhaps is partly due to the absence of human residents for well over twenty years.

I will be going back as often as I can (assuming there are still some days when the weather is warm and sunny) before the end of October, when the ferry traditionally ceases to run.

Here I have included some photos of the more common species I have found, as well as a few of my "lifers".

If anyone has any questions that I may be able to answer, please go ahead and ask me.

Posted on 28 de setembro de 2021, 01:41 PM by susanhewitt