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September 24, 3009 - Birds, blossoms, berries and beachesOLKTIMES.COM I SEPTEMBER 24. 200 Birds, blossoms erries and beat worse; it was rainy and windy and cold. It had been this way for two days and we were getting a bit of cabin fever. Our usual cure for that is to get in the car and take a ride to some of the old familiar places. And so, with some snacks to take along, we headed to the Sound. We knew a spot that is off - limits to most, but we had permission to visit and so off we went. With the rains we'd FOCUS ON NATURE PAUL ST©UTENBURGH had, we were a little concerned that we might get stuck on the dirt road leading into the area we were headed for, so we cautiously drove along with only an occasional spinning wheel. The thing that we noticed most was the sound of the crickets and other insects as we got farther away from the busy highway. It seemed as if they were glad the rain was slowin€ down so they could get back to their courtshit) rituals. es Jewelweed gets its name from the fact that droplets of water on the blossoms and lea, glisten in the sunlight like little jewels. It is also believed that the juice from the plant he soothe the itch from poison ivy and insect bites. I is we crept along listening an looking, we saw goldenrod, some in an unfamiliar shape with tight yellow pencil- shaped blossoms standing out against the green leaves. Not far away were great clumps of touch -me -not, thus named because if you touch the seed pod the seeds pop out. This is one way the plant spreads its seeds. Its other name is jewelweed because after a rain the water bubbles on it glisten in the sunshine. Further along the roadway we no- ticed a huge pokeweed bush loaded with shiny, ripe, purple berries. The berries looked so inviting and yet we are told they are highly poisonous. But the birds seem to enjoy them as soon as they ripen, with no ill effects. The early berries of the pokeweed or inkberry, they tell us, are edible if you know when and how to cook them. In colonial times they were used as ink and also in dyeing fabrics. As we slowly moved along I caught a glimpse of a female redstart. Years ago I can remember photographing PAUL AND BARBARA STOUTENBURGH PHOTOS Inkberry, or pokeweed, is an interesting plant. We are told the berries can be eaten when they are very young if they're prepared correctly. However, the big, tempting, purple -black berries we see in the fall are poisonous. The plant itself makes an interest- ing addition to a wildflower garden. 4, Goldenrod comes in many varieties. Hen we see a single plant growing up from , stone wall. other types grow along ou beaches and hedgerows. )ne of these miniature warblers at its zest in Moore's Woods in Greenport. set up a bird blind to photograph he bird in a series as it flew back and forth to its nest. After .I saw the first egg, disaster struck in the form of a cowbird, that parasitic devil that lays its eggs in other birds' nests. There in the nest was not only the egg of the redstart but, to my surprise, an oversized cowbird egg. Know- ing that the redstart would probably not recognize this intruder's egg and therefore try to raise it while ignoring its own young, I removed the cowbird egg. I also took away my equipment to leave the redstart to raise her fam- ily with no further disruption. on our foray we also heard and saw many catbirds and some red - bellied woodpeckers. We kept trying and hoping to find a woodcock along the roadside, for last year the area proved to be the ideal habitat for them and we were able see three at one time. Later, after visiting some of our beaches, we watched great flocks of tree swallows collecting for their big push on their migration south. We sat in a parking lot and watched as they milled about over the area. There must have been 75 or more darting and diving in what seemed to be great excitement among them, whether they were feeding on hatching insects or just getting ready to make the next on