01*RESCAN December 20,1979 - GARDINER'S ISLANDDecember 20, 1979
,,:us - n .` s
ttlir
Pzaid Stoulten hump - _
II s 0:11 hoar !adore the hoar leaves
(tar ii;r ; island for home, and I thought it
nimbi L..
:Moto till ;Il
10710 to reminisce a 1 ;11
on the Cm oil, of 01an0
in Ills' (Montauk ('hris;tln,ts bird
holm 1. a here are Li of u:, here on Gardiner';
.'.
ride .Il , I Hider r. ork the mainland
1;r01cc11 i;lio
four g!.rolll:s, we each have a
sp:. enil' ::re,, 00 the isl ;ool 11) cove:'. (1tn s is
'I ol,tic : j,nl '..Iltr:, Irctih v ;,llc•r pond 00 the
d; :,i,:rlrrl when my Dore I'eler caller-
. rjll;: le•i' (11 0 1c, (11011.e 0.Il1:' We Were 1111
11;07(0 for III,' 10011. which left Three Mile
1lai 1oI iu' 10,11 5 name is O'apt:lin
rellun1(1) of days gone by when this
nnlori,ls p1,':dr visited and preslnnably
buried his. I r .u,llr,,s here. it was a beautiful
c0)1m 001(1over. 111 0.1)1•1 everybody scanned
be horizon with 1innculars. Not a moment
would. l 'lost on this lin-ding (rip.
When we arrived a combined effort was
',0 to 1111.111 0111 the big pine ('rove near
lrrc'((10111(1 for owls. It's 101 ids'al , ;101 and
wc' ;a,c•rc' able to flush out three long -eared
owls and one barn owl. This vv :is a good
start.
Robert Gardiner had greeted 015 at the
dock and ,,rnu:MI 1y offered 11s 11011sp011a-
Lion 11) our aiisiglted areas. 11 W110 still frosty
1011)1 io the morning and, as we rod /• Hong,
1 +eel' 0101 will turkeys could he seen
,eurr yin1, from the fields for cover.
lien we were left we 10107 feel the
■001a1100 and inneline00 0f the great island
overtake: 110. treat rolling hills lay to the
north, Mack island Sound blended with the
ttindte Glean to our east, 110 T01,aee0 lad
i;1liunerert in the bright early sun. And to
00' 101'01 were 1110 great woods and field:; of
;ndiner':.
We hadn't wine long1, before small flocks of
honi1111 rner('lnsc'rs loots off from under the
t11',lee'led hank of the pond. Along; the' e.dgc,r
11,11;111 marsh :spread out and 0. hug('
'sln'al lodge built 00 cattails and debris
'1,„mi0ah'd Ihe area. We don't see them like
001 1(1e North Shore, as most of the
muskrats in our creeks build in I111' hanks
;;;111 not in lodges.
'Ole high point at the cattail area was
Vshen we flushed an American bittern from
the reeds. This bird, with its long bill and
neck, streaked brown body and (railing
ftre.'n legs, was impossible to 1111Stakc 1-01'
anything else. It's rare here 011 the North
lustre ,uul everyone was excited to see it. it
,1111 make a good addition to our Christ -
mas list.
Deer Seen Everywhere
ncer seemed to be everywhere. their
white tails flashing as they bounded away
when we approached. 011 some of the
saplings the bark had been rubbed off by
their antlers. This was to remode Ole heavy
velvet coating so that the antlers would he
polished and ready to do battle with other
males to win their harems. Later in the day
a"i saw this, as one party drove"uut .0 buck
trailing a short waybellind wci' two or
three does.
All clay long hawks soared above. 1I0si
were red - tailed hawks, and a more am
uropriale name could 1101 be' found. 1
remember at one time 1 lay down in Ole tall
rass and followed one of these soaring
hawks with 111' glasses. It was like a ballet
10 (10' sky. Each time Ole bird would bank
sharply, the rusty red tail could be seen
plainly above the brown body in the blue.
".user we saw a pair of rough- legged
hawks along with the fast: flying Cooper's
hawk and the tiny kestrel. Most of these
hawks need great expanses to work over and
here at Gardiner's they find the ideal spot.
Tramping through the area we would
often come in contact with that wonderful
bush, the bayberry. And even now with the
leaves off, we could 'smell that wonderful
aroma as broken twigs released that never -
to-be- forgotten fragrance.
To cover the territory more thoroughly
group of three split up, with Peter and
John skirting the lake and the wet area
while I took the upland °with its great open
fields, some with grass six feet tall. 1
thought I was in the African plains, but no,
these were overgrown fields that once grew
crops and pastured cattle now gone wild.
Was Self- Sufficient Island
Gardiner's in the early days was a
self - sufficient island and back at the settle-
ment there are still the old original carpen-
lir shop. blacksmith shop, ice house,
oarracks for slaves, and work sheds of all
Q
g Ilffol 'Cimeg
Lands, a complete community.
The toil that went into the clearing the
land was evidenced by the stone., all fences
that ringed many of he fields.
i can re,nenler sitting on one of iFr.• walls
and looking at the heavy lichen- cn'.:'red
stones and thinking, if lichens are a sign of.
good quality air as some say., we most have
the purest of air here, for these. e.r,:.y -green
lichens covered everything. To greet 11111 a
little deer mouse pupped out and looked
about, his Mack eyes sparkling, his whiskers
wiggling.
in my walk I continually flushed up
families of turkeys. Sometimes they would
fly away on their great lumbering wings, but
whenever possible they would sneak away,
heads clown, running into the underbrush.
Once in an open field a big Tom took off
almost under my feet. His body was as big
as a 1,000c, and yet he was quite agile in
flying;. I;
can 01' men -Wei- seeing a hand of
brown on that huge. wide, black tail as he set
his wings in a Elide and disappeared over
the hill. ICs a handsome bird and Ben
Franklin might have been right when he
said this bird should have been selected
instead of the eagle as the American
symbol.
1.e0's pause here and continue our adven-
ture of the ('1(1'islnnaS 1311'd l'wist on
iearIliner'0 Island 1(001 week.
1
-rage 1IA
GARDiNER'S ISLAND' WINDMILL—This authentic reminder of days
gone by is seen first as you approach the landing at. Gardiner's lslpiu.
Behind it lies a treasure chest of history and nostalgia that can be found
nowhere else. Photo by Paul Stol<ie,lhu: f0
Two :rat Names
to fill your.
& Service Need
R.A.
McCALLUM
415 East Main Street
Riverhead.
727 -4336
BURT'
429 Fourth Sta-eet,,
Green ost
477-0057
7
We are proud to offer to our customers and "frke >rtdo k
fuel oil supply. We have signed supply contm67::.o_
with the following:
`l) Northville Industries 3) EXX0k11
2) Mlletropolit m 4) (3uK
Petroleum ) Mobil
We do not believe our competitors can make this st0tc.uleli0
Our service contracts do not contain a hidden ex -harge for Sunday and holiday burner
service, like some of our competitors do.
We offer to our customers and their friends this money- saving special:
*ivioder-41 Oil -Fired Hotwater Heater, Completely Installed $575.00
*Fuel Saving Beckitt Burner, Completely Installed $225.00
Our current price of highest grade fuel oil is 86.90, with a money - saving discount for larger
tanks (terms available).
We offer FREE efficiency test and heating survey at no charge or obligation.
We pledge all our efforts to take all steps necessary to give all our customers and their
friends their full heating oil requirements and to maintain normal credit terms.
"Don't forget we sell coal in 40 pound bags. Cash and carry only."
PLEASE CALL
FURTHER IN
WAIL it,
N