August 10, 1989 - Even the Bees Are Feeling the HeatB14 The Suffolk Times • August 10, 1989
Even the Bees Are Feelin g the Heat
By Paul Stoutenburgh
Summer always has its hot, sultry
days and last week was our introduction
to August weather. Each morning I'd
look out and see the haze of summer
hanging over the back pasture, almost
clogging out the woods a half -mile
away. It's the kind of weather if you are
on a boat it's covered with dew each
morning. So much so, it almost seems
as if it had rained. On those mornings
the water would be glassy -still and peo-
Focus on
Nature
ple would talk in whispers.
On these hot days my bees hang out-
side their hives like a coating of some
thick growth. It's cooler outside yet
some must continue to work; these are
kept cool by worker bees fanning their
wings at the entrance to air- condition
the hive.
In the morning my windmill stands
motionless awaiting our usual south-
west wind when it will be turned by this
great force and pump its endless stream
of water. In these dry days of August we
keep moving the black plastic hose
from our newly established grape arbor
to each individual tree in our dwarf or-
chard. How the limbs of the pear and
peach trees hang with the weight of the
growing fruit. After the orchard is wa-
tered it's into the raspberry patch that
towers alongside the path. Why they
grow so profusely I don't know. I never
fertilize them but only put the sweep-
ings from our lawn each spring on
them. That seems to do the trick for
they are loaded with berries. Barbara has
already made blackberry jam and it will
soon be time again for her peach and
raspberry combination. How those jars
of jellies and jams add to our good liv-
ing out here on the East End. It's a
shame so many people have given up
this culinary skill most homemakers
NESTING KILDEER —These birds were mon Stoutenbu s
throughout our area. Like so many birds, animals and plants, loss of
habitat is their greatest threat.
once practiced.
Birds' Year Ending
Most of the nesting chores of our
birds are over. Ospreys are learning to
fish for themselves. The terns that made
it through their precarious nesting sea-
son are now flying and begging for food
as the parent birds try to encourage the
young screaming fledglings to get into
the act of learning the rites of survival
themselves.
Speckled robins fly awkwardly about
now, on their own. Young starlings
have joined with the flock and are
combing the back pasture. Soon they'll
be making a pest of themselves at the
farmers' orchards and, of course, as soon
as the grapes in the nearby vineyard start
to ripen they'll attack them. Already the
farmer finds them competing for his
sweet corn. When a thousand hungry
starlings or other birds land in your
The Birdwatefwr' Companion
'Everything for the Binder'
• Bird Feeders • Field Guides • Bird Baths • Carvings
• Bird Houses • Seed • Binoculars • Gifts
Open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday 10.5, Sunday 12 -5 • Closed Wednesday
North Road, (County Rd. 48) Southold 765 -5872
'V
p
maim
Gracious Country Dining
Luncheon Noon to 2.30 • Dinner until 9
North Road, Greenport • 477 -1338 • Open Tuesday- Sunday
valuable crop it is time to do some-
thing. Usually noisy air guns start
booming but they only move the birds
to another field. It's a real problem for
the farmer and grape grower, one both
he and his neighbors are deeply con-
cerned about.
I mentioned a few weeks ago seeing
the water where we anchored our boat in
Shelter Island alive with some kind of
tiny, swimming young. We collected
some in a jar and brought them home so
our daughter who teaches an outdoor ed-
ucation course could use them. We
thought nothing more about it until
yesterday when she showed us the re-
sults of their further development. Baby
crabs could be seen climbing on the
sides of the jar. Just what kind of crab
we haven't yet determined but here again
was nature's renewable resources com-
ing into play. It would be nice to think
they might be blue -claw crabs but the
odds are that they probably will turn out
to be spider crabs, lady crabs, rock crabs
or some other species other than the
tasty, blue -claw crab, but then we can
always hope.
Shore Birds in Fields
In some fields, even at this late date
of summer, there is still evidence of
water from the heavy rains of this
spring. One pond is particular near our
F s ng t o ongstde the road and I
continually am amazed how it attracts
birds of all sorts. Doves, finches, robins
and other common land birds drink there
along with gulls, crows and, yesterday,
a flock of geese. These I glance over
quickly but I stop the car and check
closely when I see shore birds being
lured in. The first was a yellowlegs.
This tall - legged shore bird, like most we
see from July on, is returning from its
nesting ground in the extreme far north.
This watering hole is just one of ma -iy
on their annual migration. It's here and
along our south shore they rest and feed
so they can continue their journey south
where they'll spend the winter, only to
repeat the trek next year.
Then I saw my old favorite, the
kildeer, feeding along the muddy edges.
This bird could have nested here on
Long island but each year I see fewer
and fewer of them as the open farmland
disappears. They nest on the ground like
most shore birds. Another ground- nester
seen there was the spotted sandpiper
whose tail bobs up and down and helps
identify it. This bird nests on our sandy
marsh edges and beaches where it lives a
solitary life. I remember photographing
him years ago at Shinnecock.
Other birds that are always around
these rain ponds swooping and drinking
are the swallows. From here on they'll
be building up in great flocks. It's quite
a sight to see the telephone lines and
TV antennae loaded with birds, and trees
drooping under their weight. It's when
you see this you'll know they've had a
good feed and are resting. We should be
happy because mosquitoes, flies and
bugs of all sorts are their only food.
They, too, have finished nesting and are
now fattening up for their flight south.
Remember, their food must be flying
insects so by the first signs of frost
they'll have to be far south where in-
sects still fly.
So it is that the signs of a shortening
summer are becoming more and more
evident. Another good reason for getting
out and enjoying the wonders our East
End affords.
The award- winning
Focus on Nature
by Paul Stoutenburgh
every week, only in
The Suffolk Times
AIR CONDITIONED
Main Road, Orient Point • (516) 323 -2424
So come out and join us for a delicious and relaxing meal
Prepared by our excellent new chef, and dine overlooking
our marina and beautiful Gardiner's Bay.
Thursday Night $ 495
Lobster Feast (no sharing)
TWIN 1 LB. LOBSTERS
PEN SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, 11 A.M. T09 P.
30 FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, 11 A.M. T010 P.M. n