South Fork Natural History Museum & Nature Center

Birding with Frank at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Brigantine Division, Galloway, New Jersey
2023-10-12 07:00 - 2023-10-13 18:00 (America/New_York) | New Jersey
Grab your binoculars, put on your hiking shoes, and join SOFO’s Executive Director, Frank Quevedo, for two days of spectacular birding at the Edwin B. Forsythe Wildlife Refuge, Brigantine Division, in southern New Jersey. You’ll see migrating shorebirds and warblers as well as resident breeding species of the coastal salt marsh, including Osprey, herons, egrets, skimmers, and terns. This incredible National Wildlife Refuge protects more than 47,000 acres of southern New Jersey coastal habitats and wetlands. The refuge extends for 50 miles along the coast from Brick Township to its southern extent, which is five miles north of Atlantic City. At least 322 species of birds have been observed on the refuge. The Forsythe Refuge is nationally recognized as one of the East Coast’s premier birding spots. The fee for this program includes an overnight stay and transportation.
Program Leader: Frank Quevedo, SOFO Executive Director
This program is for adults.
Contact Frank Quevedo by email at: info@sofo.org or by phone, Saturday through Wednesday, at SOFO: 631.537.9735.

Painting with Nature
2023-10-08 10:30 | SOFO
Harvest materials from the environment to paint your own natural landscape. Join us on a small nature walk around our inner loop collecting materials to create a scene of your choice.
Program Leader: Ian Robinson, SOFO Environmental Educator
This program is for adults, teens, and children 6+.
For nonmembers, there is a $15 fee for Adults and a $10 fee for children for this program. This program fee will also provide non-members with free admission to the museum on a day of their choice. Members are free. Advanced reservations are required for all events.

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Long Pond Greenbelt 24th Annual Celebration
2023-10-07 10:00 - 13:00 | SOFO
Bring the children for a nature exploration at the Long Pond Greenbelt! Guided trail walks, games, crafts, and a variety of activities provided by local environmental and community organizations. Complimentary refreshments will be provided. This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt (FLPG), the Peconic Land Trust, and the South Fork Natural History Museum (SOFO).
This is a FREE event for all ages and takes place rain or shine.
For more information and to reserve, please contact Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt at 631.745.0689.

Andy's Annual Salamander Log Rolling, with Jake
2023-10-07 10:00 | Montauk
On this annual walk with Andy, aka “Mr. Salamander,” you’ll discover some unusual creatures that live in the leaf litter on the forest floor under the rotting logs. In particular, he’ll introduce you to two of our unusual native salamanders: the Blue-spotted, which can be found in its purebred form on Long Island, only in Montauk; and the other, the Four-toed, whose tail drops off when it is grasped at the tail by a predator. This walk is particularly popular with children.
Program Leader: Jake Kushner, SOFO Environmental Educator, Reptile & Amphibian Specialist
This program is for all ages.
For nonmembers, there is a $15 fee for Adults and a $10 fee for children for this program. This program fee will also provide non-members with free admission to the museum on a day of their choice. Members are free. Advanced reservations are required for all events.

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Zenergy Outdoor Movement Class with Karen Meyers
2023-10-05 16:30 - 17:30 | SOFO
A delightful combination of Yoga-like stretches, Qi Gong, 5 element dance, and a lot of joy! Life Lovers of all ability levels are encouraged to join. Breath, stretch, move, listen and relate. Be in right relationship to self, to others, and to Nature. Feel alive, relaxed and Zenergized! This class will be held outside embraced by the beauty of Nature, on a wooden deck, protected from the sun.
Please wear comfortable clothing and bring a yoga mat.
The one-hour class will be held on Thursdays at 4:30PM, throughout the month of October.
This program is for adults.
Zenergy Leader: Karen Meyer

Sofo Members: $10 per class, Non-Members: $20 per class.
Limited reservations. Please contact Karen directly if you have any questions, and to make reservations. She can be reached at 917.843.2555 or at moonheartmeyer@gmail.com.

MUSEUM CLOSED: Maintenance
2023-10-04, 2023-09-12, 2023-09-06 | SOFO

A Day in the Life of a SOFO Pond - Last of the Season Pop-Up Exhibit
2023-10-01 13:00 - 15:30 | SOFO
When we stand at the edge of a pond, we tend to notice the larger animals like frogs, turtles, and birds. But why do those animals choose to live at or visit the pond? We would need to get in the water to see the multitude of smaller animals that keep a pond healthy, but mud would be easily stirred up by a diver or ROV. Join Crystal after she has collected pond water in a variety of containers, with plenty of time for mud to settle and creatures to start moving and help collect and identify the secret life in the pond with a variety of magnifiers and microscopes. This will be the last exploration of the year since the life in a pond is getting ready for winter. Some plants and animals will stay active through the winter while others will go dormant. Compare what you can find now to what was found in early spring and during the summer.
Program Leader: Crystal Possehl-Oakes, SOFO Environmental Outdoor Educator
This free program is for all ages.

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What's in Our Water?
2023-09-30 10:30 | SOFO
Our development on Long Island has led to the rise in varying environmental disruptions. From outdated septic systems to runoff, high levels of nutrients are supplementing algal growth. In our local waters we can see the content of plankton that alone are unseen to the naked eye. In this presentation we will discuss varying algal species, concerns, and mitigation.
Program Leader: Ian Robinson, SOFO Environmental Educator
This program is for adults and teens, ages 14 and older
For nonmembers, there is a $15 fee for Adults and a $10 fee for children for this program. This program fee will also provide non-members with free admission to the museum on a day of their choice. Members are free. Advanced reservations are required for all events.

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Hiroyuki Hamada, Artist Talk, 2023 Parrish Road Show
2023-09-29 18:00 | Parrish Art Museum
For the 2023 Parrish Road Show, Hiroyuki Hamada (Japanese, born 1968) was invited to create a site-specific exhibition at the South Fork Natural History Museum and Nature Center in Bridgehampton, NY. Now in its twelfth year, Parrish Road Show is the Museum’s off-site project designed to encourage engagement and interaction between artists and the communities beyond the Museum’s walls. Each year, selected artists work with the Parrish and partner venues to create new work and to provide unique opportunities for visitors to see and experience art in unexpected places, from public parks and highways to historical sites and community centers. Road Show exhibitions, featuring art, sculpture, and performance, and multi-disciplinary projects, have been on view throughout eastern Long Island, New York, from Bellport to Montauk. This outdoor exhibition of Hiroyuki Hamada: Matter on Ground runs through Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Hiroyuki Hamada’s exhibition highlights include shows at Gana Art Bowang (Seoul, South Korea); The Arts Center at Duck Creek, East Hampton; Guild Hall of East Hampton; Bookstein Projects, New York City; The List Gallery at Swarthmore College; Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, Charleston, SC; and OK Harris Works of Art, New York City, where he began his solo exhibition career with wall hanging sculptures. Hamada’s studio practice includes sculpture, painting, and Piezography prints; his visual language and explorations in search of sharing essential qualities of experience have developed moving amongst these mediums. Hamada has been the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant and twice received New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships in sculpture; in 2018, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, and in 2020, he was named recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Mid-Career Residency at the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center. Hamada lives and works on the East End of Long Island with his family.

Zenergy, Outdoor Movement Class with Karen Meyer
2023-09-28 16:30 - 17:30, 2023-09-25 16:30 - 17:30, 2023-09-21 16:30 - 17:30, 2023-09-18 16:30 - 17:30, 2023-09-14 16:30 - 17:30, 2023-09-11 16:30 - 17:30 | SOFO
A delightful combination of Yoga-like stretches, Qi Gong, 5 element dance, and a lot of joy! Life Lovers of all ability levels are encouraged to join. Breath, stretch, move, listen and relate. Be in right relationship to self, to others, and to Nature. Feel alive, relaxed and Zenergized!
These classes will be held outside embraced by the beauty of Nature, on a wooden deck, protected from the sun. Please wear comfortable clothing and bring a yoga mat.
The one-hour classes will be held on Mondays and Thursdays at 4:30PM, through the months of July, August, and September.
This program is for adults.
Zenergy Leader: Karen Meyer

Sofo Members: $10 per class, Non-Members: $20 per class.
Limited reservations. Please contact Karen directly if you have any questions, and to make reservations. She can be reached at 917.843.2555 or at moonheartmeyer@gmail.com.

MUSEUM CLOSED: Private Event (1pm - 4pm)
2023-09-26 13:00 - 16:00 | SOFO

CANCELLED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER: Jazz Celebration
2023-09-24 | SOFO

Citizen Science DNA Barcoding Workshop
2023-09-23 09:00 - 17:00 | SOFO
Identifying insects can be difficult, and scientists need your help! Join Entomologist Jeffry Petracca from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s DNA Learning Center (DNALC) for a day-long workshop where you will become Citizen Scientists as part of the DNALC’s Citizen DNA Barcode Network, and learn how to identify insects using their DNA! During this workshop, you will collect insects from the grounds of the South Fork Natural History Museum, extract their DNA, and use hands-on laboratory techniques to develop a DNA barcode for identification. Your DNA barcodes will even be published to a national database that will be used by scientists worldwide!
For more information on this workshop, click here!
Workshop Leader: Jeffry Petracca, Entomologist and High School Educator
This FREE program is for adults and teens, 13 years of age and older.

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MUSEUM CLOSED: Outreach Event (2 to 4 pm)
2023-09-20 14:00 - 16:00 | SOFO

SOFO’s East End Outdoor Nature Education Program with Crystal at "Old" Ponquogue Bridge Marine Park
2023-09-20 13:00 | Hampton Bays
This program is a part of the SOFO series of outdoor education programs held monthly on the third Wednesday of the month. It is geared toward homeschooling families, but all families are welcome to take part. Crystal has designed these programs to include a variety of activities to strengthen language development, literacy, math, and science. Programs will take place at various locations on the Twin Forks of Eastern Long Island. This, the third of the series, is at the “Old” Ponquogue Bridge Marine Park in Hampton Bays.
Program Leader: Crystal Possehl-Oakes, SOFO Environmental Outdoor Education Specialist
This program is for children ages 3-7.
For the program, there is a charge of $5 per child. The fee includes the participating adult. Enrollment is limited for each program.

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MUSEUM CLOSED: Outreach Event (10 am - 1 pm)
2023-09-18 10:00 - 13:00 | SOFO

Beach Memory Jars
2023-09-17 10:30 | East Hampton
Wondering what you can do with all of those shells and treasures you collected on the beach? Join Nikole for a beach memory jar program! We’ll walk along the shore and find various shells, egg casings, and other beach elements. We’ll discuss what these items are and what kind of animals make or live in the items we’ve found.
Program Leader: Nikole Holowat, SOFO Environmental Educator
This program is for children ages 3 to 8 years of age.
Materials fee $3. For nonmembers, there is a $15 fee for Adults and a $10 fee for children for this program. This program fee will also provide non-members with free admission to the museum on a day of their choice. Members are free. Advanced reservations are required for all events.

Sign Up Here!

Museum Closed: Outreach Event (10 am - 4 pm)
2023-09-17 10:00 - 16:00 | SOFO
See you at Harbor Fest!

Hiroyuki Hamada ─ 2023 Parrish Art Museum Road Show at SOFO─ Guided Outdoor Sculpture Tour with Hamada
2023-09-16 13:00 | SOFO
Join us at SOFO on Saturday, September 16 at 1pm for a free guided tour by Hiroyuki Hamada, the 2023 Parrish Art Museum Road Show Artist, of site-specific outdoor sculpture he created for this year’s Parrish Road Show. As you tour the exhibit with the artist, Hamada will talk about his process, the nature of the works on view, and the challenges he faced in creating outdoor, site-specific work. The exhibition, Hiroyuki Hamada: Matter on Ground, will be on view through October 10, 2023.
Sculpture Tour Leader: Hiroyuki Hamada
This FREE program is for all ages.

Young Birders Club Meeting
2023-09-16 10:00 | SOFO
Birding is a wonderful way to make new friends, learn about the environment, and get outdoors. Join our Young Birders Club! The Club meets at 10AM on the third Saturday or Sunday of every month and is open to anyone ages eight to 18 who is interested in learning about birds. Since Long Island has many great habitats that are home to a wide variety of species, we concentrate on birding in local areas.
Club Leader: Frank Quevedo, SOFO Executive Director
This FREE program is for ages 8-18.
Please bring binoculars if you have them (we will have a few pairs to lend) and a field guide to birds of the Eastern United States. If you don’t have a field guide we’ll have one for you to use.

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Nature Hike Along a Section of the Paumanok Path
2023-09-16 08:30 - 10:00 | Bridgehampton
Join us for a moderately-paced 4-mile hike through oak forest with views of glacial erratics and kettle holes. This unique and varied terrain has interesting ponds and streams.
Hike Leader: Dai Dayton, President, Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt
This FREE program is for all ages.

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Parrish Art Museum 2023 Road Show at SOFO – Opening - Hiroyuki Hamada: Matter on Ground
2023-09-09 15:00 | SOFO
For the 2023 Parrish Road Show, the Parrish Art Museum has invited Hiroyuki Hamada (Japanese, born 1968) to create an outdoor, site-specific exhibition at the South Fork Natural History Museum and Nature Center (SOFO). The Opening Reception will take place on Saturday, September 9 at 3pm, when Hamada will speak about how work exhibited outdoors differs from that created to be seen indoors, the importance of nature in his work, and the thinking and feeling that has enabled him to create this site-specific body of work. Light refreshments will be served.
The exhibition opens on September 9 and will be on view through October 10.
This FREE program is for all ages.

Birding with Frank─Celebrate World Shorebirds Day
2023-09-07 08:00 | Southampton
The Global Shorebird Counts, held every year around World Shorebirds Day (6 September), is one of the key events of World Shorebirds Day. This program demonstrates the importance of fieldwork, supports observers in improving counting skills, contributes to the increase of the number of birdwatchers and scientists monitoring shorebirds worldwide, and pledges new citizen scientists to the world’s largest bird database program.
Why count shorebirds?
Regular counts carried out by thousands of volunteers and professionals worldwide can reveal distribution, population trend, or abundance of any species which is fundamental to the assessment of their status. Bird monitoring is a key tool to determine whether a population of a bird species is declining or increasing and/or needs coordinated conservation efforts or not.
Bring binoculars! It is recommended to bring a field guide to Birds of North America.
Birding Leader: Frank Quevedo, Executive Director, South Fork Natural History Museum (SOFO)
This FREE program is for adults, teens, and children ages eight and older.

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