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November 16, 1989 - Seeds and Geese Ride Winds of Change614 The Suffolk Times • November 16, 1989 Seeds and Geese Ride Winds of Change By Paul Stoutenburghh I awoke in the night and could hear the wind howling in the trees above. This was only the beginning o f November and already the winter wind was practicing its voice in anticipation of things to come. For those along the ocean beach, it is a welcome change from the winds in the opposite quarter that continually gnaw away at its sandy beaches. This continual shifting sand has its sharp edges worn off so that now it is not the best sand for making con- crete. Rather the mason looks for virgin sand with new, clean, sharp faces that are more ideal. It's hard to think of sand once being part of a solid rock and yet if you've ever stood at a rocky beach, such as the one off Montauk Point, when the surf is running, you can hear the grinding and rolling of stones as the waves ply back and forth along the shore. Grains of sand are made by these ever - moving forces. Of course, this is only a small percentage of how our sands are made. The great glaciers of ancient times ground the rock in their slow movement south creating the basics for most of our sand. Long Island is blessed with an abun- dance of good - quality sand and there are many who have reaped the profits from its sand mining. From now on the north shore shall take the brunt of winter's winds. Those who live along the Soundfront will tell of corroded metal from salt spray and sand - blasted windows from windblown sand from that fury out of the north. /r 1 Holiday gifts for those special people on your list. 300 Different Gift Items plus... • 75 Different Birdfeeders • Audubon Squirrel -Proof Feeder • 'Aviarium' window feeder • Full line of Binoculars • Spotting Scopes • Tripods • 7 Types of Seed/Suet • Birdhouses • Purple Martin Houses • Birdbaths • Field Guides • 135 Book Titles • 'Gone Birding' VCR Game Tie Birdwatcher s © Companion North Road, (Cty. Rd. 48) Southold • 765 -5872 Focus on Nature Winterized Windmill My windmill lives for wind but soon I'll turn its huge silvery tail aside, tak- ing the blade of the mill out of the wind for the winter. And here it will stay 'til the freezing cold leaves in the spring; windmills can freeze up if not properly cared for. Some working windmills have been winterized by enclosing the pipes in insulation. A long wooden box running from the ground up to the tank under the windmill is evidence of a winterized mill. Today my windmill is more or less a working antique from another time. It still pumps water for the cows and garden but we have an electric pump in the cellar for our home use. As I write the sun is bright outside and, of course, there's that strong wind still blowing. My eye catches fluffy seeds blowing through the back - lighted woods. These airborne seeds are from the phragmites that from here on will spread seeds over the land. No wonder this pesty, tall plume grass is taking over most of our wet areas. Its seeds drift everywhere. This plant thrives on man's disturbing the earth, particularly in wet areas. When these two factors come together you're bound to find phragmites moving in. Ride along Dune Road in Southamp- ton and you can see just where man has altered the• marsh; at every spoil site the tall phragmites. has taken over. Ride A h th isa along our roadsides an w ere ere supply of moisture you'll find phrag- mites cropping up. Even at the head of our creeks where there was once a vital salt marsh thriving, we find the phrag- mites becoming dominant. Phragmites has little wildlife value but it has two things going for it. Its root system is about as good a hold -fast as you could ask for. It's by far as good as any manmade structure that's put up to prevent erosion. The second, and probably the most important is that it is being used today to cleanse road runoff into our bays and creeks. When reed ponds are properly installed with phragmites they trap and utilize all the impurities that otherwise would have wound up polluting our waters. So, like the old saying goes, there's some good and bad in all of us. rno[o oy raui oww a PHRAGMITES —The high plume of the phragmites is now letting go its airborne seeds. Look for them drifting through the air. A White Moon There's been a break in my writing and as I start again the sun has gone down in a brilliant red sunset and in its place is a bright white full moon. It comes up white when the air is clear. A yellow moon means the atmosphere is laden with impurities. What kind of im- purities is anyone's guess. It can be desert sand, dust from parched lands, smog from cities or smoke from forest fires but for tonight it is crystal clear. For the first time since early spring I can see the neighbors' lights through our woods. Summer's foliage has kept us isolated from all but our windmill. How wintry the naked trees look. Per- haps that's why I hear the wind so well now for with the leaves gone the thin branches act as a thousand vibrators all flails in isso Children under 12 $3 less salad or soup, entree, dessert and beverage AMESPORT MANOR INN J'f;"W a a. APPETIZER BBQ Ribs, Potato Skins, Herring, Baked Clams or Soup SALAD Choice of Dressing ENTREE Roast Turkey with all the trimmings Roast Fresh Ham $1495 Flounder Florentine with Lobster Sauce Dessert and Beverage Many other entrees at slightly higher prices For Reservations Call- 722 -3382 Manor Lane, Jamesport tuned .to a howling winter chorus. The geese are back in the disced -up corn field sand with them is one lone snow goose. These white geese with their black wing tips are uncommon along our. shores but down in Chin- coteague in Virginia they are almost as numerous as the Canadas. Some years ago my wife and I took a group to this wild fowl paradise. Ducks of all sorts along with geese, grebes and shorebirds congregate in the wetlands where the visitor can easily observe them close at hand. At one time we witnessed thousands of these beautiful snow geese coming into the marshes before us. It was like a gigantic snowfall but even more spec- tacular because of the bright sun of the day back - lighting their seemingly spot- less white forms. Everywhere we went there were new and exciting views of waterfowl. It is here that many of these fowl will spend their winter feeding in the lush marsh. What we saw was how it must have been all along our eastern seaboard a hundred years ago. The loss of habitat has hit hard on the birds of our marshes. Over half the wet- lands that once spread from Florida to Maine have gone under the bulldozer's blade or the dredger's spoil pile. In some states strict wetland laws have been put into effect to stop this real - estate plunder but yet in others loosely drawn regulations let the slick ones slip through. Thank goodness that we on the East End have been alert and concerned about the value of these resources and are doing a reasonably good job of protecting them. Like farms, once built on, there's no turning them back to their productive state.