Loading...
October 8, 1961 - CampingN • a 7' MA, Main Camping Scene, Canada Jay lower right Exclusive Sunday Review Sketch by Dennis Puleston of Brookhaven Another mission completed and time running out, we left Prince Edward Island and went across to Fundy National Park for our last stop before heading home. Back home on Long Island now we are already looking a h e a d toward our next camping trip. On cold winter evenings to come, the maps will be spread out on tJie floor with all the Stoutenburghs gathered round discussing our next proposed venture. Where it shall be we do not know but there is one thing you can be sure: Whatever. direction we head, our focus will always be on Nature. FIELD OBSERVATIONS L R Ernest reparts: September 30 at Southampton - 4 Black- throated Green Warblers September 30 at Mecox (ocean) 1 Northern Phalarope Pin Tails October 1 at Mecox (ocean) 2 Shrike 2 Common Loon October 1 at North Sea 1 Gray- chceked Thrush October 7 — Greenport — PS: San,ucher. P:ense. send Field Observations an! Comments to Paul S:.r:ten. burgh, Box 105, Cutchogue. -ft-f. ocus on (NOTE: Through an o v e r- sight last week credit wrr not given to Jennifer Puleston for her sketch of the Crow. Our apologies and thanks to a fine young artist) Whenever school is out for more than a weekend, t h e Stouten- burghs usually roll] up their sleep- ing bags, pack up their tent and start out on a camping trip. This is no small task, let me tell you, with a wife and three children, a dog, a crow, two or three salamanders, a turtle, a pair of deer mice and an assort- ment of whatever is in season at the time. All 'this has to be farmed out to mothers, neighbors, or in many cases turned back to nature with a cherished farewell from t h e children. But it is well worth the time and trouble, for once on t It e road our world starts unfolding into a Kaleidoscope of nature. Everyone becomes part of the game right down to the youngest, Roger, who often remarks while camping, "Hey, Dad, this is real- ly livin' ": Sleeping quarters for young- sters are never, a problem, for at the end of a day any place is just fine for them, and once sleep the tent could blow away without waking them. Once I remember a ten hour downpour with a 30 mile an hour wind that we went through at Hither Hills Start Park, and the children slept through it all. The tent, by the way, has a camas bottom, and filled with w a t e r, almost floated us away, but no fear for the youngsters — they slept right through it safely on their air mattresses, only inchets away from the flood. We often stop along the way to let the children stretch (who's kidding who ?) and it is here the field glasses always come out for a quick look around. Whether it ,is a Turkey Vulture soaring ef- fortlessly above or a friendly chipmunk scavenging a crust of bread, each stop has something to offer. There was one place where we stopped outside Albany to e at lunch. With no parking a r e a around we resorted to a nearby sand pit which proved to be just right. The kids had a ball climb- ing the sandy hills and banks while I was busy watching the Bank Swallows darting in and • ut of their tiny holes in the tttard, sandy wall. Another road stop I recall was down [south where the Swallow Tail Butterflies must have been 'emerging from their cocoons, for everywhere they drifted a b o u t. They unfortunately chose t h e ature by road to follow and of course many were hit by passing cars. Their beautiful yellow and black bodies were all about and .nany a gay caller would float down only to rest beside his downed comrade in a gesture of sorrow. What de- lighful creatures the butterflies Ere. During Easter vacation t h i s year our trip took tus to t h e fabulous Cape Hatteras National Park. A park not too unlike our south shore but, of course dur- ing Easter, much warmer. Flow- ers were all about and often bathers could be seen on t h e beaches. We arrived quite late the first night and actually put the tent up with the aid of our car lights. (A trick not suggested for the novice or even me. as a matter of fact.) I remember the next morning at dawn being awakened to- a beautiful sunrise and the unfamiliar call of the Boat- tailed Grackle. They were all about our tent looking for the choice tid bites left from the previous hur- ried evening meal. Early that morning while the others slept, I crept out with my glasses to search about. Off to the inlet the sky was alive with birds; gulls, terns and skimmers were everywhere diving a n d snatching up the small fish that churned beneath the surface of the water. The big and beautiful Royal and Caspian Terrs were every- ,.%here and the conspicuous Laugh- ing Gut with his black h e a d captured my sight continually. This gull, so common along the Virginia coast, seemed to go un- noticed by the native, but was watched constantly by me. As we paissed from one island to another via free government ferries, these Gulls continually amused us by catching bits of bread thrown to them by pre - warned passengers. We took many wonderful walks under the watchful eye of the famous Hatteras light and never tired of the dunes and shore. Even though the dunes resem- ble our south snore, the treasures found there are so different. The great pen, cockle and olive shells, t h o u g h commonplace there, were an exciting find to us, particularly to the children, for shell collecting is one of their early pleasures. We found the remains of the famous ghost crabs. They travel- ed back to Cutchogue with us and are now holding 'a place of honor in our collection. All these facets of nature have a story, not just a name, and here at home on cold w i n t e r nights we often sit about reading up about our vacation treasures. On our return trip from Hat- Paul Stoutenburgh photographing until the l a s t moment. Even then, as I headed for the island, drizzling rain per - teras we often stopped along sisted. Now a dream of eleven the long barren road that passes years y:as coming true, for I had through the miles and miles of pl&nned this with my wife many wetlands. One stop that stands years ago and had never h ad out above all the rest was when enough time to make the trip. Peter drew our attention to three, As we sailed practically under white birds in a nearby pooT. the northern cliffs, our h e a d s Not more than 100 feet down turned up in amazement at the the road were three beautiful thousands of birds nestled to its Snowy Egret„ and as we all rush- side. I could not help telling my ed for the glasses to get a closer self how worthwhile this all was look, a handsome Glossy I b i s and how dreams should never be strutted into view. He proceeded given up no matter how f a r- to take over the area, with much fetched they might seem. resentment shown by the Egrets Later I left the boat and made whose plumes stood on end in my way up to the headland where revolt. you can overlook tens of thou - To add to the pageant, a Loui- sands of Gannets nesting. siana Heron slowly flew in and If you are lucky you can also took its place in the [shallows. see the Razor - billed Auk, the Puf- Later that same day, w h i 1 e fins, the Murres, and the Guille- exploring an old lighthouse, we moms, nesting amongst the mass saw the Gull - billed Tern working of white and black Gannets. over the inland meadows, pre- I sat for hours literally stunned sumabiy catching insects in its by the excitement as these great characteristic style. Birds are birds with their seven foot wing always on the agenda whenever span drifted back and forth only we travel and the thrills we get ten feet above my head. They continually make the trip so much ahowed no fear of me, so I photo. nicer. graphed them at will, but their continual chatter and noise re- This summer I took off for the ninded me that I \vats a stranger first time in five years and we in their midst. 'traveled as far north and east Storm clouds were gathering, so in. Canada as we could without I headed back around the peri- crossing the St Lawrence. All meter of the island and I recall along this great body of water, the many new wildflowers that we had an array of bird life to I would later have to check on. add to our count. The one familiar friend I saw We mere on the Island only get was the Green - fringed Orchid that occasional glimpses of the hand- seemed to be everywhere. some American Eider duck when As I looked across the bay the we visit Montauk during the win- storm moved in with dark and ter, but there you could almost ominous clouds, bringing with it touch these birds in their full its gusts of wind and its early Plumage, as they scurried along yarning system of raindrops. the shore with their young fam- Hurriedly I wound my way down ilies behind them. to tae beat landing, to where my As we headed east along the family was waiting for the return St Lawrence, the landscape trip to ouk camp. changed from dairy country to The nc�.t day, driving down C.e hilly fishing villages, and later as coast, we headed for P r i n c e we reached the outer most limits Edward Island and often -passed of Gaspe', one would think you low, lying islands where. Cormo- were in the Swiss Alps or along rants and Gulls nested. I could the Norwegian fiords. The only see through my glasses the char - road up there was this winding, acteristic silhouette of the cor- twisting road that was always morant as it looked a b o u t or within sight of the sea. Or as sunned itself on the rocks. they say up there, "summer." We camped at Cavendish Na- It is here the Raven could be tional Park for four days and seen, soaring high above the had a grand time visiting the woodlands, while his smaller lobster and cod fisheries. There cousin, the Fish Crow, scavenged is nothing quite like fresh cod the seashore. Off shore, the Kitti - fish cooked over an open fire. wakes and the Guille:nontrs were This is the country to get your always within sight. fill. Also lobsters, the likes you Our objective was the famous have never seen. Bonaventure Island, the home of Here on this island of green I the Gannet, that lays within sight, visited Great Blue Heron Rook- of the famous landmark, Perce' ery that was easily detected by Rock. And it was here that we the steady stream of herons in set up camp almost within the and out throughout the day. I shadow of this all impressive parked my family on a beautiful sight. isolated beach and headed in to Rain dampened our equipment, hoto ra h. but not our spirits, for three days, and I had.to hold off my Continued on 11