September 16, 2010 - A special day on Dune RoadSUFFOLKTIMES.COM I SEPTEMBER 16, 2010
sp ec ii a
day on
We've been waiting for all the
pieces to come together so we could
have a much - deserved "goof -off day."
We've always found these special
days rewarding. What usually seems
like just another day often ends up as
something very special. So come witl:
us as we explore the south side to see
what it has to offer us today.
Once we were across the bridge
that connects the mainland to the
beach and onto Dune Road, we
headed west past the many- roomed
condos and then out to the once
washed -over parts of the barrier
beach. Barbara and I can remember
some years ago visiting the area after
those high tides and wind and rain
wasnea away most of the homes and
sand of this now reclaimed beach.
Logical thinking would not have lead
to rebuilding on such a sensitive area
but dollars prevailed, and today we
see this area totally rebuilt, not with
the quaint little beach cottages of
years ago but mostly with two -story,
spanking -new homes on the same
small lots where the little cottages
once stood.
Dune
PAUL STOUTENBURGH
we Grove west past these canyons
of new homes as far as we could and
into Cupsogue County Park. This is a
park that allows people using four -
wheel -drive vehicles to go out along
the inlet to fish. Many take their
campers out and spend time there. It
was with great forethought that the
county kept special places like this fo .
the general public to use and eniov,
Road
Here in the parx area we were glad
to see a series of active osprey nests.
We've come a long way in helping
the osprey, which at one time was
almost done in by pesticides, particu
larly DDT. While searching the area
for some of the migrating Monarch
butterflies that should be coming
through soon and many of the hawks
that enjoy this as their migrating
route, we began to notice what was
around us. Seaside goldenrod was
ready to burst into bloom, along with
the last tall stalks of the mullein, with
its small yellow flowers.
The brightest color was from the
poison ivy now showing off its bright
shiny red among all the greens. The
bayberry bushes were filled with
their lovely white, waxy berries, and
rose hips were ripening for those
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PHOTOS BY BARBARA STOUTENBURGH
lockwise from top left: Tree swallows flock to bayberry bushes as they pass through on migration; a group of swallows at rest; a swallow,
entified by its conspicuous white underbelly; the adult (left) has metallic blue -green plumage, while the young bird is a dull brown; the
Wberry bush's waxy berries, sought after by tree swallows: rioenine rose hies_
wno snu maze lam using this bright
fruit. We used to add them to our
fruit jams for color and taste. Grasses
abounded, the tall pampas and the
marsh grasses adding to the lovely fall
surroundings.
After stretching our legs for a while
and enjoying the new fresh, clear fall
weather, we headed east, backtrack-
ing slowly through the miles of wall-
to -wall new homes-and then eventu-
ally onto Dune Road past the condos
and the bridge where we crossed
over, and then we began to see the
lovely, large,,landscaped estates on
the ocean and bay side, some with
winding driveways and great gated
entrances.
While riding along the long open
spaces now to the east, we decided
to do a bit of birding in an area on
the bay side. Using our binoculars,
Vve were able to make out 26 yellow -
.egs feeding and resting along the
Tandy beach. They were a mixture of
auEUES anu immature DIMS. we were
surprised to see such a large group
of these shore birds, since we usually
see only one or two at a time along
the water's edge in our creek. We as-
sumed these birds were resting along
their migrating route, as we've never
seen such a large group.
As we watched the yellowlegs, we
saw a continual flight of swallows
heading west low over the water
on their migration. These were tree
swallows, with their conspicuous
white undersides, and, as we were to
see later, their backs are a beautiful
metallic blue or blue - green.
Driving along we saw large clouds
of birds swinging back and forth over
the road. There were so many tree
swallows in the air swirling about and
continually moving to the west, it
appeared we were caught in a snow-
storm. We pulled into one of the park-
ing areas and just sat as they came at
us, veering to the side as they ap-
proached the car so they wouldn't hit
the windshield, but twittering softly
as they flew close by our opened
windows. We watched as some settle(
on the nearby bayberry bushes. Tree
swallows are among the few birds
that eat the waxy berries. This food
source allows them to winter farther '
north than other swallows and linger
longer in the fall.
As we left the parking lot we no-
ticed something unusual at the other
end. Upon driving closer we were
amazed to see thousands of resting
tree swallows on the blacktop, some
in the metallic blue -green adult stage
and others in the more subdued
colors of the immature. We continued
on our way to the inlet, where we en-
joyed a delightful lunch on the deck
of a local restaurant and then headed
back to the North Fork and home.
It will be a long time before we ever
see another tree swallow spectacular
such as we did this week.