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August 31, 1989 - What's Left of the Great MigrationBIS The Suffolk Times • August 31, 1989 What's Left of the Great Migration By Paul Stoutenburah There was a time when the fall migra- tion of shorebirds would have meant vast gunning activity all along the south shore of Long Island. From Southampton west along the bays and shores there would have been favorite points bristling with guns. Small de- Focus on Mature coys on wooden dowels would be pushed into the sand or soft mud to lure what then seemed like an endless supply of shorebirds. This migration took the birds as far away as southern Argentina. They would be fat and plump in anticipation of the arduous journey ahead. Some would be adult birds who had just fin- ished their annual nesting in the far north tundra. Others would be the young, now trying out their naviga- tional instincts that have always served the species so well. Each year I try to go to the south side to experience what is left of that once great migration. Whittled down by the sports shooter of yesterday and the market gunners' slaughter that fed teem- ing cities, the birds now face a new and more devastating force as a result of to- day's expanding world. The loss of natural habitat all along their incredibly long flyway and the complicated problems of today's pollution from modern society are the great forces that Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh ROYAL TERN —These large terns are usually seen more to the south but in the past few years they have been showing up in our area. more than equal the destruction of yesterday's unregulated gunning. We usually take a boat or canoe to get out to the bird islands that lay along the bays of the South Shore and this year was no exception. We went by power boat and it was a pleasure to be whisked over the water in such elegant fashion for my memory goes back to when I first rowed across with Gil Raynor, one of Long Island's greatest naturalists. Like so many things we find today there are fewer shorebirds now than there were then. Yet, when we visited the island last Monday, we were glad to see that some of our old friends were still making it. Peeps and Plovers Oystercatchers with their noisy and wonderful wild calls seemed to be ev- erywhere, poking their long, knife -like red bills amongst the mussel beds. They were fattening up for their trip south. At one point we had 15 or more running here, running there, stopping and probing. High up on the beach marsh were "peeps," those incredibly small shorebirds that seem to blend in so well with their surroundings. Spread out over the wet expanse of sand were the trim black- and -white semipalmated plovers and sprinkled among them were piping plovers — those birds with the plaintive call. They are now on the endangered list and I wondered how many would return next year to nest along our beaches. With all the perils these shorebirds face on their winter journey south I'm sure fewer than those who start will return. There were small flocks of dowitchers and a nice group of knots with their changing rust- colored bellies. Black -bel- lied plovers with their true plover pos- ture fed here and there and their black wing patches when they flew helped to identify them from afar. Of course, there were the ruddy turnstones, with their colorful black - and - white -and -brown of all shades. This is the one shorebird that, in my opinion, is holding its own. There were greater and lesser yel- lowlegs wading and probing in the shal- lows and when they flew their noisy voice could be heard through the mix- ture of bird calls that continually filled the air. What a wonderful sound. A few sanderlings were seen. This bird is one that is noticeably declining. These are the birds most people associate with the ocean beach; they love to chase the waves as they retreat. I'm sure they are Heirloom Country Collectibles END -OF- SUMMER CLEARANCE Red Tag Sale 40% off Selected Items throughout the store Christmas fabrics and cutouts are here. Hours: Mon. -Sat. 10 -5 31 McDermott Avenue, Riverhead, N.Y. 11901 - 516- 727 -5909 getting their share of goodies the rush- ing waters of the waves provide. Nowhere To Be Seen Look as we might with our scopes and binoculars we could not find any of the giants of the shorebird family, the godwits. These large -size shorebirds with their long bills were the gunners' delight. Usually we see two or three of them but this year we'd have to go home without sighting a single one. Terns- were probably the most com- mon bird on the flats with the excep- tion, of course, of the common gull. We had a nice group of 30 or more royal terns. These birds are becoming more and more common as they move up from the south. These are the "big" terns with the bright orange bill and tufted black head. They have a definite call all their own and can be identified easily from the others. We even had a few roseate terns with their beautiful white bodies and long tails flying amongst the common terns, which as their name implies, were the most abundant. Resting by the terns was a nice group of black skimmers, those marvelous black- and -white birds that skim the water with their long bill when they feed. Cormorants in long strings have been flying for the past few weeks on their annual trek southward. These strings of fisheaters will continue for the next month or so. When added up, they give you some idea of the immensity of this species. On our way home we stopped at a few sod farms to check on migrating shorebirds. There are some of these birds that feed in our inland fields and it is these sod farms in particular that give us good, unobstructed views of the area. On one we found a dozen or more kildeers feeding and at another there were 10 to 15 golden plovers. Now there is the classic shorebird of old not often seen anymore. What color! What a stance! What a bird! It was a proper and fitting way to end our trip to bird island where we renewed old acquaintances of the great migrations that once passed through our south shore.