Loading...
August 14, 1997 - On DMV, Hallocks Bay and ShorebirdsSA. • The Suffolk Times • August 14, 1997 On D Hallocks Bay and Shorebi We'd been thinking about going down to Hallocks Bay in Orient for some time but our busy summer schedule kept us from getting there. Then last Friday a win- dow of time came along and we quickly started loading the pickup for a mini - adventure to the east. The major �O`u$ item, of course, was our means of on transportation, the old square -ended Nature Grumman alu- minum canoe. by Paul Then there was a StoutOnburgh little 2 1/2 horse- power engine to go on it, life jackets and paddles and we were just about ready. Because of using a motor on the canoe, we recently decided to become legal and register the canoe with the Department of Motor Vehicles. We'd been hesitant to do this for some time for we know what a hassle one can get into with that bureau- cratic complex, especially with age -old equipment that has little or no records of sales, past registration or ownership. Many years ago I bought the canoe sec- ondhand from a man in Riverhead who has long since passed on. I'd seen it serv- ing as a chicken roost in his barn and inquired if it was for sale. "Sure," was the reply and the deal was done. What the price was I really don't remember and, of course, in those days there was no formal receipt or title. With a wave of the hand and "Hope you enjoy it," we were off with our Grumman 679B- 5 -17S. With many wrong forms and much frustration on trips to Motor Vehicle, we finally found out we had everything in order but a legal verification of the ca- noe's age. We thought of Grumman but after 50 years they are no longer in the business. After numerous telephone calls, we found the canoe company in Marathon, N.Y., who had taken over the Grumman canoes and was able to give us verification of the year of our 679B canoe. It was built in 1948. We made one more trip to Riverhead, got our registration and were legal, so now we were able to use our little motor on our almost half- centu- ry -old canoe. With the canoe on the racks on top of the pickup and all our gear in the back, we headed for Hallocks Bay. There on the edge of the bay we put the canoe in. W had noticed a sign stating that taking o shellfish was prohibited unless you had Southold Town shellfish permit, which w did. Obtaining that was a simple matter. Our day was hot and muggy but there was that wonderful southwest breeze that felt refreshing and cool. The motor started with the second pull. We were off, travel ing through one of Southold's best shell fish areas, one that is particularly note for its scallops and I could see why as we moved slowly above the waving fields of eel grass below. The entire bottom was covered, a phenomenon that is totally lacking in the upper bays to the west. Coming from those westerly bays, I can remember z when I was a kid eel grass was >a everywhere and eve beach had its miniature windrow of dried eel grass along its high tide mark. ` No wonder they have such good scallop harvests in this area with all the eel grass. When scal- lops, like clams, are in their early free-swimming stage the need g g Y protection from the hoards of '1? predators that lurk everywhere to the bay. To hide from those predators, there's no better place than in among the eel grass stems, a sharp contrast to our open sterile bay, where they are easily attacked by predators like crabs, snails, conchs, starfish, kil- lifish, jellyfish — fish of all kinds. It's my personal belief that is why we don't get good sets of clams, oysters and scallops in our western bays as we did years ago when eel grass was prevalent. We intrigued by three ospreys fishing above f the shallow water over the flats. They a were screaming among themselves as if e they were being instructed on their first lessons in how to master the noble art of fishing for survival. One or two would hang in the air, flapping wings to stay in position as their "eagle eyes" searched for - prey below. Often this hesitation of flap- - ping wings in mid -air would turn out to be d a false alarm and the birds would drift off shake vigorously in an explosion of spray, then off again to gain more altitude, another shake and it was circling once more. It would miss more often than it would hit. Sooner or later it would be successful, its prey held tightly in its pow- erful talons. Flatfish of one sort or anoth- er are most often taken on these shallow - water dives. We found a spot along the south shore where the bottom was half mud and half Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh NESTING OYSTERCATCHERS —Most shorebirds only pass through our area on their migration to and from the far north. Some nest locally, like these oyster- catchers with their specially designed knife - shaped bill that lets them get into oys- ters, clams, mussels, etc., with what seems like little effort. Shore Birds Moving Through Off Pete's Neck we saw our first shore- birds, a sure sign that summer's moving on. They have already been up to the far north and had their young and are now on their return trip to the southern hemi- sphere, where they'll spend the winter. Only a few shorebirds nest locally. There were some adventurers out trying to scratch out a few clams, but most get discouraged because pulling a clam rake through the eel grass becomes a mighty chore. As we motored along we were Let's Look Back 75 Years Ago August 11, 1922 Ballooning Record: A record height for the Washington district was reached recently by the balloon set up by the Weather Bureau of the United States Department of Agriculture in connection with its observations of upper air conditions. The balloon was seen to burst at 22,590 meters, a height of about 13 miles, after.being watched for 123 minutes. The serological service of the Weather Bureau releases a balloon filled with hydrogen gas twice daily, at 8 a.m. and at 3 p.m., from the roof of the Weather Bureau building. 50 Years Ago August 8, 1947 Listing Our Veterans: Beginning with next week's issue, Aug. 15, The Suffolk Times will start publication of a list of names of those from the community who served in the last war. The complete list will be published over a period of five weeks, for example, those whose last names begin with the first letters of the alphabet will be listed first. The pur- pose of this effort is to make available to the public the basic list of names which the committee has obtained. It is not expected that the list will be a correct one. The public will be to a more productive spot. Then there would be the time when all conditions were just right and an osprey would start its dive of a hundred feet or more. When about 10 feet above the water, with feet outstretched, it would fold its wings and make the plunge for its prey. For a second or two, until the spray and water settled, there would be no sign of the bird, but then, from the turmoil, black dripping wings of the osprey would emerge, and slowly it would rise, in what seemed a tremendous effort, water flying from its now - soaked feathers. As it strug- gled to rise, it would pause in mid -air to asked to communicate with the Memorial Committee noting any omissions, corrections in spelling, deletions and so forth. 25 Years Ago August 17, 1972 Band Plays to Record Crowd: Music filled the air as an appreciative audience gathered to hear the Greenport Band, under the direction of Frank Corwin, pre- sent a concert at the St. Agnes annual bazaar last Saturday evening. A record crowd heard the band play last Wednesday evening on the site of the old New Prospect House, Shelter Island Heights, where listeners spontaneously danced to the waltzes and polkas played. Folks were encouraged to bring along folding chairs and relax under the stars. Ecology Workshop Has Full Program: The ecology workshop in Orient ran for a second successful sea- son this summer. Children came from Cutchogue, Southold and Greenport, as well as locally, to attend classes conduct- ed by Paul Stoutenburgh and his son, Peter. The bulk of the workshop was devoted to field trips, during which the class- es investigated the wide variety of ecosystems available on the East End. Sixty -nine children attended; others will have to wait until next summer as there were more applicants than available openings. sand that looked promising for clams, so I got out of the canoe and walked along feeling for clams with my bare feet. Barbara broke out some goodies for refreshment. It was a pleasant way to spend an hour or so. Every once in a while I'd "feel one" and stoop down in the clear water, with its waving eel grass, and pull out a clam. How luxurious the salt marsh fringe looked nearby. There was no hint of drought here. The water was warm and delightful and my occasional dip to pick up a clam most refreshing. When we had enough clams for a chowder, we moved toward the entrance of the bay on the state park side to get a better look at the bird life on the exposed low -tide beach. I was pleased to see an adult teaching two young oystercatchers their trade of survival. They are big black- and -white shorebirds with brilliant red, knife- shaped bills, specially adapted to get into shellfish easily. Along with the oystercatchers were six or eight turn- stones, small robin -sized shorebirds that were doing what their name implies, turn- ing stones and shells over to snatch up the goodies hidden underneath. Farther up the beach, in a little stream that flowed from the south, were six willets, large shorebirds that identify themselves by white markings on their wings when they fly. Piping plovers and least terns, both young and adults, were feeding there also. We left them to their world and called it a day. We had a perfect afternoon in what could have been another world, but no, it was like so many other "unique places" here on the East End. Let's hope we can always keep these unique places for if we don't we, too, will become like the West End and then we will be "just another place."