Septmeber 07, 1995 - Making a Return Trip to 'Bird Islands'6A • The Suffolk Times • September 7, 1995
Making a Return if BiTrip to rd Islands'
By Paul Stoutenburgh
Aug. 30 and it seems like Sept. 30.
Those wonderful days of the three Cs:
cool, crisp and clear. I hope I can pass on
something to those who are not in a posi-
tion to enjoy this perfect weather, for I
remember well when I was laid up for a
long time a few years ago and needed
every bit of
Focus on keep encoura
from
Mature giving up.
I remember the
four -foot -long
panorama view of the sparkling bay my
son had taken and put at the foot of my
bed, telling me that was there waiting for
me and all I had to do was just get well.
Today I'm looking at that very same bay
and hoping to pass on anything I can to
those who might need it. We all need
inspiration and hope at some time for a
better day ahead. That's for sure.
Summer's such a busy time that I for-
got to relate one of our trips to the bird
islands along the south shore. My first
visit to those sandy flats must have been
50 years ago when the Army Corps of
Engineers dredged the inland waterway
that winds through the shallow waters of
Shinnecock and Moriches bays west-
ward. The sand or spoil from that opera-
tion was put in great piles just behind the
barrier beach but still in the bay. These
isolated islands made ideal nesting sites
for terns, skimmers and gulls.
In those days there were hundreds and
hundreds of nesting birds on these newly
created islands and it afforded me an
opportunity to photograph these now -
threatened birds. The term threatened, of
course, does not apply to gulls. The sur-
plus of gulls today is one of the reasons
for the lack of nesting birds on these
islands, for gulls will rob the nests of
any ground- nesting bird. As a matter of
fact, I've often seen them take young
birds and devour them whole and go
back for more.
First 7lrip to Bird Island
These bird islands were reached from
one of the many road ends in Moriches.
The first trip I took was with Gil Raynor
in his extra- heavy, trailered, wooden row-
boat. I think he kept it filled with water at
home so when he wanted to use it the bot-
tom would be swelled up and not leak. Of
course, that was a great idea except it
added so much weight that we really had
to strain to get the boat in the water.
Needless to say, our next trip was in my
canoe, which made it easier for everyone.
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
BLACK SKIMMER— Anyone who has seen these graceful birds skimming along
the water's surface is sure to remember them. Their long lower bill picks up small fish.
I'd usually set up a blind (or hind, as
the English call them) and photograph
unnoticed while Gil and others would
check the flats for any special arrivals. It
was here I first saw a common tern feed
its young a long sand eel (not an eel at
all, but a long, slender bait fish some-
thing like our spearing). It was so long
that the young bird couldn't swallow it
all the way down, so it sat there with the
tail sticking out of its mouth until its
stomach slowly digested it and it disap-
peared.
Every six feet or so there would be a
nesting tern or skimmer. In those days
roseate terns nested there along with the
common terns. We still see terns in our
bays, but most of them have flown long
distances in search of food, many com-
ing from Gull Island off our East End.
It's been a long time since I've seen
black skimmers in our bays. Anyone
who lives along our water's edge knew
the black skimmer as it flew close to the
water's surface, its long, black- tipped,
red bill cutting the water and leaving a
trailing wake behind. Sea dogs, some
call them, for their call was more of a
bark. All these birds nested on the sand
with little resemblance to a nest as we
think of it. Some places a few stones or
bits of debris around a shallow depres-
sion was all it took to hold the speckled
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eggs that blended so perfectly into the
sand around them.
I had to be very careful not to disturb
the birds on hot days, otherwise the eggs
would cook in the hot sun without the
protection of the bird's body over them.
The way we fooled the birds was that
two of us would walk to the blind and
when I was ready
the other person
would walk away.
Since birds are
not able to count
they would think
everyone had left
and immediately
go back on their
nest. I then could photograph at will.
As mentioned in the beginning I re-
newed my acquaintance with the bird is-
lands just a few weeks ago. Again we
took a canoe. This time it was Ralph
Tuthill's and along with Paul Gillen we
paddled from just west of the Coast
Guard station out into the bay. The wind
was out of the east and so we were pro-
tected by the station for part of our trip,
but as soon as we left that protection the
waves grew higher and lapped at the ca-
noe's edge. All went well and we were
soon over on the islands just east of
Moriches Inlet.
How the area has changed. No longer
are there great stretches of
dune grass on those man -made
islands but in its place is the
tall phragmites, that plume
grass that seems to be every-
where. Also gone were the
great flats. To be sure, there
were still some, but the great
majority of them had disap-
peared through erosion from
storms, wind and tide.
Shore Bird Sightings
We were visiting the islands
after the nesting season and
were primarily interested in
migrating shore birds, those
small birds we see along the
water's edge at this time of the
year. We had brought scopes
and, of course, binoculars, so
with three pairs of eyes we
scanned the area thoroughly.
We were not disappointed, for
besides the shore birds we also
saw the big white terns that
move up from the south some-
times during the summer.
These royal terns are almost as
big as a small gull but trimmer
and with long, orange bills.
Then, besides common and least terns,
we saw an uncommon visitor to our
area, a black tern that only occasionally
visits our coast during migration. This is
a bird of the inland waters of lakes and
rivers.
Some of the shore birds we saw were
black- bellied plovers, semipalmated
plovers,
least sand-
p. pipers, yel-
low -legs,
rom dowitchers,
turnstones,
semipalmat-
ed sand-
pipers,
sanderlings, black skimmers, willets,
knots and oyster- catchers. The latter
flew by in a small flock, calling with
their loud, wild call that was worth the
entire trip. Of course, we saw great blue
herons and both great and snowy egrets
along with some black - backed, herring
and ring - billed gulls.
It was a perfect day and for a moment
or two I had to break away from my
friends to contemplate the recent passing
of my dear friend, Gill Raynor, who
introduced me to those wonderful bird
islands along with so many other places
we have here on our East End. Thanks,
Gil.
The great flats have dis
peared through erosion f
storms, wind and tide.
Edwin F. Derby
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