October 29, 1998 - A plethora of autumn pleasuresGA • The Suffolk Times • October 29, 1998
A plethora of autumn pleasures
Forty -five degrees is a pretty nice
temperature for fall weather, but when
you add 15- to 20- mile -an -hour north-
west winds right out of Canada it real-
ly feels chilly, a
reminder of
things to come. I FOCUS
guess what really ON
makes it feel so
chilly now is NATURE
because of the by Paul
beautiful weath- Stoutenburgh
er we have en-
joyed all this
year, starting with the mild winter, right
up to the present. It's been unbeliev-
able. Yet a good part of the country
was devastated with hurricanes, torna-
does, droughts and floods while we
basked in superb weather.
Now as the natural world prepares
itself for winter we can enjoy its fall
color, the yellows of the Norway
maples, the scarlet reds of the Virginia
creeper, the rusty reds of the oaks and
all the others that blend in to make our
East End festival of color. True, it
might not be as brilliant to some as
upstate New York with its sugar
maples and aspen hillsides, but in its
own way Long Island does pretty well
with what it's got.
There are some places on Long Is-
land that can rival the blaze of upstate
color. Just find a freshwater pond or
lake or wetlands and the swamp maple
will show through with its blazing fall
colors of red, scarlet and yellow. I see
these colors as I walk down by our irri-
gation pond. Dug out years ago to help
irrigate the farmland up back, it has
acquired its own freshwater habitat.
Two swamp maples dazzle you with
their red and orange color, while a few
quaking aspens and willows glow in
shades of yellow.
Here and there, mingled in to make
an impenetrable hedge around part of
the pond, grow those aggressive
invaders, the multiflora rose and
autumn olive. As much as I dislike
their intrusion and taking over our
native plants, I do have to admire their
bumper crop of wildlife survival food,
their berries. What a crop of winter
forage they have produced.
The first to be utilized by the birds
will be the autumn olive. The fruit is
tiny compared to a true olive, but nev-
ertheless what it lacks in size it makes
up in quantity. Clusters of these now
dark -red berries attract robins, cat-
birds, mockingbirds and a host of oth-
ers. I even think the
flocks of cedar wax-
wings I saw a few dayslA
ago were probably i A
enjoying these ripe
y
berries. When they are
gone many of those
who feasted on them
will have left for
warmer places, leaving
the less palatable mul-
tiflora rose for the res-
ident mockingbird and
possibly a robin or two
that for some reason
will stay throughout
the winter. They, along
with an occasional cat-
bird, brown thrasher,
towhee and others,
will stay over the win -,
ter in some protected
spot where these
same procedure, but in saltwater, are
our eels, crabs and toadfish. I'm sure
there are many others but those are the
ones I'm familiar with, for when we go
eeling through the ice we often bring
up not only the sleepy eels but an occa-
sional toadfish or crab. I doubt if there
is a more repulsive looking fish in our
their eggs or young.
Since the weather has been so mild
we have taken the opportunity to do all
the outside chores like raking up the
bushels of fallen hickory nuts, taking
down screens and putting up storm
windows, and yes, I finally tackled the
garage and cleaned it out. To reward
berries and others will Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
see them through the This handsome southern tern with Its striking orange bill and rakish crest is a casual visitor
winter. Why these to our bays. Yet last week there was a group of 40 or more resting on the northern sand spit
birds do not go south is of Robins Island.
a mystery.
Turtles ready to go below
The irrigation pond usually has a
painted turtle or two basking on a log
in the sun. With the cool days and
nights, the water's warmer than the
chilly air, so we no longer see our tur-
tles. They, like so many creatures in
nature's realm, will soon seek the
muddy bottom of the pond to sleep
away the winter. The fish of the pond
will join them, suspended in a mo-
tionless sleep, their hearts barely beat-
ing. Science fiction has already latched
on to this concept of cold slowing down
the heartbeat and woven tales of men
and women speeding to faroff planets
in this suspended - animation mode.
Other hibernators that follow the
■ 2- on%9 a" i w w i� D w i► r�
iq c. 1 .7 A60 V V r1 L+ r1 v r%
75 years ago
Oct. 26, 1923
Local gleanings: Brussels sprouts are giving work to
the ladies, who are very glad to earn some pin money.
The picking of them will give work to a large number
during the fall and winter.
Shelter Island news: Loads of gravel are now being
carted onto the two roads which are being improved
under the Lowman Act. An appropriation of $1,000 for
the purchase of two small trucks and a small tractor will
be put up to the taxpayers at the November election. The
present truck in use by the road force is very large and
cumbersome, using much extra time in backing around in
our roadways.
50 years ago
Oct. 29, 1948
A home economics problem: Let us suppose that your
neighbor, Mrs. Amanda Peabody, has a husband and sev-
eral children. Suppose that Mrs. Peabody, does her own
laundering. If our suppositions are correct, the dear
woman spends most of her Mondays filling and emptying
washing machines. Blue Monday, tut, tut!
A dozen problems: 1. Add the cost of heating water. 2.
Add the cost of electricity. 3. Add the cost of soap. 4. Add
the cost of bluing. 5. Add the cost of bleach. 6. Add the
cost of water softener. 7. Add the cost of those precious
waters than the toadfish. It's a short,
stubby brown fish with a huge head
and snapping mouth. It's slimy, without
scales and often croaks when out of its
element. Usually it's found tucked
underneath a rock or log or in an old
tin can. Here it lies in wait for its prey
to pass by, then in an instant, it makes
a quick lunge and the passerby is gone.
As much as we dislike the toadfish with
its ugly looks and slimy body, it has one
notable plus on its side. After the
female attaches her eggs to the shelter
that the male has located, he then
spends the next three or four weeks
guarding the precious eggs until the
young are hatched and are off on their
own. An interesting concept for fish,
who usually have nothing to do with
hours. 8. Add wear and tear on your machine. 9. Add
untold amounts of energy. 10. Subtract quite a bit from
your life span. 11. And from your usefulness to your fam-
ily. 12. Add the pleasure in having a tiresome job done
for you.
The solution: Bring your clothes to the Greenport
Launderette, near railroad station. Telephone 1280.
25 years ago
Oct. 25, 1973
Never mind: The county legislature Tuesday okayed
the elimination of road - widening plans for Northville
Turnpike in Riverhead. The 1974 -76 capital program
called for a four -lane highway for much of its length on a
74 -foot right of way. But local complaints changed the
legislature's mind, and Tuesday's resolution amends the
county capital program to provide the road will remain
two lanes, with improved shoulders and the drainage
problems eliminated.
Traffic report: Bottlenecks and traffic jams take on a
different aspect here on the East End. Cars were stopped
in both directions on the North Road Friday- as
Patrolman Harry Smith of the Southold Town Police
patiently waited for 11- year -old Donna Barszczewski to
lead her straying calf, Oscar, and three pigs back to their
pens. It was reported that motorists who refused to take
alternate routes experienced further delays as rubber -
neckers stood by, amused by the bucolic scene.
ourselves, we took an afternoon boat
ride. As we walked out on the dock we
looked over a new marsh, one that had
turned from its brilliant green to a
golden brown. The water was crystal -
clear, which it always seems to be as
soon as the cool weather comes along.
There were no white egrets stalking in
the creek as we'd seen weeks before.
They had all gone south for the winter.
We did see one great blue heron, seem-
ingly out of place, looking for his meal
along the marsh edge.
Sanderlings, royal terns seen
Our boat is an old Boston Whaler
that ranks, I believe, with the first ever
made. Nevertheless, it suits our pur-
pose just fine. It's a real steady boat
and with a turn of the key, the motor
purred and we were off. There was a
brisk north wind still blowing that
helped us along as we slowly made our
way out into the bay. Once a fleet of
sailboats was moored over in the near-
by cove but today there were only one
or two; the rest had been hauled out
for the winter, leaving only empty
white moorings. We traveled in the lee
of the land toward New Suffolk. Here
it was calm and peaceful.
Farther along we crossed another
area with empty moorings that once
held a small fleet of sailboats. As we
crossed over from New Suffolk to
Robins Island we could feel the chilly
wind from the north. As we ap-
proached the north end of the sand spit
we could see a cluster of gray -white
birds. What could they bet Slowly we
approached them. Closer and closer
we moved until I could recognize them
as Sanderlings, a type of shorebird that
is usually headed south by this time,
but like the robin I mentioned earlier
for some unknown reason these had
stayed behind. Would they stay all win-
ter or were they just late travelers?
There must have been at least 50 of
them all asleep until we came by, caus-
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