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December 18, 1986 - High Atop A WindmillPage 1OA The Suffolk Times /December 18, 1.986 High Atop A Windmill By PAUL STOUTENBURGH It's something to see the world from atop a windmill. You are above the treetops and can see the high moraine left by the glaciers running along our north shore and the out - wash of our low bayfront to the south. I've always wanted to have a Focus on Nature windmill, so last year my kids gave me a brand -new top. Now that was fine, but there's a lot more to a windmill than just the top. There's the pump, the tank and the tower that's needed to complete the project. The tank arrived on my birthday atop one of my son's trucks, which left the tower and the pump still to go. Wanting to complete the job, I kept my eye out for a tower wherever I went. I searched every nook and corner of the north shore until I found one in Riverhead on an old abandoned duck farm. This past Sun- day was the day we took it down. Needless to say, I needed help, so my son and son -in -law and an en- thusiastic friend were there to help me get it down. First we had to take the old motor and blades off the top which hadn't turned for probably 30 years or more. It was quite a feat and everything went just the way we had planned. In so doing I had the fun of being on top of the highest lookout around; what a vista I had. This was a thriving duck farm at one time, but now the buildings were old and no longer kept up. All that remains of the pens is a few scattered posts and rusted wire fence that was used to keep the famous Long Island ducks enclosed until they were ready for market. The name L.I. Duck was and still is known throughout the country. I'll always remember coming back from NORTH FORK OPTICAL CENTER Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh FROST CRYSTALS- -Here on Long Island where frost is a common occurrence. Here we see it sparkl- temperatures are up one day and down the next, ing on part of an old split -rail fence. the tattered Pacific during the ser- vice, arriving for a short leave in San Francisco and seeing L.I. Duckling as one of the main courses in a very swank restaurant. My, how that re- minder of home brought a lump to my throat in those early days. Becomes Wildlife Habitat The waterways where the ducks paddled and swam were overgrown by nature's intrusion and had be- come an impressive wetland area. Snipe and woodcock, I'm sure, visited the muddy edges and probed for worms on their migrations through our area. I'm equally sure the night heron and snowy egrets, during the summer months, waded here and gathered food. As a matter of fact, I had visited the area a year ago because of a rare bird. It was the white ibis, common to Florida but very rare here on Long Island. It again showed how land could become a valuable habitat to wildlife if left to revert to nature. When the duck farms were at their height, the runways and pens were stark and bare, as well as the water- U 1z Now open Wednesdays • A complete eye care center A&P SHOPPING CENTER, MAIN ROAD, MATTITUCK, NY 11952 298 -9555 41 ways used only by the ducks. Now, with the encroachment of the natural world, they once again have become attractive to all sorts of wildlife. The area around the old windmill tower had also reverted to a-wide as- sortment of brambles, vines and small trees. Some vines had climbed to the very top of the windmill and it took us a half a day just to unwrap their tenacious growth. I guess they were trying to enjoy the view, also. A Lookout for Birds It will also make a great spot for birds to perch. Perhaps a gull or a hawk will use it for a vantage point and at night, when it's not windy but quiet and still out, the great horned owl might use it as a lookout as he scans the fields for a mouse or shrew. Of course, we had to cut a lot of the brush around the tower to work. There was a lot of poison ivy with its winter grey berries that told us we were treading on itchy ground. Time will tell how well our clothing pro- tected us, but I'm sure someone will be itching from poison ivy for it is just as troublesome in the winter as during the summer. uras(#(:b1ors. by Wesley Jessen Come in with brown eyes and walk out with blue. The vine that gave us the most trouble was the bittersweet. That es- capee from the garden wall is just about as strong as rope. It is almost impossible to break or even twist apart. A sharp knife or cutters are the only things that will part it. It's so strong and flexible you could liter- ally tie a knot in it. It was forever tripping us and getting in our way, no matter how we would pull on it or try to push it aside. As we worked atop the tower, the cold December wind chilled us to the bone and fingers went numb with the cold. Yet as I worked taking the old blades of the rusted motor off, I dis- turbed a spider. How could he get to this lofty pinnacle? And did he spin his web up here and catch his daily quota of insects? I'll probably never know. Tomorrow we'll unload the tower from the truck, for we got in too late and were too tired to finish the job. I hope it will bring a bit of nostalgia to the neighborhood. Water - pumping windmills had their day here on Long Island when powerlines were not available or too far away, or low - cost water in quantities was needed. We all live above our only source of water and most of it is within pump- ing range: Therefore, windmills with their pumps below were once com- mon throughout the farm country of eastern Long Island. By spring I hope to have the windmill pumping in the back pas- ture. Old and beautiful homes, 100- and 200 - year -old trees, landmarks of all sorts and, yes, even windmills should be preserved for future generations. Other windmills recently restored in our area that I am aware of can be seen in Southold at Don Tuthills, and Jim Motts, two in New Suffolk, one at The Crons and one on Kimogener Point. Further east one can be seen at Muirs in East Marion. The trend is growing and I am sure there are others. Our daughter and, son -in -law have just built in our woods to the south of us and their house, too, looks over the pasture. It is my hope that their children will look out and be- come familiar with this restored antique windmill. It's part of our heritage and I hope it will become part of theirs as well.