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February 03, 2005 - Feeding amid a storm's furythe Suffolk Cmes. Official Newspaper of Southold Town Feeding amid a storm's fury Focus on Nature By Paul Stoutenburgh January 23rd — the day of the Great Blizzard of 2005. I just had to sit down and put this raging snowstorm on tape. It is really quite spectacular. From inside our warm living room we get only glimpses of our windmill 300 feet away. Like a ghost ship, it appears and disappears in the raging, swirling snow. What seems so scary, if that's the right word, is the wind that's howling high up in the treetops. The hardest hit at a time like this are the little birds we call ground feeders. With the snow covering the ground, their food supply is cut off. To help them along, many of us put birdseed out, but too often it gets covered over with snow. Yet there's one spot open on our patio, cleared by the wind, and that's where we throw our seed, even though half of it is blown away. With no other food available, birds flock to our oasis on the patio. We were surprised the day of the great blizzard to look out on our patio and see a new visitor, an inquisitive deer helping itself to some birdseed. Times /Review photos by Barbara Stoutenburgh One of the first to arrive at our feeders in almost complete darkness is the junco, or some call it the snowbird. That name surely is appropriate for the day. It's a small, slate -gray bird with white in its tail. It doesn't stay year -round but heads north at nesting time to the woods of Canada and the Adirondacks and upstate New York. Another northern visitor is the white- throated sparrow, the one that has a white bib under its chin. Some white- throats haven't matured enough as yet to have their white chin patch. It's another typical ground feeder that scurries around, intent on finding its share of the seeds. Yesterday we had 24 doves here on the patio and there are even more today. We also have four or five starlings. They come in strutting like they own the place. Their bills are still dark - colored but, as spring approaches, they will turn yellow. The starling is an opportunist and is eating seeds today, but tomorrow it will more likely be eating something else, somewhere else. We have a new type of feeder that's supposed to be squirrel - proof, and so far it has been good in that respect. But a cardinal has found that, if it sits on a certain lever, it can have an endless supply of sunflower seeds, and so it sits there shelling the seeds, paying little attention to the wild world around it. Every once in a while the little bluish -gray titmouse slips in behind it, lifts up its threatening crest, grabs a seed and takes off. In and out it goes, the cardinal too busy to chase it away. We often find chickadees and titmice traveling together, and so it is at the feeder. No sooner does one grab a sunflower seed from the feeder and fly off than the other moves in, gets a seed and is off. Chickadees are wonderful little birds, ones we never tire of seeing. Somehow they're able to survive no matter what. I wonder where they spend these frigid nights. I hope in some sheltered cavity of a tree or perhaps in one of my bird boxes — that is, if a family of deer mice hasn't taken it over. I know the The Suffolk Times I Feeding amid a storm's fury mice use my boxes, for when I clean them out in the spring there is usually a collection of empty nut shells along with a cozy nest telling me they've enjoyed their winter stay. Another visitor is the "upside -down bird" or the white - breasted nuthatch. It zips in and out, taking a sunflower seed and then, up the tree, where it tucks it in the bark, working at it to get the morsel inside. On occasions the nuthatch will forego its favorite sunflower seed to fly over and have a bit of suet There's a whole group of sparrows out there. Probably the one you're most familiar with is the song sparrow. What a lovely song it sings in the spring. It has a dark spot on its breast that makes it easy to identify. If we're lucky, we might see the little chipping sparrow. It's always a welcome visitor. It often builds its nest close to the ground in our garden. Its identifying characteristic is its rufous cap. We wouldn't want to leave out the house sparrows and the finches. They're both bullies and always get their share of the pickings. We keep our eyes out for the more interesting and unusual sparrows, such as the secretive fox sparrow that showed up today for the first time. This sparrow is streaked with rusty red and has a rufous -red tail. We see it maybe once or twice a year, and then it's gone. Usually it's foretelling approaching storms such as we're having right sow. Oh, here comes a Carolina wren. We have a pair that often nests in our garage. Here's a bird that can be heard singing any time of the year. It seems to always be looking here and there for spiders and their eggs or some other dormant insects that hibernate under the picnic table, around the chairs on the patio or under the eaves of the house. Right now it seems to be picking up pieces of seed. I hope it makes it through this buzzard. There's another group of birds that stands alone, and that's the woodpeckers. They mainly come to our suet feeders or bags of suet. Suet is high in protein. Of the woodpeckers, the red - bellied is the most obvious and noisiest. It doesn't have a very red belly, but does have a beautiful red swath over the top of its head and down the back of its neck. Its a daily visitor to our suet, along with the little black- and -white downy woodpecker. Besides those two, we occasionally get the big black- and -white hairy woodpecker that is almost twice the size of the downy. Its hard to tell the size difference until they're seen together. Once in a while the downy will fly over and check out the sunflower feeder, take one and fly away with it to work on at its leisure. Many people aren't familiar with using suet at their feeders. It can be purchased at your local grocery store. Put it in one of those open mesh orange bags and hang it well out on a limb so a raccoon won't get at it. Those of you who watch feeders know there's a special one you should get, and that's a gotdrinch feeder. ft's a Fong tube you fiff with thistle seed and, if you're lucky, you'll soon have goldfinches. Once they've discovered it, they'll come to your thistle feeder time after time. Sometimes as many as six goldfinches will be feeding at one time, all hanging upside down to get at the seeds. Sooner or later there'll be a hawk around your feeder, looking for a meal. Remember they're part of nature's overall system. Often you see all the birds at your feeders disappear at one time and wonder why. It usually means there's a hawk in the area. These hawks are what we call woodland hawks because their short rounded wings and long tails let them maneuver in the woods and around branches. They often go right into the brush to capture their prey. Oh, yes, one thing more about the feeding of birds out on my snowbound patio. We had a late visitor in the afternoon. A deer came up on the patio, just eight feet from our window, and helped itself to some of our birdseed. 0 2005 Times- Review Newspapers Page 2 of 2 http: / /www2.timesreview.com/ST /community /296636061383200.php 2/4/2005 S66"MF6edina • • a storm's fur Times /Review photos by Barbara Stoutenburgh We were surprised the day of the great blizzard to look out on our patio and see a new visitor, an inquisitive deer helping Itself to some birdseed. January 23rd — the day of the Great Blizzard of 2005. I just had to sit down and put this raging snow- storm on tape. It is really quite spec- tacular. From inside our warm living room we get only glimpses of our windmill 300 feet away. Like a ghost ship, it appears and disappears in the raging, swirling snow. What seems so scary, if that's the right word, FOCUS is the wind that's howling ON high up in the treetops. NATURE The hardest by Pa hit at a time like this are the lit - Stoutenburgh tle birds we call around feeders. With the snow covering the ground, their food supply is cut off. To help them along, many of us put birdseed out, but too often it gets covered over with snow. Yet there's one spot open on our patio, cleared by the wind, and that's where we throw our seed, even though half of it is blown away. With no other food available, birds flock to our oasis on the patio. One of the first to arrive at our feeders in almost complete darkness is the junco, or some call it the snow bird. That name surely is appropriate for the day. It's a small, slate -gray bird with white in its tail. It doesn't stay year -round but heads north at nesting time to the woods of Canad, and the Adirondacks and upstate New York. — Another northern visitor is the hite- throated sparrow, the one that has a white bib under its chin. Some white - throats haven't matured enough as yet to have their white chic patch. It's another typical ground feeder that scurries around, intent on finding its share of the seeds. Yesterday we had 24 doves here on the patio and there are even more today. We also have four or five starlings. They come in strutting like they own the place. Their bills are still dark - colored but, as spring approaches, they will turn yellow. The starling is an opportunist and is eating seeds today, but tomorrow it will more likely be eating something else, somewhere else. We have a new type of feeder that's supposed to be squirrel - proof, and so far it has been good in that respect. But a cardinal has found — that, if it sits on a certain lever, it can have an endless supply of sunflower seeds, and so it sits there shelling the seeds, paying little attention to the wild world around it. Every once in a while the little bluish -gray titmouse slips in behind it, lifts up its threat- ening crest, grabs a seed and takes off. In and out it goes, the cardinal too busy to chase it away. We often find chickadees and tit- mice traveling together, and so it is at the feeder. No sooner does one grab a sunflower seed from the feed- er and fly off than the other moves in, gets a seed and is off. Chicka- dees are wonderful little birds, ones we never tire of seeing. Somehow they're able to survive no matter what. I wonder where they spend these frigid nights. I hope in some sheltered cavity of a tree or perhaps in one of my bird boxes — that is, if a family of deer mice hasn't taken it over. I know the mice use my boxes, for when I clean them out in the spring there is usually a collection of empty nut shells along with a cozy nest telling me they've enjoyed their winter stay. Another visitor is the "upside- down bird" or the white - breasted nuthatch: It zips in and out. taking a sunflower seed and then, up the tree, where it tucks it in the bark, working it it to get the morsel inside. On oc- - asions the nuthatch will forego its favorite sunflower seed to fly over and have a bit of suet. There's a whole group of spar- rows out there. Probably the one you're most familiar with is the song sparrow. What a lovel song it sings in the spring. It has a dark spot on its breast that makes it easy to identify. If we're lucky, we might see the little chipping sparrow. It's always a welcome visitor. It often builds its nest close to the ground in our garden. Its identifying characteristic is its rufous cap. We wouldn't want to leave out the house sparrows and the finches. They're both bullies and always get their share of the pickings. We keep our eyes out for the mor interesting and unusual sparrows, such as the secretive fox sparrow that showed up today for the first time. This sparrow is streaked with rusty red and has a rufous -red tail. We see it maybe once or twice a year, and then it's gone. Usually it's foretelling approaching storms such as we're having right now. Oh, here comes a Carolina wren. We have a pair that often nests in our garage. Here's a bird that can be heard singing any time of the year. It seems to. always be looking here and there for spiders and their eggs or some other dormant insects that hibernate under the picnic table, around the chairs on the patio or under the eaves of the house. Right now it seems to be picking up piece of seed. I hope it makes it through this blizzard. There's another group of birds that stands alone, and that's the woodpeckers. They mainly come to our suet feeders or bags of suet. Suet is high in protein. Of the wood peckers, the red - bellied is the most obvious and noisiest. It doesn't have a very red belly, but does have a beautiful red swath over the top of its head and down the back of its neck. It's a daily visitor to our suet, along with the little black- and -white downy woodpecker. Besides those two, we occasionally get the big black- and -white hairy woodpecker that is almost twice the size of the downy. It's hard to tell the size dif- ference until they're seen together. Once in a while the downy will fly over and check out the sunflower feeder, take one and fly away with it to work on at its leisure. Many people aren't familiar with using suet at their feeders. It can be pur- chased at your local grocery store. Put it in one of those open mesh or- ange bags and hang it well out on a limb so a raccoon won't get at it. Those of you who watch feed- ers know there's a special one you should get, and that's a goldfinch feeder. It's a long tube you fill with thistle seed and, if you're lucky, you'll soon have goldfinches. Once they've discovered it, they'll come to your thistle feeder time after time. Sometimes as many as six gold- finches will be feeding at one time, all hanging upside down to get at the seeds. Sooner or later there'll be a hawk around your feeder, looking for a meal. Remember they're part of nature's overall system. Often you see all the birds at your feeders dis- appear at one time and wondeir why. It usually means there's a hawk in the area. These hawks are what we call woodland hawks because their short rounded wings and long tails let them maneuver in the woods and around branches. They often go right into the brush to capture their prey. Oh, yes, one thing more about the feeding of birds out on my snow- bound patio. We had a late visitor in the afternoon. A deer came up on the patio, just eight feet from our window, and helped itself to some of our birdseed. The fox sparrow is known to foretell an approaching storm.