March 07, 1985 - The Signs of SpringPage 18
The Suffolk Times
The Signs of Spring
By PAUL STOUTENBURGH
As the buds swell on the swamp
maples and the ice melts in the ponds,
I'll guarantee you'll see evidence of the
mating game going on throughout the
East End. The colorful little black and
white bufflehead ducks and the gaudier
crested mergansers are performing
their rites continually in our bays and
creeks before heading north to nest.
Even the handsome green- headed mal-
lard has found, its mate by now, for you
can see them pairing off not only in the
water and on land, but in the air as
well. Of course, there are always the
rivals that try to take over, causing a
skirmish to prove who the lucky one
is. I've seen these encounters often and
although it seems like a life and death
struggle, usually only a few feathers are
ruffled.
Even the grey squirrels have been
performing the age -old game of "I'm
better than you." Up and down they go,
chasing the challenger out of "my territ-
ory." To watch them, you'd think they'd
miss their footing and fall; yet I've
never seen this happen. Important days
are ahead. I recently saw a squirrel run-
ning across the busy highway with a
mouthful of leaves, destined, I'm sure,
to line a honeymoon cabin high in the
trees above.
The red - winged blackbirds that were
back last week have already started to
stake out their claims. At the very top
of the tree or bush the male, with his
shiny new coat of black, calls to all, "I'm
back and this is my domain." On each
rasping "brree," he'll stand his red
epaulets on end to show his badge of
courage. In a few weeks the females, in
their non - descript camouflaged dress,
will return and the show and display
Focus on
Nature
will highlight their nesting plans. A
woven nest of grass some two to six feet
off the ground will be built in the thic-
kets usually near a wetland, another
reason for keeping these areas from
being filled and destroyed.
Crow Activity Under Way
Up -lot I see some goings on with the
crows: power dives, loops and swoops;
all kinds of aerial maneuvers, one crow
chasing another. This kind of activity
is never as intense as in these courtship
times. Crows are early nesters, and
their stick nests are usually well hid-
den. As noisy as crows usually are,
when nesting time comes around you'll
hardly hear a peep out of them, particu-
larly around the nest. Silence and sight
evasion are what they are best at during
this time.
The crow, as most of us know, is one
of the smartest birds. They exemplify
this evasive tactic extremely well dur-
ing the nesting season. I remember
when I found my first crow's nest when
I was a teenager. Wild asparagus can
be found along hedgerows and along our
creek fronts for those who take the time
to search it out. It was on one of these
gathering trips that I found my first
crow's nest. I saw a crow sneaking away
from the area, and when I looked to the
i+
Water ... think about it.
Bill Allen is on the record.
He opposes outside Village hook -ups
until a thorough evaluation is completed.
Save our water.
Re -Elect Bill Allen Greenport Village Trustee.
Vote The Civic Pride Party
Paid for by the Committee to Elect Bill Allen. David E. Kapell, chairman, 143 6th St., Greenport
March 7,1985
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
RED - WINGED BLACKBIRD - -Go out almost any morning from now
on and you won't have to go far before you hear the rasping call of the
male redwing. Within a few weeks the females will arrive, too.
top of a cedar tree, there was what
seemed to be a nest. Cedar trees are
usually easy to climb once you get to
the first limb, and as I made my way
to the top I could see the bulky nest
above. Sure enough, in it were three
newly- hatched baby crows. It was in-
teresting to note that all the time I
climbed and investigated the nest I
couldn't see or hear a crow. Yet I had
the feeling that I was being watched
from some distant point.
The pasture still looks dead and
brown from winter's wrath, yet I know
there's greenery coming up because the
cows no longer eat all the hay I put
out. It is being supplemented by live
growth somewhere out there. I know
it's growing, for my wife and I found
the little insignificant flowering weed
called draba just yesterday. It has to
blossom before the grass gets too thick
and smothers it out. It's a perfect little
flower only about an eighth -inch across.
It surely tells us things are starting to
grow.
It won't be long before the ospreys
return from their winter in the south.
Some go as far as the Amazon in South
America. Others enjoy Florida's
warmth. Some of the ospreys down
there already have started to nest, but
ours probably won't be here until
around the 21st of March. It all depends
on the temperature of the water and
the eels and flounders emerging from
their winter's sleep. Once they are out,
the food supply is available and the os-
preys will be here.
There is something about these hand-
some birds returning each year that re-
news one's faith in the future. With the
problems they've had with pesticide
contamination and loss of habitat, it
does one's heart good to see them com-
ing back. I wonder who'll be the first to
see one this year.
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