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July 27, 2006 - Baby, it's warm outside12A • The Suffolk Times • July 27, 2006 Baby, it's warm outside I'M ALWAYS tNTEREsmD in doing something I haven't done before. It can often be sort of a challenge, so today I decided to go outside with my pen and yellow pad and experience the day when the temperature hov- ered around 90 degrees in the shade. Add that to the super -high humidity we've been having and there's a situa- tion I've never written about before. I decided to write from one of those lovely wooden benches my FOCUS kids gave me ON on my birthday some years ago. NATURE They're always finding some - by Paul thing special Stoutenbargh like that. It sits out on the lawn under the trees overlooking the pasture. It's where I'm writing from now. Man, is it hotl Where did all that heat come from? The first time I ever experienced heat to the extent you could hardly bear it was when I was in the service. We were taking a supply ship to be used in the Pacific via the Panama Canal, then to Hawaii and then on to New Guinea, but we had to stop at Key West to take on fuel and supplies It was a place I'll never forget, 110 de- grees without a breath of air. How we suffered those four days while fuel and supplies came aboard. Right now it's about 2:30 p.m. and the heat has paralyzed the world around me. It's as if one was in a sweatbox. Perspiration runs down my nose just sitting here. There's not a sound from a bird; the only activity I see is a pair of tree swallows work- ing over the pasture. Evidently flying insects have hatched out and the birds are gliding back and forth snapping up whatever it is they are after. Even the family of crows that have been calling their heads off all week are now silent. A lone monarch but- terfly moves lazily toward me, only to change its course sharply when about three or four feet away. Tune out. Sweat drips down on my glasses I clean them off Where were we? Oh yes, monarchs I heard a wonderful sto- ry about monarch butterflies in Chile. The monarch butterflies are raised in a large space like a greenhouse with mesh and large plants and then each one is put in a little box to be sold for special oc- It's abou casions like a wedding. p.m. and They are given to all the guests and after the bride and groom have said their vows all the boxes are opened at one time and the butterflies fly away in the sky, free. What a won- derful tradition these Chilean people have in their butterfly boxes It seems to me we have fewer mon- archs now. I was told monarchs had a disastrous freeze and thousands upon thousands died. A similar occurrence has happened this year with some mar- tins, our largest swallows. These are the ones that occupy apartment -type bird boxes Seeing our spring was so cold and wet, many martins died because of the lark of flying insects, their main food supply. (My shirt is sticking to my back from the sweat.) This Cooper's hawk above has just caught a northern flicker and will now pro- ceed to have lunch. Cooper's hawks are designed for woodland hunting, there- fore they have short wings and long tails for easy maneuvering among trees and shrubbery. Right: Baby raccoons are cute, but as they grow older they become more aggressive and can be a real problem In many ways, plus It's against the law to keep any wildlife. Let's switch to another topic, one that to this day still puzzles us About four days ago Barbara and I were awakened by the most unusual sound we ever heard in our woods. We've heard cats battle, raccoons beating on other raccoons, we've heard foxes bark, but never had we heard the ruck- us that came from our woods Bar- bara got up and took a flashlight and scanned the woods Nothing showed up. There were two distinct calls, one a more powerful one, the other more a series of whines It stumped us We'd have to return to bed defeated. Then the next morn - t 2:30 ing around 5 a.m. the cat the heat became excited as it sat the on the windowsill peering out. My curiosity got the me, best of me so I got up and looked in the direction the cat seemed to be most interested in. For the longest time I saw nothing, then something moved, but I couldn't make it out. I went and got my binocu- lars and there in the early dawn was a baby raccoon, then I saw another, and still another. By now Barbara became interested and counted another, mak- ing a total of four baby raccoons prob- ably looking for some insects among the leaves Knowing how kids play to- gether and how they can make all sorts of sounds loud and bold, we're won- dering if the mysterious calls we heard the night before might have been these four young raccoons squabbling has paralyzed world around among themselves, with an occasional domineering voice from the mother raccoon. We haven't heard a sound in our woods since that night of mysteri- ous calls, so I assume the family has moved on to better foraging grounds I have one more short tale of what goes on about us, and it shows the natural world is on the move if only we'll take the time to see it. It has to do with an incident that took place as Barbara and I drove out of our drive- way. We were about halfway down the driveway when we got a glimpse, and only a glimpse, of a rather large bird flying away from where it had been fighting with another bird in the driveway. It all happened so fast we could only guess what was going on. We figured a hawk had caught a rath- er large bird and was trying to subdue it when we came along. To be as close as we were but only for a fleeting moment frustrated both of us, so we drove out of the driveway and slowly drove along the road edge, hoping to see just who the villain was. Luck and persistence paid off and we spotted our hawk on a limb of a fallen tree only a foot or two off the ground. What we had found was a Cooper's hawk with a rather large bird tightly gripped in its yellow talons A Cooper's hawk is a woodland hunter about the size of a crow. Its wings are short and rounded, making it easy to maneuver among the trees when it hunts small Suttolk Times photos by Paul and Barbara Stoutenhurgh birds and occasionally small animals We couldn't get a good look at its prize tightly held beneath its body. Seeing the highway is a busy one, our hawk paid little attention to us as we photographed from the car. It even started plucking feathers from its vic- tim. Here was raw nature in its truest form. We watched for almost 10 minutes Then the hawk flew away, still clutch- ing its prize beneath its body. Later we'd visit this spot to collect some of the feathers that had been plucked from the hawk's catch in hopes they would give us the true answer as to who fell victim to this woodland hunt- er, and the feathers did tell the story. It was a northern flicker, one of our largest woodpeckers It's often found on the ground, where it seeks out ants that are pulled out of their anthills by the flicker's sticky tongue. It was in that unguarded position that the hawk took advantage of the feeding flicker. And so we see nature occasionally in this act of self- preservation, one that few people realize goes on oftentimes right under our noses The Suffolk Times • July 27, 2006 199+40-111 it's warm outside „ N V This Cooper's hawk above has just caught a northern flicker and will now pro- ceed to have lunch. Cooper's hawks are designed for woodland hunting, there- fore they have short wings and long tails for easy maneuvering among trees and shrubbery. Right: Baby raccoons are cute, but as they grow older they become more aggressive and can be a real problem in many ways, plus it's against the law to keep any wildlife. I'M ALWAYS INTERESTED in doing S I haven't done before. It C often be sort of a challenge, so today I decided to go outside with my pen and yellow pad and experience the day when the temperature hov- ered around 90 degrees in the shade. Add that to the super -high humidity we've been having and there's a situa- tion I've never written about before. My ` rl `✓ rw j uc%Iiucu w wnLe from one of thos lovely wooden benches my Focus kids gave me ON on my birthday some years ago. NATURE They're always finding some - by Paul thing special. Stoutenburgh like that. It sits out on the lawn under the trees overlooking the pasture. It's where I'm writing from now. Man, is it hot! Where did all that heat come from? The first time I ever experience—&— heat to the extent you could hardly bear it was when I was in the service. We were taking a supply ship to be used in the Pacific via the Panama Canal, then to Hawaii and then on to New Guinea, but we had to stop at Key West to take on fuel and supplies. It was, a place I'll never forget, 110 de- grees without a breath of air. How we suffered those four days while fuel and supplies came aboard. Right now it's about 2:30 p.m. and the heat has paralyzed the world around me. It's as if one was in sweatbox. Perspiration runs do my nose just sitting here. There's not a sound from a bird; the only activity I see is a pair of tree swallows work- ing over the pasture. Evidently flying insects have hatched out and the birds are gliding back and forth snapping up whatever it is they are after. Even the family of crows that have been calling their heads off all week are now silent. A lone monarch but- terfly moves lazily toward me, only to change its course sharply when about three or four feet away. Time out. Sweat drips down on my glasses. I clean them off. Where were we? Oh yes, monarchs. I heard a! wonderful sto- ry about monarch butterflies in Chile. The monarch butterflies are raised in a large space like a greenhouse with mesh and large plants and then each one is put in a little box to be sold for special oc- casions like a wedding. They are given to all the guests and after the bride and groom have said their vows all the boxes are opened at one time and the butterflies fly away in the sky, free. What a won- derful tradition these Chilean people have in their butterfly boxes. It seems to me we have fewer mon- archs now. I was told monarchs had a disastrous freeze and thousands upon thousands died. A similar occurrence has happened this year with some mar tins, our largest swallows. These are the ones that occupy apartment -type bird boxes. Seeing our spring was so cold and wet, many martins died because of the lack of flying insects, their main food supply. (My shirt is sticking to my back from the sweat.) :'s about 2:30 .m. and the heal as paralyzed the lorld around me. Suffolk Times photos Let's switch to another topic, one that to this day still puzzles us. About four days ago Barbara and I were awakened by the most unusual sound we ever heard in our woods. We've heard cats battle, raccoons beating on other raccoons, we've heard foxes bark, but never had we heard the ruck us that came from our woods. Bar- bara got up and took a flashlight and scanned the woods. Nothing showed up. There were two distinct calls, one a more powerful one, the other more a series of whines. It stumped us. We'd have to return to bed defeated. Then the next morn- ing around 5 a.m. the cat became excited as it sat on the windowsill peering out. My curiosity got the best of me so I got up and looked in the direction the cat seemed to be most interested in. For the longest time I saw nothing, then something moved, but I couldn't make it out. I went and got my binocu- lars and there in the early dai �n was a baby raccoon, then I saw another, and still another. By now Barbara became interested and counted another, mak- ing a total of four baby raccoons prob- ably looking for some insects among the leaves. Knowing how kids play to- gether and how they can make all sorts of sounds loud and bold, we're won- dering if the mysterious calls we heard the night before might have been these four young raccoons squabbling among themselves, with an occasional domineering voice from the mother raccoon. We haven't heard a sound in our woods since that night of mysteri- ous calls, so I assume the family has moved on to better forapinn arn„nric i nave one more short tale of what goes on about us, and it shows the natural world is on the move if only we'll take the time to see it. It has to do with an incident that took place as Barbara and I drove out of our drive- way. We were about halfway down the driveway when we got a glimpse, and only a glimpse, of a rather large bird flying away from where it had been fighting with another bird in the driveway. It all happened so fast we could only guess what was going on. We figured a hawk had caught a rath- er large bird and was trying to subdue it when we came along. To be as close as we were but only for a fleeting moment frustrated both of us, so we drove out of the driveway and slowly drove along the road edge, hoping to see just who the villain was. Luck and persistence paid off and we spotted our hawk on a limb of a fallen tree only a foot or two off the ground. What we had found was a Cooper's hawk with a rather large bird tightly gripped in its yellow talons. A.Cooper's hawk is a woodland hunter about the size of a crow. Its wings are short and rounded, making it easy to maneuver among the trees when it hunts small We couldn't get a good look at its prize tightly held beneath its body. Seeing the highway is a busy one, oui hawk paid little attention to us as we photographed from the car. It even started plucking feathers from its vic- tim. Here was raw nature in its truest form. We watched for almost 10 minutes. Then the hawk flew away, still clutch- ing its prize beneath its body. Later we'd visit this spot to collect some of the feathers that had been plucked from the hawk's catch in hopes they would give us the true answer as to who fell victim to this woodland hunt- er, and the feathers did tell the story. It was a northern flicker, one of our largest woodpeckers. It's often found on the ground, where it seeks out ants that are pulled out of their anthills by the flicker's sticky tongue. It was in that unguarded position that the haw took advantage of the feeding flicker. And so we see nature occasionally in this act of self - preservation, one that few people realize goes-an oftentimes