Natural Areas of the South Shore of Long Island

Quogue Wildlife Refuge
(Quogue Village)

Quogue Wildlife Refuge is one of three places to see the globally rare Dwarf Pine Plains along the south shore. It is also one of Long Island’s most reliable places to see unusual bird species and three kinds of insect-eating plants.

Add to these assets the Refuge’s superb educational facilities. They include a nature center, small nature museum, deer pens, and a historical exhibit on the early ice cutting industry that once occupied this property. A Distressed Wildlife Complex allows visitors to see many kinds of live animals that are under medical care. The refuge offers special programs for the public several times a month.

Quogue Wildlife Refuge went through an interesting evolution, from a commercial ice pond to a sportsmen’s waterfowl refuge, and finally a modern nature education center. This 300-acre wildlife sanctuary is also an outstanding example of a partnership between organizations and government. The Southampton Township Wildfowl Association, the Village of Quogue, and the Town of Southampton jointly own it, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation operates it.

Visitors can enjoy 5 miles of trails, most of them wheelchair-accessible. They take you through pine-oak woods made of pitch pine and four oaks: scarlet, white, black and bear oaks. The attractive American holly grows scattered through the woods along with two other hollies, inkberry and winterberry. Growing under them are blueberry, huckleberry, and bayberry.

Only 875 acres of Dwarf Pine Plains are left on Long Island. This forest is adapted to periodic fires, meaning that fires are an expected and usually beneficial part of the pine’s life cycle. The last major one was in 1931. There is a viewpoint along one trail where you can get a vista overlooking this bizarre landscape of 5-foot tall dwarf pines.

Nearly 70 species of wildflowers grow here, including such unusual species as prickly pear cactus, bearberry, cranberry, a bog orchid and the insectivorous pitcher plant, sundew and bladderwort.

The sanctuary contains four ponds, an acid bog, and both freshwater and brackish water swamps. The ponds support large numbers of Canada geese, mallards, and black ducks. Other regulars are great blue heron, green-backed heron, wood duck, northern pintail, hooded merganser, and northern shoveler. From the trail, you can see a purple martin house and an osprey nest platform. Examples of smaller birds are prairie warblers, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, Eastern towhee, cardinal, yellowthroat, pine warbler, catbird, northern Baltimore oriole and scarlet tanager. Predatory birds include some species of hawks, two species of owls and both the common crow and uncommon fish crow. Common mammals are deer, red fox, raccoon, skunk, muskrat, squirrel and chipmunk.

The ponds are associated with Quantuck Creek, which flows into Quantuck Bay, the connector between Moriches Bay and Shinnecock Bay. The ponds harbor three types of turtles, the snapping, painted, and spotted turtles. Pickerel, bullhead, bass, sunfish, yellow perch, catfish and eel can best be seen from the shore by using polarizing sunglasses. Perhaps the oddest creature appears as jelly-like, translucent balls with a star-like pattern on its surface. These fist-sized jelly globes are really a very ancient and primitive relative of the sponge called freshwater bryozoans or moss animal. Look for them in late spring and summer at the spillway to the Main Pond.

The property was acquired in 1913 by the Quogue Ice Company, which built the 11-acre Main Pond by damming Quantuck Creek. They harvested ice from the pond to serve urban customers until 1925, when modern refrigeration replaced it. Then a severe winter with temperatures of 22 degrees below zero struck hard in 1933. It led to a sharp decline in duck populations. This prompted area duck hunters to convert the ice pond into a private wildlife refuge. In 1952, they arranged the partnership with the state, town and village to jointly own and operate the property. Today, it is listed as a state wildlife refuge, and a very unique one at that.

The refuge grounds are open daily, 9 am to 5 pm. The Nature Center and library are open 1 pm to 4 pm on Tuesday, Thursday, and 11-4 on weekends. To arrange a program, contact (631) 653-4771, P.O. Box 492, Quogue, NY 11959, or quogue@gw.dec.state.ny.us.

How to Get There: Be sure to bring binoculars! Take Sunrise Highway (Route 27) to exit 64S. Go south for two miles on Route 104, bearing right at the fork as it continues. Take this to Old Country Road (look for the “low clearance” sign or the storage company on your right). Make a right and go 0.7 miles to the entrance on the right. Pick up a trail guide at the visitor center and tour the Nature Museum. Then see the Distressed Animal Complex with permanently non-releasable wildlife on display.

Find the 1.1 mile Main Nature Trail, which begins at the building complex on the east side of Main Pond. If you want to see the endangered Dwarf Pine Plains at the north end, you must extend your walk on the other trails. This route is 2.5 miles long. Maps are available at the nature center.

When the Nature Trail crosses the north end of Main Pond, turn right at the next trail. Soon, you arrive at North Pond. Continue north, skirting the west side of North Pond. At the junction of three trails, take the middle one, which takes you into the Dwarf Pine Plains. At the next trail, turn right, and then right again. It takes you south along the preserve’s eastern border until you return to the Main Nature Trail near Main Pond. Turn right on the Nature Trail and follow it around the pond and back to the beginning.

Access Guide Introduction :: Map and Guide :: More Estuary Site Information
	Quogue Wildlife Refuge (Quogue Village) Quogue Wildlife Refuge is one of three places to see the globally rare Dwarf Pine Plains along the south shore. It is also one of Long Island’s most reliable places to see unusual bird species and three kinds of insect-eating plants. Add to these assets the Refuge’s superb educational facilities. They include a nature center, small nature museum, deer pens, and a historical exhibit on the early ice cutting industry that once occupied this property. A Distressed Wildlife Complex allows visitors to see many kinds of live animals that are under medical care. The refuge offers special programs for the public several times a month. Quogue Wildlife Refuge went through an interesting evolution, from a commercial ice pond to a sportsmen’s waterfowl refuge, and finally a modern nature education center. This 300-acre wildlife sanctuary is also an outstanding example of a partnership between organizations and government. The Southampton Township Wildfowl Association, the Village of Quogue, and the Town of Southampton jointly own it, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation operates it. Visitors can enjoy 5 miles of trails, most of them wheelchair-accessible. They take you through pine-oak woods made of pitch pine and four oaks: scarlet, white, black and bear oaks. The attractive American holly grows scattered through the woods along with two other hollies, inkberry and winterberry. Growing under them are blueberry, huckleberry, and bayberry. Only 875 acres of Dwarf Pine Plains are left on Long Island. This forest is adapted to periodic fires, meaning that fires are an expected and usually beneficial part of the pine’s life cycle. The last major one was in 1931. There is a viewpoint along one trail where you can get a vista overlooking this bizarre landscape of 5-foot tall dwarf pines. Nearly 70 species of wildflowers grow here, including such unusual species as prickly pear cactus, bearberry, cranberry, a bog orchid and the insectivorous pitcher plant, sundew and bladderwort. The sanctuary contains four ponds, an acid bog, and both freshwater and brackish water swamps. The ponds support large numbers of Canada geese, mallards, and black ducks. Other regulars are great blue heron, green-backed heron, wood duck, northern pintail, hooded merganser, and northern shoveler. From the trail, you can see a purple martin house and an osprey nest platform. Examples of smaller birds are prairie warblers, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, Eastern towhee, cardinal, yellowthroat, pine warbler, catbird, northern Baltimore oriole and scarlet tanager. Predatory birds include some species of hawks, two species of owls and both the common crow and uncommon fish crow. Common mammals are deer, red fox, raccoon, skunk, muskrat, squirrel and chipmunk. The ponds are associated with Quantuck Creek, which flows into Quantuck Bay, the connector between Moriches Bay and Shinnecock Bay. The ponds harbor three types of turtles, the snapping, painted, and spotted turtles. Pickerel, bullhead, bass, sunfish, yellow perch, catfish and eel can best be seen from the shore by using polarizing sunglasses. Perhaps the oddest creature appears as jelly-like, translucent balls with a star-like pattern on its surface. These fist-sized jelly globes are really a very ancient and primitive relative of the sponge called freshwater bryozoans or moss animal. Look for them in late spring and summer at the spillway to the Main Pond. The property was acquired in 1913 by the Quogue Ice Company, which built the 11-acre Main Pond by damming Quantuck Creek. They harvested ice from the pond to serve urban customers until 1925, when modern refrigeration replaced it. Then a severe winter with temperatures of 22 degrees below zero struck hard in 1933. It led to a sharp decline in duck populations. This prompted area duck hunters to convert the ice pond into a private wildlife refuge. In 1952, they arranged the partnership with the state, town and village to jointly own and operate the property. Today, it is listed as a state wildlife refuge, and a very unique one at that. The refuge grounds are open daily, 9 am to 5 pm. The Nature Center and library are open 1 pm to 4 pm on Tuesday, Thursday, and 11-4 on weekends. To arrange a program, contact (631) 653-4771, P.O. Box 492, Quogue, NY 11959, or quogue@gw.dec.state.ny.us. How to Get There: Be sure to bring binoculars! Take Sunrise Highway (Route 27) to exit 64S. Go south for two miles on Route 104, bearing right at the fork as it continues. Take this to Old Country Road (look for the “low clearance” sign or the storage company on your right). Make a right and go 0.7 miles to the entrance on the right. Pick up a trail guide at the visitor center and tour the Nature Museum. Then see the Distressed Animal Complex with permanently non-releasable wildlife on display. Find the 1.1 mile Main Nature Trail, which begins at the building complex on the east side of Main Pond. If you want to see the endangered Dwarf Pine Plains at the north end, you must extend your walk on the other trails. This route is 2.5 miles long. Maps are available at the nature center. When the Nature Trail crosses the north end of Main Pond, turn right at the next trail. Soon, you arrive at North Pond. Continue north, skirting the west side of North Pond. At the junction of three trails, take the middle one, which takes you into the Dwarf Pine Plains. At the next trail, turn right, and then right again. It takes you south along the preserve’s eastern border until you return to the Main Nature Trail near Main Pond. Turn right on the Nature Trail and follow it around the pond and back to the beginning.