This morning, on my way to check for the previously reported Blue Grosbeaks
at the EPCAL propertry in Calverton, I stopped in at the fiekd to the north
of Rt 25- this is the field that has the radar station at the end of the
paved road. While I was sitting in my car watching an Indigo Bunitng, a
Riverhead Town Police car came up and the officer told me that I was not
allowed to be on that property. I'm curious as to whether or not other
birders have had problems with police there- I've been driving in for at
least 5-7 years. I don't think the road or the fields are posted, although
the small fenced area around the radar station is posted. I had a prolonged
discussion with the officer regarding ownershipp of the property- I've been
told by DEC that the property is or will soon be part of the Calverton
Cemetary- he said it belongs to the FAA, but either way I don't see how the
town would have jurisdiction, especially since the property is not posted.
I strongly suspect that this is a case of local town authorities trying to
throw their weight around. My impression is that Riverhead is not at all
friendly to environmental concerns and birders are the visible "front line"
of the pro-environment camp.
If anyone has any insight, including who to contact for information, I would
appreciate it. Please respond offline if this would be considered off-
topic for the list.
I didn't see the grosbeaks, but will probably check back at EPCAL this
afternoon.
Thanks,
Mike Cooper
[email protected]
--
NYSbirds-L List Info:
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm
ARCHIVES:
1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html
2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L
3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html
Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/
--
