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July 16, 1998 - The birds of summerJuly 16, 1998 • The Suffolk Times • SA Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh Nuthatches live In cavities and this family has just emerged for Its first day In the big new world. Gradually as they learn to fend for themselves the young will be driven off to be on their own. They'll then have to find an entirely new area to forage. The birds of summer The direction of the wind means everything. If it's out of the east, it means rain or cloudy weather for at least three days. If it's out of the southwest, look for fair to cloudy weather but with lots of humidity. Re- member, the wind is then coming off the ocean. If it comes out of the north or northwest at this time of the year, get out the picnic basket for fair, cool dry weather will be upon us. It is the per- fect time to open up the house, yes, even the cellar and let it dry out and give the whole place a fresh new start. That's the kind of day it is today. I've just come in from mowing the back pasture to keep the weeds down with my old Cub tractor — vintage 1948. It's hardly considered a tractor by today's standards. I look and marvel at the new compact tractors with their power steering and hydraulics that operate everything from a backhoe to a plow. Then some models even have four -wheel drive and some are pow- ered by diesel. All come in a tidy, smart package that costs as much as a home once did. Yet for what I want my little 18 -horse tractor does the job. As I mowed back and forth in the brilliant sunshine, the mower whirled below me, kicking out a steady stream of dried seeds, stalks and greenery. It must be a nightmare to all below and in the confusion insects fly out, trig- gering an orgy of feeding by all the barn swallows from the neighbor- hood. Like big bees they dive and dart about me as I ride along. I marvel at their grace and ease as they snatch up the insects I've stirred up by mowing. We have two small pastures, each about two acres in size. I'll mow the north one this year and leave the other for next year. I want one to be undis- turbed for the rabbits, quail and other wildlife to hide in. A mowed field is like a mowed lawn, useless to all but the robin who always seems to get its FOCUS ON NATURE by Paul Stoutenburgh worm. Bob - white! Bob - white! What a wonderful call quail have. I can hear them in the distance. It's fun to mimic their clearly enunciated whistle: "Bob- white!" or "Poor Bob - whoit!" Often you can lure them up quite close by imitating their call. They are masters at camouflage and expert hidden travelers in the ground cover. So expert are they that their calls can be heard so close you wonder why you can't see them. It's a fun game and it's always a call you can't resist mimicking when heard. Speaking of calls, have you kept your ears in tune for the begging calls of baby birds? They are not all that LL l •x LVVr1 IMP H41A 75 years ago July 13, 1923 Plans laid to fight rum runners: At a meeting of min- isters and laymen, attended by more than 100 men last week in Riverhead, the problem of putting a stop to rum running on Eastern Long Island was discussed at length, after which it was decided to organize the Law Enforcement Society with an advisory board consisting of one man from each village on the north side of Suffolk County. Whither the lamplighter?: The people of Orient village are enjoying the electric street lights which were turned on for the first time last week. However, the familiar figure of the lamp - lighter, Mr. Henry Latham, is missed by many. For many years, through the snow of winter and the heat of summer, Mr. Latham has trimmed and lighted the oil lamps. He seldom missed a trip and we liked to look for- ward to see him coming on his beat in the evening twilight. 50 years ago July 16, 1948 Village and town police to merge ?: At the meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Greenport on Monday evening, Mayor Burt reported that a committee from the Village Board of Trustees and from the loud but they are out there. We have baby chickadees, titmice, catbirds, robins, nuthatches, downy woodpeck- ers and even a family of crows learn- ing the ropes of survival from their parents around our place. The young downy woodpecker is the most obvi- ous, for it trails the mother around as if it were attached to her by an invisi- ble string. They visit our suet on a reg- ular basis. I see only one youngster. I imagine the others have fledged already and are on their own while the "problem child" is still attached to mother's apron strings. The young one will stay about three feet from the feeder on the tree in true woodpecker fashion. The female goes down and gets a piece of suet then hops up to the young, which almost attacks the parent -bird, grab- bing and gulping the tidbit of food. This back -and -forth feeding lasts for about five minutes and then the par- ent bird flies away with the juvenile right behind. Perhaps, as any parent knows, too rich a diet isn't good for lit- tle ones and so she's off to find a more natural sort of food. The chickadee and nuthatch also are regular visitors to our suet con- tainer but they'll have no part of feed- ing suet to their young. No, they are busy in and out, up and down and around the branches and leaves of the trees. Their hunting is most successful, for about every three or four minutes Southold Town Board had held several meetings in ref- erence to eliminating the village police department, which would be combined with the Southold Town Police, the present Greenport police officers to become members of the town police department. This would not only result in more efficient policing but would also mean a savings of approximately $8,000 to Greenport taxpay- ers. If such a resolution is passed by both the town and village boards it will necessitate a referendum before the proposed plan can be placed in operation. 25 years ago July 12, 1973 'New' district holds first meeting: With a combined new district of about 3,000 voters, the Mattituck- Cutchogue Board of Education had no idea how many taxpayers would turn out for the consolidated district's first annual meeting Tuesday night. About 125 people showed up, which is usually interpreted in school circles as a good sign that taxpayers are not unhappy. A proposed football program for the junior high requested by a parents' petition provoked the most ani- mated discussion of the evening with a couple of women seriously questioning a program in which girl students would not participate. a parent will return to a wing- flutter- ing baby and deposit its collection into a gaping, begging mouth. Then it's off again in pursuit of another collection of goodies. How busy they are. It seems like the pace doesn't let up from one young to the next. If you sit and watch, your eye will pick up the young following the parents as they move along into new areas for better feeding. The nuthatch tending its young flits here and there just about the same as the chickadee does, except its hunting is carried out in typical nuthatch fash- ion — upside down. Its collecting is more confined to the tree trunk and limbs where it finds insects and their eggs hidden away. All make nutritious baby food. Both the chickadee and nuthatch are cavity nesters. The chickadee will use old woodpecker holes or bird boxes but it is quite capable of digging out its own cavity provided the wood is decayed and soft enough. The nest is made of fine root hairs on the outside and hairs or feathers for the inner nest. They find good pickings around the place, for each spring when our cows rub off their winter coats on fence posts or trees, they'll be there gleaning this choice nesting material. When we had our horse, Dusty, they always used horse hair in their nest building. Low riders The chickadee and nuthatch usually build within a relatively close distance of the ground. I actually found one chickadee nest only three feet off the ground. It was in an old fence post at the water's edge out at Orient Beach State Park. The post was only about four inches in diameter but somehow the center had rotted out and provid- ed just enough space for the nest. A bird's nest that is not rare but one that is hard to find is the quail or bob- white, of which I spoke earlier. I've only found it once and that was over in East Moriches over 50 years ago. It was on a farm that was tucked in between the duck farms that once rid- dled the waterfront of that south shore town. Since then duck farms have gradually disappeared. In their place development in the form of con- dos and homes has spread all along the waterfront. I suppose the change was for the best but the area has lost its sleepy country look. No longer are there woodlands and hedgerows where bob - whites once nested. In their place are spiffy new homes and monotonous looking condos, all with their newly planted shrubs and trees and, of course, instant manicured lawns. I guess it's like the saying goes, "Our world is under attack and the enemy is us."