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May 02, 1996 - Ponderings on the Subject of Spring6A • The Suffolk Times • May 2, 1996 Ponderings on the Subject of Spring How can one not feel good about spring? It seems there is some hidden power that gives us all added life and vi- tality to get out and be involved with the world around us — and this doesn't just apply to us. I see the robin, plump and perky, feeding about our lawn. I see the shadblow down our lane filling the road- side with its delicate white blooms. I didn't see them, but I know in our bays and creeks the sleepy eels and flounder and multitudes of tiny killi- . fish have all emerged from their winter's sleep in the mud to take their place in the scheme of things. I know this, for our osprey would only be back if his food supply was about. The osprey has already resettled in last year's nesting site. A few new sticks here, a bit of seaweed there, an old piece of plastic or washed -up debris, and this year's home is in shape for the coming season. Two of our osprey nests went down last winter. Usually I'd get a group of hardy souls and rebuild them, but this year I was away so my son, Peter, took over and with loyal help rebuilt the old ones in their original places. It's good to have help you can rely on. While on the subject of ospreys, I just got back in time to take in the program put on by the North Fork Audubon called Raptors of Paumanok. I was particularly interested in hearing Dr. Alan Poole speak on his first love — the osprey. Twenty years ago Barbara and I spent a wonderful weekend on Gardiner's Island working with Alan and others on osprey populations. We often saw him along with Paul Spitzer as they were gathering data orr this once- threatened species. All his hard work paid off and he published a book on ospreys that was so popular it is now out of print. Saturday we listened to him for an hour or more as he spoke on all aspects of this famous fishhawk. They're easier to handle and require fewer people than the old heavy tele- phone poles once used. He also said os- prey platforms near each other are not a problem and that more than- one can be put up in an area without causing terri- torial competition. One problem the osprey has today is the scarcity of food because of our dwindling fisheries and therefore the need to go greater distances to obtain food for them- selves and their young. The other is the age -old problem of predators, particularly the great horned owl and the raccoon. I can vouch for their efficiency here on our North Fork as being a major problem, for many a nest site seems to be doing well with healthy young and then all of a sudden the young are gone. During the night something takes the young away. The only solution is to try to put the nest- ing platforms out in the water, wherever possible, or out on isolated marshes away from the normal paths of raccoons and owls. Here, away from the wooded areas, they would be safer from predation. It was good to be with Alan again and see that he still carries his enthusiasm for the world around him. Speaking of great horned owls, they should have their young well on their way to adulthood by now. They often incubate their eggs while the snow still swirls around and from what I've heard of last year's snows, I'm sure there were days when Mrs. Owl sat on her precious eggs with snow coming down and cov- ering her. While I'm writing this I hear a flicker (big woodpecker) hammering on an old birdhouse out in front. He's not doing anything to the birdhouse except using it as a sounding board. Woodpeckers are not songsters like the robin, who lets the whole world know he's looking for a lady fair, and so the woodpecker has to attract his female by pounding on the loudest sounding board he can find. Perhaps you've heard him on the tin gut - ters of your home or a metal chimney. What he's saying is, "I'm the greatest and loudest woodpecker in all the world; Focus on Mature by Paul Stoutenburgh Solving Platform Problems His experience with platforms for this regal bird gave us good information, par- ticularly on low, smaller and lighter plat- forms that almost anyone can put up. 1_A69A 1_AAvffl ndmAu 75 Years Ago April 29, 1921 Advertisement: Wanted — High -class man with some money to take charge and run restaurant at the Old Mill, Mattituck. New building, just erected and attached to Old Mill; opportunity for the right man. Attention, Dancers: Please do not feel slighted if you have not been personally invited to join the Greenport Dancing Club. The committee is doing its best to visit everyone, but it is a big job and some names are bound to be skipped. You can help a lot by addressing a card to the Greenport Dancing Club. We want you all to join- in the fun that we are planning. The first club dance will be held Friday evening, May 6, at the Masonic Temple. 50 Years Ago May 3, 1946 Rotary Club Proposed: On Tuesday evening of this week a number of Greenport and Southold men who are interested in the organization of a Rotary Club in this locality met with a delegation from the Riverhead and Huntington Rotary clubs at Mitchell's Restaurant to discuss the preliminary steps to be taken in organizing an East End Rotary Club. It is expected that the proposed club will be officially organized in the near future. Supers Get Raise: Members of the Suffolk Board Photo by Barbara Stoutenburgh MEADOW MOUSE —These numerous short - tailed little mice are active all winter long. When the snow melts you can see their tunnels where they've been busy under the protection of the snow. They are prime food for fox, hawks and owls. come nest with me." Of course, there's always that "other woodpecker" that does damage to your wooden home by boring holes in the sid- ing. It's anyone's guess why they do this. Some say it is because there are insects behind the siding and they hear them and think your house is just another kind of tree. After all, Mr. Woodpecker is inter- ested in an insect meal no matter where it is. Others say it's just a woodpecker's doodling or graffiti. No matter what it is, it surely isn't helping the looks of your house. Hanging tin- seled strips of aluminum foil sometimes helps. — Others say putting an owl decoy up near- by works and yet other times persistence in scaring it away is the only solution. Something like the problem of wood- peckers attacking your home is the prob- lem of birds like the robin continually flying into a window. This is a problem of jealousy or the right to a certain terri- tory. What's actually happening is that the robin sees his reflection in your win- dow and doesn't want that competition in or around his turf, so the natural thing to do is to drive it away. It becomes a furi- ous battle, one in which you'd think the bird would dash out his brains. The one cure to this dilemma is to cover the win- dow with an old sheet or cloth for a peri- od of time. Usually after a week or so or sometimes longer, the great protector will for- get about his imaginary invader and things will settle down to normal. While I was working outside the other day a neighbor called to me asking if I'd remove a -- - . mouse from her cellar - way. Somehow it had tumbled in and was unable to escape. "Sure," I said, and promptly removed the little fellow. Meadow mice are probably the most common of all mice that live in open fields. They scurry about, mostly unde- tected, under the leaves and grass the year 'round. Prolific breeders, one female can pro- duce up to 100 young each year, so you can see we have no shortage of these short - tailed little burrowers. For those who walk the open fields, you'll often see their tunnels left where they have been traveling under the snow during the winter. They are the main food for fox, hawks and owls. I wanted to keep the lit- tle mouse for a few days and so set up an old aquarium filled with grass and leaves. Here he'd be on display for my grand- children and others and then let go. Perhaps it will know better the next time and stay away from Alberta's cellarway and do what mice do best in fields and meadows. Among the signs of spring: plump robins, blooming shadblow, the osprey's return and the noisy woodpecker. of Supervisors on Monday unanimously voted themselves the first salary raises accorded by the county to its govern- ing officials since supervisors were taken off the lucrative fee system some 25 years ago. The board fixed the county compensation of a supervisor at $2,000 per annum, twice the former rate. The board chairman will receive an additional $500. 25 Years Ago April 29, 1971 Store Changes Hands: One of Mattituck's oldest and best -known business establishments, the Duryee Hard- ware Store on Pike Street and Love Lane, is to change hands on the first of May. The present owner, John Duryee, has sold the store and property to Justice of the Peace Mar- tin Suter and Henry Raynor, manager of accounting service for Long Island Oyster Farms. The business; established in 1904 by the late William Duryee, was then located in a new store near the Long Island Rail Road at Westphalia Road. In 1925 Mr. Duryee built the present store. Mr. Duryee was assisted at both stores by his brother, P. Harvey Duryee, and his nephew, John, who later became manager. His wife, Marion, was also active in the affairs of the business. In June 1968, John became sole owner. He recalls that he is now completing 52 years of service, and wishes to say that it has been a most interesting experience. Safe Roads Rally For Members, Funds Southold Citizens for Safe Roads (SCSR) will hold a membership rally and fund - raiser between 5 and 7 p.m. Saturday, May 11, at the Cinnamon Tree restaurant in Greenport. The group seeks to limit the increas- ing traffic created by Cross Sound Ferry since the opening of Connecticut's Foxwoods Casino. All are welcome; the suggested dona- tion is $25. There will be snacks and a cash bar.