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Florida April 28, 2005 - A walk on Florida's wild side A walk on Florida's wild side Focus on Nature By Paul Stoutenburgh How lucky Barbara and I have been to enjoy and share a world of interest wherever we go. By that I mean a natural world that is all about us, whether it is cramped into a city's hustle and bustle or on a boat, big or small, near or far, or even in our own back yard. I guess what I'm saying is don't get in a rut and let your life be wasted on emptiness. There's a world of doings out there, so get involved. Barbara and I go overboard and have too many fields to play in. Right now were in Florida, and all about is that wonderful world of things to see and do. Were only a block or so from the emerald waters of the Gulf of Mexico, with its wide, white beaches and gently rolling surf. Willets can be found nesting along our south shore. The large shorebird has a long, straight bill that lets it probe for worms, small mollusks and other organisms. Times /Review photo by Barbara Stoutenburgh A walk always tums up something. Just last evening we watched the sun be swallowed up by the impatient evening sky that charged in with an extravaganza of color. Prior to the sun's setting, we watched the "peeps" or least sandpipers play tag with the waves as they came rolling in and then receded, leaving a new and fertile path for those three busy shorebirds to feed on. These, like other shorebirds, were replenishing the fat they had used up on their long trip from the other end of the earth somewhere in South America. This piece of beach, like many others, was one of their rest and food stops. Never mind they had to share the beach with occasional swimmers or beach walkers; these tiny bits of fluff had to refuel and rest. Then they'd be off on the next leg of their joumey, perhaps to the sand flats in Moriches Bay or the marsh edges along Flanders Bay in Riverhead. We also saw the big shorebird, the willet, that nests along our south shore. It's a bird of drab coloring, but when it takes to the air it flashes broad white stripes on its wings. It, too, was working the water's edge, probing deep with its long, straight bill. These large shorebirds inspired Barbara to bring out her camera, and she got some good shots of this long- legged shorebird that had previously eluded us. Well hope that later, when we get her card developed with the photograph of the willet, it's as good as the picture of a willet that Alex gave me years ago that still hangs on my wall at home. Then there was one lone black - bellied plover that was still in its winter plumage. Soon it, too, will head for the great expanse of the northern tundra — but by then it will have traded in its winter coat for one of speckled black and white above and a black chest, making it quite handsome. We'll see this robin -size migrant along our shores at home, often on the sod farms. We are on a long, narrow island that is teeming with vacationers; therefore there is a heavy demand for road space. The main highway sometimes gets plugged up with The Suffolk Times I A walk on Florida's wild side Page 2 of 2 - traffic and to alleviate the situation the city runs a free trolley the length of the island. Not having any reference books down here that we can call upon, we decided to take the trolley to the public library, which, by the way, is first class. We needed to do some checking because when we went on a walk this morning we saw three birds going through their mating and courtship maneuvers. They looked like the kingbird we have at home, but slightly different. We checked with our binoculars and took pictures, but the only way to check it out for sure was to come here to the library. We had a Florida natural history book we brought along with us, but it had a limited amount of Information and we needed something more specific. Sure enough, we found our birds to be gray kingbirds, much at home along the coast of Florida. This was a new bird for both Barbara and me and, once again, it showed that a single walk can turn into a mini - adventure. The reason these large flycatchers are called kingbirds is their aggressive behavior toward anyone who dares to venture near their nesting area; crows and grackles are particularly targeted by these scrappy flycatchers. Often you can find these birds perched on a dead branch just waiting for some unsuspecting insect to pass by. Then, in its characteristic attack, it will fly out and snatch the insect out of the air only to return to the perch where it awaits its next meal. Years ago beekeepers came down hard on kingbirds, as they would often snatch bees from their apiary. Today in a more enlightened world, we know that the few bees taken by the kingbird are more than offset by the good the bird does in ridding the air of the more pesky and harmful insects it takes. Last but not least, I want to report on the osprey we see down here. Yes, not all the ospreys go north in the spring. Some are year -round residents here and build their nests on a wide assortment of structures. One nest near where we are staying is on top of one of the communications towers. We see the nest but as yet haven't seen any signs of incubating. By now most of the ospreys are back on Long Island from their winter quarters and have pretty much finished rebuilding last year's nest. Remember, ospreys usually mate for life, but when disaster strikes or one of the pair dies, the survivor will take another mate. It's hard to tell just where "our" ospreys go in the winter. We do know by tracking some with radio and satellite equipment they go as far as Central America and the tributaries of the mighty Amazon. One thing we know for sure — Florida plays host during the winter to many of the birds we see in the springtime passing through or even nesting in our area. How this annual event of spring and fall migration came about is still not thoroughly understood and, you know, I kind of like it that way. © 2005 Times - Review Newspapers Terms of Service - Privacy Policy http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/302372931642023.php 4/28/2005