Huckleberry Island: Difference between revisions
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'''Huckleberry Island''' (or '''Whortleberry Island''') is an [[island]] located in [[Long Island Sound]] and part of [[New Rochelle, New York]]. It lies approximately three-fourths of one mile east of [[Davids' Island (New York)|Davids' Island]]. The 10 acre island consists primarily of deciduous forest with virtually no shrubs or herbaceous growth under the canopy. The rocky shoreline supports a marine rocky intertidal community comprising one of the most southerly occurrences of this community type on the North Atlantic Coastline. <ref>[http://www.nyswaterfronts.com/downloads/pdfs/sig_hab/LongIsland/Huckleberry_Island.pdf COASTAL FISH & WILDLIFE HABITAT RATING FORM]</ref> |
'''Huckleberry Island''' (or '''Whortleberry Island''') is an [[island]] located in [[Long Island Sound]] and part of [[New Rochelle, New York]]. It lies approximately three-fourths of one mile east of [[Davids' Island (New York)|Davids' Island]]. The 10 acre island consists primarily of deciduous forest with virtually no shrubs or herbaceous growth under the canopy. The rocky shoreline supports a marine rocky intertidal community comprising one of the most southerly occurrences of this community type on the North Atlantic Coastline. <ref>[http://www.nyswaterfronts.com/downloads/pdfs/sig_hab/LongIsland/Huckleberry_Island.pdf COASTAL FISH & WILDLIFE HABITAT RATING FORM]</ref> |
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According to local legend, the island was once believed to be the location of [[Captain William Kidd|Captain Kidd's]] notorious buried treasure. Kidd, one of the most well known pirates in history, sailed the coast of North America, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean during the late 17th century, plundering ships and amassing great treasures. Initially hired by the British government in 1696 to suppress buccaneers, Kidd soon began to engage in the very same activities he was employed to prevent. Kidd was ultimately arrested and returned to England where he was executed in 1701, however popular folklore contends he was hung on nearby [[Execution Rocks Light|Execution Rocks]]. <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=fF89g9xoSvQC&pg=PA432&dq=Louis+A.+DePau+Locust+Island#PPA438,M1 A history of the county of Westchester, from its first settlement to the present time], pages 435 - 438</ref> |
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The island is owned by the [[New York Athletic Club]].<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9900E5D61E3DEE32A25750C2A9649D946397D6CF Indians Elect Officers: Huckleberry Tribe of NYAC Holds its Annual Meeting]</ref> |
The island is owned by the [[New York Athletic Club]].<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9900E5D61E3DEE32A25750C2A9649D946397D6CF Indians Elect Officers: Huckleberry Tribe of NYAC Holds its Annual Meeting]</ref> |
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Revision as of 03:04, 21 March 2009
 | The factual accuracy of part of this article is disputed. The dispute is about information regarding Captain Kidd; the statement in the article regarding tradition that he was executed at Execution Rocks is not supported by the cited source, and the cited source, which dates from 1848, is not credible as a basis for statements regarding currently-believed traditions about Kidd.. (March 2009) |
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| Geography | |
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| Location | New Rochelle, New York Long Island Sound |
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United States | |
Huckleberry Island (or Whortleberry Island) is an island located in Long Island Sound and part of New Rochelle, New York. It lies approximately three-fourths of one mile east of Davids' Island. The 10 acre island consists primarily of deciduous forest with virtually no shrubs or herbaceous growth under the canopy. The rocky shoreline supports a marine rocky intertidal community comprising one of the most southerly occurrences of this community type on the North Atlantic Coastline. [1]
According to local legend, the island was once believed to be the location of Captain Kidd's notorious buried treasure. Kidd, one of the most well known pirates in history, sailed the coast of North America, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean during the late 17th century, plundering ships and amassing great treasures. Initially hired by the British government in 1696 to suppress buccaneers, Kidd soon began to engage in the very same activities he was employed to prevent. Kidd was ultimately arrested and returned to England where he was executed in 1701, however popular folklore contends he was hung on nearby Execution Rocks. [2]
The island is owned by the New York Athletic Club.[3]
Environmental importance
Huckleberry Island provides an undisturbed upland environment for wildlife that is rare in coastal portions of the New York City metropolitan area. The primary significance of the island is its use for nesting by large numbers of colonial waterbirds such as egrets and night herons.[4] In addition to the heron and cormorant populations, Huckleberry Island has significant nesting colonies of herring gull and great black-backed gull. In 1987, an estimated 1000 nesting herring gulls and 400 nesting great black-backed gulls were observed here. The great egrets and snowy egrets tend to nest in the tops of densely crowned trees. Black-crowned night herons appear to nest in the lower extent of the forest canopy and double-crested cormorants nest in either the upper branches of small trees along the forest edge or at the tops of the larger trees. Most of the gulls nested near the edge of the rocks along the island's perimeter (mostly at the north end). Other possible nesting birds include green heron and little blue heron.
This island is listed in the National Audubon Society 2002 Open Space Conservation Plan as a priority site under the project name Westchester Marine Corridor. Cormorant droppings have been killing many trees at this site, making them unsuitable for nesting by herons and egrets. There is some concern that the non-native Norway maple understory may eventually replace the native hardwood trees.[citation needed]
References
- ^ COASTAL FISH & WILDLIFE HABITAT RATING FORM
- ^ A history of the county of Westchester, from its first settlement to the present time, pages 435 - 438
- ^ Indians Elect Officers: Huckleberry Tribe of NYAC Holds its Annual Meeting
- ^ AN EFFORT TO PROTECT SHORELINE HABITATS FOR WILDLIFE, Suzzanne Dechillo, New York Times, August 23, 1987
