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March 06, 1997 - Will the Real Season Please Stand Up?6A • The Suffolk Times • March 6, 1997 Will the Real Season Please Stand Up'? This week brought more record- breaking high temperatures in the 50s and even 60s that eat away the cold of winter and bring us hints of an early spring. I even had a young fishing enthusiast who asked if this wane weather would bring out the flounder. There might be something in that, for water tem- perature is what invites these flat Focus fish into our shal- low bays and creeks. In fact, Nature while I was writing this article Jim by PaUl House and his wife Stoutenburgh called to say they saw their first os- prey on the causeway to Orient on Feb. 26. That's way ahead of their usual arrival time. There are signs everywhere that the longer days and warmer temperatures have stirred the world around us. No longer do we have to wait for the pussy willows to come out in containers in the house, for they are already showing their new silvery - gray coats alongside my tool shed. If you want to keep them indoors for any length of time just as they are, don't put them in water, for if you leave them in water, they'll soon burst out into the next phase of pollen- bearing flowers. Kept even longer in water they'll sprout leaves and later even develop roots. Then you can plant your newly- rooted pussy willows or give some away for others to enjoy. Each morning when I go out to feed the chickens I hear "tee -err tee -err" in the treetops from the red -wings that have returned. One male with his flaming red - orange epaulets, or wing patches, has already claimed his terri- tory down by the pond. I haven't seen the drab females with their brownish streakings below as yet, for they usu- ally come along about two or three weeks behind the mates. Once a bond has been struck with the females and the territory is okayed, the male will sit atop his outpost and challenge any other red -wings in his territory. It's then you can see his vibrant color patches at their best, for he puffs up in size and spreads his wings to display his badge of honor to its fullest while all the time calling his "konk -la -reee" or ` o- ka- leee." The female is an expert weaver of grasses and builds her cup nest in the reeds and bushes only a short distance above the ground (generally two to four feet). Usually it's near a wet place. When this busy nest builder has com- pleted her job of nest building, she'll deposit three to five eggs in it and start incubating. As she settles down over her eggs, she almost seems to disappear from sight, she is so well camouflaged amongst the weeds. Red -wings have two, occasionally three, broods a year, which helps Suffolk Times photo by Barbara Stoutenburgh CROCUSES —If you look closely you can see honeybees feeding, which means the temperature is up past 50 degrees, crazy but welcome weather for February. Let's hook Back account for their abundance. Another commonly called "blackbird" is the purple grackle that has also moved in these past weeks, and when I say moved in I mean by the thousands. I've been getting reports from people here on our East End that they have seen clouds of "blackbirds." As one person said, "They looked like a trail of smoke, there were so many of them." I must admit I have not seen grackles in such numbers at this time of the year as the ones that passed over the fields in back of our house. The grackle is a rather large black bird, larger than a robin, with a long tail. It can sometimes be mistaken for a small crow by the casual observer. Up close in the sun, the black is iridescent, making him quite handsome. Unlike the red -wing that nests generally in wet areas but apart the grackles nest in their chosen food supply to probe our lawns now that the frost has left. I know the worms are up for I see signs of leaves and stems standing on end out on the lawn that means the night crawlers or worms have left their hideouts below the frost line and are scavenging for food on the surface of the ground at night. It's when they try to haul this leaf debris back to their holes in the ground that it becomes obvious they've been at work and we see signs of it by these leaf stems standing upright on the lawn. Robins, red -wings and grackles are the common forerunners of spring, but the bird that really gave me hope that winter is coming to an end was a killdeer I saw on a farmer's field. Killdeers are early ground nesters and usually put their modest nest depressions in the ground in open fields. A few years ago one built its nest in the park- ing lot in back of the recreation center on Peconic Lane. Cars parked and traffic moved about while Mrs. Killdeer paid lit- tle attention as she sat on her eggs. There's one thing about them that's true of all shore birds and that is there is no nest feeding; rather, as soon as the young are born they are off and run- ning. It was good to see this early arrival checking out possible nesting sites. Nesting will start as the weather becomes warmer, days lengthen and a likely mate arrives. I .couldn't write about early arrivals without mentioning flowers. If you've been looking about, daffodils have al- ready shown their tender green stems above the hostile inte d S h b d d `The bird that really gave me hope that winter is coming to an end was a killdeer I saw on a farmer's field.' I colonies, usually in evergreens. Around here clusters of cedar trees work well for them. They, like crows, are notorious nest robbers and can raise havoc with nesting birds throughout their territory. Another true sign of spring that goes right along with the red -wings and grackles are the robins. I've had scat- tered reports from people seeing these early arrivals, but as yet the true flight or migration has not begun and who knows, perhaps the ones that were seen were leftovers that wintered throughout the winter here and are leaving 75 Years Ago March 3, 1922 LILCO Buys Southold Property: The Public Service Commission has given consent for the sale of the property of the Southold Lighting Co. to the Long Island Lighting Co., under the terms agreed upon between the two companies. The Long Island Lighting Co. hopes to install electricity in Southold in the very near future. Local News: The management of Library Hall, Mattituck, has leased the hall to the managers of the Capitol of Riverhead, who about the first of April will give two shows at Mattituck weekly till summer, when it is intended to have three shows weekly. 50 Years Ago March 7, 1947 Island Gets New Slogan: In the contest recently sponsored by the Shelter Island Chamber of Commerce for a new slogan to use for advertising Shelter Island, over 100 entries were received. The winning slogan selected by the committee, "Nature's Isle of Charm," was sent in by Mrs. Mary Famley of Shelter Island, who was awarded the 25- dollar war bond which was offered as a prize. Townsend Car Stolen: The Plymouth station wagon owned by Joseph Townsend, proprietor of the Townsend Manor Inn, was stolen on Monday evening of this week from the parkipg site at the Greenport school. Mr. Townsend, who was attending the parent- teachers the school, had neglected to remove the switch key parked the car. The police departments of the V Greenport and the Town of Southold, and also w r group . ome even ave u s an could be out in protected places. Crocuses are blossoming. Not many on my'lawn, but in some people's yards where they've been protected and warmed by the sun, they are bursting forth in all their splendor. As soon as the temperature stays above 50 degrees for a period of time, my honey- bees are on the move looking for fresh pollen and nectar. Scouts will be out and find a clump of crocuses or an occasional dandelion and report back to the hive. Then a "direction dance" will be held inside the darkened hive that will tell the other bees what direction to go to seek this newfound source of food. Since bees stay alive all winter, by now they have almost depleted their food sup- ply, so a new fresh source of energy is welcome. Snowdrops were the start of all this lovely outside flowering of spring. Sap will soon start flowing in the trees and bushes, making the winter's dormant buds swell. There still might be times when snows will come and winter's cold will rap us for a day or two, but that will be just for a moment in time, for spring is not far off. All we have to do is look about in at over in our creek visited our pond down when he below today for the first time. The warm illage of temperatures have brought the goldfish the state up and he finds them mighty good eating. police, were notified that the car had been stolen. About midnight the car was found by William Clark stuck in the mud in the ditch near the farm of Edwin King on the State Highway, a short distance west of Greenport village. 25 Years Ago March 9, 1972 From Sound to Mill Pond: A provocative proposal for converting Long Island Sound into a potential freshwater reservoir was presented to the Long Island Water conference at its meeting last Monday night in Bethpage. The proposal presented by Ant.tony Pansini, engineering and management consultant of Waco, Texas, told how it is feasible to dam up Long Island Sound at both its eastern and western extremities which, in effect, would convert it into a freshwater reservoir. Mr. Pansini's plan envisions a deep -sea port at the extreme eastern end of the sound; construction of a 17 -mile dock facility; and a transportation network con- necting Long Island with New England. Mr. Pansini esti- mates the entire project to cost a half billion dollars. Seven trillion gallons of fresh water a year would be avail- able to Long Island from the New England watershed because of rainfall, the guest speaker explained. Marina Workshop RIVERHEAD —A 30 -hour pesti- cide certification and recertification training course for marina operators will be offered by Cornell Coopera- tive Extension beginning on Mon- day, March 10. Evening sessions, eight in all, will be held at exten- sion offices at 246 Griffing Ave. The course qualifies applicants to take the Pesticide Applicators' Exam. The fee is $200. Call the ex- tension marine program at 727- 3910. Put our pages to work for you Times /Review Classifieds us and see the signs. P.S. The great blue heron that wintered police, were notified that the car had been stolen. About midnight the car was found by William Clark stuck in the mud in the ditch near the farm of Edwin King on the State Highway, a short distance west of Greenport village. 25 Years Ago March 9, 1972 From Sound to Mill Pond: A provocative proposal for converting Long Island Sound into a potential freshwater reservoir was presented to the Long Island Water conference at its meeting last Monday night in Bethpage. The proposal presented by Ant.tony Pansini, engineering and management consultant of Waco, Texas, told how it is feasible to dam up Long Island Sound at both its eastern and western extremities which, in effect, would convert it into a freshwater reservoir. Mr. Pansini's plan envisions a deep -sea port at the extreme eastern end of the sound; construction of a 17 -mile dock facility; and a transportation network con- necting Long Island with New England. Mr. Pansini esti- mates the entire project to cost a half billion dollars. Seven trillion gallons of fresh water a year would be avail- able to Long Island from the New England watershed because of rainfall, the guest speaker explained. Marina Workshop RIVERHEAD —A 30 -hour pesti- cide certification and recertification training course for marina operators will be offered by Cornell Coopera- tive Extension beginning on Mon- day, March 10. Evening sessions, eight in all, will be held at exten- sion offices at 246 Griffing Ave. The course qualifies applicants to take the Pesticide Applicators' Exam. The fee is $200. Call the ex- tension marine program at 727- 3910. Put our pages to work for you Times /Review Classifieds