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February 01, 1990 - The East End Is One Big GaggleF_ B8 The Suffolk Times • February 1, 1990 The East End Is One Big Gaggle By Paul Stoutenburah As the public becomes more and more aware of the world around them I find people constantly asking, "Have you seen all the geese lately ?" It seems each year we are becoming more and more the wintering grounds on both forks for these handsome but sometimes Focus on Nature troublesome birds. I can remember as a kid when the only sight of geese would be an occasional flight passing overhead on its way to Maryland, Delaware, Virginia or other traditional migration spots. Something has changed: Today, with a little driving, you can usually find a flock grazing on some farmer's winter rye crop or feeding on the more tender grasses of a sod farm or golf course. There are many different races of Canada geese. The differences in some are so minute it takes an expert to tell them apart and then only with certainty when they are in hand. In black ducks the average person can see one big dif- ference and that is in size. Some are rel- atively small while others seem to be almost oversized. Already there are practice engage- ments and displaying going on in the ducks and geese. Those privileged to look out on the vast coastal waters that encircle our East End have a rare seat indeed, whether it is a shallow narrow SOUTHOLD SELF STORAGE Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh CANADA GEESE —No one knows why we are seeing more and more Canada geese on the East End. If the farmers' fields disappear so will the geese and with it a way of life for all of us. creek or the vast Atlantic Ocean. Here, if they observe closely, there is an awakening of the mating spirit. In Southampton I watched bufflehead arch their heads back and thrash about chasing each other in the water. In Southold Bay red - breasted mergansers are starting to dash about, heads pointing like arrows as they scurry in display. On the Peconic River I see 1040 Hortons Lane, Southold, NY 11971 765 -3267 • Month- To-Month Rentals •Sizes 6x8to12x24 • Easy Access -/ • Boxes, Moving Aids, etc. Available • Open Monday through Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. MOIITR ROAD ROUTe .. � TR.vneR „r.eT wuR ROAD Roure:a For: • Businessmen • Professionals • Homeowners • Hobbyists • Small Contractors • Boats • Cars • Campers • Furniture I canvasback, half- submerged, head out straight making advances that are just practices of what is yet to come when at a later time the action will be more intense. Binoculars Bring Them In I only wish more people would carry binoculars with them so they could see what goes on out there more clearly. With a good pair of binoculars you can even start to pick out the interesting species that are occasionally seen in the flocks of geese that rest and feed in our fields. The white snow goose with the black wing tips is the easiest to find, ei- ther on the ground or in flight. The ma- jority of snow geese pass us by out here on the end of Long Island but down south on their wintering grounds they are seen by the thousands. There's even a report of a Ross's goose amongst the flocks of Canadas that settle in the fields outside of Riverhead. If this is true this goose would be a very rare visitor but it would take an expert to separate it from its look - alike, the snow goose. Also re- ported in the same area but much easier to identify is the white- fronted goose. All these sightings are what makes bird - ing with binoculars so interesting. A perfect example of binocular use was a week or so ago when my wife and MATTITUCK SANITATION EAST END ECOLOGY LTD. 800 WICKHAM AVE. MATTITUCK, N.Y. John DiVello & Sons 111111 Reddendid • GARBOLOGWn • Con mmW Container Service 1 yd. through 8 yd. Roll-Off Service is yd. through 30 yd. 298 -8888 Serving Riverhead & Southold Township I rode over to the ocean at Shinnecock. Many cars just pulled up, looked out and then turned around and went away. Others, a bit more fortunate, brought their glasses and were able to watch the gulls and ducks at their leisure from their cars. One thing I enjoyed while there was watching the red - breasted merganser div- ing along the rocky jetty. These ducks with long, pencil -like bills are expert divers and small fish are what they are after. Their saw -tooth bills are the main reason for their success. I watched them as they surfaced. Sometimes without a catch. Other times with a squirming fish. A quick look around to see if a gull was near and then a flip around so the fish would be heading in the right direction to go down and then gulp, gulp, gulp. Now only the tail was showing — gulp — and all was gone. Some of the other mergansers were not having such good luck because hovering gulls, knowing they couldn't fish in the deep water of the channel, waited for them to surface and then they would drop down and pick the fish right out of the duck's bill. This is typical hungry-gull technique and they are quite good at it. Robbing Their Own It's ironic but one of their own is even better at it. The great black - backed gull often dives down on the herring gull and robs him of his scavenged meal. It's a world of survival out there and if the preyed -on don't work out a strategy for survival, they'll soon per- ish. Usually these survival lessons are quickly learned. Perhaps that's what's happening to our geese. They've found out they don't have to go so far south to make it through the winter. Here on Long Island, where the temperature is rela- tively mild and there's little snow and lots of green fields to feed on, they've found a new wintering ground. Actually no one really knows why we have more geese now than years ago. ,One thing we do know for sure is if the green fields of the East End farmer go, so will the geese and I'm sure many other things that make our East End so attractive to all of us.