January 03, 1991 - Annual Bird Count Bags 86 SpeciesC8''1'he'suff6lk'TP des o�Jahuar(y 3; 14M 1.'
Annual Bird Count Bags 86 Species
By Paul Stoutenburgh
The 1990 Montauk Christmas Bird
Count is one of three counts I am in-
volved with during the holiday season.
The other two are the Central Suffolk
Count on the south shore and the Orient
Count on the north shore. I'd like to
take you first to Gardiners Island, a trip
that took place on Dec. 15. The island
is within the 15 -mile radius of the
count area and for many, many years I,
along with others, have done the count
on this magnificent island.
We left the dock at Three Mile Harbor
just as it was getting light. The sky
was overcast and the forecast was for
freezing rain and high winds, not
exactly what you'd want for birding
especially for one who wears glasses.
Our party numbered around 15 and with
all the bundled clothing, rain gear,
knapsacks with lunches, binoculars,
cumbersome tripods and scopes, we
looked like explorers heading for the
Arctic.
As soon as we left the lee of the
shore and got into open water we knew
the wind would be a factor we'd have to
contend with all day long. Spray flew
over the bow and only the hardiest stood
outside. Now trained binoculars were
picking up strings of old squaws as they
flew out of our way. Surf and white -
winged scoters worked their way out of
the restless water as they paddled fever-
ishly across to free themselves into the
air. Already notebooks were oat and the
day -long tabulation of species had
started.
As we neared the dark, low -lying
giant to the east, it slowly took the
shape of Gardiners Island with its white
windmill and manorhouse in the back-
ground. In the dim light it appeared as if
we were going to run right up on the
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beach but then there appeared an open-
ing and in a moment we were inside the
snug little harbor.
Parties Assigned Areas
My party consisted of my son,
Roger, and an old friend of mine from
past birding trips, Peter Liss. We were
driven to the south end of the island and
let off at a place called Little Pond. As
we approached the brackish pond 20 or
30 ducks leaped into the air. They could
only be black ducks. Mingled in
amongst them were seven or eight gad -
walls, ducks that seem to be more and
more common out on our East End. To
the south on a small sandbar in the
pond was a group of shorebirds. They
definitely would be checked but the
light was wrong so we'd have to work
our way around along the beach to get a
better view.
The marsh had to be explored and so,
as Roger and I started for that area, Pete
took to the upland. We'd meet at the
end of the pond in half an hour. There
were three muskrat houses out on the
marsh and the whole area was riddled
with their passageways which made
walking very difficult. Once or twice we
christened our high boots right up to
the top in the soft, oozing mud the
muskrats had used for their runways. It
was all worthwhile though for I saw
fresh footprints of some sort of rail, a
marsh bird difficult to find on any
Christmas count. We'd definitely have
to work the marsh now to find out just
what kind it was.
Back and forth we went, cautiously
walking, occasionally jumping from
one grass hummock to another. Then
Roger called out, "What's that ?" and a
Sora rail flew by within 10 feet of me.
This was a real find for we'd never had
one on the count before. We were both
elated.
Down on the beach we were hidden
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Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
SNOWY OWL —When the lemming (small rodent) supply becomes
scarce in the far north, these handsome white owls can often be seen
in open spaces such as our dunes and beaches.
from the pond by a low berm topped
with dune grass. Crouched over we
walked up to where we thought the
shorebirds would be and then slowly
rose up until our heads could clearly see
over the windblown grass. Sure enough,
there they were. We counted them ... 19
dunlin and one dowitcher. Good birds
for this time of the year. Our list was
starting to climb. We added the various
common gulls, and land birds that we
came across as we headed south. Our
glasses checked everything. Nothing
escaped our eyes.
The next big venture would be the
two -mile hike out on the sand spit that
trails off the south end of Gardiners Is-
land. Forty years ago when I visited the
island there were independent sand is-
lands stretching to the south called the
Cartwright Islands. I visited them with
the great naturalists Roy Wilcox of
Speonk and Gil Raynor of Manorville
when ospreys nested on the sand there.
Today they have joined together into
one long continuous sandy strip and it
was this we were heading for.
As we walked along the wild and
windblown beach, a flock of snow
� buntings joined us. Their white and
mottled brown and black bodies blended
in with the sand and stones so well that
it took us a moment to find them in our
glasses. They are a bird of open spaces
and they were in their element. How
they could find anything to eat was be-
yond us. It reminded me of that old say-
ing, "Each has its place in the scheme
of things."
From a grassy ridge along the spit we
jumped a short -eared owl. Its soft brown
color blended in ideally with the
grasses. This was his habitat for there
were mice and shrews under the drift-
wood and grasses. Its butterfly flight
took it out over the water and then back
to shore some distance away.
that we could cover more territory.
Roger and Pete would head to the end
while I worked around the other side of
this big salt pond that now hosted hun-
dreds of black ducks. gadwalls, buffle-
heads, mergansers and others. Later I'd
scare up a deer in one of the low thick-
ets on the west side and watch his white
flag disappear in the distance as he
headed for the upland.
We would rendezvous two hours later
with Roger and Pete beaming with suc-
cess. Besides the ducks and gulls they'd
seen a snowy owl and added more shore-
birds to our list, including a nice group
of some 30 sanderlings. Somehow I
missed seeing the snowy but was re-
warded later when we had to backtrack.
Up jumped their snowy owl. I don't be-
lieve I've ever seen one whiter or larger.
He, too, flew out over the water swing-
ing back to the land a half -mile down
the beach. What a magnificent bird from
out of the north.
By midday we ate lunch in the lee of
a small building and rain had started.
Sprinkling at first but as we headed for
Tobaccolot die rain came down in tor-
rents making observations almost im-
possible. By two in the afternoon we all
rendezvoused at one of the open sheds
on the island to compare notes. It was
time to quit. The rain and wind had won
and we were all soaked and cold. On the
way back w e added up our list: 86
species the combined group tallied.
Highlights were a peregrine falcon, an
eagle, four bluebirds, a great white egret
and, of course, our sora rail and snowy
owl.
I think all were happy with the day's
count and hoped that Gardiners Island
would always stay as it is, a place time
has not changed. To the Goelets who
gave our group permission we owe deep
appreciation and gratitude. Without their
cooperation the Montauk Count that in-
I un beds o� ,Ducks dudes.Gardinem Wancdwauld- never,fair
Partway out we decided to separate so as well as it does.