December 11, 1986 - A Visit to Pelican CountryA Visit to Pelican Country
By PAUL STOUTENSURGH
I'm sitting aboard Flight 89 await-
ing takeoff from a "quickie" vacation.
It isn't exactly where I usually start
my article "Focus on Nature ", yet
today's transportation has its advan-
tages. Within a few hours one can
leave the cold weather of the north
and swap it for a tee -shirt and shorts
in the south. Barbara and I did just
that. As a matter of fact, we went one
better -- we boarded a ship in Florida
and spent a few days in the
Bahamas.
I hadn't been aboard a large ship
since I was in the service, coming
back from the Philippines on a troop
ship. Being aboard surely brought
back memories -- unsteady strides as
you walked along the deck created by
the ground swell, along with the gen-
eral fluid motion of your body as you
lay in your bunk all reminded me of
those youthful days when our coun-
try was caught up in a fight for its
survival.
The sparkling clear water with its
tempting hues of green recalled those
service years when our ship cruised
among the remote islands of the
Pacific. Our trip this week was a far
cry from those isolated days. Rather,
we were among islands that had been
long established, for good or for bad
with today's world stamped upon
them.
Our present trip was one of com-
plete relaxation, one that tended to
spoil you and yet everywhere lur-
ked the fascination of a natural
world. From the common bananaquit
that flitted in and out of our eating
area on the island we visited, to the
slow motion of a beautifully shelled
hermit crab crawling up the side of a
palm tree, nature was there.
Walking the Coral Beaches
We walked along sandy beaches
that were not really sand at all, but
finely ground bits of coral where we
sunk up to our ankles in its softness.
On the jagged reefs we found cone -
shaped snails, much like the snails
we see along our rocky north shore
beaches, but black and white striped,
gleaning the coral. Then there were
the small crabs that Barbara's sharp
eyes found clinging to the backside
of the coral outcroppings in the surf
line. They fed on the lee side, away
from fhe thundering surf that
spewed great columns of white spray
into the blue sky above.
Our days and nights slipped by all
too soon and we found ourselves once
more back in Florida where our ship
had picked us up. As we sat in our
warm deck chairs watching the com-
ings and goings of the busy port,
shorebirds that had stopped to rest
and feed on their way to South
America caught our attention. A
group of black skimmers pumped
their way along the surface of the
water. Perhaps some of them had
been hatched out on our own Long
Island shores and were now spending
the winter in a warmer climate.
Of course, the brown pelican would
glide by the ship, always on the look-
out for a meal. At one spot off shore
we were able to see a group of them
feeding as they plunged into the
water creating a continuous barrage
of spray. They're big birds and their
splashes were spectacular. Then
there were the big terns. These are
Focus on
Nature
the summer but almost twice the size
-- caspians or royals; I couldn't tell.
Cattle Egrets Abound
We saw kittiwakes and
Bonaparte gulls, great blue herons,
snowy egrets, and as we drove away
from our embarkation port, the fields
on both sides of the road were co-
vered with cattle egrets. These are
the white egrets of the open fields
and pastures, not the ones we see in
our creeks. In the summer some get
as far north as Maine. They are not
native to North America, but rather
an import from Africa now common
all along our eastern seaboard. We
even saw a wood stork, that big black
and white bird that towers over our
great blue heron. I can remember se-
eing them nesting in Corkscrew
Swamp years ago when Barbara and
I walked through that magnificent
park.
As we came back into port from our
short vacation, we passed a sub-
marine heading out to sea. It was a
grim reminder that we live in a very
tenuous world that could fly apart by
the flip of a switch. It is a pity to
think that man with all his skill and
knowledge cannot find a way to
make coexistence between nations
work. Ideologies involve people and
people come in all sorts of sizes,
shapes and backgrounds. Yet all
have common needs and feelings as
human beings, and it is these values
we should be working on to make a
better world.
We left the balmy south and came
home refreshed and renewed. Colder
temperatures greeted us, even a
flurry of snow. Our walk would be a
little brisker here, the Christmas
season would seem a lot more real
and yes, the world of the East End
still looked good to us.
V
OPEN 7 DAYS
Continuous Dining
11:30 - 10 p.m.
Th61§6ffolk tfm66Ncember ff, 1986/13age44;
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
BROWN PELICAN - -As a seagull represents the north, the brown peli-
can represents the south. Those who have visited Florida can vouch
for the abundance of this bird along its shores.
�UX94_F;7
%
Route 25, Greenport
477 -2242
1/2 mile east of the traffic circle
WEDNESDAY -- VEAL NIGHT
Complete veal dinners from 410.9$
Lobster Always Available • Veal Specialties • Steak • Fresh Local Seafood Dishes
SAUTEING TO ORDER IS OUR SPECIALTY
SUNDAY LOBSTER FEAST $11.95
Complete 1 1/41b. Lobster Dinner
Other complete dinners available
ice, Includes: Baked Clams, Soup or Salad,
Potato & Vegetables and Dessert & Coffee
somethirjgjike the to see. in , r , . . , , . , -a, ' . , , . „ 4 ...: , % ... N . ,