January 13, 1994 - Sneaking a Peek at Wildlife, in Winter4A • The Suffolk Times • January 13, 1994
Sneaking a Peek at Wildlife, in Winter
By Paul Stoutenburgh
What a way to start the New Year —
15- and 20- degree temperatures with
snow — a real winter wonderland. I had
to walk out and experience the silence of
snow falling, that magical time when
you wish you could step back and grab
an old Flexible Flyer sled and join the
kids down on the back hill.
As I opened the big sliding glass door
and stepped outside, a whirl of noisy
wings took to the
Focus on of 205 rmourning
Nature doves had taken
off from under the
.picnic table where
they were feeding on birdseed. The snow
was halted from spreading its blanket of
white there and the freshly spread seed
made our patio a mecca for all. White -
throated sparrows with flashy white
stripes on their heads and white bibs
under their chins seemed to almost out-
number all. There were some song spar-
rows feeding in their typical fashion of
hop, scratch, pick, flip their tail and then
hop, scratch, pick, etc.
This wintry, snowy weather brought
out the snow birds of the north, those
dapper little juncos dressed in their grey -
topped suits with white underparts. They
are practically never found in the trees
except to escape danger and they, too,
appreciated the seed on the ground.
Then, of course, the cardinals, chick-
adees and titmice flew in to get the sun-
flower seed that was mixed in with the
wild birdseed. Of course, the blue jays
came in to fill up, and I do mean fill up.
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They pick and
store, pick and
store until one
would think
their cheeks
would burst.
Then, off they
go to hide their
treasure under
the bark or in a
crevice of a tree
for later treats.
Blue jays are
big and cocky
and carry their
role of domi-
nance to the
hilt. All the
smaller birds
scatter when
they move in.
Up on the
suet feeders we
have our regu-
lars: the hairy
and downy
woodpeckers,
chickadees,
nuthatches and
the big, red -bel-
lied woodpeck-
er. I remember
when this hand-
some woodpecker first visited our East
End. I'd heard a strange call and traced it
down to a male excavating a hole in a
dead limb of a tree. Was I ever excited,
having never seen the bird before. Now
almost 45 years later this bird has
become a familiar sight to those who
feed with suet. I particularly enjoy him
for we have hickory trees throughout our
woods and one particular tree in the
front yard holds its nuts longer than the
others, so the red - bellied enjoys a win-
ter's supply of nuts. Every once in a
while I'll see it flying away with a big
nut in its beak, only to wedge it in a
crevice of a tree where he will pound
away on it until he gets the fruit out.
Once out on the patio I buttoned up
my coat and headed out where our two
beef cows started calling even before I
got there. They were waiting for their
ration of hay. When I did get out there
they were already in the barn waiting,
their broad backs covered with over an
inch of snow. Their heavy coats of win-
1 -09 t i V 9 . 0 t . • /. 9 i. .. M w O a - - n -1 .' w -- .
Photo by Paul Stoutenbuegh
SNOW OF 194 —The thick winter coat of most animals insulates them well from winter's cold and
snow.
ter insulate them perfectly. No sooner
was the first pitchfork of hay thrown
over than their munching began. It was
noticeably warmer inside even with the
barn door open, for the huge bodies gave
off a tremendous amount of heat.
Next I had to knock the ice out of their
buckets and fill them with fresh water.
Five to 10 gallons of water is nothing for
them to consume and it's used up by
evening when I have to refeed and water
again.
Trip to the Creek
The snow is five to six inches deep
now and I head for a walk down to the
dock where there is still some open
water. The long driveway through the
trees is a roadway of white. I'll be the
first down it. I stop by the small, five -
by -25 -foot pond my son and I built some
25 years ago. It serves as a huge birdbath
in the woods for birds during the sum-
mer. To keep the mosquitoes under con-
trol I put half a dozen goldfish in and
they do the job. Now it's iced over and
Christmas Bird Count Tally
Here are the results of the 1993
Orient Christmas Bird Count.
Red - throated Loon, 7; Common Loon, 218;
Horned Grebe, 293; Red - necked Grebe, 1;
Great Cormorant, 6; Double- crested Cormorant,
17; Great Blue Heron, 69; Black- crowned
Night- Heron, 1; Mute Swan, 99; Canada Goose,
1716; Green - winged Teal, I; American Black
Duck, 1441; Mallard, 465; Northern Pintail,
109; Gadwall, 51; American Wigeon, 61.
Canvasback, 12; Redhead, 17; Greater
Scaup, 4027; Lesser Scaup, 4; Harlequin Duck,
2; Oldsquaw, 2525; Black Scoter, 182; Surf
Scoter, 998; White - winged Scoter, 7461;
Common Goldeneye, 1263; Bufflehead, 800;
Red - breasted Merganser, 943; Ruddy Duck,
200; Northern Harrier, 10; Sharp- shinned
Hawk, 12.
Cooper's Hawk, 6; Red - tailed Hawk, 34;
American Kestrel, 12; Merlin, 2; Ring - necked
Pheasant, 9; Northern Bobwhite, 13; Clapper
Rail, 2; Black- bellied Plover, 3; Greater
Yellowlegs, 7; Ruddy Turnstone, 54; Dunlin,
11; Common Snipe, 1; American Woodcock, 1;
Laughing Gull, 1; Bonaparte's Gull, 10; Ring -
billed Gull, 569.
Herring Gull, 4462; Great Black- backed
Gull, 372; Rock Dove, 80; Mourning Dove,
786; Common Barn-Owl, 1; Eastern Screech-
Owl, 22; Great Horned Owl, 8; Belted
Kingfisher, 52; Red - bellied Woodpecker, 62;
Yellow - bellied Sapsucker, 7; Downy
Woodpecker, 79; Hairy Woodpecker, 24;
Northern Flicker, 231; Horned Lark, 3.
Blue Jay, 562; American Crow, 466; Black -
capped Chickadee, 477; Tufted Titmouse, 126;
Red - breasted Nuthatch, 15; White - breasted
Nuthatch, 88; Brown Creeper, I; Carolina
Wren, 261; Winter Wren, 3; Golden- crowned
Kinglet, 4; Ruby- crowned Kinglet, I; Eastern
Bluebird, 13; Hermit Thrush, 14; Grey- cheeked
Thrush, I.
American Robin, 124; Gray Catbird, 24;
Northern Mockingbird, 159; Brown Thrasher,
4; Cedar Waxwing, 79; European Starling,
6665; Yellow - rumped Warbler, 362; Northern
Cardinal, 250; Rufous -sided Towhee, 19;
American Tree Sparrow, 48; Field Sparrow, 86;
Sharp- tailed Sparrow, l; Fox Sparrow, 2; Song
Sparrow, 540.
Swamp Sparrow, 21; White - throated
Sparrow, 476; White- crowned Sparrow, 12;
Dark -eyed Junco, 157; Snow Bunting, 25; Red -
winged Blackbird, 66; Eastern Meadowlark, 32;
Common Grackle, 67; Brown - headed Cowbird,
80; House Finch, 697; Pine Siskin, 2; American
Goldfinch, 49; House Sparrow, 289.
Total Species: 102. Total Individuals:
40,070.
snowcovered. In the ooze of the deepest
part, the fish lie barely alive, their heart-
beat hardly noticeable. Yet when spring
arrives they are the first to emerge, alert
for the slightest movement that means
food.
The driveway has eroded down
through time so that in some places its
stony wall holds back the two to three
feet of earth. When we first built here
the old farm road that headed to the
fields in back became our driveway. It
now winds 300 feet through our woods.
I move cautiously across the road at the
end of our driveway to where I can look
up the creek. Cedar trees hide me from
view. The tide is out and in the little
stream that flows ducks are feeding. I
watch in silence as the snow falls. Some
of it has accumulated on their backs. All
are busy with the most important task of
survival, finding food. A lone seagull
plagues them by trying to steal their
prize of food, whenever large enough to
be tempting.
Further in back in an open spot a lone
great blue heron stalks for killies that are
active in the open water. At the head and
springs of the creek, groundwater seeps
out with temperatures in the ,50s. Here
killies can winter and move about and it
is here the great blue heron hunts.
All was silent; the snow falling down,
the ducks and heron searching for food,
and I was but an onlooker. I backed
away slowly and left the scene as if I'd
never been there. Yet, as I look back at
the big snow of '94, the thing I will
remember most will be that snowy win-
ter day down by the creek.
On Lyme Disease
MATTITUCK— Stephen Nos -
trom, director of Lyme Borrelia
Outreach, will present a program on
Lyme disease on Monday, Jan. 17,
at Mattituck Hills Winery. The pro-
gram begins at 6:30 p.m. and will
be catered by Jamesport Country
Kitchen.
To make reservations, at $17 per
person, call Jim Hinsch at 298-
5333.