Orient Point and Plum Island IBA

Southold, Suffolk County

10,000 acres                                                           41.1423^oN

0-100' elevation                                                     72.2713^oW

Dam Pond with barrier beach	Narrow River with Orient Beach State Park in Background

Description: This site includes land and water on the North Fork of Long Island, extending from Orient Harbor to Plum Island and including Orient Beach State Park. Between Orient Point and Plum Island lies Plum Gut, a deep open water channel that links the waters of Gardiners Bay with the waters of eastern Long Island Sound. The habitats of particular significance to birds and other wildlife include barrier beaches, salt marshes, shallow bays, and maritime forests. Plum Island has a mixture of rocky shoreline, sand beaches, wetlands, and various upland shrub, grassland, and forest habitats. Several regionally rare plant species occur here, including Scotch loveage (Ligusticum scothicum), slender knotweed (Polygonum tenue), and sea-beach knotweed (Polygonum glaucum). A stand of blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica) represents the northernmost extent of the range of the species. Orient Harbor supports a significant bay scallop (Aequipecten irradians) commercial shellfishery and is an important spawning, nursery, and feeding area for a variety of fish. The offshore waters, especially of Plum Gut, host large concentrations of striped bass (Morone saxatilis), bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix), tautog (Tautoga onitis), summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus), and others. Plum Gut is a major migration corridor for striped bass and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar).

Birds: Colonial breeding birds documented here during the 1995 NYS DEC LICWPP survey included Great Egrets (18 pairs), Snowy Egrets (five pairs), Black-crowned Night-Herons (14 pairs), Piping Plovers (five pairs), American Oystercatchers (five pairs), Herring Gulls (2,608 pairs), Great Black-backed Gulls (1,691 pairs), and Least Terns (23 pairs). There were also 27 pairs of Double-crested Cormorants. Plum Gut, between Orient Point and Plum Island, is a nutrient-rich upwelling that is an important feeding area for Roseate and Common Terns from the nearby Great Gull Island colony. Ospreys nest and forage in the marshes here, and the area is an important waterfowl wintering area with substantial numbers of Canada Geese, American Black Ducks, Mallards, Canvasbacks, scaup, Long-tailed Ducks, scoters, Buffleheads, Common Goldeneyes, and Red-breasted Mergansers.

Conservation: This site is listed in the 2002 Open Space Conservation Plan as a priority site under the project name Long Island Sound Coastal Area. Intensive management efforts are needed to eliminate or minimize human disturbance and intrusions into nesting colonies of terns and Piping Plovers at Orient Point during the critical nesting season (mid-April to August). Means to accomplish this include fencing, beach closures, posting, beach warden patrols, and public education. In those colonies where predation is a significant problem, whether from pets, feral animals, or native species such as raccoons or gulls, predator control programs should be undertaken. NYS OPRHP should continue its stewardship program for Piping Plovers in cooperation with The Nature Conservancy. Management plans should be developed and implemented by state, town, and private conservation groups. Increased development of the shoreline in the Orient Harbor area could degrade water quality and the suitability of these waters and habitats. Monitoring of at-risk species and waterfowl is needed.

Plum Island Cattail Swamp

IBA Criteria Met