Our first trip out to Montauk was so beautiful that I couldn’t wait to go back. We drove out to Montauk on Sunday for an overnight stay.

Our first stop was Iodine Beach on the eastern shore of Napeague Harbor in Hither Hills State Park. It’s quiet here. It’s not a tourist spot, so there are fewer people, aside from the windsurfers and the occasional hikers on the Walking Dunes Trail. We parked the car and headed out along the shore to see what kind of wildlife we’d find this time. I was really hoping to see more horseshoe crabs, but this time we only found a few that had sadly died.

There were plenty of shorebirds to watch: great egrets, willets, piping plovers, and countless gulls. I love walking along the beach searching through rocks, shells, and whatever has been washed ashore by the sea. We were there at low tide, and there were so many interesting things to discover. I found several whelk shells, along with a whelk egg casing, also known as a mermaid’s necklace, that had washed up on the shore.

We walked about two miles to an area roped off to protect nesting piping plovers and least terns. Salt-spray roses were blooming there in shades of pink and white. Out on the water, I noticed what I think were oyster cages covered with shorebirds, mostly terns, perched on top while catching and eating small fish. We didn’t see another person during the entire walk, and the breeze coming off the harbor kept us cool.

After our walk, we stopped for something to eat at a roadside restaurant along Montauk Highway in Amagansett called Clam Bar at Napeague. I had a lobster roll that was packed with lobster and very delicious. We then headed to our hotel, Daunt’s Albatross, to rest for a bit, but first we stopped for coffee and dessert at its restaurant across the street, Bird on the Roof.

It was a new moon, and I was really hoping to catch a glimpse of the breeding horseshoe crabs that come close to shore during high tide at Iodine Beach. Before heading there, we drove out to Montauk Point to visit the lighthouse after dark. I figured that since it was Sunday evening, we could enjoy it without the hordes of people who are usually there on weekends. We stayed only a short time because the park officially closes after sunset before making our way back to Iodine Beach.

When we arrived, it was pitch dark, and high tide had covered the entire beach. I don’t know what I was expecting, but we couldn’t even walk. The beach was gone. The ocean is such a mystery to me, and it was mind-boggling to see an entire beach disappear beneath the water. Needless to say, we decided not to go searching for horseshoe crabs without knowing more about what we were doing. Besides, we had a cozy hotel waiting for us and another day to look forward to in the morning.

The following day, Monday, we drove back to Montauk Point State Park. We hiked the Montauk Point Loop Trail in a counterclockwise direction. I wanted to stay close to the water, so we headed toward the beach, where I saw people with campers set up along the shore. We followed the rocky coastline, where there were plenty of interesting things to discover, including a huge fish bone that had washed ashore.

I also spotted bank swallows and the tunnels they had carved into the seaside cliffs. Out on the ocean I saw half a dozen double-crested cormorants on a large rock. The farther we walked beyond the campers, the wilder the coastline felt. Eventually, we found a place to climb back up onto the trail and realized we were on the Seal Haul Out Trail. During the winter and spring, different species of seals can often be seen lounging on the rocks below. From there, we hiked back through a section of mostly hardwood forest until we reached the parking lot.

After the hike, it was still early. We had just enough time for breakfast at Bird on the Roof and a shower before heading back to the city.

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Today we revisited both the Nothstein Preserve and the Van Buskirk Preserve, both of which we had hiked in March before the deciduous trees had gotten their leaves and the earth awakened from its winter slumber. We started the day at the Nothstein Preserve. As we began the hike on the now grassy path, it seemed like a completely different world. The brown tones were replaced with hues of green, and the trail once covered in snow was lined with fern and wildflowers. As I was walking and keeping my eye out for wildflowers, I came upon a Red Eft which is the juvenile stage of the Eastern Newt. We saw many of these along the trail today, as they are not hard to find due to their bright orange color. The Red Eft is poisonous to anything that eats it; therefore I assume this is the reason for it not having to camouflage itself. We followed the trail upward to the red rock quarry we had seen last time. Now the oaks and birch trees were filled with bright green leaves. The beautiful pitch pines stood tall showing off their prickly cones, but the views of the ridge beyond were now masked by the leaf covered trees. After exploring the quarry we made our way through a grove of pine where I spotted a Lady’s Slipper Orchid. The genus name of this orchid is “Cypripedium.” It comes from the Greek word Cypris which in Greek mythology is a reference to the Goddess Aphrodite. Pedilon means sandal, and the orchid’s labellum resembles a slipper; hence, the name “Lady’s Slipper”. It was a unique find and a very curious looking flower. Next, the trail took us over a bridge and over Cranberry Creek. I remembered this section from winter because everything here was covered in snow at that time. We followed the trail along the creek. It looked so beautiful with its many cascades flowing over the moss covered rocks, and its False Hellebore strewn banks. When we arrived back at the trailhead, it was still pretty early in the day. We decided to stop by the Van Buskirk Preserve which is just a few miles away. Here again, everything looked completely different covered in lush, green foliage. I remembered back in March, we had passed by a vernal pool full of singing wood frogs. This time, the pool was filled with tadpoles. I guess those frogs we heard in early spring were busy! As we hiked past the ruins of the old Van Buskirk Farm, I could smell the sweet fragrance of flowers from the Black Locust trees. By now the day was warming up and the sun was shining high in the sky. I made a plan to revisit some of the other preserves we had seen over the winter to experience them in a new season.

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Montauk, New York, Hither Hills State Park, Iodine Beach & Montauk Point State Park, June 14 and 15

A spring hike at Nothstein Preserve and Van Buskirk Farm Preserve, May 31, 2021