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May 17, 2007 - More signs of renewalThe rose - breasted grosbeak is one of the most beautiful migrants we see in early spring. The male has a brilliant raspberry breast that contrasts with the striking black - and -white body, making this spectacular songster one to look for- ward to. Notice the heavy beak, which characterizes this bird as a seed - eater. The Suffolk Times • May 17, 2007.9A r Sutlolk 111T s 0,11101' by Barbara ano Paul ',t W1 nbWgh Baby rabbits must instinctively know not to move during their long day In the nest. Any movement will give away their nesting site. As darkness approach- es, the babies become restless awaiting the return of their mother, who will nurse them and clean out their nest. More signs of renewal The first baby rabbit of the year came running as fast as he could straight at us last week as we walked up the driveway. Once it spotted us, it quickly veered off into a nearby brush pile. No wonder, we must have looked Focus like giants to it. When the ON pregnant female is ready to give NATURE birth she looks by Paul for a deserted spot in your lawn, Stoutenburgh or possibly an in- dentation in the field next door, or it could be just any- where she can find to build a nest.The young, born blind, remain motionless in the nest during the day and hope- fully go unnoticed. The nest is carefully crafted, using fur from the mother's body to act as insulation. Usually there are five or six young, which he still in the nest like sardines awaiting the return of the mother, their only food supply at this stage of life. The one rule they must live by is "do not move." The ones who do not follow this rule become food for others. It's all part of a survival game that must be learned at an early age. There are always raccoons, fox, feral cats, owls, dogs, eta — all looking for a meal. Of course, there are man's pesticides, lawn mowers and vehicles of all sorts that also take their toll. I remember when I was teaching in Greenport School, the lawns were al- ways cut and well kept. One day when I decided to play a little tennis on my noon hour, I noticed some fur along side the tennis court fence. Picking it up along with the addition of some loose grass, I exposed a nest of baby rabbits, content in their fur -lined nest It seemed such an unlikely place, with kids of all ages running around, but there it was I went and got my camera. The young never moved while I photographed this most perfect scene. I put the covering of the nest back, forfeited my lunchtime tennis game and headed back to the classroom, my secret secured. This is for those who feed birds even if not familiar with all their names; the fact that they bring joy into our lives is what is important. Of course, if you become more familiar with some of their names and start to identify them, it will open up a whole new world. Take, for example, the joy Barbara and I had yesterday when four male rose - breasted grosbeaks appeared at our feeder. Even if you can't name the birds that come to your feeder, you can't help but get excited when you see something like these colorful seed - eaters up close. The first sight of the flash of raspberry color, along with the black- and -white boldly patterned body, will knock your socks off! Usually we see these grosbeaks 0 ve Yacht Club Old Cove Yacht Club Summer Sailing Program • Summer sailing camp for ages 6 -17 • Beginner/ Intermediate /Advanced / Racing • First session begins June 251 Sign -up Saturday, May 26, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Old CoveYacht Club, Old Harbor Road, New Suffolk Questions? E -mail us at carroll ®chapin.edu • www.oldeoveye.org on their spring migration north from where they winter over in Mexico and beyond. My only nesting record of this colorful bird came from my orchard. They nest more to the west of us As pretty as they are, it is too bad they aren't as prolific as the robin, whose song some people feel is similar to the grosbeak's song. It wasn't long after our visitors left that phone calls told of other sightings The reports told of small groups of five, six or even 12 grosbeaks; all were ob- served at feeders with sunflower seeds Like our red - winged blackbird, the mates come from the south before the less colorful females arrive. Grosbeaks have a large stubby bill designed for crushing seeds The name grosbeak comes from the French word "grosbee" meaning "large beak." Many a Good Samari- tan can vouch for this powerful beak. When one picked up an injured gros- beak, he found it didn't want to be picked up and let him know itl While repairing my fishpond down the driveway a couple of weeks ago, I ran into something I hadn't seen be- forc. I'd finished all the patchwork and left a short section of hose in the deep (three feet) part of the pond.I thought nothing of it and left the hose there for two or three days When I finally got around to picking up around the pond, I noticed some small, quarter-inch transparent globs attached to the hose. What could they be? There are no salamanders here, no fish, no frogs ... what could they be? I cut a short piece of the hose and got a glass container of pond water to take up to the house. There I put it on Barbara's windowsill over the sink in the kitchen. Looking into one of those globs with a magnifying glass we could see individual little capsules, or eggs What could they be? We researched through all the reference books we had and the closest we could come to what they might be were pond snails Just today, after watching some de- tritus falling to the bottom of the con- tainer, we became curious We then ob- served that the little tiny dots, or what must have been eggs, were beginning to work themselves out of the clear globs, and through the magnifying glass we were able to see they were attaching themselves to the side of the glass Sure enough — our pencil- point- sized little eggs in the globs were hatching into baby snails Unable to be seen with the naked eye, they do ap- pear to be real live little snails Upon returning to the pond, we were able to locate some bigger snails, a quarter of an inch or so. In this tiny world we have been observing, there seems to be a whole new generation of life emerg- ing. What a wonderful world we live in. . � e SPEUAL � 'POND iISN MOSj reenlan "",,°,r>PUnfttl $u. � MANY 3.8 CU. Ff WEEPING P%0 TREES VNffE P1M & Y S ARTM1G AT FLOWERING 146 TREES AW uv AVAIIABLE Tag p tree right from our 17 -acre nursery at Jin. 1,000s of perennials and shruHour:: 9 a.m. -T5 p.m., 7 days SWWAw&te W4M 17155 County Road 48, Cutchwww.greenlandlamilyfarms.mm me as The Suffolk Times • May 17, 2007 M_ llll=� ore signs of renew a.1 'The rose - breasted grosbeak is one of the most beautiful migrants we see in early spring. The male has a brilliant raspberry breast that contrasts with the striking black- and -white body, making this spectacular songster one to look for- ward to. Notice the heavy beak, which characterizes this bird as a seed - eater. i ne tnrst nary rabbit of the year came running as fast as he could straight at us last week as we walked up the driveway Once it spotted us, it quickly veered off into a nearby brush pile. No wonder, we must have looked Focus like giants to it. When the ON pregnant female is ready to give NATURE birth she looks by Paul for a deserted spot in your lawn Stoutenburgh or possibly an in- dentation in the field next door, or it could be just any- where she can find to build a nest. The young, born blind, remain motionless in the nest during the day and hope- fully go unnoticed. The nest is carefully crafted, using fur from the mother's body to act as insulation. Usually there are five or six young, which lie still in the nest like sardines awaiting the return of the mother, their only food supply at this stage of life. The one rule they must live by is "do not move." The ones who do not follow this rule become food for others. It's all part of a survival game that must be learned at an early age. There are always raccoons, fox, feral cats, owls, dogs, etc. -- all looking for a meal. Of course, there are man's pesticides, lawn mowers and vehicles of all sorts that also take their toll. I remember when I was teaching in Greenport School, the lawns were al- ways cut and well kept. One day when I decided to play a little tennis on my noon hour, I noticed some fur along side the tennis court fence. Picking it up along with the addition of some loose grass, I exposed a nest of baby rabbits, content in their fur -lined nest. It seemed such an unlikely place, with kids of all ages running around, but there it was. I went and got my camera. The young never moved while I photographed this most perfect scene. I put the covering of the nest back, forfeited my lunchtime tennis game and headed back to the classroom, my secret secured. This is for those who feed birds eve if not familiar with all their names; the fact that they bring joy into our lives is what is important. Of course, if you become more familiar with some of their names and start to identify them, it will open up a whole new world. Take, for example, the joy Barbara and I had yesterday when four male rose - breasted grosbeaks appeared at our feeder. Even if you can't name the birds that come to your feeder, you can't help but get excited when you see something like these colorful seed - eaters up close. The first sight of the flash of raspberry color, along wit the black- and -white boldly patterned body, will knock your socks off! Usually we see these erosbeaks �V IN A,, � a 9 Suffolk Times photos by Barbara and Paul Stoutenburgh Baby rabbits must instinctively know not to move during their long day in the nest. Any movement will give away their nesting site. As darkness approach- es, the babies become restless awaiting the return of their mother, who will nurse them and clean out their nest. on their spring migration north trom where they winter over in Mexico and beyond. My only nesting record of this colorful bird came from my orchard.. They nest more to the west of us. As pretty as they are, it is too bad they aren't as prolific as the robin, whose song some people feel is similar to the grosbeak's song. It wasn't long after our visitors left that phone calls told of other sightings. The reports told of small groups of five six or even 12 grosbeaks; all were ob- served at feeders with sunflower seeds. Like our red - winged blackbird, the males come from the south before the less colorful females arrive. Grosbeaks have a large stubby bill designed for crushing seeds. The name grosbeak comes from the French word "grosbec" meaning "large beak." Many a Good Samari- tan can vouch for this powerful beak. When one picked up an injured gros- beak, he found it didn't want to be picked up and let him know it! While repairing my fishpond down the driveway a couple of weeks ago, I ran into something I hadn't seen be- fore. I'd finished all the patchwork and left a short section of hose in the deep (three feet) part of the pond. I thought nothing of it and left the hose there for two or three days. When I finally got around to picking up around the pond, I noticed some small, quarter -inch transparent globs attached to the hose. What could they be? There are no salamanders here, no fish, no frogs ... what could they be? I cut a short piece of the hose and got a glass container of pond water to take up to the house. There I put it on Barbara's windowsill over the sink in the kitchen. Looking into one of those globs with a magnifying glass we could see individual little capsules, or eggs. What could they be? We researched through all the reference books we had and the closest we could come to what they might be were pond snails. Just today, after watching some de- tritus falling to the bottom of the con- tainer, we became curious. We then ob- served that the little tiny dots, or what must have been eggs, were beginning tc work themselves out of the clear globs, and through the magnifying glass we were able to see they were attaching themselves to the side of the glass. Sure enough — our pencil- point- sized little eggs in the globs were hatching into baby snails. Unable to be seen with the-naked eye, they do ap- pear to be real live little snails. Upon returning to the pond, we were able to locate some bigger snails, a quarter of an inch or so. In this tiny world we have been observing, there seems to be a whole new generation of life emerg- ing. What a wonderful world we live in.