Florida April 23, 2005 - Florida's feathered friendsAt Suffolk riiut.
Serving Long Island's North Fork since 1857
Florida's feathered friends
Focus on Nature
By Paul Stoutenburgh
What a pleasant surprise when we were
invited to travel with our host to a vacation
in Florida. We hadn't been to the land of
dreams for years and were looking forward
to it.
Our destination was a vacation island on
the west coast, about midway up the state.
Of course, like most of Florida's west coast,
it is a winter - getaway place for the
snowbirds, who flock there to take
advantage of the lovely beaches and mild
temperatures.
Luckily we flew out of the Islip airport, so
we missed the madness of the west end.
We were amazed to see how the once -
small air terminal had changed and
expanded.
it6k 441.t.
The wood stork is our only North
American stork. Standing 3 1/2 feet
high, it is a hunter of shallow fresh
waters, where anything that moves is
fair game.
Times /Review photo by Paul
Stoutenburgh
It reminded me of years ago, when there was a group that wanted to establish an
airport up along the Sound. Luck was with us and we won that hotly contested battle.
Few will remember the years of concem. How lucky for Southold Town that there
were those who cared and spoke up to stomp out the airport fever.
Lucky for Riverhead, too, for there was also a proposal for an airport somewhere in
the vicinity of Northville Tumpike. I think most will agree that potatoes and grapes
were much better choices.
Our trip down was smooth as glass. The only rough spots were when we went
through the layer of clouds that blanketed the whole eastem seaboard. High above, it
appeared to be a mystical white sea of fluff.
Two and a half hours later, we dropped out of the sky, bounced a bit as we passed
through the white fluff, and landed in the busy terminal of Tampa. Everyone was
wearing shorts, and my long pants and light jacket now seemed out of place.
In no time, we were speeding along the busy expressway toward our destination, one
of the islands that face the Gulf of Mexico to the west and the inland waterway to the
east.
We arrived at our destination anxious to stretch our legs. The emerald- colored Gulf
was but a block away. No sooner had we stepped out of the car than we were
bombarded with bird calls, mostly foreign to me.
Later I'd identify them as coming from the common fish crow, found along the Florida
beaches. We get these coarse - sounding crows occasionally on our south side
beaches and only rarely along our north shore beaches. This fish crow is much more
tolerant of people than is our common crow.
The Suffolk Times I Florida's feathered friends
Later we'd see mockingbirds, the same type as we have guarding our bent' bushes
from outsiders, and with good reason, too, for without its berries as its food supply it
would surely perish.
After we got in our vacation home I had time to sit outside and observe more closely
the calls from other members of the tropic races. Probably the most boisterous of all
was the over - powering jabbering of two or three pairs of Eurasian collared doves.
It seemed as if they were arguing about who was going to be the head of the
household, with much flying about and chasing one another. They won the prize for
loudness.
These collared doves are another example of how introduced species take over and
push aside the native species. This dove looks very much like our mouming dove,
with the exception that the collared dove has a black ring halfway around its neck.
Then I heard the familiar call of the red- bellied woodpecker. It had landed on the
shaggy side of a palm tree and was busy probing for insects of one sort or another.
Here was an example of a native species that in my lifetime has moved north to call
our area home. They've also found our suet to their liking.
We see lots of other birds that move northward each spring to raise their young.
Florida and the Gulf states provide that temperate climate for those transients to find
enough food to make it relatively easy for them to survive.
Later, as I sat on the back porch in a quiet back yard, I was jolted out of my wits by
six green parrots fighting over whatever parrots fight about. I can't possibly describe
what was going on. It was a haze of ever - changing green wings and screaming
bodies. I wonder if they really knew who was winning or who was in it just for the
sport of it. It's unbelievable to see some clinging upside down, others diving in to get
in the fight, all screaming as loud as they can.
Then off they flew, taking their antics and screaming calls with them. I saw this noisy
gang later in the afternoon, and thank goodness they were a block away in someone
else's back yard.
It reminded me of a glimpse I had of a green parrot once before on Gardiners Island,
of all places. Somehow one got blown up during a storm and found its way to
Gardiners Island. It was the first time I had ever seen one of these small, all -green
parrots.
Back on the North Fork, I'd say the most common bird would be that tough rogue of
the blackbird family, the starling. Here on the Gulf of Mexico, the laughing gull comes
in first. They are still in their smart attire — black head and contrasting white. We
hardly ever see these small gulls in their most attractive plumage, yet we see the
laughing gull in ever - increasing numbers in their dull mottled immature dress all
winter long.
Here they have become so numerous and bold that the restaurant people have to put
up strings of special monofilament lines over their outside dining tables to prevent the
gulls from swooping in and taking the food right off customers' plates.
We experienced that sort of problem when we camped at Hither Hills State Park in
Montauk, where the herring gulls swooped in and took the food right off our grill.
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