October 04, 2007 - Fog, few birds & Lunch■
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The Suffolk Times • 'C
October 4, 2007 m
ew
irds
Suffolk Times photos by Paul
ow our, world changes when fog takes over. A
k or so ago, that misty.fellow slipped into our
ure and immediately everything in sight was
-r its control. Gone were the hedgerows that
c)und our pond, our trees and open space. The
mist of fog captured it all. Yet by the4time we
breakfast, a new and more lasting power took
-.The sun showed up and the fog yielded to the
ter power.
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We're always amazt the homes, or should
we say castles, that have been built along this once
wind -swept dune area. And to think we see from the
roadway only an inkling of what's there; the other
half you see only from above. Some years back my
son took me flying over this very oceanfront where
we could look down and see everything from the
elegant landscaping to the emerald - colored swim-
ming pools. It seemed as if each place was trying to
outdo the other.
As Barbara and I rode along we searched for signs
of bird life. Sorry to say I could find only 16 great
egrets and one lone swan stalking their breakfasts.
In many places along Dune Road we saw signs with
"flood area" written on them. We could see how high
the water had been from the last storm by the wrack
line of marsh grass, old pieces of wood, a dilapidated
life jacket, bottles, and an old baseball cap. All had
been pushed to one side of the road to make the
road passable.
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For a while we thought the
Focus
fog would dampen our plans
for a trip to the south side to
ON
have lunch on the ocean beach.
NATURE
With the fog defeated, our day
took on a'brighter look. Barba-
by Paul
ra packed a lunch and soon we
Stoutenburgh
were heading for Westhamp-
ton Beach, where Dune Road
beckoned us.'
N
C
We're always amazt the homes, or should
we say castles, that have been built along this once
wind -swept dune area. And to think we see from the
roadway only an inkling of what's there; the other
half you see only from above. Some years back my
son took me flying over this very oceanfront where
we could look down and see everything from the
elegant landscaping to the emerald - colored swim-
ming pools. It seemed as if each place was trying to
outdo the other.
As Barbara and I rode along we searched for signs
of bird life. Sorry to say I could find only 16 great
egrets and one lone swan stalking their breakfasts.
In many places along Dune Road we saw signs with
"flood area" written on them. We could see how high
the water had been from the last storm by the wrack
line of marsh grass, old pieces of wood, a dilapidated
life jacket, bottles, and an old baseball cap. All had
been pushed to one side of the road to make the
road passable.
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We pulled in at one of the large municipal parking
lots for lunch. We picked a spot the wind had cre-
ated out of the finest sand you can imagine. There
wasn't a stone or pebble — nothing but fine clean
sand. Later we'd find that that very same sand had
got somehow got in our shoes without our noticing it
— that is until we took our shoes off to go to bed.
We brought out our folding chairs we.keep in the
car for just such occasions. The picnic basket top
served as our table. Now we were ready to enjoy
the splendor of the day while overlooking a spar-
kling ocean.
A few seagulls on the beach wandered from one
group to the next looking for a handout. Some of
our gulls will stay with us through the winter, scav-
enging whatever the sea washes up or living off
what some thoughtless person left behind. The con-
tents of our picnic basket couldn't have been better
and our location was perfect. All it took was a little
"get up and go."
It was nice to see so many others enjoying the
beach and the beautiful day; some were sitting and
reading, others were enjoying lunch as we were, and
then there were the diehard sun worshippers. The
only other sound besides the ocean was when two
colorful ultra -light planes flew by sounding like a
pair of lawn mowers overhead.
With lunch under our belts, we folded up our
chairs and headed back to the car. As we walked
back we could see the rugged seaside goldenrod
starting to blossom in amongst the dune grass. This
late bloomer is found all along our south shore as
well as our Sound-and beachfronts. Part of the rea-
son for its success is that it can withstand the salt
snrav it inevitablv faces.
(Above: What better place to be on a warm September day than
on the ocean beach. I'll rave about our Sound beach and our
bay beaches, but I have to yield to the greatest of all beach-
es, and that's the white, sandy ocean beach that runs the
length of the south shore. Left: You can see why these great
egrets are deadly hunters. They not only pursue marine life of
all sorts but occasionally take mice, frogs, snakes, or even a
small bird.
uur next stop was Shinnecock Inlet, where the
county provides a commercial dock and marina facil
ity. As we approached the area we could see the fog
that had come our way in the early morning hours
rolling in off the ocean here. It added to the atmo-
sphere of the place. One couldn't help but smell and
feel the sea all about. Around dockside were coils
of wire and rope and all the trappings so essential to
the trade of these men of the sea.
At the end of the dock there are some local busi-
nesses and, of course, a few restaurants. We drove
to where we could sit in the car and look out at the
boats coming in the inlet. Perhaps the fog was help-
ing some make up their minds to head in.
After a bit more time, so we could absorb as much
of the seaside atmosphere as possible, lunch on the
beautiful white sandy ocean•beach'plus do some not -
too- exciting birding, it was time to head for the north
shore and home.