March 19, 1987 - The Ospreys Are ComingThe Ospreys Are Coming
By PAUL STOUTENBURGH
By the time you read this article
the ospreys will have started to re-
turn to our end of the island. They've
spent the winter in warmer climates,
some of them going as far as Central
and South America. Yet, faithfully
they return to the same spot to nest
with the same mate each year. If ever
a bird should become a symbol of our
East End, it should be the osprey.
Mattituck- Cutchogue School stu-
dents have adopted the osprey as
their symbol, which seems quite ap-
propriate to me.
Tim Gray and I have been busy re-
pairing platforms that went down
during the winter in our area just as
Bob Gloria and his crew out in Orient
have done. Osprey platforms, like
trees, don't last forever and have to
be replaced every once in a while.
We use old galvanized irrigation
pipe for the main pole because it is
lighter than standard pipe and tele-
phone poles. Plus, they have been do-
nated to the cause. It would be great
if we could get telephone poles put
up, but it's pretty hard to get
LILCO's trucks in the marshy and
out -of -the -way places where we
work.
Platforms Anchored
Platforms are made up ahead of
time so they can be easily carried and
installed on the spot. Once installed
in the end of' the 20 -foot irrigation
pipe and the three -to- four - foot -deep
hole is dug, the pipe and platform are
erected. " Deadmen" are placed
around the pipe. These are two -by-
six or two -by -eight pieces of CCA
(pressure - treated wood) about 2' /2 to
three feet long that are tamped in
place as the hole is filled. A little
thought must be given as to what di-
rection the deadmen are placed with
respect to storm winds.
It seems quite simple and is until
you start digging in some of the loca-
tions where there is heavy gravel. Or
worse yet, you .start to dig and the
hole starts to fill up with water. It's
something like the holes you used to
dig as a kid on the beach. Remember
when you dug to water?
We've never been told we couldn't
put up a platform on someone's prop-
erty. The closest we came was when
a lady thought it might interfere
with her vista, but I think when the
ospreys started building the small
loss to her view was well worth the
sacrifice. Now the neighbors watch
anxiously for "their" pair of ospreys
to return each year.
Annual Report on Ospreys
Last year was a good year for our
ospreys here on Long Island. Reports
that include Central Suffolk, North
and South forks, and Robins, Gardin-
ers and Plum islands produced 144
active nests of which 89 produced
young. There are many reasons why
some nests don't produce young and
others do. Heavy rains can cool down
Focus on
Nature
eggs when an old nest puddles or
perhaps the chicks can't be kept
warm under prolonged cold and
rainy conditions. Then there's the
empty frustration nest that new os-
preys build as they practice the art
of homemaking.
Then there's the problem of pre-
dators; great horned owls, raccoons,
gulls and others take advantage
whenever they can to sneak in and
steal an egg or a defenseless chick.
Add this to man's interruptions --
getting too close to the nesting site
and chasing the bird off, creating the
problem of intense sun cooking the
eggs or killing the newborn young.
People have to learn that osprey
nests are particularly vulnerable in
the early days of hatching.
Some nests have more than one
young. Some produce two or three.
When the figure gets above two, sup-
plying food for such a hungry crew
becomes a difficult chore. In some
cases the young literally starve to
death and here nature's law takes
over -- the strong survive and the
weak perish. This in the long run
creates a stronger species.
Sixteen More in '86
Of the 89 nests in 1986 there were
approximately 186 young, 16 more
than the year before. That equaled
1.3 young per nest. All these figures
come from the Endangered Species
Division of the Department of En-
vironmental Conservation that is
headed up by senior wildlife techni-
cian Mike Scheibe] who works out of
Stony Brook. He gathers much of this
information by helicopter visitation.
I think I've told this story before,
but when I was teaching in Green -
port each year I'd wait anxiously to
see the first osprey on my way to
school by the nest at the west edge of
Moores Woods and east of the old
drive -in theater. I'd record it on the
door frame of my office and through
the years I accumulated 15 years or
more of first arrivals. The date that
came up most often was March 21.
So for all of you who look forward
to finding the first crocus or thrill to
hear the first redwings, look this
week for the first osprey in your area.
It's a symbol of life's renewal.
Advertise in
The Suffolk Times/
News- Review
Business Directory.
47'7 -0081
727-3000
INCOME TAXES PREPARED
FEDERAL, STATE, PERSONAL & BUSINESS
Specializing in serving the middle income of Eastern
Long Island. Affordable service by professionals
from your community. OPEN ALL YEAR
t
BR/SOM & CHALMERS
�,►`, l 298 -8.918
MAIN ROAD, MATTITUCK (Across from Carvel)
9 rE7c.4 00- osPkky
pL,frF.0 JIL•1
The Suffolk Times /March 19, 1987 /Page 11 A
6,#,L V, r -ItA6 y w l it .1 • --1 T o>>
`L-A y X lY'r 1 c R. olg 44 6,0,806X-
.
c- o^." re r. P.s -.+r as*7-ro"
41
}a
ti
III
11'�4t�4 I�
N
,.s TioR�i7
„s I Sketch by Paul Stoutenburgh
+� r
" OSPREY PLATFORM - -Os-
preys accept man -made struc-
tures quite readily, provided they
are placed far enough away from
human activity. The sketch above
shows how our platforms are
built.
PETTIT BOTTOM PAINT
3596 OFF
Village Marine la.
2 200 HP Better In The
MAIN ROAD 6 BAY AVENUE. MATTITUCK 298-5W Long Run.
The tax changes for 1987 are
the most sweeping in history. We
know you're concerned, and we'll
answer your questions. This year
put H &R Block on your side.
H &R BLOCK,
THE INCOME TAX PEOPLE
209 Front Street
in the
Harborside Mall
Greenport, N.Y.
477 -2266
MasterCard, Visa, and Discover Also in SE
ring regular
accepted at most area locations. + most major du store hours