Calf Island (Connecticut)

Calf Island, a 29 acre island about convert|3000|ft|m from the Byram shore in Greenwich, Connecticut is open for visitors although as of the summer of 2006 it was getting relatively few of them."Upgrades make Calf Island more attractive to visitors," by Michael Dinan, "Greenwich Time," and "The Advocate" of Stamford, August 15, 2006, page 4, "The Advocate"]

More than half of the island (on the west side) is a bird sanctuary off-limits to members of the public without permission to visit. The island is available for overnight stays for those with permits, otherwise the east side is open from dawn till dusk.

The island is home to cowbirds, yellow warblers,starlings, catbirds, Diamondback terrapins, ospreys, great blue herons and Canada geese. Great and snowy egrets can also be seen there. Sassafras, hickory, maple and beech trees along with oriental bittersweet and multiflora rose grow there.

Use of the island

The Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich, Audubon Greenwich, SoundWaters, church groups and high school athletic teams all have regularly scheduled trips to the island.In 2006, the Greenwich parks department scheduled four of its "Cruise to Nowhere" trips to the island.

Administration

When the federal government bought the island in 2003, it joined the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, a collection of federally owned islands along convert|70|mi|km of Connecticut coastline from Greenwich to Westbrook.

The Calf Island Community Trust Inc. opposed the transfer of the island from the Greenwich Family YMCA to the federal government, in part because a permit would be required for some activities on the island, but the purchase was made.

Calf Island Conservation Inc., a volunteer group, helps maintain and improve the island. The group spent $65,000 on the island in 2005 and 2006. Upgrades of bathroooms, buildings, trails and docking facilities are planned.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=53546 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Web page on Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge]
* Calf Island is at coord|40.993|-73.6395|region:US_type:isle|display=inline,title|name=Calf Island