April 14, 1963 - Black-backed Gull
Black- backed Gull
Exclusive Sunday Review sketch by Dennis Puleston of Brookhaven
Focus on Nature
If ever there was an official
bard of Suffolk County I am sure
the gull 'would poll high among
the favorites. From the time of
the first settlers to our shores to
the present tine, the gull has
been with us.
We have three species of gulls
that are relatively common to
Long Island. The most common
is the Herring Gull. The next most
common would be a toss, up, for
here it would depend on where
and when you saw the bird. The
gret Black-backed-Gull is becom-
ing more and more common and
we find it nesting along the south
shore among the many colonies off
Herring Gulls. The .third mem-
ber, the Ring-billed. gull, never
nests on the Island. It, like the
B ar. kbaoked has become more
abundant in recent years, and on
occasions has outranked the Her-
ring Gull in number. This, of
course; is very _ unusual for the
Herring Gull reins k'ng by sheer
number alone.
You don't have to be an ardent
follower of birds to see the dif-
ference in these gulls. The Black -
backed needs little explanation for
this largest of gulls, with his jet
black wings and back, can be
picked out of a flock from any
distance. A bit closer Icok must
be taken .to separate the Her -
ring Gull from the Ring- billed
Gull. Size -wise the Ring - billed
Gull is smaller and has a softer
more delicate flight. On the adul
birds, the dark ring on the bill
of the Ring - billed is the clinching
field mark. The only except•on to
this is that the immature he--
rings have the resemblance of a
ring on their bill.. Otherwise,
these two gulls lcok very much
the same. Of course, the older
birds are no problem.
As mentioned earlier, the Her-
ring Gull nests abundantly on the
Island and to many, in- lulling my-
self, they nest too abundantly.
These pirates, like all gulls. are
great ones for robbing o t h e r
shore birds' nests. The Ring - billed
which does not nest on the Island
is primarily an inland bird, nest-
ing in the prairie states of thi-
Country and Canada. Some of
these nesting sites have moved
south and east as far as New
York State, the Largest site being
en little Galloo in "Lake Ontario
where it was estimated that at
one time there were over 90,090
nesting birds.
I remember this island weld for
whenever there was a break in
ynv schedule I was ready for
some picture taking. However, I
tried to get to this island and
was enable to because of distance
and lack of transportation. A lit-
tle rearch showed that the Ring -
bi't ed Gull was nesting further
south in Lake Oneida near Syra-
by Paul Stoutenburgh, Cutchogue
cuse. The first good day in June
our whole family packed up cam-
eras, book, binoculars, lunch and
all other necessary equipment for
a day in the field. We. drove
south from Oswego and, rented a
boat at one of the fishing stations
directly opposite from the island.
Like most outboard motors the
one we had 'rented claimed spec-
ial favor and called for a rest'
half way to the. island. With the
wind ;starting to puck up and my
family's eyes upon me, I said a
little prayer, twisted a few knobs
and pulled and pulled and pulled.
My prayers were answered, per -
haps altecause of our good inten-
tions `and the motor took us the
rest cf the way to gull island in
the middle of Lake Oneida.
This Iow stony island was cov-
ered with weeds and grass. As
we approached, it seemed as if
the island itself rose out of the
water as the gulls left their nests
to scream above us. The nests
were Iike most gulls, a mere
semblance in the sand or just
roughly hewn amongst the stones.
There must have been at least
2000 nests to the acre there and
so thick were they that my fam-
ily was forced to take refuge on
a sandy spit that occasionally was
awash and uninhabited.
In the meantime not having my
usual paraphernalia I grabbed an
army blanket and proceeded to
set up a rough blind far picture
taking. It was a wonderful day
and all worked out well. The fam-
ily had a fine outing and I got
some good shots of the gull's, their
young and nests.
The young of the gulls are
brownish -white to blend in with
the ground that seems to became
part of them when they remain
motionless. As they grow older
this brownish -white remains with
them for the first year until by
the second they become the hand-
some grey and white bird we are
all familiar with.
Their choice of food is wide and
being scavengers they have no
trouble in this day of waste to
find a meal. As already noted,
they are an inland bird where
they do great good in destroying
rodents and insects. To us, here
on the Island the gulls are most
beneficial as scavengers but
prcib:ab'.y this is outranked by the
sheer joy they bring to all with
their flight. Few have not mar -
veled at the way the gulls seem
to literally hang in the air as they
soar up and down our beaches in
search of food. For no other rea-
son than this marvelous flight,
the gull is a welcome addition to
our area.
I am writing this, article in our
living room that overlooks the
beautiful fields so characteristic
of Eastern Long Island. It is a
bright sunny day and off in a
distance our neighbor is plowing
his field as he has done since he
vvas a boy. The scene is much
the same in every way as it was
years ago, the green rye giving
way to the rich brown of the
earth as the tractor prods its
straight and deliberate way across
the field. Every year I am sure
many of you have actually thril-
led to this familiar scene and to
say the least this is part of the
romance of our part of the Island.
The only thing that b'as chang-
ed from years ago is the lack of
the gulls following the tractors.
These beautifu birds standing out
against the rich earth are some-
thing, I am sure, many of us re-
member. Likewise, I am sure,
that is saddens the heart of the
farmer for he too has Lost,
through their absence, some of
the wonder of : spring. We spoke
of this a, few weeks ago and it
did my heart good to see that he
had a feeling for these more
cr less esthetic qualities that are
sometimes not associated with his
work. It was his belief that the
powerful sprays used on today's
crops often wash off in a summer
shower and lay on the top of the
ground in clearly wait of the night
crawlers. Often after such show-
ers, he has seen them on the
surface of the ground dead and
lifeless and it is his belief that
the absence of the worms in this
fields is the direct cause for the
lack of gulls following his tractor.
Here again is another example
of a loss, although individually
srmald, collectively it becomes a
blotch in Nature's life cycle.
FIELD OBSERVATIONS
Field trip to Montauk 4/6
Palm Warbler (2)
Pine Warbler (2)
Myrtle Warbler (20)
Chipping Sparrow
Ruby - crowned Kinglet (4)
Gciden- crowned Kinglet (2)
Brown Creepers (2)
Tree Swallow (15)
Kingfisher (2)
Towhee
Westhampton to East Hampton
Swans on nest
Wood Duck
Prairie Horned Larks (2).,
Canvasbacks
Pintails
Ring - billed Gulls (60)
Red - breasted Mergansers (10)
Greater Soaup (3090)
Lesser Scaup (4)
Brant (40)
Yell egs (2)
American Scoter
Coot (9)
Killdeer (4)
Wilson's Snipe (5)
Quail (9)
Continued on Page 19M
Flicker (4)
Canadian Geese (350)
Sandenl• :nos (3Uf»
Redebacked Sandpipers (120)
Piping Plover (2)
Sparrow Hawk .
Pigeon Xfewl
Swamp Sparrow
Osprey (3)
Great Blue Heron
Dennis Puleston teports:
Brookhaven
4/2 Field Sparrow
4/5 Greater Yellowlegs
Rusty Biackbinds (3)
4/7 Double - crested Cormorant
Yaphank
4/3 Phoebe