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July 20, 1995 - Osprey Does Battle With Striped BassJuly 20, 1995 • The Suffolk Times • 11 A Osprey Does Battle With Striped Bass Much of my world would disappear if I didn't have my binoculars and scope. These optics bring the distant world immediately before me. A perfect ex- ample was last week when Barbara spot- ted an osprey eating something about 1,000 feet down the beach. I had previ- ously left the remains of some bluefish I'd cleaned out on the beach for the gulls to feast on. Could it be the osprey was scavenging off these? If so, it would be most unusual, for they usually eat their fish fresh and alive. First I tried to determine what it was eating by using my binoculars, but they weren't powerful enough. It was still too far away. Next I got out my 20 -power scope which brought my subject much closer. Now I could see the tail flopping up and down, so it wasn't my fish carcass it was eat- ing. I could tell it was a thick fish of considerable length and that ruled out a bunker, which is a rather thin fish and one they were feeding on earlier in the season. Could it be a bluefish? They were in the bay a few weeks ago. My curiosity was getting the better of me so I had to go down and see for my- self. I took the scope along to spot check as I walked the thousand feet of sand. Halfway I could see the fish had large scales. That took the idea of a bluefish out. About 300 feet away the osprey decided to fly with its prize, but it couldn't take off. The fish was too big. Now I had a real puzzle. How did he get it on the beach in the first place? I kept walking toward the osprey, who kept crying out in defiance. It's probably good I couldn't decipher its chastising call for I'm sure it was not too compli- mentary. such a hard time flying with it, for it weighed almost as much as the osprey itself. The osprey had started eating at its head, as most predators do. My curiosity satisfied, I didn't want to deprive the bird of its prize so I brought it back on the beach and left it, hoping the bird would return to finish its meal. Sure enough, as soon as I got back to the cottage, the osprey had landed on its fish and was picking away. This triumph was soon shattered by the arrival of the black bandit of the beach — the crow. He'd been patrolling along with the local gulls since we arrived at the cottage and was always on the lookout for a quick meal. This time it was the osprey's dinner. Of course, the osprey didn't exactly go along with that and every time the crow approached too closely he'd put up his wings and set up a pos- ture of attack. This backed off the crow every time. That meal being so close -by must have frustrated the crow, so much that every once in a while he'd sneak up be- hind the osprey as it was feeding and grab hold of a tail feather and then let go in retreat. This indignant intimidation caused the osprey to whirl around each time to defend his prize. Time and again the crow would sneak up and jab the osprey and then run away. It was like some little kid teasing his brother. It was a comical thing to watch and I stayed glued to my scope for almost an hour. Urgent Call From Orient I never did find out how the crow -os- prey standoff worked out because a call came from a birder in Orient who had spotted what she thought was a long - billed curlew the night before and we had gone in search of it. Now that name alone would make any birder stop and take action. A rarity for sure and one worth seeing. It hadn't taken Barbara and I long to call up friends and be off to Orient in hopes of seeing this rare stranger to the east coast. The last time we saw one was in Texas during the winter. We arrived at the designated field Focus on Nature by Paul Stoutenburgh Back to the Water As a last desperate hope of saving its newly caught meal, it dragged the mys- tery fish out into the water. About 50 feet from shore it dropped it and flew off. I had to see that fish, so I took off my shoes and waded out where the fish was floating. To my surprise it proved to be a small striped bass. No wonder it had i_w169w 1 wwL �wwL 75 Years Ago July 16, 1920 Rivals Clash: In the most closely contested [baseball] game of the season, Greenport defeated its old rival, River- head, at the Polo Grounds on Sunday, July 11. The atten- dance was about 300 but would have been considerably larg- er if the persons who persist in viewing the game from the outside would stop to realize that it costs money to stage ball games and would help the cause by entering the gates. Yacht Aground: Francis Mayer's auxiliary schooner yacht, Undaunted, ran aground at Orient Point, Sunday morning. The Undaunted is a 198 -foot schooner and the largest sailing yacht in the United States. She was on a pleasure cruise around Long Island and was going down the Sound with Sea Gate as her destination. There was a heavy fog and before the sailing master realized he was in perilous waters the yacht ran hard aground on the rocky shore with a jar that jolted everyone aboard out of his slumber. 50 Years Ago July 20, 1945 Greenport Theatre News: That famous "hoss- laff team, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, starring in an extravagant new comedy, "The Naughty Nineties," come Friday and Saturday to Greenport Theatre. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh OSPREY WITH FISH —In the beginning of the season bunkers and floun- ders are the main food supply of the osprey. Later stripers, bluefish and weakfish are on the menu. where the bird was last seen, but we saw no curlew. We were reassured it was a true long - billed curlew for it fitted all the important identification marks: ex- tremely long, curved bill; a large shore- bird with no streaks on its head that might make it a whimbrel, a more likely bird for our area. Our hearts sank as we left our friends, who promised to call again if it returned. We searched the fields all around the area, but to no avail. The next day the telephone rang while I was watching the osprey and wonder- ing how he would solve his problem get- ting that striped bass back to the family on the nest. The voice at the other end said, "He's here again." Needless to say, Triumphantly reaching the screen as it reached the heart of the nation and the world, John Hersey's great and human Pulitzer prize- winning novel, "A Bell for Adano," comes to the screen of Greenport Theatre Sunday through Tuesday, starring Gene Tierney, John Hodiak and William Bendix with a brilliant supporting cast. The mightiest outdoor adventure ever filmed, Jack Lon- don's "Call of the Wild," with Clark Gable in the role that made him famous, plays Wednesday and Thursday at the Greenport Theatre. The exciting epic of the Klondike also stars Loretta Young and Jack Oakie. 25 Years Ago July 17, 1970 Grand Opening at Swezey's: At 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, a ribbon- cutting ceremony signaled the opening of the new Swezey's Department Store located at 111 East Main St., Riverhead. Several hundred people were on hand to witness the opening which began when Henrietta and Carroll Swezey, assisted by Riverhead Town Supervisor, Bruno Zaloga, combined to cut the ribbon. Art Show Saturday: Greenport's ninth annual Out- door Art Show, which always attracts several thousand vis- itors to the Claudio and Preston's docks, will get underway this Saturday at 10 a.m. One hundred ten artists will be exhibiting and selling their work. we were off like a shot and once again we were at the designated field where the curlew was supposed to be. But once again it had flown away. We then went along Narrow River Road and searched the great marshes to the south at Pete's Neck. Again no curlew. We did see many sharp- tailed sparrows that use the salt marsh as a nesting site. This handsome little spar- row with its bright buff eyebrow must have these salt marshes to raise its young and feed or they would surely perish, a reason seldom considered when we think of reasons for preserving wetlands. We gave up our search for the elusive curlew. Disappointed yes, but not dis- couraged, for that's part of the game of being involved. Some days work out bet- ter than others. Perhaps the next day or next year our curlew will show up again. A Well -Fed Family When we got back to the cottage the osprey was gone, along with the fish. Had it eaten enough to make the fish lighter and therefore been able to be- come airborne? I kind of think so. And what makes me feel even better is that the osprey family out on the marsh plat- form seems to be well fed. Perhaps after he had his fill of striper he took the remainder to the family nest and shared it with them. Today one flew off and the other is exercising its wings continually. Every once in a while it will take off and hover in the air a foot or more above the nest. I assume it is the weaker of the two, but now it's getting its full share of food, for the fish being brought to the nest all goes to him. I have watched carefully what they have eaten and besides the early bunkers they have now started using small stripers, bluefish and, be- lieve it or not, a weakfish. Few fisher- men are fortunate enough to hook on to one of these once - plentiful fish, but the osprey seemed to know where to find it.