SCAN0001(1) - NAME?Original Sunday Review Sketch by Dennis Puleston, Brookhaven
W
THE SUNDAY REVIEW ■ MAGAZINE
Focus on Nature
by Pau) Stoutenburgh
Cutchogue
SPRING! What does this word
mean to you?
To the Long Island farmer, it
means long days of cutting seed
potatoes and then planting time.
To the gardener, it means the
appearance of the snow drops fol-
lowed by the crocus. To t h e
school boy, spring means getting
out his bat mad ball and glove
or turning his :heel in soft ground
fora game of marbles, while to
the city dweller it means a hectic
week -end in the country where
he starts his annual battle against
the leaves.
Tq those'ah us who take to- the
out-of-doors,' one of the first
signs of spring is the skunk cab-
bage. I am told this plant actually
generates its own heat so that
the surrounding froze: area is
thawed out, allowing the green
and brown leaves to farce 'their
way through the wintry ground.
I have actuially photographed'
these. through a blanket
of snow. Whit`. a miracle plant
this is, for at `tlli$ time the skunk
cabbage is actually blossoming
and the wonders of pollination
are ; t _tug' place. Where t h e
brave' insects that do this miracu-
lous work keep themselves-during
the frigid weather, I do not know.
To those of us who live near
a swampy area, the return of
the Red -wing_ outshines all the
other signs of spring.
All winter long these hardy
birds have been vacationing in
the Sunny South. Some years we
see the flocks of Red -wings re-
turning as early as February; but
the usual time is mid- March. The
exception to this migration pat-
tern is when you see them oc-
casionally through the wJ n t e r.
Hardly a year goes by that they
are not located for, our Christmas
Count.
These spring forecasters have
come early for one, purpose only
and that is %o stake out a nesting
claim for the coming year. This
claim is a realistic one, for stud -
ies „ ve proved that there are
a« = �flundaries to most nesting
W e be the fellow w h o
intr +des into their domain, for
these areas are - jealously guarded
and vigorously defended.
While photographing a female
on•_,a nest in Mattituck, 1 recall
;harassing Jim Crow received
- he nonchalantly wandered
into one of these restricted areas.
I am sure at that particular time
he meant no harm, but to the
Red - wings "there was no explain-
ing to be done. Our National De-
fense could take at lesson from
the attack they put up for in no
time at all Jim Crow was well
on hisway.
The inconspicuous brown- streak-
ed female arrives from- the South
two to three weeks after the male
has locate4 living quarters. She
busys herself mainly with build-
ing her grass nest and rearing
her young Mille this is going on,
our . handsome male merely sits
aloft> noisily announcing the ar-
rival of any intruders.
Sorry to say, many of our wet-
land areas on Long Island are
rapidly, diminishing. There is lit-
tle regard in the public's eye for
this type of habitat. Here we
again find the balance of nature
being tipped by man's draining,
dreing and filling.
, We are. fortunate I re on the
end of. the island -to have vast
marshlands, but this slow creep-
ing malady is eating away these
precious natural resources. I
shudder to think what the next
50 years will do to our country-
side. (Who said 50 years? 10 or
20 will shock you! When t e
marshlands disappear - the Red-
wings will disappear with them.
One of my many ambitions in
photography is to get- on; colored
film this jet -black warrior with
his red epaulets displaying before
his mate. What a_ handsome cour-
tier he is during the mating rites!
Whether it be an aerial display
or one in which he `struts -his
stuff' before the unconcerned fe-
male, makes no difference, for
when he acts his part, there is
no equal. We who have seen this,
have been well rewarded:
Spring is surely here,- fof the
Red -wings have returned.
FIELD OBSERVATIONS: -
Bluebirds (3) March 20 (L Er-
• nest) East Shinnecoek, Canal
Osprey (1) March 21 (P Stouten-
burgh) Indian Neck,;.Peconic
Bald Eagle (1) Still at Carman's
River (P Puleston) •
Gannets — March 25- (A Cooley)
Montauk
Piping Plovers (7) March 25 (a
Cooley) Moriches Inlet
White - Crowned - Sparrow —. March
25 (L Ernest) Southampton
Harbor Seals (3) March 25 (J
Puleston) Harlequin Pt; Montauk
Snow Owl (1) March 27 (W Luce)
Cutchogue Country Club