January 15, 1981 - The Scoters Of MontaukJanuary 15, 1981 1* Ouffolk Ximto
The Scoters
Of Montauk
Of all the places on Long Island that
shivered under our recent cold, none can
get to you more than Montauk Point. Here
the wind and cold seem to take pleasure in
numbing your fingers and freezing your
toes -- to say nothing of making your eyes
water so you can hardly see.
Last Saturday morning a group of us
found this true, when we gathered at the
Point to participate in the annual Region
10 Marine Waterfowl Count. As the name
implies, this has only to do with waterfowl,
while our previous counts included all
birds. This particular count is part of the
overall tabulation of waterfowl which,
among other things, helps determine
hunting seasons and number of ducks to be
taken.
For most of us it provides another
excuse for meeting old friends and getting
out into the natural world. Slowly as cars
arrived, the empty parking lot became
alive with bundled up people with various
assorted telescopes, binoculars and cam-
eras. The sun was just starting to look
around some of the low -lying clouds that
had shadowed the Point, giving it that air
of early morning loneliness.
Our compiler was Gil Raynor, probably
one of the most knowledgeable and per-
qOCsM�) @Gil
T�JQT]Tq
sistent birders on the East Coast. His plan
was for all of us to visit the Point and then
break up into various groups to cover the
rest of the coast in assigned territories.
We were pretty well protected from the
winds as we headed out, but as soon as we
got out in the open I noticed parka hoods
coming up and gloved hands finding
additional warmth in pockets. Cameras
and binoculars took care of themselves as
they hung around our necks, but the bulky
telescopes with their awkward tripods had
to be held by hand out in the cold.
Strong North Wind
As we approached the rocky beach at the
Point we could see the water churning
under the strong north wind. As we got
closer we knew our trip would be produc-
tive, there were thousands of scoters
diving and milling about in the wild,
wind -swept waves. They almost seemed to
be enjoying the game of survival. Like
little kids, every once in a while there'd be
a squabble among them and a rush of
wings as one drove the other out of his
territory.
In the meantime, gulls continually would
be robbing the ducks that would pop up
from below with a mouthful of food. These
bandits continually harassed the scoters
because the gulls are incapable of diving to
the depths where the food was. We were
quite sure the scoters were feeding on the
vast mussel beds off the Point; there were
windrows of mussel shells along the shore.
Soon Bob Gloria, normally a quiet
person, belted out, "Holy Cow! There's a
Harlequin!" Here was the ultimate in
sighting. Birders would come from as far
away as New Jersey in hopes of getting a
view of this gaudy fellow. So ridiculous is
its coloration that many people call him
the clown. Its Latin name, Histrionicus
relating to Histrio, meaning a stage player
-- the bird being decked out in various
colors as if to act on the stage.
Eider Sighted
Now sharper eyes picked up an imma-
ture king eider. This is the duck most
people know only for its down that fills the
most expensive jackets. Birders know the
bird as an occasional visitor to our area
and are always on the lookout for the adult,
which is quite handsome.
For the next hour and a half we watched
a continual parade of scoters flying by.
Most were the white - winged, but a strong
second were the surf scoters. These two
species made up the majority of birds we
saw. The male of the surf scoter has a big
white patch on the back of his head which
accounts for its local name -- skunk head.
WHITE - WINGED SCOTERS- -
This scoter was found high on the
beach fighting for its life from an
oil spill. Thousands of these ducks
feed off the mussel beds at Mon-
tauk.
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
It was late in the day when we headed
back to civilization. The bustle of River-
head held little appeal to our group as we
passed through. We had spent a day in the
raw outdoors. We were tired but content.
We had witnessed one of nature's great
congregations -- the scoters off Montauk.
We wondered how much longer they could
hold out with the oil spills, pesticides and
nesting grounds being altered. To some
they were just another bird you see once in
a while in our bays, but to us they were a
sign of wonder, a sign of the natural world
fighting for its life -- never knowing or
caring what is ahead.
PAULSTOUTENBURGH
Page 15
96 Species Eyed on Bird Count
More eyes make better bird counts and this year ten extra participants gave us a higher
species count than last year plus more of almost all individuals. Our 96 species included
some interesting birds; the peregrine falcon, an endangered species was seen in Orient, a
green heron first time seen on our count was found in Shelter Island.
Seeing everything was frozen our duck list was very low. Even the common scoter, seen
by the thousands at Montauk were hard to find on our north shore.
We again found a great horned owl on Shelter Island but we missed seeing the golden
eagle that has been hanging around Mashomack. In all it was a good Christmas Bird Count
and one I believe the organizer of this Orient Count, Roy Latham, would have been proud
of.
Actual species and numbers seen were:
Com. Loon
9 Red - tailed Hawk
12
Blue Jay
594 Cardinal
208
Horned Grebe
9 Marsh Hawk
10
Com. Crow
476 Evening Grosbeak
2
Great Cormorant
1 Merlin
2
BI.-cap. Chickadee
485 Purple Finch
7
Db. -cr. Cormorant
45 Am. Kestrel
30
Tufted Titmouse
36 House Finch
984
Great Blue Heron
23 Bobwhite
53
White -br. Nuthatch
65 Pine Siskin
8
Green Heron
1 Ring -ne. Pheasant
9
Red -br. Nuthatch
9 Am. Goldfinch
28
BI.-cr. Night Heron
1 Turkey
2
Brown Creeper
2 Red Crossbill
4
Am. Bittern
2 Clapper Rail
2
Winter Wren
3 Rufous -sided Towhee
13
Mute Swan
82 American Coot
I
Carolina Wren
45 Savannah Sparrow
I
Canada Goose
655 Com. Snipe
3
Mockingbird
125 Vesper Sparrow
3
Mallard
558 Grt. BI.-backed Gull
167
Gray Catbird
7 Dk -ey. slate -col Junco 121
Black Duck
1018 Herring Gull
2589
Brown Thrasher
3 Tree Sparrow
100
Gadwall
30 Ring- billed Gull
88
Am. Robin
240 Chipping Sparrow
2
Green - winged Teal
2 Rock Dove
181
Hermit Thrush
5 Field Sparrow
78
Canvasback
110 Mourning Dove
640
Golden -cr. Kinglet
5 White -cr. Sparrow
2
Greater Scaup
976 Great Horned Owl
3
Ruby -cr. Kinglet
1 Wh- throated Sparrow
498
Com. Goldeneye
1351 Short -eared Owl
1
Cedar Waxwing
33 Fox Sparrow
1
Bufflehead
615 Belted Kingfisher
27
Starling
4085 Swamp Sparrow
21
Oldsquaw
755 Com. (Y. -sh.) Flicker
96
Yl -ru Myrtle Warbler 229 Song Sparrow
460
White - winged Scoter
264 Red -bel. Woodpecker
7
Com. Yellowthroat
1 Snow Bunting
18
Surf Scoter
58 Red -hd. Woodpecker
1
House Sparrow
403 20,736 individuals
Black Scoter
53 Yel -bel. Sapsucker
3
E. Meadowlark
69
Hooded Merganser
9 Hairy Woodpecker
14
Red -wing Blackbird
89 Individuals
20736
Red -br. Merganser
206 Downy Woodpecker
89
Com. Grackle
260 .
Sharp- shinned Hawk
3 Horned Lark
29
Br.- headed Cowbird
11
Where Have All The Babies
Gone.?
On Thursday, January 22,1981, we, your neighbors and friends, will be travelling
by bus to our Nation's Capitol for the 7th MARCH FOR LIFE.
Pleasejoin us.*
- STI LL WAITING -
/fl1
` i t', / 00000000 t.
1
C
*RESERVATIONS or (IF PHYSICALLY YOU CANNOT GO) SPONSORING
A SEAT ON THE BUS FOR ANOTHER
— Please call Peg at 734 -7574 or Eileen 765 -3586.
(PAID FOR BY FRIENDS OF THE UNBORN)