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BY PAUL STOUTENBURGH
Back to the beach again. What a
wonderful feeling that brings to those of
us who know Fire Island. Add to this the
marvelous stimulant of spring —and the
world blossoms before you.
After the long and tied up world of
winter, when few people ventured out to
the barrier island, the oceanfront, with
its dunes and back Swale opening on the
Great South Bay again awaits discovery.
Long gone are the ice floes that
blanketed the bay and ruthlessly tore at
the pilings and docks on the north fringe
of the island. Gone is the bleak, dry
brown of winter's grass and leafless
shrubs. No longer does the cold
northwest wind pull the teardrops from
your eyes as it screams across the frozen
bay to be lost at sea somewhere to the
south. Gone is the shorter day with its
long shadows that do little to warm your
heart. Now the sun rides high and the
world once again responds to new life
and vigor.
Everywhere one looks, the signs of
spring,on Fire Island can be seen. Along
the bayside, the slow plodding horseshoe
crabs come from the deep to perform
their ritual of life. Piggybacked, the
female burrows in the high -tide mark to
lay her eggs, then the male fertilizes
them as the slow process proceeds under
the shimmering light of the full moon.
Later they will retreat, leaving the
eggs above high tide where the warmth
of the sun will incubate them. As time
passes and the cycle of tides once again
swings by, the young, now born, swan
free into the water to take up their fight
for survival. Nature produces by the
thousands but only a few will survive to
pass on this ancient rite of over 200
million years.
The bay has warmed up, so the
flounders and eels have come out of their
winter hiding in the black mud of the
bays and creeks. For more than a month
fishermen have harvested flounder and
are now awaiting the arrival of the
weakfish from the south. This silvery
pink, gold and blue speckled "sea trout"
is migrating north to the rich
nutrient -laden creeks along our shores.
Here they will spawn and the young will
use these shallow nursery areas to learn
their survival skills.
The water is still too cold for
swimming but that won't stop the
ingenious from finding clams. Working
from a boat or donning a wetsuit, clams
are dug by those who enjoy their
delicacy. The hardy commercial clammer
never stops clamming. His ingenuity
keeps him going, whether it's cutting
through foot -thick ice with a chain saw to
get his bull rake in or seeking out the
protected spots along the lee shore for
tonging. These and other tricks keep him
going year round.
Ashore, we see the beach plum
blossoming with its branches dazzling in
white. It seems nature has laden this
11
bush with beauty to the tip of every
branch. This is the critical time for beach
plums, for if we have cold and rainy
times during the blossoming and no
insects pollinate their handsome white
flowers, then no beach plums will follow.
This is why we have good and bad years
for beach plum picking.
The creamy white blossoms of the
black cherry have just about passed.
Here on Fire Island this tree is seen
mostly as a low shrub. On the mainland it
will grow from 40 to 50 feet with a trunk
of one to two feet in diameter. Sandy
soils and high caustic winds keep them
low, but for what they lack in height they
make up for in fruit. Although mostly
pits, the fruit provides a rare treat.
Clusters of small, dark cherries can be
made into a fine jelly.
Another tree now blossoming, but
less conspicuous, is the American holly.
Here we have male and female trees, and
if pollinated at the right • time, the
handsome green berries, so characteris-
tic of holly will later turn to Christmas
red. Here on Fire Island and particularly
in the Sunken Forest we can see some of
the largest of these handsome trees
growing in their most northerly range.
Of all the plants awakening from
winter's sleep there is none as important
as the dune grass responsible for the
actual formation of Fire Island. In the
beginning, there was just a sand bar off
Long Island. Through sea transport and
Continued on page 38
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Back to the beach
Continued from page 11
birds, seeds found their way to this bleak
and windswept bar. Most seeds don't
carry enough energy to sprout in a
hostile world of salt spray, glaring sun
a. id turbulent stornY waves. An exception
is Ammophila, or dune grass, which
could be a^-�'led Fire Island's national
plant. It has the ability to tap roots deep
down in the sand and no matter how
much the sand drifts above it, it will still
persist and rise above. Hearty plant
growth helped to create the dunes that
we now call Fire Island. The new green
spikes of dune grass are now pointing
skyward, and if left alone and
untrampled, will stabilize the sand.
Once the island dunes began to build
there was a first line of defense against
the sea. Behind that barrier wall other
plants could t4en.grow. Bayberry, poison
ivy, beach plum, Virginia creeper and a
host of others settled in. Some survived,
others didn't. Each added its leaves and
nutrients to the land. Where there was a
special protectorate of dunes and growth
combined with a shallow freshwater lens,
heavy growth took place. The peak of this
can be found in the Sunken Forest, that
hosts a wide variety of plants in this
special woodland. The rule of thumb is,
however, the less protected the area, the
less diverse the plants. It's as simple as
that. In the desolate areas few plants can
adapt and therefore we could say we're
at the beginning.
Just as the sea has changed. with the
warming of its waters and the plants
once again awakening to the warmth of
the ground so it is with the warming of
the air. Birds and insects once again
come forth to inhabit the bushes and
grasses of the island. Gulls that have
been here now compete with each other
for a mate. Those who pair off will head
to the islands to the east in Shinnecock
and a few will nest on islands in the
Great South Bay, but the majority will
head east, going to Gardiner's Island and
Plum Island off the eastern tip.
Terns, those small beautiful fliers that
direct the fisherman to the good fishing
have also returned to our shores. The
d rT6te piping plover lays its sand -
colored eggs on the upper beach.
Because of vehicle traffic and pedestrian
problems these small birds, along with
least and common terns, are now on New
York State's threatened and endangered
species list.
A host of land birds have also moved
in. The catbird, thrasher, towhee,
redwing and others find shelter in the
thickets along our barrier beach.
The barrier beach is a dynamic
national landscape and the spring is its
most dramatic season. Fire Island
represents the essence of our region and
its rich seashore landscape invites our
passionate attention. ❑
Paul Stoutenberg has been a seasonal
naturalist and guide for the Fire Island
National Seashore.
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