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August 22, 2002 - Sod farm puddle splashdownThe Suffolk Times • August 22, 2002 Sod farm puddle splashdown Times /Review photo by Paul Stoutenburgh This lesser yellowlegs Is only one of many different kinds of shorebirds passing through our area on their annual migration. From the far -north tundra, where they have nested, they are now heading south to the Caribbean or Central America and, yes, some go as far as Paraguay or Argentina in South America. I'M SURE SOME OF MY READERS get tired of me repeating how wonderful and interesting the, world around us is. I'm sorry, but I'm going to keep or saying it. It's just a great place to be and the more you know about it, the more FOCUS interesting ON "your" world will be. NATURE Take, for by Paul instance, the Stoutenburgh annual migration of shorebirds. Just last week my son called ana sata, "There's a lot of activity going on in one of the irrigation puddles along Oregon Road." It didn't take us long to get there. What we found were 10 to 15 little shorebirds, most no bigger than a little sparrow. They had stopped and were refueling by feast- ing on what was hatching out in the puddles, probably mosquito larvae. I'm not sure, but they were busy run- ning here and there as they probed with their pointed black bills. These tiny little bits of fluff have alreadv been to the tundra of Hudson Bay or thereabouts to have their young. They were fed on the myriad insects that are there during the brief summer. As soon as the young are on their own, they head back south, winding up in the Caribbean or Central America or even as far away as Paraguay or Argentina. All along the way, they have to stop to eat and rest just as you and I would stop on a long trip to have something to eat and relax before starting out again. We saw quite a variety of shore- birds at the sod farm puddle. The most prevalent were the least sand- pipers, the smallest of our shorebirds The next smallest were the semi - palmated sandpipers. Feeding among them were two larger pectoral sand- pipers and three lesser yellowlegs that were much larger and, as the name implies, they have yellow legs. At another spot we saw three killdeer. They don't go as far north as the others 'to nest and often are found in our own area. I remember seeing a pair of killdeer a few years ago, nesting in the parking lot behind the senior,center in Peconic. I'm sure some of you will remember that unusual nesting site as well. Why it decided to build its nest in that deso- late blacktop area no one knows. This movement of shorebirds that passes through our East End goes on about us with few people ever realiz- ing it. Yet each year the birds travel- ing from their nesting area in the far north to their distant wintering grounds to our south takes place qui- tly around us. l think that's pretty onderful. It's not important to know he names of these little travelers; it's the concept that's important and one that's been going on for eons of time. Let's hope it will continue for more eons to come. It all depends on how we take care of our planet Earth. Old turtle friends On an entirely different subject, I had a call from an old friend in Riverhead who told me about an interesting episode in his life that happened just the other day when he was walking in the woods near his home in Flanders. He picked up a box turtle, that's our common wood turtle, and turned it over and, there, scratched on its bottom, were his son's initials, "TMC," which he had put on this very same turtle 35 years ago when his son was just five years old. It reminded me of Roy Latham in Orient, who told about a turtle with a date and initials 80 years old. Turtles are territorial, meaning the stay in their own area and don't wan- der great distances away. And so, if we keep a habitat compatible with turtles, they'll stay in the general area until man moves in with his buildings and blacktop. It was good to hear from Frank and doubly good to hear he was rewarded with the find of the box turtle he had handled some 35 years ago. Nature is unbelievable and wonderful. Another interesting call came from a young lady telling me about her family's latest adventure. It seems they had been kayaking and as they got out of their kayak in the creek they saw this long pink eel -like crea- ture slither quickly away through the water and bury itself in the mud. They had never seen anything like it before and were curious to know what it was. From the description and location, the only thing I could come I up with was that it must have been one of our seldom -seen ribbon worms. I dug one up once when I was soft - clamming years ago. It was about a half -inch wide and a foot or so long. Some, I'm told, are even wider and longer. So I guess that's the only thing it could be, a ribbon worm. It is very seldom you see them (books say some never see one in a lifetime) and the people who do see them are for- tunate indeed. I only wish I could have been there and seen this unusu- al worm moving through the water and then burying itself in the mud. My research tells me ribbon worms come in colors from pink to purple to white. They are seldom seen unless disturbed during the day but do come out and move about at night. Just one of the many creatures that inhabit the muddy bottoms of our creek. Most people dislike all We saw quite that black q ooze with its a variety of low -tide shorebirds at pungent smell. the sod farm We must puddle. remember that creek mud is the habitat for myriad crea- tures of all sizes and descriptions that mostly go unnoticed by you and me — that is, until we disturb the bottom during one of our clamming expedi- tions or, in this case, just getting a kayak out of the water. That distur- bance was just enough for our caller to view this elusive pink ribbon worm. Once again the world spins around us and we occasionally get a glimpse of its wonders. And to think we are iust one little part of it.