Something For Everyone Outdoors

Outdoors enthusiasts who like to participate in organized outings have no excuse if they cannot find something interesting to do on this last weekend of April. The nature calendar is about as full as it can be.

Two events are on tap for seal-watchers. On Saturday at 2 p.m., the 100-foot Sunbeam Express will leave Kokomo's Dock in Greenport on a seal-spotting cruise through Gardiner's Bay to Fishers Island, courtesy of the Cornell Cooperative Extension Service in cooperation with the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation. Each organization will supply a naturalist to comment on the sights.

Fishers Island is a favorite haul-out site of harbor seals and other species that inhabit Long Island waters in the winters. On a previous trip this winter, over 500 seals were observed.

For Seal-Watchers

The boat will return to the dock at about 6 p.m. The cost is $30 for adults, $15 for children 12 and under, with advance registration and payment required through the Extension Service's Marine Center, 3690 Cedar Beach Road, Southold. A portion of the proceeds helps to fund the New York State Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding Program.

On Sunday, seal-watchers will arrive on foot at the site: the beach at Montauk County Park. The three-hour walk, led by the Southampton College-based Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island, will start from the concession stand at Montauk Point State Park, next to the lighthouse, at 10 a.m.

The walk is about three miles round-trip and is suitable for children. A $5 donation will be requested.

Other activities Saturday include a walk around Big Reed Pond in Montauk, part of the county park, to look for sprouting signs of spring and identify them. The Nature Conservancy is the sponsor of this hike, which will set off at 9 a.m. from the parking lot next to Third House. Dr. Stuart Lowrie, who oversees the vast Peconic Bioreserve for the Conservancy, will be the leader.

In East Hampton, the Grace Estate in Northwest will be the site of a 10 a.m. hike led by Nancy Kane of the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society.

Hikers will make a loop up Scoy's Path to Kirk's Place and along the beach into a little-known section of Cedar Point Park. They have been asked to meet at the schoolhouse plaque on Northwest Road, about a quarter-mile beyond its intersection with Alewife Brook Road.

Animal Trackers

Callie Greene, an artist and naturalist, will take hikers "through the unseen world of elusive South Fork animals" from 10 a.m. until noon on Saturday.

Ms. Greene, guiding for the Group for the South Fork, will point out footprints, scat, and other clues, at a site that will be revealed when those interested call the Group's headquarters on Main Street, Bridgehampton, for reservations.

The gravesite of young Benjamin Hubbard will be the meeting place at 10 a.m. on Sunday for a walk into the white pine forest of Northwest and onward to Jason's Rock, Chatfield's Hole, and the Two Holes of Water. The Trails Preservation Society's Richard Lupoletti will lead hikers, who will meet at the intersection of Swamp Road and Bull Path in East Hampton.

Bicyclists are offered a guided mountain bike tour of Hither Woods Sunday afternoon, lasting from two to three hours. Some trail-riding experience is necessary, and helmets too.

Cyclists can start from the Cycle Path shop in Amagansett, which is leading the trip, at 3:30, or join up with it at the recycling center off Route 27 in Montauk at 4.

Sammy's Beach in East Hampton will be the target of another "movable feast" hike on Wednesday, when walkers will be rewarded at the end of their exercise with bagels, muffins, and "stimulating conversation." Tom Plant of the Trails Preservation Society will set off either east or west, depending on the wind and his whim.

Seek Coastal Stewards

One way leads beneath the cliffs toward Cedar Point Park and into a hardwood forest in Landfall. The other route features views of the beach and Three Mile Harbor wetlands.

In either case, the hike will start at 10 a.m. at the end of Old House Landing Road via Alewife Brook Road in Northwest.

Addendum: The Nature Conservancy is again seeking coastal stewards this spring, and has invited volunteers to meet on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon for a workshop on the protection of endangered shore birds. Volunteers will erect fencing and predator-exclosure devices at piping plover and least tern nesting sites across Long Island.

Those interested have been asked to call the Conservancy's East Hampton office to learn where to meet.