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July 24, 1997 - Life and Death in a Tern ColonySA • The Suffolk Times • July 24, 1997 Life and Death in a Tern Colony Wasn't that hot, humid weather awful? It surely took the fun out of being out- side. Could this be what it's like to live in Florida during the summer? And if so, how does anyone get any work done if they don't have the luxury of air condi- tioning? During that hot spell our air conditioning was to escape to the water, and even there it was only bearable if you could get out of the sun. Lucky for us we have a fabric sunshade on the boat. We cruised along in our lit- tle outboard, idling at a low speed, just relaxing and let- ting the world go by. Only one or two waterskiers were out but they were far away. We had wanted to see how — the least tern colony was doing over on the north end of Robins Island and so headed in that direction. Last year they had a terrific start with up to 300 nests, but sorry to say, a freak high tide and storm came along and just about wiped them all out. Prior to that they had poor showings, for the previous owner had the island patrolled by those four - wheeled off -road vehicles that roamed all over the beach- es. It did a fine job of keeping people off the island but it discouraged any terns or piping plovers from nesting, as they build above the high tide on the beaches. The new owner now patrols from upland and by boat with equally good results, but now those endangered nesting birds have a real chance of making it for they are not disturbed on their beach habitat. Now if we could only get Mother Nature to cooperate. To check on the colony we cruised off- shore about 200 -300 feet because land- ing there is strictly prohibited. With my binoculars I could tell the colony was doing well. We could see birds nestled down on their shallow sandy nests. About the area were yellow signs telling people to stay clear of the nesting area. The only ones who didn't take notice of the signs were a few gulls who were being attacked and bombarded by the protective parents. Most of the gulls had been driven out by the continual harassment of the terns. Least terns are the smallest of our terns and weigh only about a tenth the weight of a full -grown gull. Yet small size didn't matter to them when it came to pro- tecting their turf and young. They chal- lenged any who entered their territory. We were quite pleased to see how brave they were. I remember years ago,, when I was helping to band terns over on Bird Island in Moriches Bay, how the common terns would swoop down on us. I've seen them draw blood on someone's head when they wandered into the nesting area without taking proper precautions. They mean busi- ness. All the time they're div- ing and attacking, they chat- ter and scold in their tern lan- guage. I'll bet if it were deci- - phered it would be a scorch- ing tale. Yet with all their screaming and at- tacking one gull had found a way to dis- regard their assaults. As my glasses roamed the nesting site, I moved to the water's edge in hopes of seeing a piping plover, for it's there they feed. I found none but to my horror I came across a gull bash- ing a help- less tern chick to death. I couldn't believe my eyes. The terns had driven off all but one rogue. Big and powerful, he had somehow gotten a young tern that may have wandered away from the safety of the group and paid for his wanderings with his life. I felt like breaking all the rules I'd learned and going in on a rescue mission, but no, I didn't. Nature sometimes looks very cruel to us but in the long run she's usually right. Perhaps the chick's genes were weak and therefore it wandered out of the nesting area. Or something might have happened to its parents and it was starving and looking for help. Since no other tern parents would feed it, it became bewildered and wandered off. But then again it might just be nature's way. No matter, it was pretty hard to take. I'd seen this same type of dastardly deed done on Gardiners Island years ago Focus on Mature by Pain Stoutenburgh Let's Look Sack 75 Years Ago July 21, 1922 Color of Ballot Decided: Primary ballots used by the Farmer -Labor party this fall will be gray in color, accord- ing to a decision just made by Secretary of State Lyons. Primary ballots used by the Republican party will be of cher- ry color while those of the Democratic party will be green, the Socialists using canary - yellow, while those of the Prohibition party will be a cedar brown. The coming of the primaries will be the first in which the Farmer -Labor party has participated, the party having secured the right through having polled the required number of votes at the last guber- natorial election. 50 Years Ago July 18, 1947 New London Ferry Service to Start About Aug. 1: The capital of the New London Freight Line Inc. has been increased from $72,000 to $100,000, all of which has been subscribed and the number of directors has been increased from three to eight: Most of the stock has been pur- chased by prominent business and professional men of east- ern Suffolk County. The corporation will begin the operation of ferry service between Greenport and New London, Conn., on Aug. 1, and a freight service between New London And Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh YOUNG GULLS IN NEST —Like most babies, they're very cute, but when these gulls grow up some can be efficient predators. Just last week an adult gull was seen killing an endangered young tern and eating it. when we were working with terns and gulls but by now time had hidden its real- ity and I must say I was a bit set back. I pacified myself by thinking how lucky the others were nesting there. Now they had the protection of the new owner of the island and as yet no natural disaster had befallen them. We left that blankety- blank gull feeding on the now dead tern while in the air, terns dove and screamed above in protest. Cooperating With Nature On a much more pleasant note, I've seen some good signs happening with terns and plovers. On a crowded beach nearby on the mainland with sunbathers and beachgoers all about, an endangered piping plover decided to build its makeshift sand nest in their midst. Na- ture Conservancy and Audubon were alerted and an enclosure was put around New York City in the fall. Two landing ships, each 203 feet in length and each powered by diesel engines were pur- chased by the corporation several months ago from the Maritime Commission. 25 Years Ago July 27, 1972 Dogs Were Respectful During National Anthem: The seventh Riverhead Kennel Club All -Breed and Obedience Trial last Saturday was the best so far, accord- ing to club president Mrs. Joyce Terry of Orient. Dogs and owners came from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecti- cut and upstate New York. There was record attendance of 1,250 dogs. The show opened most impressively with the mass singing of the "Star Spangled Banner" at 8 a.m., during which not a single dog barked. Rare Rug Will Be Won: Those attending the annual square dance sponsored by the Cutchogue -New Suffolk Historical Council will dance to a caller on Saturday, Aug. 5, on the Village Green in Cutchogue, and one lucky person will win a rare rug. An annual highlight of the fete is the awarding of a George Wells hand- hooked rug. Mr. Wells, whose shop is in Glen Cove, is nationally known for his orig- inal creative designs, which, as the Historical Council points' out, are "a signed masterpiece for wall or floor." the nest along with a string perimeter keeping people away from the incubating parent. There were also signs posted explaining the peril of these birds and the reason why there is such concern for them. In some people's mind this does not set too well for they believe people come first. But with more and more becoming educated about the birds' predicament and with added concern for our environ- ment, people are becoming much more cooperative. Most will even help in the effort. It's something to see that beach on a weekend with its crowd and activity all about, and there on the inside in an open spot is a little bird nestled closely on its eggs in the sand, seemingly unconcerned with all the activity about. We're seeing more and more of this cooperation between man and the envi- ronment. Some time back in Time mag- azine there was an article, "Doing Well While Doing Good," about corporate America realizing that every effort shouldn't be just toward making money, but that business also has a responsibil- ity to the community. This might be hard to swallow for some, particularly for those whose dividends might be af- fected. The article reported that if a poll were taken of the stockholders of any of these companies, there would be reas- suring support for corporate environ- mental concern. This changing attitude is also demon- strated when it comes to paying your New York State income tax. If you look closely on your tax form, there's a line where you can deduct X number of dol- lars to "Return a Gift to Wildlife." Mil- lions of dollars have been collected through this voluntary effort of giving, which shows that people are concerned and are willing to pay for that concern. That money can only be used to protect wildlife and educate the public so they will be more aware and able to help in that protection. It's a sure sign that peo- ple are becoming more and more con- cerned with the world around them.