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November 5, 1998 - A soul-stirring sunset6A • The Suffolk Times • November 5, 1998 A soul- stirring sunset I wish I had a visual time capsule so each of you could experience the sunset we enjoyed on the 25th. We had just finished one of the most perfect fall weekends one could ask for and Focus to wind it up we decided to see if ON any snappers NATURE (small bluefish) were still in the by Paul creek. We shoved Stoutenburgh off in our little Whaler and slowly cruised along the fall- studded waterways that had lost their busyness of summer visitors. We trailed two snapper rigs off the stern and settled down to enjoy the world around us. The first thing we noticed as we moved along on the flood tide was a cormorant that was diving to the bot- tom for killifish and small crustaceans along with baby bunkers that "school" in our local creeks at this time of the year. These silvery, deep- bodied bunkers, or menhaden, are a sight to see underwater. I have snorkeled into a school of their tight clusters just to mar- vel at how they react. They swim as a unit of one. If something disturbs their regimented course, the school moves in quick response, all acting as if wired together. All the time they swim with their mouths wide open, straining the plankton and zooplankton they feed on. As filter feeders they move through the water as one big drag net bollecting the rich soup of our local waters. Here's a perfect example of how important our bordering wetlands and creeks are as nursery areas for fish and shellfish of all kinds. We knew these schools of baby bunkers were there because we could see the ripples as they moved just below the surface of the water where they were patrolling. It's these same fish that were re- sponsible for the name of the lane we live on, Skunk lane. The name seems disconnected from fish, but then there's a story to explain its origin. It was not named in honor of the animal, which, by the way, was very common throughout the East End when I was a kid, but for a group of local farmers and residents who lived mostly on the lane and made it their business to "haul seine" for bunkers off the nearby beaches. These hauls captured thou- sands of silvery mature fish that were a valuable resource to spread on the farmlands as fertilizer. In those early days various groups called the Skunks, the Crows, etc., competed for this valu- able natural fertiliz- er. Wagon loads were hauled to the fields and plowed under. Later, as power took over from raw muscle, the collecting of bunkers became big business. Fleets of "bunker boats" would ply the waters throughout our bays, Sound and up and down the eastern seaboard looking for the huge schools of bunkers. To be more effi- cient, planes were later used to scout out the dark masses of moving fish; their location then was reported to the bunker boats below. They became so efficient they over - fished the resource so that today there are only smatterings of what once was a flourishing industry. As we idled along, the breeze dropped off completely and we found ourselves moving on the mir- ror -like surface of the creek. The snap- pers must have left or didn't like our dangling lures so we gave up fishing and decided to stop and say hello to friends instead. As we approached the shore off to the right of our boat we could see what looked like white spots on the water ahead of us. As we maneuvered closer we made them out to be a flock of friendly little bufflehead ducks diving and surfacing at the far end" of the marsh. Here was positive proof that winter was coming, for we know they frolic in our creeks and bays and feed on small crustaceans and fish below throughout the winter. We pulled the boat up on a grassy bank along the causeway and walked Central and South America, where they'll 'spend the winter. These birds were slaughtered for the market by the thousands in the early 1900s, so much so they were on the brink of extinction. Strict laws against hunting saved them from that horrible fate. Today, like the bunkers, they are but a shadow of what they once were. We had a pleasant visit with our friends, then had to get back before the tide left our boat high and dry. When we reached the boat and finally got off, the sun was about to set, and what a sunset it was. The minor -like water, enhanced by the reflection of the sunset, doubled its grandeur. The clouds were lay- ered in rows, each having its own golden outline. The sun itself was hid- den and just its glo- rious yellow flood- ed the western sky. The sunset ranked with the ones I remember from years ago in the Pacific when in the service. Each day toward sunset I'd go up on deck to watch the barrage of color spread across the western horizon. Like the sunset we watched as we slowly head- ed home this week, it made one feel humble before its beauty. By now the shoreline had lost its fall color and set- tled for the dark- ness of evening. We could see two ducks swimming ahead. But because of the, fading light I couldn't quite make them out. They left a long, silvery, trail- ing wake behind them as they tried to escape our coming. Then our closeness became too great a threat and they shot out of the water and swung out over the bay. Up there the sun's glow caught their underwings and I could make them out to be a pair of black ducks, the ultimate in ducks. There's something about black ducks that stirs the spirit. There's no paddling or fluttering across the surface of the water as they rise. They have a straight - up- and -off flight, their whitish under - wings giving away their identity. Their flight is strong and steady, oftentimes with a mate. To see a pair of black ducks come in on a wild, windy day is a lesson in nature's aerodynamics that can never be duplicated by man. Wings set, they veer and shift as they come down, only to light and land with head erect to detect the slightest sign of dan- ger. Black ducks are always on the alert. When we approached our dock, the color had left the western sky and a cloudless evening sky had taken over. There was just enough light still left to keep the stars from popping and out and a new crescent moon shown bright- ly above. It seemed as if the world was ready for a change. Had we seen the last of our warm sparkling fall weather? As we walked back to the car I thought, nothing lasts forever, but my, hasn't it been great to enjoy the best of the best right here on our East End. Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh These small bunkers (menhaden) school In our creeks and bays In late summer, showing the Importance of our waterways as nursery areas. Once adult bunkers were the basis of a multimillion- dollar Industry that thrived throughout our eastern seaboard but later failed because of overflshing. ■.nv t r7 Mom WWrV 1160/y%.+R 75 years ago Nov 2, 1923 Vote yes for the library: Several years ago the state passed a law allowing towns to appropriate a certain amount of money each year for the support of its free libraries. Acting under this statute the taxpayers of our town are to have the chance to vote an appropriation for our libraries this year. There seems to be an idea in some villages that they will not benefit, but such is not the case, as if the money is voted all the libraries in the town will be free for use of any resident of the town. For instance, Orient and East Marion have no library. If this appropriation is granted the Greenport library will probably be able to open every day in the week instead of three days as at present, and also have more funds for books. It will probably work just the same in other villages. It does seem to be a very sane and sensible way to take care of the public benefits. — F.B. Corey, president, Floyd Memorial Library 50 years ago Nov 5, 1948 Working on the railroad: Eight of Long Island Rail Road's 50 new double -deck "dream" cars are now carry- ing passengers (in addition to 13 others already in ser- vice). New ones are arriving each week. Seating a total of 6,600 passengers, and costing $7,150,000, these 50 new across to the bay and along the beach to our friends' home. A few people were still enjoying the late - afternoon sun but up ahead the beach was ours except for a lone black - bellied plover and two yel- lowlegs. Both these shorebirds are on their way south and were just refueling and awaiting the right wind to help them along their long journey to double -decks are another chapter in LIRR's $17,656,000 improvement program. (Advertisement) Truman Is surprise winner: Harry S. Truman, the Democratic incumbent, defeated his Republican oppo- nent, Governor Thomas Dewey of New York, in what was perhaps the greatest upset in the history of American pol- itics. Despite the numerous public opinion polls and the apparent nationwide sentiment that Governor Dewey would be the presidential winner, President Truman put up one of the most surprising political battles on record to emerge as the victor. 25 years ago Nov 1, 1973 No more cheap food ?: Those farmers who have held off selling their land to speculators will be reaping their reward in high prices, is the prediction of regional direc- tor Anthony Taormina of the state Department of Environmental Conservation. We're never going to have cheap food again, he said at a meeting Friday of the North Fork Environmental Council. Because of a general lack of concern over saving farm- land we shall be joining Europe, Africa and Asia in a ratio of more bellies to be filled than acres of farmland to grow the food needed, Mr. Taormina said in an argument for a change in attitude toward fertile land and other natural resources. The time has come, he said, to question what Americans have always assumed, that the highest and best use of land is developing it.