May 11, 1989 - Building Blocks of the Barrier BeachFocus on Nature
Building Blocks of the Barrier Beach
By Paul Stoutenburgh
It's easy to think of spring when all about
you is green and blossoming, but out on the
ocean beach and along the inner bay things
still have winter's look. Of course, the sparkle
and dazzle of the ocean waves could easily
remind you of warmer days, but then that too
can be shattered by a chilling wave that
catches your foot letting you know all too well
that summer is not yet here.
The drier dune grass has done its contin-
uous job of building the dunes by catching the
moving sand. The wonder of dune grass is its
ability to stay alive when it looks as though
it is being smothered by these moving sands.
On the contrary, it shoots up even though bur-
ied and starts anew as soon as the warm
sands return. No wonder this "ammophila"
is called the building block of a barrier
beach.
Wind has sculptured the sand in a hundred
thousand different designs. Behind each
piece of driftwood, each shell or bit of debris
a new form is shaped. Along the dunes, rip-
ples of colored sand and wave -like patterns
created by the wind catch the eye. Blades of
grass, still holding on from a tapped root be-
low, swing in circles penciling the sand like
a school boy's compass. The beach walker's
day is never dull when sand and wind are left
to play.
The Miracle of the Marsh
In back of the dunes, across the still winter -
looking marsh, the bay spreads out in calm
and quiet. A lone bayman in his colorful gear
works the bay. He knows the seasons change.
He remembers when the frigid winds blew
out of the northwest and the ice formed on
his boat. Today is paradise and there's no
better place to be.
The marsh grass, like dense grass of the
ocean dunes, has its role to play in the
scheme of things. Winter's ice and snow and
flooding tides have broken down this once -
pleasing greenery and now new fuel has been
added to the bay's nutrient factory. This end-
less cycle of life-death-life and then decay is
what creates these nutrients that each day,
with the changing tide, flush out into our bays
and creeks. Here the soup of life is picked up
from the marsh by the microscopic orga-
nisms that make up our rich waters. From
then on the bigger eat the smaller in an end-
less cycle til the fish and shellfish you and I
eat are set before us. It's a complicated and
yet wonderful world once we understand it.
Looking across the marsh to a narrow strip
of sand, my eye catches something black and
white. I've seen some scaup or broadbill, as
the gunners call them, in the ponds along the
side of the road. Perhaps it's a sick one and
it has crawled to the beach to die ... but no, my
glasses clear the mystery. It's an oyster-
catcher. This handsome shore bird with its
long flat red bill and noisy call is a bird we're
seeing more and more of throughout our
area. Audubon's Plate 144 shows this bird at
its best. It nests everywhere but the North
Shore and each year there is new hope we'll
find one.
The oystercatchcr's nest is usually well
above the high -tide mark and is a mere shal-
low depression where it lays its beautifully
mottled eggs in the sandy gravel. Like those
of most shore birds its eggs are well camou-
flaged and it takes a trained eye to spot them.
Once hatched nature will provide the chick
with a coat of down camouflage to help it
along its hazardous road to survival. Now the
ball of fluff will blend into the sandy beach.
A Fine Musical
(Continued from Page B1)
best, most tasteful lighting I've seen at the
John Drew in many, many months.
All in all, this is just the right kind of en-
tertainment for these lighthearted spring ev-
enings, and reason enough for Sheldon
Harnick's friends out here to gang up on him
' - - ":— "-v -- R.nodwav "Fiorello! "
Drifting sand and an array of patterns make a walk along the ocean an endless adventure. Further
up the beach the dune grass catches the wind -blown sand and builds the dunes.
—Paul Stoutenburgh Photo
At the sign of danger it will freeze in its
tracks, bill pointed straight ahead, body
pressed into the warm sand to escape detec-
tion by the ever - marauding gulls, crows or
hawks that in nature's world seem always to
be hungry.
Willet Seen Along Bay
As we drive west heading for the park at
Shinnecock, my eye catches a large shore
bird. This time there are no bold black -and-
white colors but a more mottled brown bird
comes up in my glasses. When it flies, there
is a large patch of white in its wings and tail.
Often birds are unknowingly flushed from
their nest by man. If they are kept away from
their eggs too long in cold weather the eggs
can die, and if it's too hot, they can literally
he cooked. Add this to the problem of the ma-
rauding raccoons, which seem to be increas-
ing each year, and the stealing of eggs by
gulls plus the uncertainty of storm tides that
might wash their eggs away, and it is easy
to see how precarious this time of their life
can be.
Another nester along our south shore—the
willet. Both of these birds nest on the ground
and are exposed to many problems at this
most vital time of their life.
Cast Named for 'The Women'
Tri -Light Productions, Inc., the company
that produced last season's musical revue
"Cole Through the Night," has announced
the cast for its upcoming production of Clare
Booth Luce's "The Women." The classic
comedy, which revolves around love and in-
trigue among the upper crust, will be
presented at the John Drew Theater in East
Hampton beginning Sunday, May 28. A spe-
cial benefit performance for the East Hamp-
ton High School Arts Scholarship Fund has
been set for Saturday, May 27, at 8 p.m. Tick-
ets for this special performance are $25 and
reservations are being taken at 267 -7652.
There are 23 women in the cast, represent-
ing eight communities on the South Fork,
plus one resident of New York City. Featured
players are Toni Munna of Riverhead as
Mary, the wronged wife; Barbara Dello Joio
of East Hampton as her mother, Mrs. More-
head; Veronica Kehoe of Montauk as Crys-
tal, the other woman. Judith Hubbard of East
Hampton will play Jane, one of Mary's close
friends. A less benign friend, Peggy, will be
played by Pati Sands of New York. Serena
Seacat of East Hampton plays Sylvia; Vay
David, also of East Hampton, is Edith; and
Katie Meckert of Montauk has the role of the
Countess De Lage.
Other members of the cast are Mary Fox
of Sag Harbor, Rori U. Finazzo of Montauk,
Karin Bertucci of Amagansett, Andrea Dis-
tenfeld of Water Mill, Debbie Kins of South-
ampton, Mary Miller of Remsenburg,
Monica Harris of Montauk, Debbie Kruehl of
Riverhead, Gloria Smith of Southampton and
Robin Streck, Eleanora Bufano, Elizabeth
Sarfati, Rebecca Libath, Frances Leslie,
Rosemary Sheehan and Kristy Wood, all of
East Hampton.
"The Women" will be performed on Sun-
day, May 28, at 8 p.m. with a special Me-
morial Day performance on Monday, May
29, at 6 p.m. It also will be performed on the
two following weekends, June 24 and 9-11,
Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m., Sun-
days at 6 p.m. Tickets for all performances
will be $12; senior citizens and Guild Hall
members pay $10. Reservations may be
made by calling 267 -7652. Tickets also will be
available at the box office.
"The Women," which opened at the Ethel
Barrymore Theatre in New York City in the
winter of 1936, featured, among others, Ilka
Chase, Ruth Hammond, Doris Day, Arlene
Francis and Marjorie Main,
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