January 08, 1998 -Annual Bird Count Reveals Wondersdanuary.8, 1998 • The Suffolk Times • 21
Annual Bird Count Reveals Wonders
I'm walking along the southwest shore
of Gardiners Island on my 30th Montauk
Christmas Bird Count. Tom Crowley
and John Brush are working the other
side of Great Pond. As I approach the
pond, I can see seven
ring- necked ducks close
under the bank. I set my
spotting scope up and
take a closer look. What I
see are small blackish
ducks, some with clear _
white chevrons on their
folded wings. Alert, they see me and are
off heading south.
This sudden activity in the early morn-
ing scares up a dozen or so black ducks
that were hidden by the grasses in front
of me. What magnificent birds they are:
large, regal looking and camouflaged to
perfection. No gaudy outcropping of col-
ors here. They are the wisest of water-
fowl. When they burst from the water,
it's as if they were catapulted straight up
and off. Powerful flyers, they swing to
the east and then head north, their desti-
nation Tobaccolot Pond a few miles
along the east side of the island. Now a
small group of red - breasted mergansers
take off. Half paddling, half flying, they
head out over the bay; their white wing
patches and long - pointed bills identify
these ever - diving ducks.
As I walked along the stony beach, I
was filled with a sense of wonder being
out in this wild place, alone except for
the waves, the wind and the open spaces.
My nostalgia was broken by the whirl of
tiny wings. Sparrow -like birds flew up
before me, bobbing up and down as they
flew low along the beach. I counted five,
10, 16 horned larks. I always marvel at
their ability to eke out a living on the
bare, windswept ground. Seeds, the size
of grains of sand, will
fortify them for their
winter's stay. Off shore
now, common loons, old -
squaw, goldeneye, red -
breasted mergansers,
scoters and other ducks
are counted and added to
my list. All these winter
ducks are diving for their
rations in the cold and
rough water to the west. I can't find a
horned grebe anywhere. They should be
here.
Further along at the mouth of the little
inlet that flows into Great Pond, my eye
catches some movement amongst the
stony beach edge — shorebirds. I stop
and sit on a grey, weathered log and set
up my scope. A raw wind comes off the
bay. Water runs out of my eyes. I wipe
them. Now I can scan the birds before
me: light - colored sanderlings and dark -
colored dunlins. Most of their kind left
for warmer parts south months ago.
These were nice finds to add to our
list.
I visit next the great cliffs along
the east side of this southern part of
the island. A marsh hawk or harrier
drifts by. I jot it down. Later I'll
almost step on one as it flies up
from where it was feeding on a
mouse. Then to the north I spot a
dot in the sky and my glasses re-
veal — yes, a bald eagle. I fol-
low it as it drifts offshore, glid-
ing on thermals. Then another
dot. This time it's a rough -
winged hawk. A true visitor
from the north.
I'm puffing as the uphill
grade slows me. My age is showing. As
I near the cliff edge I purposely slow
down so I won't scare anything that is
below. My caution pays off. Seals are
resting atop some of the rocks. On one
rock there are two, while
all around in the water I
see pointed football -like
heads of others. They
come in various shades
of black, brown and
white. Some are spotted.
�— More seals show up,
through my scope as I scan the point to
the north. I count 17 harbor seals in all.
Two are playing, or is this some kind of
mating ritual? Up and down they go,
chasing each other 'round and 'round. At
one point one "porpoises" in and out of
the water. I've never seen this before.
I'm fascinated by them as I watch
through the scope. I can see their big,
black, bulging eyes and silvery whiskers.
Time slips by. I'll have to stop and get
back to my birding task.
Later when we met on the boat, I
found my son, Peter, along with Ken
Homan, had spotted a peregrine falcon at
the opposite end of the island. It was
diving on some ducks; no wonder pere-
grines were once called duck hawks.
They also saw a goshawk and a snowy
owl, both rare visitors from the frozen
north. We'll not know the total of the
Montauk Count, of which Gardiners
Island is part, until all the tallies are in.
Focus on
Nature
by Paul Stoutenbutgh
Count No. 2 — Central Suffolk
I traveled to Eastport and East
Moriches to cover the Central Suffolk
area that I've been doing for the past 45
years. It was a dreadful day with wet
snow fouling our binoculars and birds
seemingly hidden from our view
throughout the day. Bad
weather I can deal with,
but what troubled me
more was the creeping
development that has shat-
tered this once - simple
countryside. Huge condo
complexes have sprouted
up where duck farms once
spread along the water-
front. Multimillion - dollar
seaside homes have popped up like giant
mushrooms where once bean fields
grew. Gone is the easy access to the
shores and creekfronts that always led us
into a world of waterbirds: teal, gadwall,
widgeon, pintail, mallards and black
ducks plus a host of others that use these
waterfronts for their picking. Now all is
landscaped with manicured lawns and
expensive plantings that do little to
encourage wildlife.
We did find two spots that had not yet
come under the ax and still had that
wonderful natural look. It was here we
found many of the good birds for our
list. Ducks like canvasback, red -head,
shovelers, hooded mergansers, pintails
and green- winged teal were found here.
We also spotted snipe and two sleeping
night herons in the more quiet reaches of
those freshwater ponds. Further along
we found 13 killdeer that gave their
alarm call as they flew off. We even
traveled to the Moriches Coast Guard
station where much of the wreckage of
Flight 800 was brought in. Off here we
usually see rafts of ducks in the bay but
the high winds and snow had cleared
everything away. We registered a few
ducks and gulls and a nice little flock of
brant along with three lone shorebirds. It
Suffolk Times, photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
HORNED LARK —These sparrow -sized winter birds somehow eke out a
living by finding windblown seeds. Their feeding grounds are barren fields
and beaches.
was a disappointing day. The weather
got so bad that during the late afternoon
we had to call it quits, for visibility was
practically down to zero. Our glasses
became useless what with the wet snow
that had increased as the day shortened.
Our group's tally was only 64 species.
Orient — Count No. 3
The third of January marked the last
of the Christmas Bird Counts for me this
year. The area was from the edge of
Plum Island to the causeway outside of
East Marion, which is basically the
whole of Orient. The actual 15 -mile cir-
cle has its center at Hay Beach on Shel-
ter Island. That means it covers Shelter
Island, parts of Sag Har-
bor and Jessups on the
south shore, East Marion,
Greenport, Southold and
parts of Peconic. Over 40
participants took part in
this before - dawn -to -dusk
winter census.
The sunrise was spec-
tacular with low -lying
clouds brilliantly backlighted by a flam-
ing sun. That alone was worth the early
rise for all of us. We started counting on
the causeway, where the familiar gulls
and ducks like mallards, black ducks,
red - breasted mergansers and gadwalls
(ducks very similar to our black ducks)
were found. Try as we would we could
not find the elusive clapper rail that usu-
ally haunts this great marsh and wet
area. How fortunate we are that the past
citizenry of Orient had the foresight to
keep this most spectacular vista for all to
enjoy. There's something special about
people with foresight like that.
After we worked the wetlands, we
spread out and covered the uplands
where chickadees, woodpeckers,
nuthatches and even two lonely robins
were added to our list. We even tried the
Sound beaches there in hopes of finding
snow buntings and horned larks, but
only came up with few song sparrows.
From there we worked our way east,
adding hawks and a great horned owl.
Owls are early nesters and the great
horned owl is hooting for a mate about
this time of year in hopes of nesting by
February or March. There are actually
records of them nesting in January with
snow covering the incubating female.
All along our way (our area was north
of the Main Road) we looked out over
the Sound and added more loons, grebes
and red - breasted mergansers to our list.
At the point we tried in vain to find cor-
morants that usually sit on the railing of
the lighthouse, but to no avail. We did
add the sea ducks to our list, such as
goldeneye, black, white - winged and surf
scoters along with the yodeling old -
squaws. We even had a party on a boat
covering the choppy
waters of the gut and they
added gannets, purple
sandpipers, geese and
brant along with the usual
list of ducks found there.
Our area is only one of
a small part of the overall
count. Hopefully by next
week I'll be able to list
all the species seen within that 15 -mile
circle I spoke of earlier and with any
kind of luck and the mild weather we
had we might just top our 1976 record of
112 species.
Note: Unofficial final tallies of species
seen: Montauk, 128; Central Suffolk,
125; Orient, 115.
Teachers Wanted
SHOREHAM — Science educators
with a flair for teaching young children
are sought by the Shoreham - Wading
River Science Museum, located in the
high school complex. A background in
science and/or teaching is required. Call
821 -8155 for more information.
HARP Meeting Set
RIVERHEAD— Chapter 1915 of the
American Association of Retired Per-
sons (AARP) will meet at 1 p.m. on
Tuesday, Jan. 18, at the Moose Lodge.
The guest speaker will discuss estate
planning and management.
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