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January 14, 1999 - January '99: winter of our contentJanuary 14, 1999 • The Suffolk Times • 5A January '99: winter of our content The amaryllis we received for our anniversary in November has just blossomed with its cluster of five white flowers. Its delicate blooms seems a bit out of place by the window, es- pecially with the white dusting of ON new snow that NATURE fell during the night. Barbara by Paul called the snow Stoutenbulgh "a fairy snow" for it clung to every branch and twig, making our world a true fairyland. But the amaryllis shouldn't feel any more out of place than all the other flowers and plants that just recently invaded our house. We have a small greenhouse that has no heat in it and when the cold spell that plummeted out of the north last week arrived we thought it was time to bring the plants indoors. We even had some of our children's plants that were previously brought to the greenhouse for safe- keeping. We've suddenly become a conservatory of greenery. The fire- place hearth, the counters, the win- dowsills, the empty space behind the TV, and yes, even the bathroom has its flowering plants. A few of the more temperature - delicate plants didn't make it. We were too late trying to prevent Jack Frost from nipping at their "leaves." Now they look limp and dead, a result of our neglect. Playing catchup By now, the household has settled down to catching up on all the odd jobs that were put aside for the holi- days. The Christmas cactus has passed its prime and now can take a back seat behind the sofa. My desk might just get cleaned up and that stack of maga- zines and papers alongside the chair might fulfill its true calling in one of my better moments. But, remember, I said "might" get my attention. One thing that always gets attention and never falls behind is the bird feed- ers and water, a must for the cows and chickens. Like our own needs, they have first priority, too. Because of our feeders we are continually rewarded with a variety of bird activity and are always looking for newcomers that want to share our handouts. One day, and one day only, we had a fox spar- row visit us. This member of the spar- row family is pretty hard to come by and it was a delight to see him. A little larger than the common sparrows, its "fox" name tells the color of its red- dish -brown spots and streaking. If you see this one at your feeder, you can count yourself lucky, for they are few and far between. If we are lucky we will see one, and only one, each winter. Another day it might be a group of over - wintering red - winged black- birds, although they don't look like the noisy, gaudy redwings we see in the spring with their scarlet epaulets. Now they hardly show this bright characteristic marking and yet, when they fly in and out to our feeders, you can recognize their flight as redwings. Along with these redwings comes an occa- sional cowbird. It's gotten a bad name for itself from the fact that the female lays her eggs in other birds' nests. No prenatal care for her. It's a real nasty trick, especially when the chick has hatched and later pushes out the parents' real young from the nest. If that doesn't work, the cowbird young, who is always born a few days before the parent birds' eggs hatch, will be fed first and always grow stronger and bigger than all the others. This results in the young cowbird being more aggressive for the food that's brought to the nest. Being bigger and stronger, it will literally prevent the other young from developing. You can tell the female cowbird from the others by the gray -brown above and paler coloring below. The male is strikingly different as he has a brown head and a contrasting metallic greenish -black body. In the sum- mertime look for these cowbirds around cattle and horses as they graze. In their grazing the animals stir up insects that the cowbirds consume. Another blackish bird, but quite a bit larger, that appeared was a purple grackle that occasionally visits our feed- ing arena. When I say blackish bird I say We've had a family of crows that has been visiting our back yard on a daily basis. Their first bit of scrounging is when I go out to feed the chickens. I'm sure they watch from a distance and as soon as I return from doing my chores out there they move in. One of them seems to be on the lookout while the others sneak in for the pilfering. They go for the table scraps I have left for the chickens, for they are the biggest and best to haul away for another time. Then it's to pick about the yard where I've thrown out the corn for the chickens. If for some reason there are no scraps or the chickens had got- ten there first they move in to the more risky feed- ing of the suet feeders, which are closer to the house. Some will work on the seeds under the feeders while the "boss" of the family sits atop the metal suet feeder and drives away at the prize. The bill of a crow is a formidable piece of equip- Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh On these cold wintry days bird feeders are particularly Important. Often they'll attract unusual birds that are not Just the regular feeders, such as the red - winged blackbird pictured above. that because from a distance the bird looks black, but up close and in the right light this long- tailed, big black bird takes on a gorgeous sheen of purplish blue. These birds usually nest in clumps of evergreens such as cedars that are common throughout the area. Grackles are nest robbers and many a clutch of eggs and yes, even young, have fallen prey to this bulky -nest builder. Our biggest "blackbirds" that occa- sionally visit our feeders are the crows. They usually don't indulge in our seed feeders but pilfer our suet feeders that are primarily set up for woodpeckers. ment and one that can find its way into almost any- thing, including human flesh, which I can attest to. Years ago I had an occasion to pick up an injured crow without gloves. That was mistake No. 1. Mistake No. 2 was not covering the bird with a piece'of cloth of some sort, preferably a heavy piece of cloth. Before I knew what had happened that ungrateful crow had grabbed onto my hand and 1 was feeling the effects of that long, powerful black bill. From then on I haven't felt very friendly toward crows. There are a lot of people who also get a lot of enjoyment out of feeding gulls. Some have set up a regular rou- tine for feeding them. The gulls will find a convenient spot to wait for their handout and on a given signal will fly down to receive their daily ration, usu- ally table scraps or old bread, etc. This, like the simple act of feeding birds, gives me hope for the future. It's peo- ple like those who show reverence for all life that tells me we might just make it. Fishing forum set RIVERHEAD —The annual Fish- erman's Forum, sponsored by the Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Program, is planned for Friday and Saturday, Jan. 22 and 23, at Suffolk County Community College's eastern campus. The event offers workshops in aqua - culture, fisheries management and the wetlands; a fishing vessel safety refresher course; brown tide initiative update; a hands -on demonstration of "Fish on the Web "; and free medical screenings by staff members from University Hospital in Stony Brook. Preregistration is required for the fishing vessel safety course. Call 727- 3910.