February 22, 2007 - At home, away from homeThe Suffolk Times • February 22, 2007 • 5A
SA dl, Times photos by Paul and Barbara Sloiaenburgh
Mangroves, left, grow on long roots that make a good place for oysters to attach themselves. The mangroves are most valuable, for they act as nursery areas,
add nutrients to the water, provide storm barriers, safe places for wildlife and prevent erosion. Sea grapes, right, are used to prevent beach erosion by creating
dunes. You also find them in hammocks, scrub areas and as plantings In towns.
At home, away from home
One nice thing about being down
here in Florida is that we're exposed
to a whole new experience of the out-
doors The best part is that there are
still enough of the same plants and ani-
mals we have bads home that we are
not totally overwhelmed by the new
species that challenge us.
To help under-
stand this better,
let's take a walk FOCUS
through one of ON
the many hiking
aatils down here NATURE
that have been
provided for the by Paul
public. An island Stoutertburgh
and trails were
built years ago
from what many thought were useless
swamps. They dug into these swampy
areas to get fill for their roads and
building lots. In doing so they created
"borrow pits," where the material was
taken outThis created a waterway
where once a lush and productive
swamp flourished It's along these wa-
tery borrow pits that our hiking trail
begins
If any of you have witnessed this
kind of operation, when it's first dug
up, the land looks devastated, hope-
less and just awful, and then the area is
planted with trees, shrubs, grasses, etc.
The trails are put in later to soften and
help cover the scars. You can tell where
the trail starts by the parking place
for cars and an introductory sign tell-
ing what to look for with a map of the
area. Today much of the area has been
recovered, but the scars of what was
done can still be seen.
I must say, they did a good job of
making the trail clear and wide. Every
once in a while a boardwalk would
swing off the main trail and end up
looking over the bay. It was here we
could look down into the dear water
and see familiar friends: an empty
horseshoe crab shell, oyster shells and
clam shells, and then we heard the call
of a catbird scalding from deep inside
the mangroves, which seemed to be
everywhere.
Mangroves are like our wetlands
back home, They provide nursery areas
and hiding places for small fish and
shellfish.They filter and add nutrients
to the water They also, hike our salt
marshes, act as storm barriers, slow-
ing down the erosion that would take
place if they were not there, and they
provide a place for wildlife to live. On
the stalklike roots of the mangroves we
could see dusters of oysters too small
to eat but good for the ecology of the
bay.
Here in Florida, like at home, their
wetlands (mangroves) are being de-
stroyed due to development It's been
a long, slow battle to convince the
powers- that -be that by destroying the
mangroves they create huge problems
of pollution, storm damage, erosion,
foss of fish and shellfish, and the list
goes on and on.
By now we have become familiar
with the large, bushlike plant called
sea grape. It has large, round, colorful
leaves and is used to prevent erosion
particularly along sandy exposed areas
along the Gulf The sea oats, with their
long seed heads, are another conserva-
tion plant that is used to capture the
endlessly moving sand. Its job is much
like our dune grass (Amophila). By the
way, both sea oats and sea grapes are
protected by law.
Man has done much to help correct
his mistakes of the past, but in some
cases, where complete destruction of
those vital natural resources is so great,
the cost of rehabilitating is just out of
the question. As we walked along we
could see much had been done to help
bring things back to their natural state.
Along the trail, there were benches
every so often. I'd take advantage
of them as Barbara photographed
flowers and bugs that caught her eye,
including the very beautiful 3/8-inch,
red - and -green, crablike spiny orb
weaver spider, which looked just like a
tiny crab.
Halfway around the walk we came
to a high hill that lured us on. Evi-
dently when they were reclaiming this
area, they made this hill, which is the
highest point for miles around. We
were amazed how far we could see up
and down the island. We could also
see the light -green shallow water that
keeps most of the water traffic in the
dearly marked channels of
the bay. On our walk
As we stood there atop we found of
this man -made hill, a hawk
streaked by and disap- friends and
peared into the trees be- challenges.
low, reappeared for a short
time, then disappeared again to our
nortI:L It could mean only one thing: It
was hunting on the wing, which was a
good indicator of the kind of hawk it
was Seeing it was hunting in a wooded
area, and it had rather short wings and
a longish banded tail, we called it a
cooper's hawk — a real terror to small
mammals and birds, which brings me
to a behavior pattern that sometimes
occurs when hawks or owls are hunt-
ing- A hawk, like our cooper's hawk,
will rush in out of the blue, literally
paralyzing their prey so that trying to
escape in some cases is useless, and
the victim freezes in fright, accepting
its fate.
For those of you who follow this
column, you might remember that
I've spoken before about seeing this
paralyzing behavior years ago when I
was with a group of young enthusiasts
hiking along Tones Beach. One of the
boys spotted a saw -whet owl in a low
pine tree in bade of a dune. All were
called in to see this exciting find. We
circled the small pine tree and very
quietly and slowly moved in, on hands
and knees, to the center.
Sure enough, as we got in closer,
there was the smallest of our owls
perched on a limb. Then the show of
shows started to unfold.
As members of the group
d crawled in, they chased a
small meadow mouse out
new of its hiding place. It ran
up the tree where the owl
was perched and froze at
the sight of the owL In less time than
it takes you to read this sentence, the
owl dropped down, picked off the
mouse and flew back to its perch. Here
was an example where the mouse was
so terrified it froze right where it was
and awaited its fate. We all backed out
slowly and quietly, leaving the saw -
whet owl to enjoy its meal,
And so, on our walk we found old
friends and new challenges. We look
forward to having you join us on our
next outdoor adventure down here in
Florida
Sea oats
are used
to control
eroshm
along
Florida's
beaches.
The plant
Is pro-
tected by
state law.
Often it
grows In
clumps to
six feet
tall.
theRETREAT
• CouNsaiNG
• EDucATIoN
• ADVOCACY
• S}iEt.TER
• RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT
24 -Hour Hotline
329 -.2200
Free and Confidential Services
Southampton, Riverhead,
Southold, East Hampton
The Suffolk Times • February 22, 2007
awa,
At home
from home
One nice thing about being down
here in Florida is that we're exposed
to a whole new experience of the out-
doors. The best part is that there are
still enough of the same plants and ani-
mals we have back home that we are
not totally overwhelmed by the new
species that challenge us.
To help under-
stand this better, Focus
let's take a walk
through one of ON
the many hiking
trails down here NATURE
that have been
provided for the by Paul
public. An island Stoutenburgh
and trails were
built years ago
from what many thought were useless
swamps. They dug into these swampy
areas to get fill for their roads and
building lots. In doing so they created
"borrow pits," where the material was
taken out. This created a waterway
where once a lush and productive
swamp flourished. It's along these wa-
tery borrow pits that our hiking trail
It any of you navTWIt —essea this
kind of operation, when it's first dug
up, the land looks devastated, hope-
less and just awful, and then the area is
planted with trees, shrubs, grasses, etc.
The trails are put in later to soften and
help cover the scars. You can tell where
the trail starts by the parking place
for cars and an introductory sign tell-
ing what to look for with a map of the
area. Today much of the area has been
recovered, but the scars of what was
done can still be seen.
I must say, they did a good job of
making the trail clear and wide. Every
once in a while a boardwalk would
swing off the main trail and end up
looking over the bay. It was here we
could look down into the clear water
and see familiar friends: an empty
horseshoe crab shell, oyster shells and
clam shells, and then we heard the call
of a catbird scolding from deep inside
the mangroves, which seemed to be
everywhere.
Mangroves are like our wetlands
back home. They provide nursery area
and hiding places for small fish and
shellfish. They filter and add nutrients
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,rs es, act as storm barriers, slow-
; down the erosion that would take
ice if they were not there, and they
)vide a place for wildlife to live. On
stalklike roots of the mangroves v
ald see clusters of oysters too small
eat but good for the ecology of the
Here in Florida, like at home, their
wetlands (mangroves) are being de-
stroyed due to development. It's been
a long, slow battle to convince the
powers- that -be that by destroying the
mangroves they create huge problems
of pollution, storm damage, erosion,
loss of fish and shellfish, and the list
goes on and on.
By now we have become familiar
with the large, bushlike plant called
sea grape. It has large, round, colorful
leaves and is used to prevent erosion,
particularly along sandy exposed areas
along the Gulf The sea oats, with their
long seed heads, are another conserva-
tion plant that is used to capture the
endlessly moving sand. Its job is much
like our dune grass (Amophila). By the
way, both sea oats and sea grapes are
protected by law.
Man has done much to help correct
his mistakes of the past, but in some
cases, where complete destruction of
those vital natural resources is so great,
the cost of rehabilitating is just out of
the question. As we walked along we
could see much had been done to help
bring things back to their natural state.
Along the trail, there were benches
every so often. I'd take advantage
of them as Barbara photographed
flowers and bugs that caught her eye,
including the very beautiful 3/8 -inch,
red -and- green, crablike spiny orb
weaver spider, which looked just like
tiny crab.
Halfway around the walk we came
to a high hill that lured us on. Evi-
dently when they were reclaiming this
area, they made this hill, which is the
highest point for miles around. We
were amazed how far we could see up
and down the island. We could also
see the light -green shallow water that
keeps most of the water traffic in the
clearly marked channels of
the bay.
As we stood there atop
this man-made hill, a hawk
streaked by and disap
peared into the trees be-
low, reappeared for a short
time, then disappeared again to our
north. It could mean only one thing: It
was hunting on the wing, which was a
good indicator of the kind of hawk it
was. Seeing it was hunting in a wooded
area, and it had rather short wings and
a longish banded tail, we called it a
cooper's hawk — a real terror to small
mammals and birds, which brings me
to a behavior pattern that sometimes
Its curs when hawks or owls are hunt-
g. A hawk, like our cooper's hawk,
ll rush in out of the blue, literally
ralyzing their prey so that trying to
cape in some cases is useless, and
e victim freezes in fright, accepting
fate.
Sea oats
are used
to control
erosion
along
Florida's
beaches.
The plant
is pro-
tected by
state law.
often it
grows in
clumps to
six feet
tail.
For those of you who follow this
column, you might remember that
I've spoken before about seeing this
paralyzing behavior years ago when I
was with a group of young enthusiasts
hiking along Jones Beach. One of the
boys spotted a saw -whet owl in a low
pine tree in back of a dune. All were
called in to see this exciting find. We
circled the small pine tree and very
quietly and slowly moved in, on hands
and knees, to the center.
Sure enough, as we got in closer,
there was the smallest of our owls
perched on a limb. Then the show of
shows started to unfold.
As members of the group
crawled in, they chased a
small meadow mouse out
of its hiding place. It ran
up the tree where the owl
was perched and froze at
the sight of the owl. In less time than
it takes you to read this sentence, the
owl dropped down, picked off the
mouse and flew back to its perch. Here
was an example where the mouse was
so terrified it froze right where it was
and awaited its fate. We all backed out
lowly and quietly, leaving the saw -
het owl to enjoy its meal.
And so, on our walk we found old
riends and new challenges. We look
orward to having you join us on our
next outdoor adventure down here in-
On our walk
we found old
friends and i