South Fork Natural History Museum & Nature Center

Pop-up Pond Life Exhibit
2024-06-02 13:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | 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 pop-up exhibit will be held the first Sunday of the month, April through September, so stop by to see how pond life changes through spring and summer!
Program Leader: Crystal Possehl-Oakes, SOFO Environmental Outdoor Specialist
This FREE program is for all ages. Advanced reservations are required for all events.

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MUSEUM CLOSED: Maintenance
2024-06-04

Horseshoe Crab Survey with Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE)
2024-06-04 20:30 | Westhampton
Horseshoe crabs are described as living fossils, one of the oldest living species on Earth. Their eggs, deposited in abundance in the beaches of Long Island’s bays and estuaries, are an essential energy source for migrating shorebirds–Ruddy Turnstones, Semipalmated Sandpipers, and are particularly important for the survival of the Red Knot, a recent addition to the federal endangered species list. Their copper-based blood turns blue when exposed to the oxygen in the air and contains cells that are extracted and used as the primary safety test for bacterial contaminants in human drugs, vaccines prosthetics and other medical devices. Participants in this survey will help collect data on spawning abundance, size, sex, and tag returns around the full and new moons from May to July. The annual Horseshoe Crab Monitoring Project is conducted by Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Marine Program with funding from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). This data, together with data from monitoring programs up and down the Eastern Seaboard, is used to assess the status of horseshoe crabs in the New York marine district and to assist with the management and conservation of this important marine species.
Program Leader: SOFO and Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE)
This FREE program is for adults, teens, and children ages 8+. Advanced reservations are required for all events.

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MUSEUM CLOSED: School Group (10 am - 12 pm)
2024-06-05 10:00 - 12:00, 2024-06-06 10:00 - 12:00, 2024-06-07 10:00 - 12:00

YES! Presents: Watch Our Garden Grow
2024-06-08 10:00 | SOFO
Come to the South Fork Natural History Museum (SOFO) to help us plant our museum garden and join us throughout the summer to help keep our garden growing!
Club Leader: Mare Dianora, Young Environmentalists Society (YES!) Director
This FREE program is for children ages 1-9. Advanced reservations are required for all events.

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Birding for Beginners Walk in Vineyard Field
2024-06-08 10:00 - 11:00 | SOFO
Explore Birding as a new hobby: Take a walk with volunteer docents Cindy & Dave in the Vineyard Field behind the Museum and learn how to identify the birds that we might find, including blue jay, black-capped chickadee, starling, northern mockingbird and red-tailed hawk. Listen to the voices and observe the behavior of the birds to help identify them. No prior experience required. Bring binoculars if you have them.
Program Leaders: Cindy Lenkiewicz and Dave Polek, SOFO Docents
This FREE program is for adults, teens, and children ages 10+. Advanced reservations are required for all events.

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YES! Presents: Sound Healing, Wellness Sundays
2024-06-09 10:30 - 11:30 | SOFO
Please join for a ‘family interactive session’ of Sound Meditation which will include an introduction, be fun and interactive, and contain sound bath components. Please bring a yoga mat, water, and wear comfortable clothes. Limited enrollment.
Program Leader: Daniel Lauter, Musician and Composer
This FREE program is for adults, teens, and children ages 10+. Advanced reservations are required for all events.

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MUSEUM CLOSED: Birthday Party (2 pm - 4 pm)
2024-06-09 14:00 - 16:00

MUSEUM CLOSED: Outreach Event (3 pm - 4 pm)
2024-06-11 15:00 - 16:00

MUSEUM CLOSED: School Group (12 pm - 4 pm)
2024-06-12 12:00 - 16:00

MUSEUM CLOSED: School Group (10 am - 4 pm)
2024-06-13

Easy Does It Yoga with Karen Meyer
2024-06-13 16:15 - 17:30, 2024-06-20 16:15 - 17:30, 2024-06-27 16:15 - 17:30 | SOFO
Easy does it!
Let’s explore finding and maintaining balance,
Listening to inner wisdom,
Following Divine Guidance through breath,
Mindfully moving from inspiration to action,
Connecting with self, with others and with Nature.
Yoga
Please join Karen for an hour of Yoga at
SOFO on Thursday afternoons, starting June 13th @ 4:15 PM
We will practice outside, in the beauty of Nature
(In the back of the building, on a wooden patio, protected from the sun)
Please bring your own props
(yoga mat, 2 blocks, a strap, a towel, and water)
Wear comfortable clothing
Everyone welcome, regardless of experience
RSVP is mandatory
as class size is limited
with respect to individualized needs

Yoga Instructor: Karen Meyer
This program is for adults.
For non-members, there is a $25 fee for this program. For SOFO members, there is a $20 fee for this program. Advanced reservations are required for all events.
Limited enrollment. Register with Karen at 917-843-2555 or MoonheartMeyer@gmail.com.

Birding with Joe Giunta─Breeding Warblers of Long Island
2024-06-14 08:00 | Montauk
Thirteen species of warblers have been recorded as breeders on Long Island; nine are confirmed breeders in one area in Montauk. Joe, an experienced birder and delightful teacher, will lead you on a search to find these active small songbirds and, with luck, you will hear them singing and possibly see them carrying food to their nests.
Walk Leader: Joe Giunta, birding instructor for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, trip leader for New York City Audubon and lecturer for many local chapters, and owner of Happy Warblers LLC, a birding and educational travel company.
This program is for adults.
For non-members, there is a $15 fee for adults 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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MUSEUM CLOSED: Private Event
2024-06-15

SOFO’s Spring Jazz Celebration featuring the Jazzy Sounds of Carl Safina & The Natural Causes band
2024-06-15 13:00 - 16:30 | SOFO
Enjoy the mood and move to the groove with Carl Safina and The Natural Causes. Hors d’oeuvres & refreshments will be served. Reservations required, call 631-537-9735 to reserve. Rain date: Sunday, June 16, 2024.

Reserve Your Spot Here!

YES! Presents: Posture and Strength, Wellness Sundays
2024-06-16 10:30 - 11:30 | SOFO
Come and learn about how you can improve your posture and overall strength with Dina Khairy. Awaken your body and prepare for a new season with this class! Please bring a yoga mat, water, and wear comfortable shoes. Limited enrollment.
Program Leader: Dina Khairy, Yoga Studio Owner
This FREE program is for adults, teens, and children ages 10+. Advanced reservations are required for all events.

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MUSEUM CLOSED: School Group (10 am - 1 pm)
2024-06-17 10:00 - 13:00, 2024-06-21 10:00 - 13:00

SOFO’s East End Outdoor Nature Education with Crystal at Poxabogue Preserve, Bridgehampton
2024-06-19 13:00 - 15:00 | Bridgehampton
SOFO is offering a monthly program which will take place on the 3rd Wednesday of the month and following Saturday at 1 pm for children ages 3 to 7 years and is geared toward homeschooling families. Programs will have a variety of activities to strengthen language development, literacy, math, and science and will take place at various locations on Eastern Long Island.
We will continue our adventures on Wednesday June 19, 2024, exploring Poxabogue Pond Preserve meeting the different plants of Pitch Pine, Oak-Hickory, and Red Maple Swamp forests and looking for Eastern Bluebirds in a hilltop field. We will also enjoy some stories, simple nature journals, and worksheets to take home.
Program Leader: Crystal Possehl-Oakes, SOFO Environmental Outdoor Specialist. Crystal Possehl-Oakes, the program leader, has worked as an environmental educator at SOFO since 2005 and part-time since 2019 after her son Wyatt was born. Wyatt and I look forward to meeting you and learning with you!
This program is for families with children ages 3-7.
There is a $10 per child admission/material fee, which includes a participating adult. 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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Full "Strawberry Moon" Hike with Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt
2024-06-21 21:00 | SOFO
Join FLPG and SOFO on a leisurely-paced hike through open-field trails. This name was universal to every Algonquin tribe. It was christened for the strawberry because the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June. Meet at the SOFO Museum parking lot, 377 Bridgehampton Turnpike, 200 yards north of the RR tracks. Hikes are limited to 25 participants. To register by email, contact greenbeltnews@aol.com.
Walk Leader: Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt, 631-599-2391.
Co-sponsored by SOFO and Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt.
This FREE program is for all ages. Advanced reservations are required for all events.

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Dragonfly Field Day at Mashomack Preserve, Shelter Island
2024-06-22 10:00 | Shelter Island
Dragonflies are beautiful, beneficial and truly fascinating. Dragonfly expert Kevin Munroe will lead this exploration at Mashomack Preserve’s Bass Creek and Sanctuary Pond. Come search for dragonflies and use hand nets to capture and get rare, closeup looks at these colorful and amazing insects. You’ll even get a chance to briefly hold them before they’re released. Reservations required as space is limited.
Co-sponsored by The Nature Conservancy and SOFO.
This FREE program is for all ages. Advanced reservations are required for all events.

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SOFO’s East End Outdoor Nature Education with Crystal at Poxabogue Preserve, Bridgehampton
2024-06-22 13:00 - 15:00 | Bridgehampton
SOFO is offering a monthly program which will take place on the 3rd Wednesday of the month and following Saturday at 1 pm for children ages 3 to 7 years and is geared toward homeschooling families. Programs will have a variety of activities to strengthen language development, literacy, math, and science and will take place at various locations on Eastern Long Island.
We will continue our adventures on Saturday June 22, 2024, exploring Poxabogue Pond Preserve meeting the different plants of Pitch Pine, Oak-Hickory, and Red Maple Swamp forests and looking for Eastern Bluebirds in a hilltop field. We will also enjoy some stories, simple nature journals, and worksheets to take home.
Program Leader: Crystal Possehl-Oakes, SOFO Environmental Outdoor Specialist. Crystal Possehl-Oakes, the program leader, has worked as an environmental educator at SOFO since 2005 and part-time since 2019 after her son Wyatt was born. Wyatt and I look forward to meeting you and learning with you!
This program is for families with children ages 3-7.
There is a $10 per child admission/material fee, which includes a participating adult. 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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Join in Observing World Ocean Day with an Experiment on Ocean Acidification
2024-06-23 10:30 | SOFO
Join SOFO for an experiment to learn about the effects of ocean acidification on the health of our local shell forming marine life.
Program Leader: Ian Robinson, SOFO Environmental Educator
This program is for adults, teens, and children ages 8+.
For non-members, 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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Celebrate National Flamingo Day: Flamingo Storytime & Craft
2024-06-23 10:30
Join SOFO Docent Cindy Lenkiewicz for a special storytime and simple flamingo craft. Learn more about these beautiful creatures─there was even a rare sighting of an American Flamingo recently in East Hampton!
Program Leader: Cindy Lenkiewicz, SOFO Docent
This program is for families with children ages 3-7.
This FREE program is best for families with children ages 3-7. Advanced reservations are required for all events.

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YES! Presents: Mindful Movement, Wellness Sundays
2024-06-23 10:30 - 11:30 | SOFO
Come experience the joy of mindful movement with Karen Meyer. Focus will be on the balance of conscious breathing, peace and calm from meditation and sound healing. Please bring a yoga mat, water, and wear comfortable shoes. Limited enrollment.
Program Leader: Karen Meyer, Yoga Teacher
This FREE program is for adults, teens, and children ages 10+. Advanced reservations are required for all events.

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MUSEUM CLOSED: Private Event (2 pm - 4 pm)
2024-06-23 14:00 - 16:00
