January 03, 2002 - Christmas counts: a look backJanuary 3, 2002 • The Suffolk Times
hristmas counts,
a look back
Times /Mview photo by Peter Stoutenburgh
Barn. owls usually hunt at night, but when there's snow on the ground that hides their prey, they
will often be seen flying low during the daytime. They are light colored and roost in old buildings
and evergreens.
THE FIRST WEEK OF JANUARY this
column used to be set aside for
reports on the various Christmas Bird
Counts I was involved in, but since I
had my knees replaced I no longer try
to go on those all -day, dawn -to -dusk
counts.
The Christmas FOCUS
Bird Count is
done throughout ON
the United States NATURE
(including Alaska by Paul
and Hawaii), Stoutenburgh
Puerto Rico and
Canada. It's a
time when serious birders get to go
out and count every bird they see,
identify it, and record it on a list.
When those results are all compiled
they are published by the National
Audubon Society into a huge volume.
Since I'm not involved physically
anymore in these bird counts, I
thought it might be kind of fun to
look back and reminisce about some
of them. It started for me when I first
knew Gil Raynor, that wonderful nat-
uralist who lived in Manorville. It was
in the late '40s and early '50s when he
would eet a handful of enthusiastic
birders together and go out and count
birds. It was usually the day after
Christmas.
I was involved with his bird counts
for years — something like 45 years, I
think — but then time passes and Gil
has left us and today others have
taken up the cause. When I first knew
Gil he was weighing chickadees that
carne to his feeder and putting bands
on their legs. He worked out of an old
cigar box that held his equipment. It
was a time when Manorville was
"back country," nothing like it is
today with housing developments and
shopping malls popping up all over
the place.
It was the time when I went with
Gil before dawn to hear my first
horned owl in the back woods of
Manorville. In those days, you could
always count on Gil to flush up a
ruffed grouse to add to our list, for he
knew where they'd be. Few people
realize that we still have ruffed grouse
holding out on Long Island in the pine
barrens. It's here they have their best
chance to survive.
I used to take part in three different
bird counts: Gil Raynor's, which was
the Central Suffolk Count (my quad-
rant being the Eastport- Moriches
area). Then I'd take part in the
Montauk Count, which usually found
me on Gardiners Island, and then
there was the one that I picked up as
compiler in the late '60s: the Orient
Count. The Orient Count had only a
handful of observers in its early days.
Our first grand total was 65 species of
birds. Today, with 30 or 40 or more
people out in the field, the total num-
ber of species has doubled. But those
early bird counts left wonderful mem-
ories.
One of my early
memories of the
counts was when I
had to cover the
barrier beach off
Shinnecock on
the Central
Suffolk Count.
We had to get
there by using a
canoe and motor.
My companion
for the day was
Chris McKeever
from Water Mill,
a wonderful bird-
er. As we sped
across the bay
with the motor
roaring at full
throttle, I hit
something, a log
or rock or some-
thing. It broke the
bottom of the out-
board motor right
off. That ended
our day of easy
moving; from
then on we pad- .
dled, and pulled, all day.
We still had a good day's outing an
I believe it was there I first saw tree
swallows living off the bayberries that
are so common along the outer beach.
That count took us down around the
Coast Guard station, where we'd
always find snow buntings and horned
larks, and if we were real lucky,
Lapland longspurs. They get their
name from their long spur -like toes
that help them hold onto the ice and
snow when feeding in their often -
windswept habitat.
There was always a clump of cedars
where we could be assured of finding
barn owls or long -eared owls or night
herons roosting. Toward the end of
our day, we'd always head for that
area and be rewarded with those
champions of the night that stay with
us throughout the winter.
As our counts became better known,
more and more people would join in
until sometimes we'd have 50 or more
participants searching their assigned sec-
tions of the 15 -mile- radius area. Of
course, the real pioneer of Christmas
counts here on the North Fork was Roy
Latham of Orient, who started his
counts back in the early 1900s, and then
it was with only one or two other people
or perhaps just by himself. It wasn't as
well organized as it is today and in some
years records would be sent in and in
other years they wouldn't. As the num-
ber of birders grew, they drew the cham-
pions of the bird world like Dennis
Puleston and his clan, along with Art
Cooley from the south side. Then there
was Larry Penny and others who made
birding an exciting thing to be a part of.
Once -in -a- lifetime sight
It was on one of the counts in
Moriches that I saw a covey of quail
just at dawn in their traditional roost-
ing position on the ground. I had
walked up on these sleeping quail, the
common bobwhite, just as one spotted
me. Then they burst apart in a whirl
of feathers. It was one of the great
moments in my birding life. Few have
ever experienced this roosting of
quails in a circle on the ground. Each
one was facing out. Each one had its
section to guard. _
Often we'd go on these counts,
weather permitting, and then the
weather would change and it would
rain or start to snow. One time in
Orient it snowed so hard we could see
no more than a telephone pole away
from each other. And yet, believe it or
not, that was one of our best counts,
for the snowstorm seemed to keep all
the birds down where they were easily
seen. As the day of these counts
would wind down, all the participants
would return to our place, where
Barbara would have mulled cider, hot
fish chowder and cheesecake waiting
for them. After that the tallies from
each party would be called out and
added to a master list. Then, tired but
satisfied, all would head home until
another year. Those were wonderful
days.
Probably the most cherished of all
counts were those that I took part in
on Gardiners Island, for there you are
face to face with raw nature on the
windswept beaches or in the dunes,
where time seems to stand still. It was
there I once 'um ed five short-eared
owls, one of the rarities and more dif-
ficult birds to find at any time. Tley
got up and floated away like huge but-
terflies.
It was there on Gardiners Island
you were always assured of finding
shorebirds along the long sandy points
both north and south of the island.
You'd find black - bellied plovers,
sanderlings, turnstones, dowitchers
and purple sandpipers. Evidently,
food keeps the birds there and if it's in
good supply, they'll stay no matter
what the weather is. Offshore the sea
ducks such as scoters, oldsquaws and
mergansers could always be found.
If our glasses help up, far off we'd
usually find gannets, those huge white
sea birds with black wing tips. When
fish are about, they dive relentlessly
for their fleeting meal. It's the time
when you might even come across
bluebirds in the more protected spots
They are always nice to find. They're
around because they're berry eaters
and can survive on them all winter.
Gardiners Island was one of the
best places to find hawks, particularly
the rough - legged hawk that comes
down from the north in the winter-
time. The red - tailed hawks are the
most common and can usually be
found just by looking up at any time.
So if you want to get involved and
you're a person who is excited about
birding, get ahold of your local
Audubon chapter. If you missed the
count this year, practice up for next
year. Get involved in this all -day
affair. It will take a lot out of you but
it will be worth it. So until next year
— hannv hirdino