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Health & Fitness

Family Nature Program: Who Eats What?

On a warm sunny Sunday in June, children and their caregivers made their way to the freshwater pond at Sands Point Preserve for “Who Eats What?,” a nature program that examined the critters who live in the pond, and how they survive. 

Everyone was dressed for the occasion, wearing footwear that allowed for getting wet and even muddy as the kids explored the site with nets and buckets and collected specimens.

Heading to the pond, the children kept as quiet as possible so as not to scare the turtles that lingered on a log in the pond, enjoying the sun. Turtles can’t see when people approach, but they can feel noise’s vibration and will likely hide when sensing a person or animal approaching.

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Waiting for the children at the pond’s edge was Bill Monahan, a naturalist, who was there to share his knowledge about pond life. Bill works at Caumsett State Park in Lloyd Harbor as an administrator for its environmental education program. 

As Bill explained, the Preserve is on the Guggenheim Estate, which was home first to the Gould family and later the Guggenheims. The freshwater pond was built so that those who resided on the property would have ice for the icehouse, as there was no refrigeration back in the early 1900s, when Castle Gould was first built. 

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Today, the Preserve is a Nassau County park, and its pond is home to not only turtles, but also dragonflies, frogs, a pair of mallard ducks and more. Many of the children already knew that male ducks boast colorful feathers so that they attract females. Yet the females’ feathers are not nearly as colorful.  As Bill explained, females tend to sit on the edge of the pond, and must blend in with the foliage so that they can hide from predators.

Bill, along with the Preserve’s Education Director Mary Miller, expertly helped collect specimens to examine before later releasing them back into the pond. Of special interest were the bullfrog tadpoles. Bill explained that in just a couple of weeks, their legs would get bigger, and their tails smaller. And while tadpoles like to eat plants, once they become frogs, they eat flies. Their slimy skin allows them to breathe. 

And speaking of breathing, did you know that turtles hold their breath all winter long? They live under the ice of the pond, and sleep in the winter, taking in air through their back ends. Once the ice thaws, the turtles wake up and head back to the log to warm up.

Dragonfly larvae were also spotted, and Bill encouraged everyone to visit the pond in a few weeks to see the dragonflies living at the pond.

“This is a viable, clean healthy pond,” Bill said. “You can tell by the organisms that live here.”

“Lots of ponds on Long Island are not healthy because of pollution that runs off from fertilizer used on lawns,” he added. The fertilizer reduces the oxygen in the pond, which becomes over nitrified, and pond life cannot survive. 

Next time you’re at the pond, try to be as quiet as you can, and see if you can spot the turtles resting on a log (remember, turtles who sense noise tend to hide!). Look for ducklings too – some at the Preserve have observed a duck’s nest, which means the pair of mallards will likely have babies soon. And count how many dragonflies you see!

Our next Pond Exploration at the Preserve is Sunday, July 20, from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. And for children ages 6 and up and adults, our second Bee Whispering workshop of the year is Sunday, June 29, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. 

Friends of the Sands Point Preserve is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization with the mission to protect and preserve the 216-acre waterfront grounds and historic mansions and to provide a range of cultural arts events and educational programs for families and schools in the Phil Dejana Learning Center and Outdoor Classroom.

For information about the Sands Point Preserve and to purchase a 2014 Annual Pass see www.TheSandsPointPreserve.com, call 516-571-7901 or visit the Gate House at 127 Middle Neck Road, Sands Point, NY, 11050.

We are open daily. Our hours from June 23 – September 1, we are open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

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