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June 09, 1994 - It Keeps Getting Worse for the TernsJune 9, 1994 • The Suffolk.Times • SA It Keeps Getting Worse for the Terns By Paul Stoutenburgh As many of you who have traveled know, it takes time to get over jet lag. We, of course, didn't fly but neverthe- less took time to catch up and then there were boxes of mail to be read, bills to be paid and the reorganizing of our lives once more at the beach. I must say there's no better place to do it than where we are. We eat out on the deck or on the little porch overlooking the marsh in back, all depending on which way the wind is blowing. Tonight we watched the tiny, endan- Focus on Nature gered least terns out in front in the bay as they worked along the beach looking for small fish. They would hover 10 to 20 feet above the water, their small, pointed wings pumping feverishly as they looked from above. Then every- thing would collapse as they plummeted down into the water, there seemingly to disappear for a split second, only to rise, shake and fly off to try again. What they were feeding on I can only guess. Per- haps spearing or sand eels; I couldn't tell. But when one was successful I knew it was silvery for I would see the bird fly back and forth with the small fish shining in its bill. More often than not it would fly down the beach to where an other tern was patiently waiting. It would land, walk up to the other tern and offer the catch to its newly won mate. This offer- ing is just part of the complicated nest- ing ritual birds go through at this time of year. I liken it to the boyfriend who brings a box of candy to his sweetheart. Each year we see less and less of these small, white terns. There's another larger tern called the common tern we also see in our nearby waters, but it's not quite as endangered as this small least tern. One of the main reasons these terns are having such a hard time is that they nest on sandy beaches, the same sandy beaches that you and I enjoy and therein lies the problem. Creatures of Habit Often unknowingly we chase these timid birds away and like most birds they can't change their nesting habits. It's built into their genes and they can't move into a marsh or into a tree or some other nesting site. Sandy beaches are their only choice. When I was a kid there were plenty of sandy beaches for both birds and man, but today it's a dif- ferent story. Not only are there more people on our beaches, but there are more dogs, feral cats and now even man's machines that travel on our beaches. Add this to toe upset balance of nature with its surplus of raccoons and crows on the prowl, and Food Distribution GREENPORT —Free food for low - income pregnant women, postpartum mothers and children up to age 6 is de- livered monthly by a Catholic Charities mobile van.. The van visits North Fork Head Start at Sixth and Front streets on the third Friday of the month between 2 and 3 p.m. Recipients must meet income guide- lines and not be on the WIC program. For more information, call 477 -1511. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh LEAST TERN- -For the next two to three months these small, endangered terns are going to be trying to nest on a few of our beaches, so please stay clear of their nesting sites. you can see the problem ground- nesting birds are having. After all, a clutch of eggs or some baby chicks are like ham and eggs to them. The same predicament holds true -;tor the piping plover, that small shore bird we occasionally see running along the high -tide mark of our beaches. It, like the terns, spends its winters in the far south, the Caribbean and the shores of South America. Instinct brings it here on migration each year to nest. With its extensive shores, Long Island acts as a magnet to them. It, too has been reduced in numbers so that it is also on the endangered list, but unlike terns that nest in groups or colonies, it is a solitary nester and one that often goes unnoticed by many. Its food is not the spearing or sand eels that the terns enjoy but beach- dwelling sand flea, bugs, tiny eggs and small crustaceans, anything to be found along the tidal edge. To show how innocent we are and how unknowingly we move into these birds' nesting areas, let me relate what my daughter, Peg, told me just this week. She teaches fifth grade in one of our local schools and is active in outdoor education, part of which is beach and bay ecology. She relates how just last week she took a class to one of our nearby beaches where she was giving a lesson to the group as they sat on the warm sand in front of her. As the class settled down and she started her lesson a small bird moved up i ■ __i, ftwwtm 82 Years Ago June 8, 1912 New Ferry Built: The new ferry boat "South Ferry" has been practically completed at the Albertson yard in Greenport and expects to be ready for business the last of the week. The boat will be used between South Ferry and Sag Harbor. Clifford Y. Clark is the owner. Orient News: The enthusiasm over the proposed new Sound road has faded away. There has been considerable opposition to the scheme, which, it is believed, will be abandoned, for the present. Shelter Island News: House cleaning days are here in all their glory. A young miss called recently at one of the cottages that had been newly decorated. Admiring a particu- lar paper that adorned the walls, she asked what the design was. When informed it was an Oriental design, she inno- cently remarked, "Don't they have pretty paper in Orient ?" 50 Years Ago June 99 1944 Heroic War Bond Drive: Without waiting for the opening of the Bond Drive on Monday the children of the New Suffolk School set their own quota and then set a pat - tem for all of Southold Town. It was an inspiring perfor- mance. A thousand dollars for the purchase of a Jeep was the into the area. She recognized it as a piping plover and much to her and the children's delight it moved up within 10 feet of them and proceeded to sit down on a clutch of eggs that no one had even realized was there. Of course, it made the perfect lesson on how difficult it is for these birds to nest with all the beach activity going on about -them. A Meaningful Lesson To add to the problem, only a few feet away were volleyball posts from last year just waiting for the coming season's action. As the class got ready to leave, the bird became excited and left the nest, dragging its wing in a typical broken -wing act. Here was another lesson on how the birds lure predators away from their nest. The idea is that the predator, man or beast, will follow the bird when it acts like it has a broken wing, only to have it fly back to the nest after it has lured it far enough away. It took a long time for many of the students to see the eggs because they were so well camouflaged in a small depression in the sand. The Nature Conservancy out on Mashomack on Shelter Island has a team of "tern wardens" who go out where necessary and put protective coverings around these nests on well - used beaches. Also, string fences are put around nesting areas with appropriate signs to keep people out. It's little to ask that we share our beaches with these delicate summer visitors. After all, when you think of it, they were here long before any of us were around. Probably the Indians knew them and pilfered their eggs, but that didn't even put a dent in their production when compared to the pressures of today. Unlike today, in those pre - colonial days raccoons were kept in check by natural predators. So let's hope people and birds can live together on our beaches and when we see signs saying, "nesting area," or strings around an area, even though we sometimes can't see the nesting birds, we should stay away for their sake. Remember, they are part of this wonderful world we call the East End. announced goal, but how could such a tiny school raise it? The youngsters, and there are only 42 of them, and their teachers had their own ideas. They worked for weeks rehearsing an entertainment which they gave on June 1 and to which they had invited all the citizens of New Suffolk. When the doors opened the "thermometer" showed that the kids had pooled their savings in War Stamps and E Bonds and had on hand a total of $561. Gil Horton was on guard at the door and as no one could get by him without buying either a handful of War Stamps or a sheaf of bonds, it was soon clear that the thermometer was not nearly tall enough. It wasn't, because when the show was all over, the final figures showed that the children of New Suffolk had sold $2,161.50 worth of War Bonds. 25 Years Ago June 13, 1969 Avoid Unwanted Ads: Postmaster C.N. Cooper, in a reminder to all mail patrons, stated today that they can take steps to "curb pandering advertisements." The Pandering Advertisement Statute gives individuals the right to decide that an ad is "erotically arousing or sexu- ally provocative." The Post Office Department has prepared a pamphlet "How You Can Curb Pandering Advertise- ments," which is available at your local post office. W. It MM ., ` 11 N` ,. 0— r�� a IW�\ Al �z Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh LEAST TERN- -For the next two to three months these small, endangered terns are going to be trying to nest on a few of our beaches, so please stay clear of their nesting sites. you can see the problem ground- nesting birds are having. After all, a clutch of eggs or some baby chicks are like ham and eggs to them. The same predicament holds true -;tor the piping plover, that small shore bird we occasionally see running along the high -tide mark of our beaches. It, like the terns, spends its winters in the far south, the Caribbean and the shores of South America. Instinct brings it here on migration each year to nest. With its extensive shores, Long Island acts as a magnet to them. It, too has been reduced in numbers so that it is also on the endangered list, but unlike terns that nest in groups or colonies, it is a solitary nester and one that often goes unnoticed by many. Its food is not the spearing or sand eels that the terns enjoy but beach- dwelling sand flea, bugs, tiny eggs and small crustaceans, anything to be found along the tidal edge. To show how innocent we are and how unknowingly we move into these birds' nesting areas, let me relate what my daughter, Peg, told me just this week. She teaches fifth grade in one of our local schools and is active in outdoor education, part of which is beach and bay ecology. She relates how just last week she took a class to one of our nearby beaches where she was giving a lesson to the group as they sat on the warm sand in front of her. As the class settled down and she started her lesson a small bird moved up i ■ __i, ftwwtm 82 Years Ago June 8, 1912 New Ferry Built: The new ferry boat "South Ferry" has been practically completed at the Albertson yard in Greenport and expects to be ready for business the last of the week. The boat will be used between South Ferry and Sag Harbor. Clifford Y. Clark is the owner. Orient News: The enthusiasm over the proposed new Sound road has faded away. There has been considerable opposition to the scheme, which, it is believed, will be abandoned, for the present. Shelter Island News: House cleaning days are here in all their glory. A young miss called recently at one of the cottages that had been newly decorated. Admiring a particu- lar paper that adorned the walls, she asked what the design was. When informed it was an Oriental design, she inno- cently remarked, "Don't they have pretty paper in Orient ?" 50 Years Ago June 99 1944 Heroic War Bond Drive: Without waiting for the opening of the Bond Drive on Monday the children of the New Suffolk School set their own quota and then set a pat - tem for all of Southold Town. It was an inspiring perfor- mance. A thousand dollars for the purchase of a Jeep was the into the area. She recognized it as a piping plover and much to her and the children's delight it moved up within 10 feet of them and proceeded to sit down on a clutch of eggs that no one had even realized was there. Of course, it made the perfect lesson on how difficult it is for these birds to nest with all the beach activity going on about -them. A Meaningful Lesson To add to the problem, only a few feet away were volleyball posts from last year just waiting for the coming season's action. As the class got ready to leave, the bird became excited and left the nest, dragging its wing in a typical broken -wing act. Here was another lesson on how the birds lure predators away from their nest. The idea is that the predator, man or beast, will follow the bird when it acts like it has a broken wing, only to have it fly back to the nest after it has lured it far enough away. It took a long time for many of the students to see the eggs because they were so well camouflaged in a small depression in the sand. The Nature Conservancy out on Mashomack on Shelter Island has a team of "tern wardens" who go out where necessary and put protective coverings around these nests on well - used beaches. Also, string fences are put around nesting areas with appropriate signs to keep people out. It's little to ask that we share our beaches with these delicate summer visitors. After all, when you think of it, they were here long before any of us were around. Probably the Indians knew them and pilfered their eggs, but that didn't even put a dent in their production when compared to the pressures of today. Unlike today, in those pre - colonial days raccoons were kept in check by natural predators. So let's hope people and birds can live together on our beaches and when we see signs saying, "nesting area," or strings around an area, even though we sometimes can't see the nesting birds, we should stay away for their sake. Remember, they are part of this wonderful world we call the East End. announced goal, but how could such a tiny school raise it? The youngsters, and there are only 42 of them, and their teachers had their own ideas. They worked for weeks rehearsing an entertainment which they gave on June 1 and to which they had invited all the citizens of New Suffolk. When the doors opened the "thermometer" showed that the kids had pooled their savings in War Stamps and E Bonds and had on hand a total of $561. Gil Horton was on guard at the door and as no one could get by him without buying either a handful of War Stamps or a sheaf of bonds, it was soon clear that the thermometer was not nearly tall enough. It wasn't, because when the show was all over, the final figures showed that the children of New Suffolk had sold $2,161.50 worth of War Bonds. 25 Years Ago June 13, 1969 Avoid Unwanted Ads: Postmaster C.N. Cooper, in a reminder to all mail patrons, stated today that they can take steps to "curb pandering advertisements." The Pandering Advertisement Statute gives individuals the right to decide that an ad is "erotically arousing or sexu- ally provocative." The Post Office Department has prepared a pamphlet "How You Can Curb Pandering Advertise- ments," which is available at your local post office.