Loading...
October 26, 1995 - Orient 'Forest' Honors Roy Latham-16 % IM66b* PWI kk O Honors Roy Latham By Paul Stoutenburgh For a long time I tried to think of some way to honor the great naturalist, Roy Latham of Orient. Few people realize what a noted naturalist he was, a self - taught genius whose interest ranged over the whole spectrum of flora and fauna of our island. Whether it involved local archaeological diggings or insects, fish, birds, animals, flowers or trees, or any of the many fields in the world around him, Roy had collected it, identi- fied it and passed it on to the proper authorities in both our local and state museums. His work and publications are known throughout the state. Having known Roy person- ally and the importance of his work, I gathered a group of concerned naturalists who put their heads together and approached Ray Dobbins, superintendent of Orient Beach State Park, on the possi- bility of naming certain parts of his park in Roy's honor. Much to our delight, we were encouraged to pursue the idea and to make a long story short we gained permis- sion from the state park system to build and name a nature trail in honor of this humble but distinguished local naturalist. Hopefully, when the trail is completed and we have everything in place including a trail guide, we'll have a formal dedication involving the local community. We are now pursuing the idea of having the western part of the park named the Roy Latham Maritime Forest. It is already designated a National Natural Landmark by the Department of the Interior. This area just across the water from his home was Roy's outdoor laboratory and was where much information was taken for his publication on local flora. Nature Trail to the East We've started our nature trail right off the northeast end of the parking lot. It is four feet wide so that a balloon -tired all - terrain wheelchair for the handicapped can traverse the soft ground. One of these vehicles has already been donated to the park by Greenport Rotary. As you enter the Maritime Forest Nature Trail you will be walking under a canopy of post oak and cedar. The post oak is indigenous to the area and likes sandy soils and hot, dry, desert-like con- ditions. The leaf is somewhat like the white oak leaf, being rounded rather than pointed like the common black oak. It, like the cedar, can withstand the heavy salt content of the air that blows off Gardiners Bay. Both can also stand occasional flooding by salt water that the park system experiences during extreme storm conditions. For these reasons the _ trees in the forest never grow to any great heights. Most are less than 20 feet. We had laid out the path using some deer trails and open spaces and cleared half of it when we heard a Boy Scout group was going to be at the park over the weekend. With some quick tele- phone calls and lots of youthful enthusi- asm, Scout Troop 51 of Greenport fin- ished clearing the trail under Bob Gessner's guidance. Cooperation from Southold's landfill came in the form of wood chips and with extra hard work by some of the park people, the trail was covered with a nice layer of chips. It just goes to show how cooperation can get things done. To look over the work that was done, my wife and I visited the trail over the weekend and found that we were not the only ones that had gone through. Deer had also been there; their tracks were everywhere. Deer are common through- out the park and we could see their browsing on the cedar trees and the oc- casional rubbed bark where they had scraped their horns to remove the velvet. This is done in anticipation of the rutting season when does will be fought over and the winner takes all. Focus on Nature by Paul Stoutenburgh Fox Prey on Rabbits Evidence of rabbits was everywhere; their dried pea -sized droppings told us of their presence. Their main predator, besides an occasional hawk, is the red fox, which Barbara could smell at one point on the trail. Looking closely we found the remains of a freshly killed rab- i w6100M ■ wwV �wwL 75 Years Ago Oct. 22, 1920 At the Crows' Nest: The regular meeting of the Indian Neck Crow Association was held at the Fish House on the beautiful shore of the bay on Friday, Oct. 15. The resident members, Philip Horton, Theodore Horton and D. Gilbert Case, had made suitable preparations. The crows arrived, accompanied by the melodious strains of the famous crow band. Soon the morning sports began. The champion quoit players, Raynor, Black, Sage, Wood, Thorn and Mills, gave exhibition plays. The games required the careful attention of the referees, the two crow Georges, Corwin and Preston. The ball game between the young crows and the old crows was a great success. Crow George Gudebrod served a most delicious clam chowder. The milk punch had just enough spearmint in it to call the crows to the business meeting after dinner. A vote of thanks to the resident crows for their efforts to promote the enjoyment of the occasion was passed. A vote of thanks was also given to Capt. Putnam for a liberal supply of his famous Robins Island oysters. 50 Years Ago Oct. 26, 1945 Store Is Leading Style Center: The H. Katz & Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh BOX TURTLE —About this time of the year our box turtle will be looking for a place to hibernate in the ground for the winter. Some have been known to live for over 90 years in the same general area. bit. Evidently Mr. Fox had feasted here shortly before we arrived. We asked Kenny Ketcham, who works at the park, if he'd seen any gray squirrels. He said, "Yes, but they are rather rare at the park." Raccoons, we were told, had been common and quite a pest but this year there were fewer because of mange that took many of them down. We both agreed we could get along with fewer rac- coons. One bit of animal life that turned up right at our feet was a box turtle that we picked up to see if it was marked. Roy Latham told of some he found marked years ago that were 80 to 90 years old. Sharp eyes are needed to see the plant life here for it is often stunted and small. Mullein, for instance, that grows on the mainland to five feet in height grows here hardly two feet in the sandy soil. Plants that thrive in desert conditions do well, like the prickly pear cactus that in the springtime has beautiful, large yel- low flowers. But don't ever touch the cactus greens for you'll be all day trying to pick out the tiny, almost invisible nee- dles that will imbed themselves in your hand. Yet deer and rab- `We gained permission to build and name a nature trail in honor or this humble but distinguished local naturalist.' Son Store, one of Greenport's best known retail establish- ments and one of the style centers for women's fashions on Eastern Long Island, is the culmination of hard work, perse- verance and unusual business ability on the part of its founder, H. Katz. It was over 35 years ago that Harry Katz, an experienced tailor, came to Greenport to make his home. At that time high -grade tailoring was the essence of smart ensembles and today's ready -to -wear women's stylish apparel was but a dream of the future. 25 Years Ago Oct. 23, 1970 Residents Oppose Park: The five stockholders of Eastern Shores Inc. voted unanimously against a county proposal to make a park of Inlet Pond, which the stockhold- ers own and had hoped to develop residentially. Charles Morgan, secretary of the corporation, said the group has abandoned plans for developing the land themselves and had offered it for sale but now is waiting to see what will happen to county plans for acquiring it. The County Park Commission has approved the legisla- ture's plan to purchase Inlet Pond along with Pinecrest Dunes for an estimated $270,000. The two parcels, each with 1,000 -foot frontage on Long Island Sound, are to be put in a land bank for future park use, according to Supervi- sor Albert Martocchia. bits seem to be able to munch on these fleshy leaves without any problem. Another plant that does well is Hudsonia or false heather, which is a greenish- brown, low - growing plant that has small yellow blos- soms in the spring. We found it all along the trail. Earth star, a puff- ball in the form of a star, was also found along the trail. The pale- violet wood aster that we see thriving in our main- land woods was also here but very much smaller in size. Seaside goldenrod does fairly well here at the park for it can tol- erate salt spray and poor soil. The crimson color of fall was seen in the Virginia creeper and its close rival, poison ivy, each trying to reach the tops of the trees. As we walked along, chick- adees were busy gleaning the trees around us for insects and egg cases. Blue jays called noisily ahead of us telling all we were entering their domain. We even noticed that there were areas where nothing grew. Evidently there just wasn't enough nourishment or moisture to propagate any sort of plant life. At one station along the path we found where the park people had cut down dead black pines that were diseased. Years ago they were used as ideal sea- side plantings for they grew fast and could withstand the salty atmosphere and poor soils of the park. But then came a disease that literally killed thousands of them and today we see few of them left from their once - abundant numbers. I hope I have just whetted your ap- petite for what can be found in this unique state park. Soon we should have a handout to help identify things along the trail. Without it many things not seen at all times of year or just hard to find might be missed in this interesting Maritime Forest of trees, plants and ani- mals.