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April 04, 1996 - Birds Are Singing The Song of SpringGA • The Suffolk Times • April 4, 1996 Birds Are Singing The Song of Spring While down here in southwest Florida, I've been keeping a list of all the birds I see, Each one is like an old friend, bring- ing back memories of a special place or a special time when I remember seeing it back home. Some everyone will recog- nize. Others perhaps only those who fol- low the birds more closely will recognize. With all the time we've spent down here, I've only seen one common star- ling. Home he's constantly raiding our feeder and making a com- plete pest of himself. Whenever I think of star- lings I always have the vision of seeing them by the thousands over on the south shore, where they live off the feeding troughs at the duck farms. In the evening they all roost — together in the tall phragmities out on one of the bird islands in Moriches Bay. In the early morning they emerge in one great swarm, looking from the distance like a huge column of smoke as they disappear to their own special duck farm for breakfast. If you have these aggressive fellows at your feeder, look at their bills. They have already turned yellow — a true sign of spring and a breeding season not far off. From the lowly starling let's think about the noblest of all birds, our na- tional emblem, the bald eagle. It's one of the eight hawks I've seen down here. I photographed one of these magnificent birds once out at Orient right near the yacht club one cold wintry day. They are seen on the island more often now, and when they are I might get a telephone call from an excited observer telling me about this huge bird he or she has just seen. Here this handsome white- headed bird has its nest out in back of our camp- site in a huge live oak. You can see why I've become so attached to this area for our winter break. ing for insects or lizards or a small snake. I remember photographing a nest- ing pair that had its nest in one of the buildings at our highway department's headquarters in Peconic. With all that was going on, it paid little attention and brought up its young to take their place in the world. We have the universal soarer, the red - tailed hawk, here with its smaller cousin, the red - shouldered hawk, who does not soar as high or as graceful- ly as the red -tail. It's a more deliberate hawk, dropping down on its prey from a perch on a fence post or dead limb of a tree. The red - tailed hawk has become one of our more common hawks on the East End and is most easily identified by its high sweeping actions and reddish tail. I always associate these big hawks with my windmill back home, where I often see them resting atop the big fan that's locked tight in place for the winter. There's no need for an introduction or commentary about our osprey, or fish hawk. By now everyone has adopted their own special nesting pair. The un- told story of the return of ospreys to our creeks and bays did not just happen. It was through the dedicated work of peo- ple like Bob Gloria and Tim Gray and others who built the platforms, lugged the poles and dug the holes that created the manmade structures of osprey plat- forms that lured these magnificent birds back. There's something special about people like that just like there is some- thing special about our ospreys. Two other hawks I've seen here are the swallow- tailed kite that gets its name from its two long tail feathers and the caracara, a large scavenging hawk, both rarely seen over Long Island. If either were spotted it would immediately be put on the "Rare Bird Alert," where birders call in to find out where the latest rarities have shown up. Seeing Ortona Lock tells you there is a water course nearby; it is natural to find night herons and great blues spending the winter in the balmy south here. I remember photographing night herons Focus on Nature by Paul Stoutenburgh The Hawk Cousins We also have the harrier or marsh hawk that works low over the prairie each day here just as it does each winter over our open fields back home. Then there's the little sparrow hawk or kestrel, who perches on the telephone lines look- bet's book Back 75 Years Ago April 1, 1921 Greenport News: The old Wells & Butler carpenter shop, that stood for many years at the corner of Carpenter and East Front streets, and recently purchased by F.M. Claudio, was moved this week to a lot adjoining the old race track. The building will be enlarged. One part will be used as a bottling factory for all kinds of soft drinks and the other part will be used by Samuel B. Taylor for wood saw- ing in connection with his coal business. Bury & Payne, who by their recent purchase of the Mont- gomery property, now own the entire run of land from Fourth to Fifth street next to the railroad tracks, plan to start work within the next 10 days on a railroad siding, which is to have a four -car capacity. The cars will be unloaded and the delivery carts loaded by electrical devices, and every- thing will be put in with the labor - saving object. 50 Years Ago April 5, 1946 Free Chest X -Rays: The members of the Greenport Fire Department, hospital auxiliary and other civic and fra- ternal organizations in the community are cooperating in the free chest X -ray program which will be held at the Greenport school on Wednesday, April 10. Chest X -rays will be given free of charge to all persons who apply over Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh MEADOWLARK —A canary's yellow is pale compared to the brilliant yel- low breast of this ground feeder. A bird of the open pastures upstate finds few fields to its liking here on Long Island. The exception is the great salt marshes of Orient, where it can usually be flushed. over 40 years ago in a huge rookery in Riverhead in what is now the Indian Is- land Golf Course. I set up a tent -like blind, atop two long ladders, and spent a wonderful day there photographing these night stalkers. The locals called them quawks because of their call. The great blue reminds me of a photo essay I did of one poor individual that died in the freezing cold of winter in Orient. I watched it each day sink lower and `They're lower in the icy water until one day it was but way, a collection of wet feathers. It had paid its dues for not heading south. Now that line of genes will no longer carry the temptation to stay behind when everyone else heads south. The meadowlark on my list is a bird I've always wanted to photograph, espe- cially after I read a Cornell University article by Dr. Allen in which he delved into the life history of this bird. I re- member he photographed it atop his hat he had momentarily put over the bird's nest. We see this bright, yellow- breasted ground feeder occasionally in open fields, but as the open fields are becom- ing harder and harder to find so is the bird. One place you can find them and hopefully you will always be able to find them is the great salt marshes of Orient. The one out by Pete's Neck is my favorite place and on every Christmas Bird Count we can be sure of finding them on their there. Here in the south I they run around on the w o n lawns of the camp- ground. I can't believe how tame they are. You can almost walk up to them before they take flight in a quail -like manner. I've never found their nest, for they light some distance away from it and then run through the dry grass and dive into it, hidden deep in the natural -grown cover. The brightness of this bird's yellow is hard to describe. It seems to radiate and the bright black V on its breast only seems to magnify its brilliance. Slowly, we are losing some of our winter visitors. Flocks of robins have been congregating along with the tree swallows. The kildeer that have hunted the lawns for months down here have already left along with flocks of grackles and red wings. They're on their way, folks, and so your world up there will soon be radiating with their song and beauty. What a wonderful world we live in, how much we all look forward to spring. Nothing can stop it, so enjoy it to its fullest when it arrives. folks 15 years of age. Physicians throughout the North Fork have approved this program and are actively supporting it. "The opportunity afforded to the people of the North Fork by the mass X -ray program should have 100 percent response. Such a proce- dure has tremendous value in diagnosis of all stages of tuberculosis," says A. William Olson, M.D. Classified Advertisement: I have an interesting selection of homes of the older type in prices from $3,000 to $4,000. One of these has a very large plot of land near the center of Greenport Village. Henry B. Moore, 302 Main St., Greenport. 25 Years Ago April 1, 1971 Don't Touch That Whale: On Tuesday, March 30, the world's endangered wildlife got a new lease on life thanks to an order signed by Henry Diamond, Commission- er of Environmental Conservation, which prohibits the import, transport, sale or possession of nearly 40 endan- gered species or any part, such as the hide, fur or feathers, except under permit from the conservation department. Eight of the endangered species listed are found in New York State and adjacent waters: bald eagle, American pere- grine falcon, blue whale, humpback whale, Atlantic right whale, Indiana bat, shortnose sturgeon and blue pike. Learn to Steer 'Little Jennie' SOUTH JAMESPORT —The Mar- itime Heritage Society will sponsor a rive -day course on taking the 112 -year- old, 86 -foot -long bugeye ketch Little Jennie to sea in early July. Information will include navigational techniques, marine diesel maintenance and operation, and marlinspike seamanship. Students will hoist the sales and stand watch at the wheel. Tuition will be $250 for the entire course. Classes, which will meet at the boat dock at East Creek, will run daily from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. For more information, call 369 -2020.