January 14, 1982 - 102 Species in Orient Count102 Species in Orient Count
The Orient Christmas Bird Count has a
special meaning to me not only because it
is right here where I live, but because it
was originated by Roy Latham, one of our
greatest naturalists. He told me years ago
that his first records were taken when his
only transportation was a bicycle. Later he
graduated to a horse and buggy, which
gave him the advantage of covering the
15 -mile area that much quicker. In those
days he had few followers as birding had
not yet come of age.
Today our Orient count had 54 partici-
pants covering the area that stretches
from Orient Point Light to Peconic in the
Town of Southold, then south through all of
Shelter Island and down to part of Sag
Harbor and Jessups Neck. The group
covered over 280 miles by car and walked
another 134 miles.
The range of people participating in-
cluded doctors, teachers, housewives, re-
searchers, secretaries, contractors, phys-
icists, retirees, baymen and others. Like
the variety of occupations, we also had a
variety of ages spreading from teenagers
to those in their 70's. It was an exciting
group to be with.
Most had come from the west, some
from as far as Hempstead, Baldwin and
Ozone Park. That meant that they had to
be up at 4 a.m. and were on the road for
about two hours before the count even
started. Most arrived around 6:15 and
after a quick cup of coffee and a snack they
were off in the darkness in hopes of
hearing owls before sun up. It proved
worthwhile for a barn owl, five great
horned owls, eight screech owls and two
long -eared owls along with the smallest of
all our owls the, saw -whet owls, were
found.
Best Wildlife Habitat
Our party rendezvoused on the cause-
way in Orient just as the sun peeked over
the low peninsula of the State Park to the
south. Black ducks, wigeon, gadwall,
pintail and one lone redhead took off from
the ponds bordering the causeway. How
lucky we are to have that grand open space
set aside for all to enjoy and, of course, for
all the wildlife to use. The people of Orient,
I'm sure, are proud of those who had the
foresight to set that area aside.
Inland we found sparrows, whitethroats,
field and tree sparrows along with the
lowly house sparrow and the gaudy
finches. Now a hairy woodpecker was
located by its persistent pecking on a dead
limb. His breakfast was buried deep inside
the half- rotten oak branch that he clung to
in his persistent hammering.
As we wandered through the various
streets we kept a sharp eye out for the
feeders. It would be here we would get
goldfinches, chickadees, nuthatches, jun-
coes and others. And who knows, we might
even be lucky enough to see some of the
more spectacular winter birds of the north
like the gaudy yellow, black and white
evening grosbeaks.
Out in the bay scoters and oldsquaw
bobbed on the rough water created by the
strong northwest wind that was making
our eyes water and fingers and toes tingle.
According to the temperature and velocity
of the wind, the chill factor was a -2
degrees. You can see why many of our
observers did a lot of viewing from their
cars whenever it was possible.
By noontime we had covered the great
marshes of Orient and found the hard-to-
find sharp - tailed sparrow that seems to
evade us each year as it runs like a mouse
through the grass. A flock of geese flew
over, having been disturbed by some
gunners from the east. We added them to
our list. Now a sharp- shinned hawk darted
by. Seems we see more of these lately than
we have in the past. Could it be they are
making a comeback?
Coffee Break
Some of our hardy birders were a bit .
chilled by now and so they stopped at the
snack bar by the ferry to get a hot drink
and warm up. I took advantage of the
break to walk up the beach and through the
farm fields of the old Latham farm in
hopes I might find some of the more
elusive sparrows. I hadn't done too well
and was thinking I should have stayed with
the others back at the snack bar when all
of a sudden a barn owl took off in front of
4oc�ln�3 @w
me! It reminded me of last week out on
Gardiners Island where we had jumped
one in a field very similar to this. Luck had
it that my group had just come out of the
snack bar with steaming cups of coffee in
their hands as the owl flew directly over
them. You can bet I kidded them about
taking time off for such luxuries.Kiddingly
I told them all you had to do was to walk a
bit and you'd jump one of the best birds of
the day.
Soon our group broke up and one party
worked the Point while I took the others to
the State Park. Beforehand we had gotten
permission to accompany one of the trucks
on its patrol to the western end. We do this
each year and surely appreciate the
cooperation the Park has shown us.
Once on our way, bouncing along in the
back of the pickup, with the wind merci-
lessly ripping at us from across the bay, I
think some had doubts as to the decision
they'd made in taking part in this outdoor
trip. Thank goodness part of our ride
would be behind the cedars for without
that protection I think we would have
gotten a severe frostbite. The trip was well
worth the discomfort. Hundreds of scoters
and scaup lay off shore along with
goldeneyes, mergansers, buffleheads,
black ducks and mallards. It seemed to us
the black ducks were down in numbers but
later we were to find that the group on
Shelter Island had a high count. Perhaps
that is where they were staying.
Shorebirds Found
We even found two shorebird species
lingering along the shore. Thirty turn -
stones probed the sand of the beaches for
bits of nourishment while one lone black -
bellied plover stood on one foot looking
completely out of place. What will happen
to them when the real cold comes? Will
they be able to escape to the south?
As the sun sunk lower and lower in the
west, our parties continued to push on in
hopes of adding one more species. A stop
at a good friend's house gave us a new
bird. Their long -eared owl was right where
it should be and they graciously showed it
to us. Long ears roost by day and hunt by
night. We found this one sleeping in the
pines, protected from the sharp winds and
content. A warm goodbye and we were off
to our last area, a Nature Conservancy
preserve to the west. But we had waited
too long, the sun had already set and our
only consolation was a flight of geese
silhouetted against the sky. How majesti-
cally they drifted in, wings set into the
wind.
Back home the parties started drifting
in. Barbara had prepared hot mulled
cider, fish chowder and an array of other
goodies that were soon under attack by
everyone. Bowl after bowl of chowder
disappeared. Hot drinks, cake, coffee, the
warmth of the room, the wood stove, all
this added to a spell that made heads nod.
So that everyone wouldn't completely
dissolve into slumber, we called the
meeting to order so to speak and asked for
a roll call from the various parties as to
what species they had seen. Red - bellied
woodpecker, phoebe, black- bellied plover
and -- then -- a boreal chickadee and a
grasshopper sparrow really brought
people back to life. These last two are very
rare and had never been found before by
the Orient group. So it went until at the end
our list consisted of 102 species of birds
seen that day by seven parties throughout
the area.
It was a fitting close to our count.
Handshakes and kisses to the special ones
and the house became very quiet. Barbara
and I sat down looking around and smiling.
It was a beautiful day and a fitting way to
end the Orient Christmas Count. My it was
good to relax.
PAULSTOUTENBURGH
January 14,198
BLACK - CAPPED CHICKADEE- -Among the 419 black- capped
chickadees sited this year on the Orient Bird Count, one rare brown -
headed boreal chickadee was seen. Watch for his brown head at your
feeder. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
Bird Count Totals
The following birds were seen on the
Orient Christmas Count taken Jan. 2:
Com. Loon, 11; Red - throated Loon, 5; Horned
Grebe, 23; Pied - billed Grebe, 2; Great Cormorant,
5; Double- crested Cormorant, 93; Great Blue
Heron, 44; Mute Swan, 90; Canada Goose, 675;
Mallard, 770; Black Duck, 2,173; Gadwall, 13;
Pintail, 15; Green- winged Teal, 101; Wood Duck,
1; Redhead, 37; Canvasback, 259; Greater Scaup,
592; Com. Goldeneye, 1,214; Bufflehead, 434;
Oldsquaw,1,033; White- winged Scoter, 3,320; Surf
Scoter, 252.
Black Scoter, 143; Hooded Merganser, 3; -Com.
Merganser, 5; Red - breasted Merganser, 297;
Sharp- shinned Hawk, 5; Red - tailed Hawk, 17;
Rough - legged Hawk, 7; Marsh Hawk, 16; Merlin,
3; Am. Kestrel, 38; Bobwhite, 35; Ring- necked
Pheasant, 4; Killdeer, 1; Black - bellied Plover, 1;
Ruddy Turnstone, 35; Am. Woodcock, 5; Com.
Snipe, 2; Great Black- backed Gull, 232; Herring
Gull, 4,264.
Ring - billed Gull, 55; Rock Dove, 245; Mourning
Dove, 860; Barn Owl, 1; Screech Owl, 8; Great
Horned Owl, 5; Long -eared Owl. 3; Saw -whet Owl.
2; Belted Kingfisher, 14; Com. (Yel. -sh.) Flicker,
131; Red - bellied Woodpecker, 7; hairy
Woodpecker, 19; Downy Woodpecker, 87; E.
Phoebe, 2; Horned Lark, 38; Blue Jay, 495; Com.
Crow, 279; Black- capped Chickadee, 419; Boreal
Chickadee, 1; Tufted Titmouse, 47; White -
breasted Nuthatch, 53; Red - breasted Nuthatch,
13; Winter Wren, 2; Carolina Wren, 18.
Mockingbird, 150; Gray Catbird, 4; Brown
Thrasher, 1; Am. Robin, 354; Wood Thrush, 2; E.
Bluebird, 4; Ruby- crowned Kinglet, 2; Cedar
Waxwing, 10; Starling, 4,086; Yellow - rumped
(Myrtle) Warbler, 769; Palm Warbler, 1; Com.
Yellowthroat, 1; House Sparrow, 277; E.
Meadowlark, 22; Red - winged Blackbird, 128;
Rusty Blackbird, 3; Com. Grackle, 50; Brown -
headed Cowbird, 9; Cardinal, 235.
House Finch, 1,230; Com. Redpoll, 2; Am. Gold-
finch, 67; Rufous -sided Towhee, 5; Savannah
Sparrow, 13; Grasshopper Sparrow, 1; Sharp -
tailed Sparrow, 3; Vesper Sparrow, 2; Dark -eyed
(Slate -col.) Junco, 258; Tree Sparrow, 30; Field
Sparrow, 38; White- crowned Sparrow, 1; White -
throated Sparrow, 382; Fox Sparrow, 2; Swamp
Sparrow, 11; Song Sparrow, 325; Snow Bunting, 11.
Total -102 species; total individuals, 27,243.
`61�r�����
..... . . .. ...... . .
.. . . . . .. . .
.. . . . . . . . .
THIS WEEK
'
Thursday 6: 00 Nine To Five
Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton
'
Friday 8: 00 Improper Channels
'
Alan Arkan, Mariette Hartley battle the bureaucracy
Saturday 8: 00 Breaker Morant
f
Top Aussie film relives controversial court martial.
Melvin Howard
Sunday 8: 00 and
'
Jason Robards, Paul LeMat in Howard Hughes drama
'
Monday 8: 00 Star Trek
'
Wm. Shatner, Leonard Nimoy
Tuesday 4: 00 Elephant Man
'
Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt
'
Wednesday 9: 00 The Formula
'
'
Marlon Brando, George C. Scott
Cable Channel Z Long Island Cablevision
( r%1 n 1 797- R`_2011
`61�r�����