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February 13, 1997 - Ruffing It With the Ruffed GrouseIt was kind of nice to see Saturday night's snow. When I awoke our world had been painted a glistening white. The sun and clear sky did its part in shading the long shadows with blue and the colors took on a distinctive new look. Our car- dinals' red became more spectacular in the evergreens alongside the house. It even seemed that the whites of the geese, flying above in the blue sky, stood out more sharply than ever before. There's magic in a snowfall. Footprints of birds in the snow outside my window re- minded me of a time Barbara and I went up to the Catskills to spend a few days in our friends' cabin. Their retreat is _ set in a fairyland alongside a murmuring brook that parallels the road that goes over a small wooden bridge to the house. We had driven up the night before and , as we did Sunday morning, we woke to a new and enchanting world of white. Of course, we had to see the country- side in this new mantel of snow, so we drove out. As we went, a ruffed grouse (or partridge) walked across the road in front of us. I stopped the car as it eyed us with curiosity. Then it went on its way, not the least bit concerned. It was then that I real- ized how important nature's evolutionary work is in preparing this predominantly ground dweller with a newly made set of snowshoes for winter walking. It seems each fall the feet of the grouse are built up with a series of bristle -like hairs that give the bird the ability to walk on the snow without sinking in. Then as spring approaches the snowshoe appendages drop off and the foot returns to normal. We here on Long Island forget that there are still places away from man's busy world that ruffed grouse can be found. The one big stronghold is the pine barrens and their offshoot of mixed hard- woods. I've been in the field many times in my life time but in all my wanderings I could count on one hand the number of times I've seen this elusive game bird. It's a bird we seldom see on our bird lists. The one exception was when Gil Raynor, one of Long Island's greatest nat- uralists, used to flush one up each year for our annual Christmas Bird Count in Manorville. In those early years of my birding, Manorville was still mostly unpopulated and the woods around Gil's home where his laboratory. He knew every nook and cranny and where every type of bird could be found, and so we relied on him to get the impossible ones for our count. I've only once had a ruffed grouse in my hands here on Long Island and that was when I was driving along Route 114 going over to East Hampton via the South Ferry. There's a stretch on that road that runs through the pine bar- _ rens and it was there I saw a road kill ahead. Of course, I always slow up or stop to identify these unfortunates, and this time to my surprise it was a ruffed grouse. Of course, I'd seen pictures of this truly woodland bird but never realized how beautiful it is until I had it in my hands. What stands out besides its beautifully camouflaged body is the hand -sized fan- shaped tail with its large black band run- ning across it. It has a small chicken -like bill for easy cutting leaves, opening seeds and nipping off the buds of trees and in general it's well adapted for its wide vari- ety of foods it forages on. Its habit of enjoying buds of trees got it into trouble in Massachusetts and other states for it became a pest to orchard growers in earli- er times who reported heavy damage to their trees by grouse so much so that a bounty was put on them. As mentioned before the ruffed grouse is considered one of our prize game birds and has long been hunted, starting with the first colonists who arrived in this country. In those early days when hunting pressure was not a factor, it was often called a "fool bird" because it was so eas- ily taken. It was reported that Indians actually clubbed them out of the trees, they were so tame. Yet as time went on and the pressure of white man's hunting increased, the bird has become more and more leery so that today it's the most elu- sive and sought -after game bird of the woodlands. Focus on Mature by Paul Stoutenburgh i w1111&9w 9 llll%wwIm r.aua a avuun 1111110011110111% 75 Years Ago Feb. 17, 1922 Aliens Admitted to Citizenship: With the strains of "The Star - Spangled Banner" ringing in their ears, with an American flag held in their hands, and the stirring words of Justice Strong echoing in their hearts, a large class of aliens swore allegiance to the United States when they were admit- ted as citizens in the courthouse at Riverhead Tuesday. The new citizens came from many countries. There were Germans and Austrians among them and these were more emphatic than any of the others in declaring their love for America. Among those admitted were the following: Max Gruskin, Alfred Worthen and Paul Benkis, Greenport; Wladislow Jarzensji, Orient; Stanley Stepnoski, Frank Woloski, Peconic; Benjamin Usenski, Mattituck; and Charles Joyce, Montauk. 50 Years Ago Feb. 14, 1947 Breakwater Proposed: For several months, State Senator S. Wentworth Horton and the Long Island Park Commission have been vitally concerned in interesting Congress and the War Department in a federal project for the construction of a breakwater at Gardiners Point for the pur- pose of preventing the erosion of the shoreline and also to protect Gardiners Bay and Greenport Harbor from the dev- astating effects of easterly gales. This project is for the con- Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh RUFFED GROUSE —We never see this grouse here on the North Fork. If you're really lucky you might see it in the pine barrens. Upstate and in other parts of the country, it's much more common and becomes a difficult target for the enthusiastic hunter. The ruffed grouse is noted for its ex- plosive burst into flight, and anyone ex- periencing the burst will never forget it. It's so explosive it often throws the hunter off guard and he completely misses his shot. On an average it's been reported that only one out of four birds are taken. Once in flight they travel 30 to 40 miles an hour so you see they have a fair chance of sur- vival. Few if any are taken here on Long Island for as I've indicated they're few and far between. Not so in their range that runs across the country and up into Canada. Here ruffed grouse shooting is considered the king of sports. The snow in front of me reminds me of another interesting thing about ruffed grouse. Normally they roost at night in trees or heavy shrubs but when enough snow is on the ground and conditions become so bad with dropping tempera- struction of a stone breakwater from the high land at Gardiners Point to the old fort, familiarly known as the ruin, a distance of approximately 8,500 feet. S.I. Camp Sold: The New York East Conference of the Methodist Church has bought the 26 -acre camp on Shelter Island as a center for training in character and citi- zenship for youth and church leaders of the conference. The price was $81,500. Five large summer houses, 34 cab- ins, a dining hall and recreation hall and other buildings are on the site. There is a swimming beach and sports grounds. The camp was formerly known as Camp Quinipet and was owned by the Shelter Island Holiday House Corporation. 25 Years Ago Feb. 17, 1972 Port Question Sails Onto Ballot: The Greenport Village Board decided Monday night to put the question of whether to go any further in exploring the possibility of developing a village commercial port before the people of Greenport at a special election on March 21. The proposition will appear on the ballot at the election called to fill the unexpired term of former Village Trustee Richard Manwaring, which is now held by Gerald King. The port had set town against village last summer when townspeople outside the village protested bitterly against the village's consideration of such a project. After a stormy informational hearing the proposal was sent back to the Planning Board for further study. tures and high winds, the grouse resorts to "snow roosting." The bird is said to literal- ly dive into a snow bank where it stays submerged until the weather changes. This could be more than a day if the weather stayed severe. How these birds, like so many other wild creatures, survive during the winter is hard to imagine. Then there's always the problem of predators. Foxes, great horned owls and others make life a constant battle of survival. Even when the warmer months come along, there are always predators to watch out for. `Drumming' Up a Mate Most of us have read or heard about the "drumming" of grouse to attract a mate. This along with strutting, posturing and other gestures are part of the grouse's courtship ritual that ends up in mating and eventually the laying of eggs. Once the nine to 14 milky -white to cinnamon -buff eggs are hatched, the chicks are immedi- ately ready to run and leave the nest. At this stage, again, predators of the young become a real problem and take their toll. Yet, it's all a part of the cycle of living things. Ruffed grouse, like so many others, were once common here on our North Fork but the grouse is a bird of the woods - the overgrown farms of upstate - areas where man seldom treads. We have few of these places still left. The stronghold is the pine barrens and now hopefully through the efforts of a few dedicated people these too will be saved. And so the king of the game birds, the ruffed grouse, will also be allowed to survive in its natural habitat. Hotline Calls Urged RIVERHEAD —In response to the re- cent findings of a dead dolphin near Fire Island and one retrieved from Noyack Bay, the Riverhead Foundation for Ma- rine Research and Preservation is urging residents to call its hotline (369 -9829) in the case of stranded marine mammals or sea turtles, dead or alive. Volunteers for the state Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding Program are on hand around the clock manning the emergency hotline.