Loading...
November 09, 1995 - It's That Time Again: Scallop Season6A • The Suffolk Times,q November 9, 1995 It's That Time Again: Scallop Season By Paul Stoutenburgh How this fall weather changes. Yesterday was sprinkling and so warm that in the early evening I heard katydids and tree frogs singing high above in the treetops. Nov. 3 and we're still picking zinnias and roses in the garden. Tomato plants are still bloom- ing and trying to bear fruit. It seems like FQC such a fruitless (ex- cuse the pun) effort, for freezing tempera- tures are just around the corner. by Pe It's the time to rake Stoutenb leaves that overnight cover the lawn. We've been living in their yellow glow all about us for the past few weeks as our Long Island fall paints the countryside. Our oaks and hickories don't quite come up to the glory colors of the maples that dazzle the upstate woods, but in their own way they please most of us. Even if you couldn't see or feel the cooler temperatures that snuck in overnight, you could hear the march of winter through the plaintive call of the white - throated sparrow that's just ar- rived from the north. The bird has just what the name implies, a white throat. As with most birds, the immatures do not stand out as much as the adults and therefore it takes a little doing to sepa- rate them from the song sparrows, finch- es and house sparrows. They are ground feeders and seldom fly up to your feeder; rather they are content to pick up the seeds that fall to the ground. There you'll see them searching under and around the leaves, happy with the so- called crumbs from above. u r ul u Honking Geese Overhead Not only could I hear that wonderful "Old Sam, Peabody, Peabody, Peabody" call of the white- throat that moved in to spend the winter with us, but I also heard the talking of the geese overhead as they went into the fields up back to feed amongst the corn stubble or graze in the rich cover crops the farmer plants to hold his soil and enrich his land. The winter pattern of geese seems to be changing. Their overwintering habits seem to be shirting more to the north now than to their conven- tional south. Even their numbers are decreasing, al- though we who see more geese than ever have a hard time understanding that. As a matter of fact the Depart- ment of Environ- mental Conser- vation has banned all goose shooting in hopes e of building up their numbers. Geese, like rgh swans, mate for life. The gander can usually be spotted in a group feeding for he is always on the alert, standing high looking out. The rest will be forag- ing seemingly without a care in the world, but not the lookout. He is con- stantly on the alert, head erect, fearful of danger. Should danger approach, a call is given and the entire group seems to come to attention all at once. Now all eyes are on the danger and should it continue, there'd be a turbulence of wings and a great honking of excited geese. Another sign of the passing of fall is the scallop season that just opened. It was put off for two weeks in hopes of adding some extra 'meat' to the stressed scallops because of the brown tide. I, of course, had to be there on opening day and I must say I had plenty of company. Everywhere you looked there were boats, people wading and divers, all in pursuit of the blue -eyed scallop. I dive for them mainly because it lets me see what's going on in the water. Where I dove was in Orient Harbor off the causeway and I was pleased to see the great masses of eel grass there. It brought me back to my childhood when eel grass was common throughout our bays. Today I can find none in Cut - chogue Harbor, where once it flourished Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh BAY SCALLOP —On opening day it seemed as though everyone was out trying to get their quota of scallops even though they were few and far between. Those who found some were amply rewarded with one of the best seafoods available. ■ .90. ■ �wi= nwwim 75 Years Ago Nov. 5, 1920 Real Estate Classified: For sale at East Marion —the property of C.F. King, known as Chapel Terrace. This cottage is one of the most attractive along the Main Road between Greenport and Orient. The cottage has 10 rooms and all modern improvements, barn, garage, cement walks and terrace lawn backed by a stone wall and stone steps add much value and attractiveness to this property. To a quick buyer it is offered at a price less than half of what it would cost to duplicate the same today. For sale at Greenport—the handsome residence on Main Street, corner of North Street, the estate of Capt. Wm. Den- nis, one of the most beautiful homes in Greenport, with 10 rooms and bath, electric lights, steam heat, fine garage, beautiful lawn and many flowers. A bargain at the price it is offered at today. 50 Years Ago Nov. 9, 1945 Hospital Start -Up: The necessary legal steps for the establishment of a hospital at Riverhead have been granted and a considerable sum of money has been pledged for its construction. The last remaining step necessary is obtaining the required sum of money to start building operations, and and caused, after a storm, great win- drows on the beach. It was a product I can vaguely remember being collected by the farmers in their wagons for bed- ding in their stables and as an insulator around the bottom of their barns and homes. Once it was washed by the rains and dried on the beach, it became fluffy and clean smelling and was regularly sought after. As a point of interest: Before the old Cutchogue house on the green was re- habilitated to its present state, it served as a sheep pen for Harrison Case's ani- mals. As kids we would explore the old building and I can remember seeing sea- weed (eel grass) in the broken -down walls where it had been used for insula- tion. Leave it to those prudent and en- terprising Yankees to take advantage of this, it is thoroughly believed, will soon be at hand. WWII Veteran to Open Food Market: John Piccozzi, a Greenport boy who recently was honorably dis- charged from the U.S. Navy, will open a new store on Front Street under the trade name of "Johnny's Market." Austin Carbone of Connecticut, a former resident of Greenport, is Mr. Piccozzi's partner in business enterprise. The new store is located in the Becker building, corner of Front Street and Fourth Avenue. Mr. Piccozzi, prior to his induction in the Navy, was the proprietor of a store on Shelter Island. 25 Years Ago Nov. 6, 1970 Greenport School Renovation Vote Set: The tax rate for Greenport taxpayers would increase by approximately $1.20 per hundred of assessed valuation, said supervising principal Richard Woolley at an informa- tional meeting Wednesday night on the proposed school bond issue. Vote on the bond issue, which provides for renovation of existing space in the school and addition of a new gymnasi- um, new shop area and four additional classrooms, will be held on next Wednesday. The $2,390,000 bond issue will receive an estimated $1,000,000 maximum financing from New York State. this free and worthwhile gift from the sea. Back in the '30s we lost all our eel grass to a disease that struck the entire eastern seaboard. Today it's slowly working its way back into our waters. A Safe Haven for Scallops Stands of eel grass are the ideal nurs- ery area for juvenile fish and baby scal- lops. That is one of the main reasons we find most of our scalloping out east where the eel grass grows. Scallops, when young, are free - swimming but soon develop a tiny shell and a holdfast and it's amongst the eel grass that they find safety. Without it they would be exposed on the bare bottom to all sorts of preda- tors: fish, crabs, snails. You name it. In that juvenile stage it's simple for a sand crab and others to find and eat the baby scallops that are no larger than the head of a match. Think of it this way. if you have a bird feeder and all the birds are busy feeding and in comes a hawk, a predator, the birds scatter into the shrub- bery nearby for protection and the hawk misses a meal. Put the fleeing birds in an open area without the shrubbery for protection and the hawk gains a meal. Eel grass is the perfect protector for the scallop. As I swam along above the eel grass I'd occasionally come to open areas where I'd see huge spider crabs, one of the many predators of small scallops. There were also whelks throughout the area and I picked them up to be cooked and marinated later and used in a seafood salad. They, too, prey on scal- lops but here the adult scallop can usu- ally jet away as Mr. Whelk approaches. I did get some scallops, barely enough for a meal. Some did better than I and others did worse. To me the scallops were few and far between but then it's like so many other things we do. It's the antici- pation of opening day, the collecting of gear, the fun of seeing and getting the scallops, opening them (having one or two raw) and then cooking those de- licious morsels that add to our enjoy- ment of fall here on the East End.