April 21, 1988 - Mystery of the Molting GrebesApril 21, 1988/The Suffolk Times/Page 11A
Mystery of the Molting Grebes
By Paul Stoutenburah
A friend from out east called early this
morning to tell me about some strange -
looking, duck -like birds that were off-
shore at his place. After a description
that didn't seem to fit anything I could
think of, my curiosity got the best of
me and I promised the gentleman I'd be
up as soon as possible.
Barbara's ears perked up and she too
was set for a trip to see the strange
birds. A quick breakfast and we were off
with binoculars and camera. We also
took along a new scope just in case our
quarry was out of range of our binocu-
Focus on
Nature
lars. These spotting scopes are a bit
clumsy to carry because they need to be
mounted on a tripod. Otherwise it's all
but impossible to hold it free -hand since
the magnification is about 20X or
higher. Scopes are used mainly for
spotting offshore birds and ducks and
other birds too distant to see clearly. If
you ever visit Montauk Point, you will
be sure to see birders carrying or using
scopes for offshore sightings.
A short way down the road Barbara
turned up the heater. As you remember
the past week hasn't given us the best
weather. As a matter of fact, a slight
drizzle had started that added to the chill
already in the air. Halfway there, in a
puddled field, Barbara said, "There's a
shorebird ". Well, of course, that always
brightens my day so we swung around
and headed back
It was on a dual highway with a me-
dian between so it took a bit longer to
find a crossover to head back but it was
well worth it. What we found was a
killdeer, the handsome black- and - white-
and -brown bird that was once a common
nester throughout all our island. Today
they still nest here but nothing like they
used to. Their habitat has been changed
and so we see fewer kildeers. They like
open land.
First Nest Years Ago
I remember my first nest, when I was
a kid, in a strawberry field. I just hap-
pened to be passing through on my way
home from school when this bird fl„t-
tered off, half- dragging its wing in front
of me.
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Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
USING SPOTTING SCOPES -- Summer or winter spotting scopes
come into use to help identify birds or objects that are just too far away
to be clearly seen with conventional binoculars.
I recognized it from pictures I'd seen
in bird books and so when I got home I
read up on it and found out that the
"broken wing" act was purposely done
to draw away any predator that otherwise
might endanger the nest. It was a clever
act and one I've become more familiar
with as my birding experience broad-
ened. Just recently I saw on one of the
many nature films on TV an account of
a ground- nesting bird in the Arctic
drawing away a fox from her nest by the
"broken wing" act.
The last photograph I took of a
kildeer was alongside the school where I
was teaching. The field was being lev-
eled and huge earth- moving machines
were moving back and forth. I spotted
this kildeer nesting so I staked it out and
sure enough the operators of the huge
equipment worked around it. The result
was the kildeer brought off her brood
successfully. The young don't stay in
the nest but are up and out the first day
they hatch, running like little mice on
their tiny, spindly legs. When they
stop, it's almost impossible to see them
for their fluffy camouflage blends in
perfectly with the ground about them.
When we finally got to our destina-
tion out east, we drove up to the house
to get further instructions as to where
the mysterious ducks could be found.
"Up the gravel road, turn right along the
bank and there you'll find them." Back
in the car we rumbled along the gravel
road and came to the bank. There before
us the smooth water spread out as far as
the eye could see. Nothing was visible
but a few gulls down the beach. Had we
come this far for nothing? I got out to
take a more careful look. Then up
popped one, two, three -- four, five. My
binoculars came up and I started to focus
on them. Evidently they'd been below
feeding as we came up and therefore it
looked as if we missed them. We got a
brief look at them before they dove
again out of sight.
Horned Grebes in Disguise
The body was small, stubby and had
hardly any tail. They had a longish neck
and pointed bill and they were diving
continuously. That description alone
would make them a member of the
grebe family. All winter long we have
horned grebes in our bays, sound and
ocean. They are a common addition to
our winter water -bird population but by
this time of the year most have left for
farther north where they'll nest. The
reason my friend who called didn't rec-
ognize them was that they were molting
into their summer plumage. This
changes them into completely new -
looking birds. They were just starting to
get their large golden ear tuffs and
chestnut - colored throat that eventually
will make them quite handsome.
Most duck hunters know this pat-
terned dark- and -white little diver during
its stay along our shores in the winter.
Often it dives and pops up into the
hunter's decoys, but seeing it's on the
protected list, it is now passed over by
the hunter. Years ago when hunters shot
almost anything they pleased, it was
said this little "hell- diver" could dive
before the shot reached him. That's how
fast they can dive when alarmed.
When forced to fly, the horned grebe,
like all members of the grebe family,
seems to have difficulty getting air -
bome. It actually runs along the top of
the water as it flaps its small, narrow
wings to take off. With such an effort,
one can see why it would rather dive
than fly. In the air it looks like a small
loon, another diver but much larger that
stays in our local waters during the
winter.
It was good to see this member of the
grebe family in its new summer colors.
Most have left but perhaps because of
the cold and raw weather we've had this
month and last, this group hasn't
recognized that spring is here. Even I
have trouble on dreary days such as the
one we had when we went in search of
the molting horned grebes.
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