September 11, 1986 - Swallows Signal Summer's CloseThe Suffolk Times /September 11,1 986/Page 9A
Swallows Signal Summer's Close
By PAUL STOUTENBURGH
What ever happened to summer?
Weatherwise, we are told it was the
worst in 40 years. The sun didn't
overdo itself and we surely had
enough wet weather. It was so damp
my shoes mildewed in the closet but
then summer's the time for sneakers
anyway.
One thing for sure, July and Au-
gust are behind us and September
has already brought us shorter days
and cooler nights from the north.
Taking advantage of these northerly
winds are the birds in their annual
Focus on
Nature
migration. Lines of cormorants have
started moving south and like most
birds, they use Long Island shores to
travel along. Many mistake these
lines of big, dark birds for Canada
geese, which are also moving south
during the same time.
Cormorants are the big, black,
gawky looking birds we see sunning
themselves on rocks, pilings, buoys
and fish traps out in the bay. Many
times you'll see them with their
wings spread out drying in the sun
for, unlike ducks, they have little oil
in their feathers to keep the water
out. Therefore, they need to dry
themselves in their characteristic
spread -wing position.
Spectacular Migration
But of all the migrating birds at
this time of year, the greatest numer
-- and in some people's minds, the
most spectacular -- is the migration
of the tree swallow. We have six dif-
ferent species of swallows that nest
here in New York State: the tree,
bank, rough- winged, barn, cliff swal-
lows and the apartment- dwelling
purple martin.
Years ago we could say the tree,
barn and purple martin were com-
mon here on the East End. But today
the barn swallow is about the only
one we can say for sure is still
around. Out east in Orient, Bob
Gloria has had good success with
keeping tree swallows out in the
marshes but my marsh boxes here in
Cutchogue have failed for the past
five years. My martin box, with all
its apartments, only lures starlings
and sparrows now and I know of no
purple martins anywhere on the
North Fork. Should anyone know of
any I would be interested to hear
about them.
Years ago my pasture fence had
tree swallow boxes on every third
post but here again only the house
sparrow seems to enjoy them today.
It's a shame we've lost these insect -
eating swallows that catch all their
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
AN AERIAL PERCH - -One place to see the huge and any other available spot, like this antenna, holds
migration of tree swallows this fall is Tuckers Lane, swallows by the score.
Southold. It seems that every inch of telephone line
food during the summer season on
the wing. That is exactly why when
the cool weather comes along and in-
sects slow down their flying that
most swallows decide to head south.
Everything depends on the seasons
for food and these birds are some of
the first to -feel the crunch of winter's
coolness.
The tree swallow is the exception
to this as it can survive without in-
sects on bayberry. When there is a
good crop of these waxy berries, we'll
see a few of these swallows lingering
into the winter months.
Nests in Cavity
The tree swallow gets its name
from the fact that in the early days
when there weren't bird houses to
utilize they live almost exclusively in
the cavities of trees that were near
lakes or swamps. It's here that
insects bred and therefore produced
a most ready supply of food. The
problem came about when man
moved in, drained or filled the
swamps, and built along the edges of
the water, where he usually cut down
the old dead trees the birds nested
in. Add this to man's use of pesticides
to remove the insects or food supply
and you can see why our fields have
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fewer and fewer swallows swooping
over them.
Each year about this time we see
huge concentrations of tree swallows
that have come down from the
Maritime States and funneled
through the chain of islands between
Rhode Island and Long Island. Hop-
ping and skipping from Fishers Is-
land to Gull Island to Plum Island,
they arrive on the East End
exhausted and hungry. They congre-
gate in huge flocks and settle on roof
tops, TV antennas, telephone lines
and trees. In some areas they form
clouds when they are disturbed and
go off hunting for food.
One can actually hear the drop-
pings from these birds when they are
in such a heavy concentration as a
tree or along a telephone wire. We
saw this just this week on Tucker's
Lane in Southold, where the birds sat
on a TV antenna. The roof under the
antenna was dark with droppings as
the antenna was used all day for rest-
ing and preening. The one consola-
tion to that phenomena was that the
droppings represented mosquitoes
and flies that they had caught and
removed from the area. It gave one
an idea of how many insects these
thousands and thousands of birds
consume every day.
Once again we see how the natural
world functions. One bird we don't
think of as doing much to get rid of
insects, but when multiplied by the
vast numbers we see migrating, we
can clearly understand what an im-
pact they must have on the insect
population throughout the country.
Thank goodness for swallows.
Y
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