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September 13, 2007 - Crabbing by moonlightiOA • The News - Review • September 13, 2007 Crabbing by moonlight News - Review photo by Peter Stoutenburgh We were invited to go with our sons on a crabbing adventure. We sat like a king and queen as they searched the waters for the elusive blue claw crab. In the background you see the bowman; his job is to catch the crabs. A most beautiful moon cast a wondrous light over our world. Take a close look at a blue claw crab and it looks quite harmless. Get too close and you'll see they can move like lightning and bite ferociously, so play It safe and just look. News- Flmiew photo by Barbara Stoutenburgh On our crabbing adventure we saw quite a few of these bill eels, or garfish. That long bill is loaded with sharp needlelike teeth. Once its prey is caught, there's no getting away. Once again you caught me sitting in the living room looking out the big picture window at the sunrise. It's a beautiful time of the morning to be up. There's not a cloud in the sky. This is Labor Day 2007. The back pasture is silhouetted against the deep orange that's crawling slowly out of the east. Time passes. The orange becomes a lighter and lighter shade of yellow. The only thing I can see that is man- made is the windmill. Time moves on and the pulse of life starts with an occasion- al small bird flitting across ON the screen. During the night our cat went crazy jumping and leaping at the sliding door. What could she have heard? I turned the outside - fight on that illuminated the little plastic pond below our win- dow with its goldfish half asleep. What caused all this commotion were two young raccoons enjoying the water's edge. When the lights went on they de- cided their privacy had been invaded and left. At the edge of the pond we have two new little frog visitors I didn't put them in the pond. I guess with all this dry weather, they somehow found an oasis them but there are always those pesky few that get under your glasses and you can't do anything but stop, take your glasses off, wipe your eyes and start again. Soon we were moving and, with the moon above and the mystery of the night all about us, we forgot about the gnats. We saw a few gabs and that meant there'd be action up in the bow. The net went down slowly, then a quick attempt was made to pick up the crab. They did pretty well, 1 must say. They didn't miss too many. Sometimes the net would come in all loaded with mud and grass and they'd have to wash it out to see what they'd brought in. So you can see that if you're con- cerned about mud, grass and other messes on your boat, you don't want to go crabbing. As the boys worked the marsh edges looking for crabs, a lone black- crowned night heron took flight a mere 10 feet away. When I was a kid the night her- ons were a common marsh bird. Every once in a while we'd see a bill eel. Some call them garfish. They're about a foot long — greenish with a long bill loaded with tiny, sharp teeth that are deadly once their prey is caught. Our crabber actually caught one in his net and brought it aboard. I picked it up so everyone could get a better look. While crabbing I noticed the lack of activity when we looked into the water with the tight I wondered where all the killifish and other fish were that we usu- ally see in our creeks Yet every once in a while we'd hit a spot where there'd be killies galore. Was it just the tide and the full moon? Could the lack of fish be the reason we found so many dead crabs that night? Could they have starved? I've been crabbing since I was a kid and have never seen such an unusual num- ber of dead crabs before. Yet the crabs we caught were as lively as ever, and by the way they tasted delicious Back to my morning sunrise ... I'm still watching the sun come up. We've lost the color in the sky and everything becomes familiar; the entrance to the garden, the garage with its little work- bench outside with unfinished projects. Oh, here comes a family of crows: one, two, three, four, five ... huh. They swing around; they're chasing an owl. I'll be darned. Right in front of me. It's a pretty big owl, probably a great horned owl.That was quite something to see. I notice now that it is lighter out all the birds that were on the lawn have disappeared. In one great dash they went. What could it be? There's been a Cooper's hawk around preying on the small birds The Cooper's hawk is one of our woodland hawks designed with perfection in mind when in pursuit of its prey, for it often has to chase it in the woods and so must dart among the branches of bushes and trees The bird activity has completely gone. There's not a bird in sight. That Cooper's hawk must be around. The spoils of the fall season are upon us I see the pumpkins are out, which is the official start of the fall season in my book. The farmers' stands are colorful and ready for business FOCUS NATURE by Paul Stoutenburgh t � NeWs Re.—v photo by Paul Fifty years ago black- crowned night herons were common in every creek on the North Fork. Locals called them "Quawks" after the call they make when disturbed. Now I can start to see objects More birds are flying and there goes a bat. Its fast, erratic flight identified it. There's movement on the lawn. Robins. Each one running along and stopping, look- ing for breakfast. Robins, like many birds, are getting ready to leave for their winter quarters south. Some os- preys have already left. Some go as far away as the Caribbean or even into distant South America. I must tell you before I forget about a crabbing trip we took the other night. Our two sons invited Barbara and me to go along with them. They'd do all the work and all we'd have to do was sit back and enjoy the adventure. We took them up on their invite and sat like a king and queen in the boat. We shoved off with one son in the bow, whose job it was to catch the crabs, and the other son steering the boat. Part- way through they'd switch jobs At the start we almost gave up, the gnats were so bad. They wouldn't leave us alone. Luckily we had some bug spray along. That subdued most of The Suffolk Times • September 13, � Cr abbing , - �� y moo nlight Suffolk Times photo by Peter Stoutenburgh e were invited to go with our sons on a crabbing adventure. We sat like a ng and queen as they searched the waters for the elusive blue claw crab. the background you see the bowman; his job is to catch the crabs. A most mutiful moon cast a wondrous light over our world. Once again you caught me sitting in the living room looking out the big picture window at the sunrise. It's a beautiful time of the morning to be up. There's not a cloud in the sky. This is Labor Day 2007. The back pasture is silhouetted against the deep orange that's crawling slowly out of the east. Time passes. The orange becomes a lighter and lighter shade of yellow. The only thing I can see that is man- made is the windmill. Time moves on and the pulse of life starts with an occasion FOCUS al small bird flitting across O N the screen. During the night our NATURE cat went crazy jumping and leaping at the sliding by Paul door. What could she have Stoutenburgh heard? I turned the outsid the little plastic pond below our win- dow with its goldfish half asleep. What caused all this commotion were two young raccoons enjoying the water's edge. When the lights went on they de- cided their privacy had been invaded and left. At the edge of the pond we have two new little frog visitors. I didn't put them in the pond. I guess with all this dry weather, they somehow found an oasis. Now I can start to see objects. More birds are flying and there goes a bat. Its fast, erratic flight identified it. There's movement on the lawn. Robins. Each one running along and stopping, look- ing for breakfast. Robins, like many birds, are getting ready to leave for their winter quarters south. Some os- preys have already left. Some go as far away as the Caribbean or even into distant South America. I must tell you before I forget about a crabbing trip we took the other night Our two sons invited Barbara and me to go along with them. They'd do all the work and all we'd have to do was sit back and enjoy the adventure. We took them uo on their invite and sat Suffolk Times photo by Barbara Stoutenburgh' On our crabbing adventure we saw quite a few of these bill eels, or garfish. That long bill is loaded with sharp needlelike teeth. Once its prey is caught, there's no getting away. x� rttA. shl' e �V'IA N � Cr abbing , - �� y moo nlight Suffolk Times photo by Peter Stoutenburgh e were invited to go with our sons on a crabbing adventure. We sat like a ng and queen as they searched the waters for the elusive blue claw crab. the background you see the bowman; his job is to catch the crabs. A most mutiful moon cast a wondrous light over our world. Once again you caught me sitting in the living room looking out the big picture window at the sunrise. It's a beautiful time of the morning to be up. There's not a cloud in the sky. This is Labor Day 2007. The back pasture is silhouetted against the deep orange that's crawling slowly out of the east. Time passes. The orange becomes a lighter and lighter shade of yellow. The only thing I can see that is man- made is the windmill. Time moves on and the pulse of life starts with an occasion FOCUS al small bird flitting across O N the screen. During the night our NATURE cat went crazy jumping and leaping at the sliding by Paul door. What could she have Stoutenburgh heard? I turned the outsid the little plastic pond below our win- dow with its goldfish half asleep. What caused all this commotion were two young raccoons enjoying the water's edge. When the lights went on they de- cided their privacy had been invaded and left. At the edge of the pond we have two new little frog visitors. I didn't put them in the pond. I guess with all this dry weather, they somehow found an oasis. Now I can start to see objects. More birds are flying and there goes a bat. Its fast, erratic flight identified it. There's movement on the lawn. Robins. Each one running along and stopping, look- ing for breakfast. Robins, like many birds, are getting ready to leave for their winter quarters south. Some os- preys have already left. Some go as far away as the Caribbean or even into distant South America. I must tell you before I forget about a crabbing trip we took the other night Our two sons invited Barbara and me to go along with them. They'd do all the work and all we'd have to do was sit back and enjoy the adventure. We took them uo on their invite and sat Suffolk Times photo by Barbara Stoutenburgh' On our crabbing adventure we saw quite a few of these bill eels, or garfish. That long bill is loaded with sharp needlelike teeth. Once its prey is caught, there's no getting away. .mc, a xntg ana queen in the boat. e shoved off with one son in the bow, whose job it was to catch the crabs, and the other son steering the boat. Part- way through they'd switch jobs. At the start we almost gave up, the gnats were so bad. They wouldn't leave us alone. Luckily we had some .. bug spray along. That subdued most of them but there are always those pesky few that get under your glasses and you can't do anything but stop, take your glasses off, wipe your eyes and start again. Soon we were moving and, with the moon above and the mystery of the night all about us, we forgot about the gnats. We saw a few crabs and that meant there'd be action up in the bow. The net went down slowly, then a quick attempt was made to pick up the crab. They did pretty well, I must say. They didn't miss too many.-Sometimes the net would come in all loaded with mud and grass and they'd have to wash it out to see what they'd brought in. So you can see that if you're con- cerned about mud, grass and other messes on your boat, ',. Suffolk Times photo by Ped Stoutenburgh IFifty years ago black- crowned night herons were common in every creek on the North Fork. Locals called them "Quawks" after the call they make when dictiirhorl ,.,\,,,, Take a close look at a blue claw crab and it Suffolk quite harmless. Get outenburgh close and you'll see they can move like lightning and bite ferociously, so play it safe and just look. you don't want to go crabbing As the boys worked the marsh edge looking for crabs, a lone black - crown night heron took flight a mere 10 feet away. When I was a kid the night her- ons were a common marsh bird. Every once in a while we'd see a bill eel. Some call them garfish. They're about a foot long — greenish with a long bill loaded with tiny, sharp teeth that are deadly once their prey is caught.. Our crabber actually caught one in his net and brought it aboard. I picked it up so everyone could get a better look. While crabbing I noticed the lack of activity when we looked into the water with the light. I wondered where all the killifish and other fish were that we usu- ally see in our creeks. Yet every once in a while we'd hit a spot where there'd be killies galore. Was it just the tide and the full moon? Could the lack of fish be the reason we found so many dead crabs that night? Could they have starved? I've been crabbing since I was a kid and have never seen such an unusual num- ber of dead crabs before. Yet the crabs we caught were as lively as ever, and by the way they tasted delicious Dacx to my morning sunrise ... I'm still watching the sun come up. We've lost the color in the sky and everything becomes familiar; the entrance to the garden, the garage with its little work- bench outside with unfinished projects. Oh, here comes a family of crows: one, two, three, four, five ... huh. They swing around; they're chasing an owl. I'll be darned. Right in front of me. It's a pretty big owl, probably a great horned owl. That was quite something to see. I notice now that it is lighter out all the birds that were on the lawn have disappeared. In one great dash they went. What could it be? There's been a Cooper's hawk around preying on the small birds. The Cooper's hawk is one of our woodland hawks designed with perfection in mind when in pursuit of its prey, for it often has to chase it in the woods and so must dart among the branches of bushes and trees. The bird activity has completely gone. There's not a bird in sight. That Cooper's hawk rust be around. The spoils of the fall season are upon is. I see the pumpkins are out, which is he official start of the fall season in my >ook. The farmers' stands are colorful end ready for business.