October 22, 1987 - Lunch With the LoonsLunch With the Loons
By PAUL STOUTENBURGH
Recently we had friends coming for
the weekend and the weather didn't
look good. To add to our concern they
were coming especially to go sailing.
Well, the company came and the
weather got worse but the expecta-
tions among us for sailing couldn't be
dampened, especially when friends
supported our idea by saying if we'd
go, they'd go.
For some reason in our house when
good friends get together the best -
laid plans don't always work out by
the time we get packed and re-
minisce a bit about old times. Our 8-
8:30 sailing time eased ahead to
10:30. What was even worse as we
started out in the dinghy to the boat,
it started to rain, but nothing could
dampen our spirits. We kept going.
The old auxiliary diesel hadn't
been run for about a month and by
now it thought the season was over
for it groaned and moaned without
firing off. I had a pressurized can of
engine starter I'd kept for just these
cold starts and administered it
freely. Soon there was life in the
great green bulk of cast iron and she
chug- chugged slowly into a lovely
purr. We were off.
I think our high spirits scared off
the weather for soon a nice breeze
came up and the sprinkles stopped.
Our other friends in their boat were
close behind. Seeing this was to be a
go- nowhere weekend, we just headed
west. A few strings of cormorants
like the ones I'd seen the week before
were still heading west and it
brought to mind the huge number of
birds that must be funneling out of
the northern Maritime States and
Provinces on their migrations south.
Monarchs Moving South
There was an occasional Monarch
butterfly working its orange -and-
black wings in a generally westerly
direction. Its course wasn't as direct
and swift as the cormorants but in
the end there'd be those that would
make it to Florida, Texas and for
some, Central America. We all mar-
veled at this seemingly nonchalant
traveler in the middle of the bay
moving along on its dangerous and
stormy voyage south.
We'd all dressed warm for the wea-
ther was to be raw and cold. We
stopped for lunch in the lee of Robins
Island in Peconic Bay. The anchor
was dropped while our friends' boat
maneuvered alongside. so we could
all eat together. It seemed odd to
have the whole bay to ourselves. Nor-
mally during the summer there'd be
15 or 20 boats on a Saturday after-
noon anchored here but today no one.
Barbara's hot pea soup and franks
along with our friends' crab -meat-
salad sandwiches made lunch as good
as you could ask for. How time flies
when you are with good company.
Off our stern I could see a common
Their eerie
call is hard
to forget
Focus on
Nature
loon working the cove. One minute
he'd be up -- the next he'd be down.
There were no fish down there now
but I'm sure he was finding some sort
of crustacean or mollusk to feed on.
Loons are perfectly adapted to this
underwater life. They are almost the
size of a goose but with a pointed bill
and they make up part of our winter
water -bird population along the
bays, sound and ocean fronts.
Loons along with our sea ducks
such as the scoters, mergansers and
oldsquaws are now moving from
their northern breeding grounds into
their winter quarters along our
coast. As long as it doesn't freeze up
See Focus, page 13A
TheiSuffolk�T�nes lOciobera88F.'1997AM fOsy1
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
MONARCH - -For the past two months there has been a steady stream
of Monarch butterflies migrating south. Those who linger too long will
be caught in the cold weather and perish.
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Focus...
Continued from page 9A
and there's food below, we'll have
them through the winter. The com-
mon loon, now in its less -showy
winter plumage, nests on inland
lakes and ponds away from civiliza-
tion. The loon's nests are usually
right along the edge of the water be-
cause it is such a poor walker with
its powerful swimming feet so far
back on its body. In their handsome
speckled black- and -white summer
plumage they make a perfect addi-
tion to a wilderness lake. The call is
mournful, eerie and almost wailing
and once heard is hard to forget.
In olden days loons were hunted
but today, thank goodness,, they're
federally protected and with good
reason, too, for loons are having a dif-
ficult time finding that isolated in-
land lake habitat that is so essential
for their survival.
Loons Are Divers
Loons can swim with their body
submerged and when they were
hunted and fired upon they'd dive
seemingly never to surface. It was
believed they died hanging on to the
bottom which is not true at all. They
just came up a good distance away
with just the tip of their head show-
ing only to dive again and come up
out of sight of the gunner.
Loons are considered a much more
primitive bird than the rest of our
ducks and so when you look them up
in a field guide they are always found
on the first few pages of the book. In
the Old World they were not known
as loons but as divers, which, as the
name implies, is most appropriate.
We seldom see loons flying for
they're on their winter feeding
grounds and there's no need to fly,
yet once seen, the flight is very
characteristic -- long neck, feet trail-
ing behind and a rather rapid wing
beat. Usually you see a single loon
flying, not in groups or flocks.
In the afternoon we sailed to Shin -
necock where we pulled into the
County Park Marina and relaxed
while watching people readying their
boats for winter storage. That even-
ing we ate aboard under a clear sky
that amazed everyone after our over-
cast day.
Perhaps it was good that no one
else stayed over in the marina for our
laughter and tall tales that lingered
into the late night might have dis-
turbed them. Morning found the
skies once again overcast and so after
a hearty breakfast and easy living
we started home about 10. It was a
good way to end the summer and all
thought that next year come rain or
shine we'd have to do it again.
Births
ALBERTSON - -On Sept. 17, 1987, at
Martha Jefferson Hospital, Char-
lottesville, Va., to Edward and
Pamela Albertson, a daughter,
Rachel Renee. Grandparents are
Mr. and Mrs. Chester Albertson of
Southold.
PFAFF - -On Sept. 26, 1987, at Cen-
tral Suffolk Hospital, to Mr. and
Mrs. Joseph Pfaff of Mattituck, a
daughter, Danielle Lee. .
SWENSEN - -On Oct. 6, 19,87, at
Southampton Hospital, to Victoria
and Edward Swensen of Green -
port, a daughter, Amy Elizabeth.
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