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November 28, 1991 - For Flyers, Life on Land Is Harsh6A • The Suffolk Times • November 28, 1991 For Flyers, Life on Land Is Harsh By Paul Stoutenburgh It makes me sad when I see a bird or animal killed along our highways. Man's world moves so rapidly these days that his charging auto often has encounters with wildlife without the driver ever realizing it. Even when they do, the Focus on average person merely passes it Mature off as part of the day's workings. I'm not blaming anyone but merely commenting on one phase of life that makes it difficult for birds and animals these days. We can't help taking notice of the big raccoon, or opossum or rabbit that gets hit and lies crumpled up alongside the road. It's part of the way things are. What we don't see are all the birds that are hit and go unnoticed because of their small size. Being so light, once hit, they are usually swept off the road by the wind of the next passing car. Evidently that's what happened to a Sora rail that my son, Roger, and his friend, Tim, picked up the other day when they were heading out to go fishing. I believe it to be a Sora rail but it is often confused with the Yellow rail that looks almost identical to it. They knew it was something different and stopped to pick it up. When I saw it I asked my son where they had found it. When he described the spot I knew it as a favorite check point for rails whenever I head out east. There's a culvert that goes under the Slip into something comfortable. Experience a whole new way to enjoy comfortable, healthy contact lens wear —with new Focus- (vifilcon A) Programmed Replacement Lenses —the lenses you throw away every month. Focus Programmed Replacement Lenses come in a convenient four - pack, so you always have a spare pair of lenses handy. FOCUS,. Call today for an appointment and PROGRAMMED REPLACEMENT LENSES see for yourself. ■■ ■ ■ ■ ■• ■• ■ ■•••'• VISIi1NT• Ivililcon Al North Fork= OPTICAL CENTI Featuring a complete line of designer and fashion eyewear for men,women and children. VISUAL TRAINING -CONTACT LENSES PRESCRIPTIONS FILLED • CATARACT EYEWEAR EYE EXAMINATIONS Senior Citizen Discounts- Medlcald, Medicare accepted. Mattituck Plaza, Main Rd., Mattituck, NY 11952 298 -9555 open Mon.-Thurs. 10 a.m. -5 p.m., Sat. 970 a.m.-1 p.m. road connecting a freshwater marsh with the headwaters of one of our saltwater creeks. This combination of fresh and salt water gives rails of all kinds an op- portunity for feeding and resting and once again shows the importance of these wet areas to wild life. Virginia Rail Feeding I remember one cold winter's day I'd stopped there and seen a Virginia rail poking along the frozen edge of the little riverlet that connected the marshes. Evidently the marsh had frozen up, forc- ing the Virginia rail to forage along the unfrozen, moving water's edge. In mid- winter with its main source of food frozen, it was hard pressed to find an area where it could survive and so paid little attention to me as I photographed it. Rails are notoriously difficult to see and being basically secretive it takes a persistent person to be able to flush one out of their favorite haunts. Each year on our annual Christmas count we try to add these elusive marsh birds to our list but seldom succeed. The Sora rail found by the side of the road was probably a migrating bird that had stopped in at one of our local marshes to rest and feed. Of the three species of small rails, the most common is our Sora rail I've been referring to but there is also a Yellow rail (which is not yellow) and a Black rail. All have short chickenlike bills, big wide toes for walking on soft muddy areas and have the distinct characteristic of slender bod- ies, hence the term "thin as a rail." This slender configuration is most important for easing through the cattails and vari- ous reeds that make up the marsh. There are three rails in our area that are not only larger in stature but also have longer bills for probing in the soft mud of both fresh- and saltwater marshes. Probably the most common is the Clapper rail that nests and forages in our salt marshes. It at one time was quite common but of late I've seen it only occasionally during the summer months. The other two big -toed rails are the King rail and the Virginia rail, both mostly freshwater inhabitants. rnoto oy rain auutunuulyu VIRGINIA RAIL —This secretive bird that lives in our fresh and saltwater marshes is rarely seen. Most rails migrate south in the winter but a few hardy . individuals stay over. Some years they pay with their life. Most of our rails migrate south where their feeding marshes stay open throughout the winter. Of late they'd have no problem wintering over for they can find some worms, eggs or other marsh matter in the muds and waters of our wetlands but should the temperature drop and their feeding grounds freeze up, it would be a different story. I've seen this freezing -up effect on other birds besides rails. Some years ago I watched a Great Blue Heron succumb to just such a freezeup. Like all marsh birds when the marsh freezes solid, they go to open water where the current moves. Here they hope to eke out a living, perhaps finding a killiefish that would supply their energy needs 79 Years Ago Nov.-30,191Z Close Call on the Bay: A young fellow named Farmer, employed by Clarence Leek, a fisherman of East Marion, had a close call on the bay Monday. He started to take a small rowboat from Stirling Harbor around near Cherry Lane. It was blowing a gale and the seas ran high. In some manner he lost either one or both oars and he was in trouble. He drifted around in the rough waters and finally landed at Hay Beach on Shelter Island. A launch was sent out to rescue him, but he had already reached shore. Produce Prices: Potatoes held at 85 cents a bushel at the Riverhead depot last week. The deliveries have not been very heavy because most of those not stored have been already carted. Cauliflower deliveries are also dimin- ishing but the price holds good. Some of the short trim sold at $4 a barrel in New York and one load of long trim was bid in at $1.55. 50 Years Ago Dec. 4, 1941 Famous Musicians in Concert: Sunday, Dec. 14, will be a gala occasion for music lovers. On that evening, Mr. Benjamin Britten and Mr. Peter Pears appear in a concert sponsored by the American Women's Hospital Reserve Corps at Southold High School for a time. As the open water froze up and time moved on starvation took over and my Great Blue Heron started to fail. I watched this heart- breaking lesson of de- fiance through my binoculars. The bird had defied its natural instincts to migrate south and was now paying the price. Each day it settled closer and closer to the slush ice beneath it until one day when I arrived it was completely down and motionless. It snowed that day and I'll always remember looking out across the great expanse that was once a wa- terway of life and had now become a smooth whiteness with but a slight rise where my Great Blue Heron lay. It was one of nature's tragic moments. Mr. Britten, though only 27 years old, has achieved great prominence as composer, conductor and pianist. Several of his compositions were played by the Philharmonic Orches- tra at Carnegie Hall in New York. Mr. Pears, who for a time served as director of the Southold Choral Society, has appeared as tenor in recitals all over Great Britain, this country and Canada. The concert begins at 8 p.m. It is advisable to procure tickets in advance from any member of the AWHR Corps. 25 Years Ago Nov. 25, 1966 TV Tower in `Life': The picture of the large Cable TV town that was featured in the Nov. 18 copy of Life mag- azine's article, "The Tangled Tower of CATV," was taken at Greenport, the site of Long Island's first Community Antenna system. Holiday Tapes for Servicemen: Suffolk Red Cross has announced that messages to servicemen abroad or stationed in the United States can be taped at Red Cross offices in Suffolk County starting Monday, Nov. 28. This service will continue until a few days before Christmas and is free for families of servicemen, including fiancees. If possible, offices will have Polaroid cameras available so that a snapshot of the family making the recording can be sent with the tape.