If you are tired of the frigid cold and mountains of snow, here is a sampling of some of my favorite photos from the summer of 2010 that I took during my travels around Long Island. Something to look forward to next field season. Keep abreast of our newsletter and calendar for announcements of future NYFA field trips for 2011. You can click on the photos for a larger image- Steve Young
Welcome to the Hempstead Plains in Nassau County where volunteers work hard to preserve a remnant of the Hempstead Plains grasslands.
Looking west across the plains dominated by little bluestem and other grasses.
A salt marsh on Shelter Island's Mashomack Preserve.
An inlet of the salt marsh at Mashomack.
Bracken ferns line the sandy roadsides on a cloudy day.
You need a good search image to count the long basal leaves of the rare Platanthera ciliaris, orange fringed orchid.
Platanthera ciliaris, orange fringed orchid, in bud on the South Fork.
A new cone of pitch pine at Hither Hills.
The shiny rust-colored capsule of the rare Crocanthemum dumosum, bushy rockrose help identify it in late summer.
The cool fog blows over the dunes at Napeague.
On the road to the Shelter Island Ferry is the only place I have see grape vine grow all the way across the road on electric lines. How come this doesn't happen more often?
A little crab spider on a flower of the rare salt marsh plant Sabatia stellaris, sea pink.