June 16, 1983 - The Flowers of SummerPage 10A The Suffolk Times June 16, 1983
The Flowers of Summer
By PAUL STOUTENBURGH
What's all the yellow we see in the
fields lately? King devil it's called.
Funny how once you get acquainted with
a plant, tree, bird or animal, it more or
less becomes a companion for life.
Many years ago where the 7 -11 is at the
circle in Riverhead there was a field of
yellow king devil that was so
breathtaking I had to stop and take a
picture of it. From that day on whenever
I see the familiar yellow I think of those
early days of becoming involved in the
outside world. My job at that time was to
do the field work for installing irrigation
wells for farmers. It took me throughout
the island and gave me a chance to see
and observe the rich variety of outdoor
life we have.
It was about this time I also got to know
the locust tree better and it, too, is
blossoming now and filling the air with
its sweet aroma. How my bees love to
dive in the blossoms and with the arrival
of warm weather they are truly busy as
bees. Locust is a scrub tree that comes
up in newly- vacant land. It's one of the
first trees along with the cedars to stake
claim to open land. It doesn't take long
before this wiry tree takes over.
Locust wood is one of the most
resistant to rot and insect damage if put
in the ground and is why fence posts and
building supports were made of it before
the advent of treated wood. Many a
summer bungalow had its foundation
made of locust posts. Some, I'm sure are
still standing on them. Often I'll get ahold
of these old cured logs when someone
replaces the support in a building and the
wood is enough to take the edge off any
saw. Turned on a wood lathe, the wood
makes almost indestructible mallet
heads. My dock that was put in almost 30
years ago has had its share of replaced
9@QMw) @t�
M�IQMT§
pilings but the locust posts are the
originals and are, as far as I see, just as
good as the day I put them in.
`She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not'
Of course, the other flower that greets
us along the roadside is the common
daisy. One never tires of picking daisies
and a garland of this around a young
girl's neck can hardly be beaten. Ah, yes,
"she loves me, she loves me not." How
many times have we gone through that
joyous ditty.
Spring is such a busy time of the year
that many of us feel frustrated because
we don't know what task to do first. We
wait all winter for the weather to break
so we can do this and that and when it
does there are 10 other jobs that take
precedent over the other. One thing we
just had to squeeze into our schedule was
to help in taking a least tern survey. This
small bird, which is about half the size of
our common tern, is having a difficult
time making it here in New York. So
difficult that the Department of
Environmental Conservation put it on
the endangered species list.
Least terns nest on the ground on open
beaches which, of course, is why they're
having a difficult time. People like
beaches and four wheel drive vehicles
like beaches. The result is that this bird
is having an extremely tough time
bringing off its young. What we're hoping
to do is to locate the areas and see if we
Dads / Grads
SYSTEM INCLUDES:
• Hitachi HT 45 Turntable
Semi- Automatic Direct Drive *HITACHI
Stanton Cartridge A World Leader in Techrw109Y
• Pair - 2-Way EGO Speakers
• Hitachi HTA 3000 Digital
Stereo Receiver 30 Watts/ Channel rms
Special Sale Price
$39995
r minsim Coupon
$1.00 off any Audio Tape ;
$2.00 off any Video Tape
offer ends June 30, 1983
`�mmmmmmmmm
Personalised dervies
Over 50 Major Brands
('uslom Inslallallolls Q
Substantial Baviings , � CHAROV CUSTOM
28 Cameron St. SOUND
Just 01T Main St. a� I' d'-
Southampton
263-.4428 -
Store Hours EASTERN L.1: s LARGEST AIiDIO VIDEO SPECIALISTS
10 to 8 Daily
Closed Sundays
KING DEVIL - -Look for this cluster of yellow blossoming in our fields. It
closes during the night, but by mid -day is open and bright.
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
can get a ban on these areas during the
nesting time. Usually there are other
areas people can use and seeing it's only
for a couple of months most people are
willing to cooperate. To make the plan
work we need state and local
governments to work together, which in
this day and age is becoming more and
more difficult. Everything is on a
priority scale and I'm afraid birds don't
rank too high in today's bureaucracy.
The fisherman knows this bird, for like
the common tern it can often lead the
fisherman to schools of fish. In their
frenzy of feeding on smaller bait fish, the
bigger fish drive the little ones to the
surface, where the waiting terns snatch
them from the water. Recently I was
reminded of how savage that thrashing
can be for I saw one least tern hopping
about a nesting area on one foot. We often
see this in both common and least terns.
The theory is that in the excitement of
the big fish grabbing for the little fish, a
foot is sometimes snapped off. Yet their
diving and milling about is a true
indicator of good fishing below.
Let's hope our efforts to save the least
tern will be as successful as our efforts to
preserve the osprey. This year for the
first time the osprey has been taken off
the New York State's endangered species
list and is now listed as threatened. The
opposite is true of the least tern. Last
year it was threatened -- this year it is
endangered. Understanding and some
degree of concern is necessary for the
plan to work. Time will tell.
I U I U AkS I U�'''�S
RESTAURANT & LOUNGE
Summer is Here
Introducing Brosby's complete
BUFFET
DINNER
EVERY TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY EVENING
EXTENSI VE SALAD BAR
WIDE SELECTION OF HOT ENTREES
Steamed Mussels — Local Fresh Fish
Beef — Chicken — Ham
and other special ties
Special Desserts
Coffee - Tea - Milk
all for only
x'75
Adults
$457Children under 12
Reservations Suggested 5 PM to 10 PM
OUR REGULAR MENU ALWAYS AVAILABLE FOR LUNCH & DINNER
Route 25 Main Road, Aquebogue, L.I. • 722 -3602
3 Miles East of Riverhead on the North Fork Major Credit Cards