July 21, 1988 - Nature's Laws: Not Just for the BirdsJuly 21, 1988/The Suffolk Times/Page 13A
Nature's Laws: Not Just for the Birds
By Paul Stoutenburgh
This year was the latest we've ever
put the boat in the water. For years I
wanted to do some major work on her
but always put it off saying, "Next
year." Well, this was the year and I'm
afraid it took a bit longer than I had
planned. At any rate, we're in and sail-
ing once again.
How good it is to feel that reliable
southwest wind fill the sails and drive
the Sea Wind ahead. We tried to catch
up on our late launching by immedi-
Focus on
Nature
ately planning an overnight trip with
friends to Shinnecock. The county has a
fine marina there and we took a chance
on the first -come, first -served policy for
a slip. Luck was with us and we took
one of the last slips available late in the
afternoon.
Coming up bay we got our first
glimpse of how fast the summer season
is slipping away. Every once in a while
we'd see a small group of shore birds a
foot above the water, beating their way
into the wind in a westerly direction.
Each flock seemed more determined than
the next as they moved along another
leg of their annual journey south. These
little birds of the water's edge and mud
flats have already been up north along
the reaches of the tundra and have had
their young in that rich insect and ani-
mal world. The best place to see these
birds locally is on the mud flats in
Shinnecock and Moriches Bay as they
make a stopover on their migration to
their winter home in South America.
No international border stops their
passing.
Long- Distance Champions
Many of these birds are champions
when it comes to long - distance flying.
The knot, for example, is one of the
many shore birds whose annual flight
Lakes it from the Arctic Circle to the end
of South America, a distance of almost
10,000 miles. Only the Arctic tern flies
farther. They are not restricted to feeding
on land and therefore forage far into the
Antarctic Ocean, another 1,000 miles.
How birds find their way has always
been a puzzle. In the early years of
man's ignorance fables and myths were
an easy explanation of the birds' com-
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Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
SHORE BIRDS - -In early July shore birds pass migration from the north. Some will make a trip of
through our area to rest and feed on their long almost 10,000 miles to the southern tip of Argentina.
ings and goings. It's only in this cen-
tury that we have been able partly to
solve the mysteries of bird migration.
By placing small identification bands on
birds' legs and having central locations
for reporting banded birds we now know
pretty well where and when birds mi-
grate.
Stories of how birds find their way are
also slowly being unraveled. We know
that birds naturally use their eyes in re-
lation to the sun, moon and stars to find
their way. In certain situations some
birds actually have a built -in compass or
locating system that orients them to the
magnetic north. The whole subject of
bird migration is fascinating and one
that still has many questions to be an-
swered
Many refueling stops coincide with
highs in the food supply. A typical ex-
ample is in May when horseshoe crabs
lay their endless number of eggs in the
sand along the eastern seaboard. During
this time the shore birds arrive. They
feed on this prolific supply of high -pro-
tein food.
The Indians were the first to take ad-
vantage of this bountiful bird life as it
passed through the area in flocks
unimaginable to the average mind. Then
the white man with his modern guns
and decoys lured the passing flocks
within range of his deadly fire. First it
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was to feed the family but as the popu-
lation expanded and a new and elegant
society emerged the demand for a
gourmet way of life developed. This
demand would be filled by the delicacies
of shore birds by the tens of thousands.
The market gunner was bom.
He used guns of a caliber that would
make the average sporting gun look like
a toy. As the shot raked through the
flocks lured in range by his decoys, 30,
40 or more birds would fall at one time.
The remaining flock would often swing
back over their fallen comrades only to
receive another devastating charge. Bar-
rels of these birds would be shipped to
the markets of New York and Boston.
Year after year the market gunner and
the sportsman took their toll on what
seemed to be an endless supply of shore
birds. Needless to say the numbers de-
clined to such a point that laws were
passed and limits were set. But the situ-
ation got worse and worse until it was
necessary to ban all shooting of shore
birds except for woodcock and snipe.
These birds do not congregate in large
flocks; they were less likely to be deci-
mated.
Canada and the United States have
abided by an international treaty for
years but I'm afraid the countries of
South America still take their toll of
this once prolific group of birds. The
gunning is obvious but there are other
and more subtle ways these birds are
being depleted. The loss of habitat is
probably the most critical of all.
Marshes are being filled and dredged and
pollution is creeping in on all sides be-
cause of an ever - expanding population
and an abundance of dollars.
The Laws of Nature
Our system defeats itself in the long
run. The more we produce, the more we
create new jobs, the more we better the
living conditions for the masses, the
more we strain the environment. There
seems to be no way of stopping this
self - digesting system.
Nature's laws work whether or not we
believe in them. If there's not enough
food for the lemmings up north, there's
a mass reduction in their population to
overcome the problem. If there are too
many fish in a pond, the population
will not expand but will stabilize ac-
cording to the food supply. Our planet
has its limit. Once we pass that limit
the system will break down. Whether it
be the loss of shore birds due to over -
gunning, or the starvation of thousands
of Africans because of the lack of food,
there is a limit to everything. These are
statements we're going to hear more and
more as population pressures build on
our fragile environment.
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