The Native Songscape, Inlet Pond County Park

A Project to Restore Native Habitat at Inlet Pond County Park   

In December 2020, Suffolk County cleared this quarter-acre of woods after mile-a-minute weed had overwhelmed it. North Fork Audubon Society (NFAS) is now restoring this open land with help from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County. Our goal is to create a native-plant habitat for birds, turtles, butterflies, insects, and other wildlife living in the park.   

In 2021, NFAS volunteers repeatedly cleared the area of such invasive species as mile-a-minute weed, mugwort, oriental bittersweet, multiflora rose, locust trees, privet, and bitter dock; that autumn, we planted it with winter oats to prevent weed growth. In May 2022, we seeded it with a mix of 24 grasses and perennials native to Long Island. It will take several years for this grassland to mature into a “Native Songscape” that you’ll be able to walk through on mowed paths, past drifts of native grasses and blooming wildflowers.  

Once established, this grassland will be sustained by rainfall, occasional mowing, and selective weeding to keep woodland succession at bay. Little Bluestem and Purple Love Grasses, goldenrods and bee balms are among the 24 native species we planted to support hummingbirds, orioles, thrushes, cardinals, woodpeckers, nuthatches, waxwings, wood warblers, among other birds.