October 15, 1981 - Whitethroats and JuncosOctober 15, 1981 _ Tbe Ouff 0lk Tittte15
Whitethroats and Juncos
After days of the wind blowing a chill
over the land and turning the leaves of the
trees into quivering weather vanes, the
weather changed and gave us a few days
no one could complain about. Last Satur-
day was billed Harvest Day with a blue sky
and powder puff clouds. How could anyone
stay indoors? I had just had a bad fall and
sprained my ankle. Crutches, ace band-
ages, along with `keep off your feet' were
the order of the day. Yet, how could I? Fall
passes so quickly and already half had
slipped by without hardly anyone noticing
it.
Crutches under my arms, I headed for
the car. We'll take a ride. We had to get
out. It seemed as if everyone else had the
same idea for the roads took on a summer
look. Long lines of traffic meandering
along, seemingly in no hurry to get
anywhere. They, like myself, were absorb-
ed in this beautiful, beautiful harvest fall
day. Each roadside stand, large or small,
had its shoppers and lookers. Some could
be seen heading back to the car with
armsful of pumpkins, cauliflower, vege-
tables of all sorts, baskets of apples -- a
continual treasure of plenty from the land.
I'll bet if you asked any of those who
shopped along our highways if open space
and farmland had a value and should be
preserved they would respond with a
hearty, "Yes."
Often we forget the rewards of the land
until we have a product in our hand. Too
bad our county legislators could not have
experienced the exuberance shown by
those who loaded their cars with the
wealth from the land these past few days.
From early morning when the low rising
sun shown through the dark scarlet leaves
of the dogwood, I knew our day was going
to be a superb one. Yet the annoyance of
not being able to get around dampened my
spirit. I was struck by the fact that I was
one of the fortunate ones for my incapacity
was only for a short time. There are many
others who would be months, years and for
some a lifetime of immobility.
Those are the people who need a special
boost for often it's hard to get the body
rolling under those circumstances but
once outdoors the world and its problems
seem to fade away. To prove that, after
our ride and lunch I asked my wife to put a
chair out in the garden so that I could bask
in the sun and possibly write.
So here I am situated behind an old too!
shed away from the wind and surrounded
by my garden. All about me are the weeds
of fall. Very little garden is left. Ah, yes,
there are some of Mrs. Doroskj's dahlias
still blooming high over the maze of wild
growth below.
The crysanthemums just to my left,
pungent as ever, are blossoming despite
the weeds that try to smother them. They
are a product of last year's fall plantings
and then there are a few roses still
blossoming down along the fence row. One
in particular my mother -in -law gave me
that I prize above all the others for it's an
old- fashioned pink cluster rose. Its beauty
is found only upon close examination.
Down in back all the orchard is picked
except the Winesap. They are still firm on
the tree and comparatively free from the
harassment of yellow .jackets and birds.
Even my raspberries have given up.
Here and there a red berry linkers, but
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most of the garden has seen its day.
Backlighted by the sun a tiny swarm of
insects trade places with each other in a
festival dance only they can understand.
Perhaps it's their salute to a dying period
and the acknowledgement of winter. From
plant head to plant head fine threads of
almost invisible spider web reflect in the
sun. Without this special backlight that the
afternoon gives, these tiny gems of nature
would be lost to the eye.
Each day is shorter in length and each
day we can see the changes taking place in
the world around us. Flitting about under
the underbrush and scratching about the
edges of the yard are the whitethroats and
juncos that have just returned. Some of
these winter residents come in dribs and
drabs beginning in the middle of Septem-
ber, but it takes a period of days with
strong northwest wind like we've just
experienced to bring in the big flocks. It's
when these big flocks arrive that you and I
start to notice them.
These birds have spent the breeding
season far to the north of us. A few nested
in the Adirondacks and Catskill Moun-
tains, but most nest farther north. I
remember years ago how elated I was to
find a juncos nest in the Catskills. It almost
seemed like another species that time of
the year and not the familiar gray and
white bird that scratches about our feeders
on the ground during the. winter months.
Yet, there it was just like any other
breeding bird busy taking grubs and
insects back and forth to its young in the
nest on the ground. The nest, made up of
fine root hairs and dried grasses, was well
concealed.
If you wani these visitors this winter
remember to put some of the seed on the
ground. I know you'll say that if I do that,
the squirrels will eat it. True, they will but
there will be enough small seed left so that
the "scratchers" will be satisfied.
It's seldom you see a whitethroat or
Junco feeding up on a feeder when there's
food on the ground. Many times we have
immature whitethroats feeding and we'll
pass them off as just another sparrow for
the immatures do not show off the gaudy
white throat and striped head until fully
matured.
Probably one of the most plaintive of all
bird songs is the call of the whitethroat.
Once you've heard it, you'll never forget it.
To some fall is depressing for it tells of
what's ahead -- winter. Yet, if we follow
the golden rules of life by taking one day at
a time, we can appreciate these splendid
fall days for what they are. After all, it's
nature following its own universal law that
nothing ever remains still. Everything is
continually changing -- you and I -- and the
world we live in. It's this change that
makes life so interesting. So enjoy it day
by day.
PAULSTOUTENBURGH
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CHARLES
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Cable Channel Z
LONG MAW CASLEYUM
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Page 11A
WHITETHROAT -- Having spent the summer in their northern breeding
ground, the juncos and whitethroats are back for the winter. Put bird
seed on the ground and you'll attract these hardy and cheerful birds.
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
1:00 THE NUDE BOMB (PG)
3:00 THE JERK (R)
4:30 TERROR TRAIN (R)
EDT /PUT
THURSDAY 15
MORNING
7:00
DEADMAN'S FLOAT (G)
8:30
OH, GODI BOOK II (PG)
10:30
ECHOES OF SUMMER (PG)
MIDDAY
EDDIE RABBITT (SP)
12:30
1 LOVE YOU, ALICE B.
MIDDAY
TOKLAS (NR)
2:30
THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF
2:00
JOE 90 (G)
4:00
PORTRAIT OF GRANDPA DOC (SP)
4:30
FROM HELL TO VICTORY (PG)
6:30
DEADMAN'S FLOAT (PG)
EVENING
8:00
BOBBY VINTON (SP)
9:00
PHOBIA (R)
11:00
SHOOT THE SUN DOWN (PG)
LATE NIGHT
1:00 THE NUDE BOMB (PG)
3:00 THE JERK (R)
4:30 TERROR TRAIN (R)
EDT /PUT
FMAY 16
MORNING
6:30
PORTRAIT OF GRANDPA DOC (SP)
7:00
FRACTURED FLICKERS (Short Subject)
7:30
THE ISLAND OF NEVAWUZ (G)
8:30
EDDIE RABBITT (SP)
10:00
MAN WITH BOGARTS FACE (PG)
MIDDAY
SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES (PG)
12:00
FROM HELL TO VICTORY (PG)
2:00
SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES (PG )
4:00
AIRPLANE (PG)
5:30
CHAPTER TWO (PG)
EVENING
8:00
MAN WITH BOGARrs FACE (PG)
10:00
TERROR TRAIN (R)
12:00
THE JERK (R)
LATE NIGHT
1:30 BETWEEN THE LINES (R)
3:30 SHOCK WAVES (R)
5:00 AMERICAN GIGOLO (R)
Eoi P17T
SATURDAY 17 _
MORNING
7:00
AIRPLANE (PG)
8:30
THE MAN IN THE IRON
FREAKY FRIDAY (G)
MASK (NR)
10:30
TOBY B THE KOALA BEAR (G)
MIDDAY
_
12;00
SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES (PG)
2:00
THE ISLAND OF NEVAWUZ (G)
3:00
CHAPTER TWO (PG)
5:30
THE LION IN WINTER (PG)
EVENING
8:00
AN EVENING OF MAGIC 0
BASKERVILLES (PG)
COMEDY (SP)
9:30
AMERICAN GIGOLO (R)
11:30
1 LOVE YOU, ALICE B.
TOKLAS (NR)
LATE NIGHT
1:30 THE STUNT MAN (R)
4:00 AN EVENING OF MAGIC B COMEDY
(SP)
5:30 IT'S MY TURN (R)
E01 Pm SUNDAY 18
MORNING
7:00 FREAKY FRIDAY (G) P.7
9:00 SO THE STORY GOES (Short Subject)
9:30 THE LION IN WINTER (PG) P.14
LONG ISLAND
OABLEVISION
ROUTE `,H RIVERHEAD 727.6300
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MIDDAY
MONDAY 19
12:00
PORTRAIT OF GRANDPA DOC (SP)
12:30
LITTLE DRAGONS (PG)
2:00
FREAKY FRIDAY (G)
4:00
1 LOVE YOU, ALICE B.
THE IDOLMAKER (PG)
TOKLAS (NR)
6:00
ZERO TO SIXTY (PG)
EVENING
8:00
THE IOOLMAKER (PG)
10:00
ITS MY TURN (R)
11:30
THE STUNT MAN (R)
LATE NIGHT
2:00 THE NUDE BOMB (PG)
4:00 PRIVATE BENJAMIN (R)
10111W
MONDAY 19
MORNING
6:00
ZERO TO SIXTY (PG)
8:00
THE HOUND OF THE
11:30
BASKERVILLES (PG)
9:30
THE IDOLMAKER (PG)
11:30
MAN WITH BOGARTS FACE (PG)
MIDDAY
ON GOD1 BOOK 11 (PG)
1:30
BEN VENEER (SP)
2:30
THE NUDE BOMB (PG)
4:30
THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE (G)
6:30
THE HOUND OF THE
TALES OF THE CRYPT II (R)
BASKERVILLES (PG)
EVENING
8:00
OH, GODI BOOK II (PG)
10:00
MAN WITH BOGARrs
FACE (PG)
12:00
PRIVATE BENJAMIN (R)
LATE NIGHT
2:00 TALES OF THE CRYPT II (R)
3:30 THE CHILDREN (R)
5:00 TERROR TRAIN (R)
TUESDAY 20
MORNING
7:00
CHAPTER TWO (PG)
9:30
THE CAT FROM OUTER
10:30
SPACE (G)
11:30
FRACTURED FLICKERS (Short Subject)
MIDDAY
ECHOES OF A SUMMER (PG)
12:00
THE CORSICAN BROTHERS (NR)
2:00
ON GOD1 BOOK 11 (PG)
4:00
ECHOES OF SUMMER (PG)
6:00
THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO
7:00
COME (PG)
EVENING
8:00
TALES OF THE CRYPT II (R)
9:30
CHAPTER TWO (PG)
12:00
THE CHILDREN (R)
LATE NIGHT
1:30 TERROR TRAIN (R) P.24
3:00 THE AWAKENING (R) PA
5:00 THE JERK (R) P.22
WEDNESDAY 21
MORNING
6:30
THE CORSICAN BROTHERS (NR)
8:30
SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME (PG)
10:30
LITTLE DRAGONS (PG)
MIDDAY
12:00
ECHOES OF A SUMMER (PG)
2:00
SHOOT THE SUN DOWN (PG)
4:00
MY SON, MY SON (NR)
6:00
BOBBY VINTON (SP)
EVENING
7:00
INTERNATIONAL ALL STAR
FESTIVAL (SP)
8:00
THE LION IN WINTER (PG)
10:30
AMERICAN GIGOLO (R)
LATE NIGHT
12:30 THE AWAKENING (R)
2:30 THE JERK (R)
4:00 THE IDOLMAKER (PG)