April 6, 2006 - Rising up from the ashes10A - The Suffolk Times - April 6, 2006
Rising up from the ashes
TtIE FORE(:ARERS predicted rain for
today. It's been a month since we had
any of that precious commodity, and
that's not good. Not only does the lack
of rain play havoc with the plant life, it
sets the stage for wildfires. They can be
deadly for anything that happens to be
in their path. Yet, there is some good
that comes from these fast- moving ren-
egade fires
In the case of certain pine trees, their
seeds are held tightly in their cones
and can remain
there for years
Focus until the heat of
O N a fire sets them
free, It's nature's
NATURE way of guaran-
teeing there will
by Paul always be an-
Stoutenburgh other generation
of pine trees.
Not only do
the seeds drop from the cones be-
cause of the heat, but they drop on
the ash left by the fire, which acts as
a stimulant to the young seedlings,
giving them a headstart in the burned -
over area that has been cleared of de-
bris and is now open to the sun.
On some species of trees, nature has
provided a thick blanket of bark that
protects the vital layers underneath.
This thick outer layer of bark so insu-
lates the tree from fire that once the
fire passes, the tree goes on living with
only minor scars
An interesting tree I've gotten ac-
quainted with down here in Florida
is the tamarind tree that dominates
our area. We have one stately tama-
rind tree that grows with its roots at
the water's edge just to the left of our
place. It's like so many trees up north;
it loses its leaves each year. One could
say it stands stark naked, awaiting
nature's signal to come forth in its leafy
greenery.
It has special meaning to me for
it seems to attract birds of all sorts
One day it will be the meeting place
of the noisy fish crows and, like many
meetings, their meetings become a bit
unruly as each crow seems to want to
be heard.
If you have time, and that's what
we have a lot of down here, you can
usually find a tiny bird flitting about
this naked tree, probably looking for
tiny insects' eggs, aphids or some other
little creatures that thought they were
safely hidden from the likes of this tail-
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Suffolk Times photos by Paul Sloulenburgh
Left: This kestrel, or sparrow hawk, as it used to be called, is on a fence post, probably looking for one of Its favorite
foods — a grasshopper. Usually the best place to see one of these small falcons is on a telephone wire. Right: Nature
has provided certain pine trees with a thick layer of bark to protect them from fires. The pines in the pine barrens are
perfect examples of this.
bobbing little pahn warbler.
One highlight event in this special
tree occurred yesterday, when Barbara
pointed to the top of the tree and said,
"Isn't that a shrike up there ?" It was
so far away I could only make it out to
be a light- colored bird about the size
of but heavier than a catbird. The bin-
oculars came out and I could see it was
a loggerhead shrike, a close relative
of the northern shrike we have back
home. That Barbara is getting to be a
pretty good birder; her eyes and ears
are so much better than mine.
Down here in Florida the shrike is
quite common, in contrast to the oc-
casional sighting we get of our north-
ern shrike back home. Once, when we
were working for the Army Corps'
manatee program at the Ortotta Locks
on the Caloosahatchie River, we had a
shrike build its nest in a small tree right
alongside our camper.
Shrikes are nicknamed "butcher
Come meet the
�aste� -1z "iv. n�_
Right here at
Fedun Real Estate
in Aquebogue!
Sat., April 8th and
Sun., April 9th, 12 -4 p.m.
Weather permitting.
=4
birds" They prey on small birds, mice,
shrews, insects, etc. Seeing that some of
its prey is more than it can eat at one
sitting, the shrike will hang the unfortu-
nate victim on a thorn or small branch,
where it will stay until the shrike gets
hungry again.
Years ago, when on a Christmas
bird count in Orient, a group of us
were privileged to see this "butcher
bird" in action. It had caught a small
rodent of some kind. We had dis-
turbed it while it was eating so it flew
off, carrying its meal with it. It flew to
a low limb of a locust tree and hung
its meal on a thorn. We all stood in
awe of this relatively small bird that
had caught its lunch, eaten some of
it, and then hung the remainder of it
up for later consumption. We were
all anxious to see what the shrike had
been eating, so we went closer to take
a look. It had eaten so much of it,
we couldn't identify it. All we could
see were its feet, which told us it was
some sort of small animal.
Right now as I look out at the tama-
rind tree, there are a pair of collared
doves sitting together on a limb, mak-
ing goo-goo eyes at each other. They
fly away and then circle back and land
almost in the same spot. Could this be
where they're going to build their nest?
We'll have to wait and see.
Another bird that uses the treetop
as a lookout is the little kestrel, or
sparrow hawk, as it used to be called.
At one time on the East End it was
one of our most common hawks, but
of late we hardly ever see one. Only
a few years ago, we could count on
seeing one perched on the telephone
lines as we drove along. It would be
looking for a small. rodent or one of
its favorite foods, the grasshopper. I'm
wondering what's going on with this
handsome kttle falcon that was once
so common.
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