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September 12, 1991 - A Sojourn to the Sands of MontaukC8 The Suffolk Times • September 12, 1991 A Sojourn to the Sands of Montauk By Paul Stoutenburah I could hear the surf faintly from our campsite as the great sea spent its end- less energy along the beach past the great dune barrier to our south. We'd been camping at Montauk and I was taking an early morning walk. The sun had risen on a clear, cool morning typical of September. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. As I emerged from our tent I was amazed to find my bare feet dry as I walked through the grass; usually Montauk's weather carries a heavy dew each morning. I'd walk through the sleeping campsites to the john and then out to the beach that lured me. The camp was still asleep with only one or two bleary-eyed men groping for their fishing tackle in hopes of getting a few blues they thought might be run- ning along the beach. They'd already missed the best part of the day for fish- ing. Cutting through the dune walk to the ocean beach the noise of the surf became more prominent. Now I could hear the individual waves crashing on the beach, their charges never ending. The rugged dune grass now had its tall seed heads telling me the end of summer was near at hand. This rugged dune grass has the ability to keep growing even though the drifting sands swirl about and try to bury it. This is their role in creating dunes that protect the entire south shore of our island. Here the dunes are 15 feet tall. The Fruit of the Rose The squat - shaped rose hips from the Focus on Nature rosa rugosa rose shown red -orange and I was tempted to pick one and taste its puckery fruit. In olden days a bucket of these on a long sea voyage could have prevented scurvy, for they are rich in vi- tamin C. The beach was almost de- serted, the exception being a few scat- tered surf fishermen, who endlessly reeled in and tossed out their silvery lines. Outside of them, there were only the gulls scouring the bathing beach where some untidy vacationer had left a few potato chips or perhaps a discarded sandwich. My bare feet immediately felt the coolness of the sand. The upper beach was now out of reach of the great ocean, last passing over it when Hurricane Bob tried to tear away the dunes a few weeks ago. Since then it had played its endless game a hundred feet at the sea edge where I was walking. Here the tide dropped and left a new and unblemished beach where only water had left its mark. Now my feet felt the firmness of moist, packed sand. It was easier walk- ing. The charging surf lay six feet down a sloping, smooth beach. There were no traces of man. I could have been walk- ing on a beach that the Indians once tread. There were tiny holes everywhere, almost like those that some clams make. But no, these were air holes, and if you watched the receding surf closely, 6 -Hour Defensive D riving Course Save 10% On Collision cK Liability Insurance Hours AIISI JL O Mon.- Thurs. 9:30 a.m. -7p.m. Friday 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Allstate Insurance Company Saturday 10 a.m. -1 p.m. Northbrook, IL No appointment necessary Main Road, Mattituck Cali 298 -5200 Fax 298 -5280 CHRIS MANFREDI, RAY GRAMAZIO Course Dates: Tuesday and Thursday 9/17 and 9/19 10/22 and 10/24 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. All JL_JLId° As a community service your local Allstate agents have donated the use of their office for you to take advantage of this course at a reduced rate of $39. You do not need to be insured with Allstate. Sign up now as space is limited and filling up. Subject to local availability and qualiflcations. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh ROSE HIPS —These reddish - orange fruits follow the flowers of the salt -spray rose found along our shores. They are rich in vitamin C and are often used in making jams and jellies. you could see them bubbling up. As the water settles around the grains of sand, little air pockets are pushed out in these central openings, giving the beach a dimpled effect. Sparkling Morning Ocean There were also footprints of the last receding wave as the tide went out. From the very top to the now churning surf there were tiny raised ridges of sand left by the last wave. Here and there a bit of seaweed or bits of lost and forgot- ten flotsam lay high and dry. I walked toward the sun, the sea sparkling ahead of me with its golden pathway leading across the sea to the horizon on my right. A far -off fishing boat was the only object I saw on the entire ocean before me. Then to my left, over the pines in the background, came a darting figure of a hawk. It dropped down behind the dunes but I new it would soon appear, for it was heading right for me. I stood mo- tionless in hopes of getting a full view of it, but it must have seen something and swerved, coming up over the dune to my left. On and on it came, pumping effortlessly low, over and out to sea. This is the start of hawk migration time and the barrier beach of our south shore is one of their favorite routes. I thought it was a Coopers hawk for it seemed a bit larger than a sharpie. The sun was against me as it darted over the water and I almost lost it in the darkness of the sea. But no, up it flew above the horizon, chasing a small white bird I saw dart to one side and escape. On it drove now, again temporarily lost over the dark ocean. But again it rose, this time in pursuit of a small flock of shorebirds. They too wheeled and moved as one; the hawk flew on. I lost it in the offshore haze of water and distance. Evidently there were no weaklings in that flock, but I'm sure, sooner or later, breakfast will come to that determined predator on his way south. Our Magnificent Beach I sat on the beach, drinking in the wonder of this magnificent area that runs from Montauk Point practically to the Narrows of New York, a hundred miles away. Few beaches can rival these endless sheets of pure sand and sea. As I became mesmerized by the sea and the exhilaration around me, a flock of sanderlings, those tiny shorebirds that run up and down the beach pursuing each wave, settled near me. There were about 25 of them, all busy poking with their sewing - machinelike bills for worms or tiny crustaceans that live in the turbulence of the moving sand and surf. They had already been to the far north tundra and nested and were now heading south for their winter vacation in the Caribbean and parts of South America. What difficulties they encounter could probably fill a book. Each year their survival, like so many others, becomes more and more of a narrowing game. Will our world someday turn into one of only starlings and gulls, the scavengers of man? My concern is real, but for now I am enjoying the spoils of camping at Montauk. Join 4 -H 11 Suffolk County 4 -H programs are open to kids ages five to 19. Kids can learn about food and nutrition; ani- mal science; human development and family studies; gardening; lead- ership development and more through hands -on projects. To find out more about joining a club or or- ganizing one, call Cornell Coopera- tive Extension at 727 -7850.