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This guide is a collection of
information aimed to make your visit to Shelter
Island and neighboring harbors safe and
interesting. It is compiled mostly by members of
our family with contributions from many of our friends,
colleagues and often by strangers who have
something to share. Gordon, the father of the
family and was born in
Southold and still has family in Greenport. The
son, “G” has been on boats since conception
and first rowed his own boat at the age of five.
Our family has commuted between residencies in
western and eastern Long Island for over 50 years.
Our extended family and friends, venture from
Westchester, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Although
our adventures originally focused around our
boating relationships, we loved the area so much
that we now have a home on Shelter Island
as well as our boats.
 Wherever we travel, no matter how far, we
always return to the East End and admire its
beauty and tranquility. Over the years we have
witnessed many changes: some good, some not so
good. We have seen the land that used to grow most
of our produce, be sold for tract housing, golf
clubs, vineyards or sod farming. The economy has
changed from farming and fishing to tourism and
building. We cannot stop progress and we do not
want to do so. But, we all can do our part to make
sure we respect this beautiful environment as well
as the people who call it home.
In summer we often cruise the waters between
Long Island and the Vineyards. Whenever we
travel, we want to find out as much about an area
as possible. Not only do we want to know where we
can anchor, moor or dock, we want to know where we
can eat, buy groceries, hike, bike, play and
learn. We want to respect local ordinances and
customs and the environment we visit. Therefore- OspreysGuide.com!
Our guide will grow and change over the days,
months and years of its existence. We will start
with information about the area that we know best,
Shelter Island. Soon we will add information about
neighboring harbors in Greenport, Orient, Sag
Harbor and East Hampton. Eventually we will be
exploring and reporting on other harbors in
Shelter Island Sound, Gardiner’s Bay and Peconic
Bay. Who knows where the tides will take us?
This guide is not an end all and be all, we
encourage you to explore and provide you with
connections to other websites or resources that
will expand your understanding of this area.
The purpose of this guide is to help you enjoy
the bounties of our wonderful waterways and
islands in a manner that helps maintain the
balance between man and nature. In this guide you
will not only find information for exploring but
you will also be alerted to the rules,
regulations, considerations, and good neighbor
behaviors necessary to protect the experience for
future visitors and generations.
Why Ospreys? 
The osprey reflects our image of fun and
relaxation on the East End. The bird is majestic,
graceful, a good hunter and very perceptive. Just
like humans, ospreys will take advantage of just
about anything affording a view of the water.
Regardless of where you stay on the East End, I
guarantee you’ll never be far from the water and
most of your leisure hours will be spent in
water-related activities. Many of us live, play or
work off of boats in the summer to be closer to
the water and it’s bountiful joys. Like us,
ospreys must be near the water. They build their
nests next to the water in tall trees, cliffs,
buoys, telephone poles, the sides of bridges, and
even wrecked ships. Most of the ospreys on Shelter
Island build their nests on platforms high atop
poles provided by caring conservationists. Like
many East Enders, ospreys typically head south
off-season and return in March or April. Like
ospreys, we have great attachments to the “tree”
on which we build our nest, and return to it year
after year.
Just like the land and water we value, the
osprey’s existence on the eastern end of Long
Island was threatened by the good intentions of
good people. Like many birds of prey, the osprey
went into serious decline during the 60s and 70s
due to DDT and other similar agricultural
pesticides. The chemicals sprayed on crops ended
up in our waterways. In the waterways, they began
their climb up the food chain in ever more
concentrated levels from the alga to bugs, to
fish, to the osprey. The DDT resulted in osprey
eggshells too thin to survive incubation. When our
son was born in 1972 we transferred from Greenport
to Shelter Island for our summer adventures. At
this time, sightings of the birds in the area were
minimal. Thankfully, that same year, DDT was
banned in the United States. Since then these
majestic birds of prey have begun to recover. As
our son grew, we cheered and watched carefully as
the number of sightings started to climb and each
year we watched baby birds more frequently emerge
from an increasing number of nests.
 Ospreys, thankfully, are again quite common in
this area, especially around Shelter Island. From
our mooring at the entrance of Coecles Harbor we
watch the Reel Point osprey’s nest. Some year’s the
nest is carefully tended by adult ospreys with no
chicks, other years, baby birds are abundant. One
year a very confused young osprey floated with the
seagulls off our boat vying for scrap food. On
another instance, much to our dismay, a young bird
remained in the nest long after his parents headed
south. This nest is only one of numerous nests located
around Shelter Island alone.
 For more information on ospreys,
click here.
For more about us and our boating experience click here.
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