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July 23, 1992 - Do Not Disturb: It's Nesting Season6A • The Suffolk Times • July 23, 1992 Do Not Disturb.n It's N Season By Paul Stoutenburgh By now most birds have completed their nesting ritual and we're starting to see the results in their young following the parent bird begging for food. Usu- ally the begging consists of a FOCUS vibrating or shak- ing of the wings on Nature when held along- side their plump, young bodies. And, of course, when close to the parent bird the mouth is open and calling. Most of us have one or more nesting birds within the gener- al area of our homes, the most common being the robin, starling or perhaps the house sparrow and house finch. Occasionally some will find a more or less uncommon nester but that's get- ting rarer and rarer each year. Every- thing depends on your location. Should you have a grass lawn to the edge of your property and only a few shrubs around your house, you have pretty well limited what can nest there. But if you have let part of your property "go wild," so to speak, you'll enhance the possibilities for nesting birds and wildlife in general. Even this does not guarantee you'll attract our feathered friends, for the native woodland birds are becoming fewer and fewer each year. The reason, of course, is the loss of habitat both in their wintering grounds and in their summer nesting areas. Proof of this is the rapid defolia- tion of the rain forest and the push by man into our own semi - tropical areas of Florida and the neighboring lands and islands. Most native birds are defi- nitely on the decline. Used to Collect Eggs The nests and eggs of birds have al- ways fascinated people. I'll bet some of you can remember in the olden days when it was fashionable to collect birds' eggs. At that time there were no laws to protect birds and many a nest was robbed of its eggs to add to one's collection. Some of these collections are still sitting up in someone's attic, now collecting dust. That's too bad, for they could be an important teaching tool in today's classrooms where only pictures must suffice now. Birds often abandon nests when they have been disturbed by man and yet others "stick tight" to the extent that one can almost touch the bird without it getting off the nest. The problem with people continually looking in on a nest to see how it is doing is that we Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh HummiNuDIND —we see less and less of this tiny hummer. This one ran into a picture window and luckily was only temporarily stunned. attract predators to the scene. The bird fluttering off with sharp alarm calls often draws the attention of crows, grackles, squirrels and other nest rob- bers. Also, our continual footsteps to the nest lead the marauding and inquisitive opos- `I've see n sum or raccoon right to his evening meal. So of these h when you discover a nest try to keep away from it birds whenever possible. Many's the time birds nest right can only under your nose, for when birds are how the nesting their whole y attitude changes. The noisy blue jay a signed becomes silent and g can nest and go about its feeding of young in your evergreens without you even knowing they are there. A robin's nest in a tree over your driveway is not found out until the leaves are off the trees, yet the robin had raised its young without you even noticing it. There are always those nests that are discovered and when we look at them we wonder at their beauty and intricacy. many Actually, because each bird has its own umming- special way of build- ing and what it uses for building materials, 1 nests can be identified with a little study. There are even field marvel at guides to help you dis- cover what bird actu- ally built that particu- e de- lar nest. Right here on the 9 East End we have one bUilt. of the largest nests and one of the small- est nests being built; from the huge osprey nest that can spread over six feet in diameter and weigh a quarter of a ton 'r d nests and n 78 Years Ago July 25, 1914 Army Worm Marching: The army worm has struck Orient, East Marion, Greenport, Shelter Island and other east end towns, doing no end of damage to many gardens and lawns. At Orient the sweet corn crop is ruined in many gardens, the worms eating off the young growth, and devouring the leaves of the more developed corn. The same condition exists all along the line. The worms are here by the mil - lions.At Shelter Island a number of lawns are ruined and gardens devastated. Others escaped. Over on the south side of Long Island, similar conditions exist. From up State come reports that the worms are destroying lawns and gardens at an alarming rate. Twenty Pound Lobster: A Southold Report says that a twenty pound lobster was caught by Theodore Hoinkis, proprietor of the Southold Hotel, off Horton's Point. 50 Years Ago July 23, 1942 Fire at Oyster Co.: About ten o'clock this morning (Thursday) a one -story storage shed on the property of the J. & J. W. Elsworth Oyster Co., at the foot of Sixth Street, to the tiny hummingbird's nest that sits upon a limb and looks for all the world like a mere knot on the limb. I've seen many of these hummingbird's nests and I can only marvel at how they're designed and built. And yes, I've seen the young. Imagine a baby bird the size of a honey bee ... not the big, black - and- yellow bumblebee but fhe small, brownish honey bee. Speaking of hummingbirds, a good friend of mine called the other day and said, "Guess what? I've got a hum- mingbird with two nests." Well, having a hummingbird in your backyard is pretty good, but to have one with two nests is almost unheard of. Sure enough when I stopped by there were the two nests; one family had just left the nest and the other was just hatching. The nest of our ruby- throated hummingbird is no larger than a silver dollar and is meticulously made up of plant fibers with lichens taken from a tree and at- tached to its sides with spider web. A more perfect camouflage would be hard to imagine. With the bird sitting on it, few if any would ever detect it. The ones I've detected came from the fact that I was unknowingly so close to the nest the bird attacked me, telling me the nest was close at hand. Imagine a tiny hummingbird attacking some- thing as large as a man. I was particularly glad to hear about this hummingbird for I had almost given up hope of seeing a nesting bird again. Years ago they were quite com- mon but of late we've seen fewer and fewer and then when I did see one it was only when they were passing through on migration. Perhaps this one with its two nests was trying to make up for lost time. Many birds do have two broods and sometimes even three broods, but not simultaneously. As we move through the season we'll soon forget about nesting birds and their young. Then as the leaves fall from the trees and reveal hidden nests, we'll realize once again the wonder and ingenuity of our feathered friends and can only hope they'll weather the hazards of migration and be with us again next year. was gutted by fire. It is thought that the fire may have start- ed in a huge pile of jute sacks which are used by the compa- ny in the fall and winter to ship oysters in the shell. The flames also spread to the attached two -story building which is used during the winter months as an oyster culling shop. A large quantity of oyster sacks, barrels and tin containers in which opened oysters are shipped were damaged by the fire. 25 Years Ago July 28, 1967 Church Celebration: The celebration of the 250th anniversary of the building of the First Meeting House in Orient is now part of the history of the Orient Congrega- tional Church, but the occasion will long be remembered by those who participated as one of the most stimulating week- ends in Orient. At the Saturday night banquet honoring the fifty -year members every seat was taken, and at both the Sunday morning service and Sunday Night Forum every pew was filled. An opportunity for the seven returning for- mer ministers and their wives to meet each other was given them when they were entertained at tea by Mr. and Mrs. E. Kenneth Tabor, Saturday afternoon. Following this there were informal gatherings on the parsonage lawn before din- ner where they were able to renew the friendships made when they served this parish.