January 09, 1986 - The Orient Bird CountJanuary 9,'1986 The Suffolk ' Times page i3
The Orient Bird Count
By PAUL STOUTENBURGH
I'm writing this the day after our an-
nual Orient Christmas Bird Count.
This year marks the 86th anniversary
of the original Christmas count taken
on Dec. 25, 1900 by a group of strollers
in 25 locations, mostly around major
northeastern cities. Since then the an-
nual event has grown from its original
25 to 1500, and the total participants
from 27 to well over 41,000.
This year every Canadian province,
every American state, many Central
American countries and numerous
West Indies islands will submit their
results to the National Audubon Soci-
ety which supervises the affair and pub-
lishes all the accounts in its journal,
"American Birds."
Our area covers all the land and
water within a 15 -mile circle of Hay
Beach, Shelter Island. There were three
parties on Shelter Island including, of
course, the famous Mashomack Pre-
serve. We had two parties on the south
shore covering the area from Jessups
Neck to Northwest woods, including
North Haven and Sag Harbor.
On our nor1;11 ',+ur par-
ties, two of which started at Peconic and
went east to Mill Creek. Another two
parties worked east from there to the
lighthouse off Orient Point.
A total of 40 participants counted
29,608 birds, representing 106 species.
The count started for some as early as
5 a.m. These early risers were calling
in owls (we were able to find five differ-
ent species, by the way). Most put in a
nine to 10 hour day, from dawn to dusk.
After it was all over, all parties rallied
back at our place for some of Barbara's
good cooking.
Then we tallied our count into a mas-
ter list. It was quite exciting as each
birder called out a new species that
added to our tally. The irony was that
we didn't top our 1976 list of 112 species.
We came close with 105.
Listening to the chatter of the par-
ticipants was stimulating and even I
couldn't contain my excitement as I told
of our group out on the State Park in
Orient spotting a snowy owl. What a
handsome fellow he is! It was a full size
snowy but still in its immature spotted
Focus on
Nature
coat of white. This made him a candi-
date for one of this year's birds. It would
have been wonderful to follow this giant
predator's trail back to its nesting site
on the barren tundra of the north. Here
it would have been fed a diet of lem-
mings, a form of small rodent, and small
birds that the handsome white adult
would bring in from its foraging over
the vast flat stretches of that bleak
northern country.
Others of our group told of finding a
wood thrush, which is about as rare as
they come in this time of the year. It
was found on Shelter Island. So unusual
was the find that it had to be verified
on a special document sheet supplied
for just such occasions by the Audubon
Society. You have to prove yourself in
this game. John's group, also on Shelter
Island, watched an aerial dog fight be-
tween a sharp - shinned hawk and
another hawk called a merlin. Both
birds were nice to find but to see the
two of them battling away in the sky,
dive bombing and swooping at each
other, kept the party spellbound. Like
so many times in the natural world,
these attacks are merely a sham. The
counters spent so much time watching,
the leader had to actually call them
away to get back to their work. So they
left without seeing the finish. Probably,
as in many of these duels, one will just
give up and leave the other to regain
his ego.
That same party later saw another
aerial display, but tYfs time it was the
great black- backed gull dive bombing
a helpless freshwater coot. This bird
was out of its element in the rip between
the north and south shore by the ferry.
Gulls are known to be ruthless when it
comes to food, particularly during the
leaner months of winter, and they are
not particular what they eat. During
nesting time, should an unguarded
chick be left alone, they will snatch it
up in a minute for lunch. John relayed
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
SNOWY OWL - -This larger predator from the north occasionally visits
our shores when the hunting is poor. This one was spotted on the
Christmas Bird Count at Orient State Park this year.
that the small bird was trying to defend
itself, but they all felt that it was no
match and it was soon to lose to the gull.
One member told of how he lured 13
screech owls, all at different locales. It's
an exciting operation to go out on a
quiet cold night, stand for a few mo-
ments and then imitate the call of an
owl. Then as quiet as the night itself,
the owl will appear. Their wings are
especially designed to make not a sound
as they fly. This is what gives them the
edge when hunting mice, for they fly
silently upon their prey. And of course,
their hearing is so acute that they can
locate their prey in total darkness just
by the sound the mouse makes as it runs
through the grass.
Another owl story was one related by
a female member of our group. They
had pushed an owl out of a group of
pines in the evening and it flew out only
to circle back and light atop a tree,
silhouetted by the last light of the day.
With binoculars they could see the tufts
representing the horns of the great
horned owl, the largest of all our local
owls.
The room was alive with tales of the
day, each participant still walking on
the high of the day's adventure. It was
satisfying to be the coordinator of such
an energetic group. Some of us had al-
ready been on more than one count this
year, some as high as four, all in Suffolk
County.
Now it was getting late. Some had
come as far away as New Jersey. All
had full stomachs by now and if they
didn't start to move soon I'm afraid the
warmth of the house and the heavy
clothing would soon find most of them
asleep. All day in the fresh air has a
tendency to make heavy eyelids. Fi-
nally some made the move and the
party started to drift out the door. Good-
byes, handshakes and a few kisses
meant farewell until next year when
once again our group will assemble to
count the birds of the East End.
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