HomeMy WebLinkAboutFebruary 01, 1979 - Nature WalkFebruary 1,1979
by PaUL StouteNburgh
What a wonderful day Saturday was
and how fortunate we were because
Nature Conservancy held its annual
membership hike at Montauk Point.
This nationwide organization has its
Long Island headquarters at Cold Spring
Harbor. The majority of its members are from
the west end, but we had a good show here
on the North andSouth
Forks. The organization's goal is
the preser- vation of unique and
irreplaceable parcels of land and water. Right here on
the North Fork we have five sanctuaries, but
on the whole Island there are over seventy.
Most of the land is given by .
generous donors, although some is bought through
a grant that must be repaid at a
rater date. We met at 10 because of the
distance so many had to come from the west
My wife and I and another good follower
left about- 8:30 from Cutchogue and had a
casual drive over, arriving about 9 45 :Already
a crowd was gathering. Everyone
was dressed warmly and most had hiking boots
on. Hot thermoses were showing up
everywhere as the morning had not vet n. armed
up. The p an was to meet at-Hither Hills
State Park and then have a guided walk by one
of the South Shore leaders through the
park's
north areas. As we awaited the stragglers'
arrival, I thought how fortunate we were
to have officials in the park system
with the foresight to set this area aside for
all to appreciate. Surely it was a good
example of Nature Conservancy's philosophy
and, who knows, perhaps their concept
of land preservation might have
stirred someone years ago to
act accordingly. Trails All
Through Area More cars were still coming in
as our group leaders called us together
to explain the day's outing or itinerary.
Old friends were greeted and the air was
alive with wholesome chatter-.-We were kilfe-
ad fofthe bay on the north shore through a
series of trails and roads that would take us
up the back of the ancient glacier
moraine that formed this finger of land out
into the Atlantic Ocean. There seem to be
trails all through this area and, as we headed off
in a long string, it did my heart good
to see people out enjoying a winter'
s day. Every once in a while the
group would stop to observe some interesting bit
of the natural world. We found. fox,
deer ad raccoon tracks freshly made along
the path. One deer track we saw must have
been a huge one for its print was almost the size
of a small calf. There's a big deer
population in the woods around Montauk, so many
that a hunting season has been opened to
keep the population under control. Farther on
an owl pellet was found and examined to
see its contents and revealed the skeletal head
of a vole. In the open fields we
saw reindeer moss, that brittle pale-green lichen,
that is so prevalent in the dry open areas
of
Long Island. In the same general area we
found earth stars, a fungus that opens and
closes with the difference in humidity. The
inner section of the star is a small puff ball
loaded with millions of tiny dust-like spores
or seeds. Nature Relies
on Numbers When conditions are right these
spores are released to the wind and are bier-led
aloft to who knows where. They are so
light they might be suspended in the air
for long periods of time, traveling
thousands of miles. Who knows, perhaps we
might be breathing some of the .spores
this very moment. When they eventually do
land they hardly ever sprout
immediately. Rather, - they y. ill lie dormant for long periods
of time or even years until the conditions
of light, temperature, moisture and
media are perfect for their development.
This reliance on multitudes of seeds is one of
nature's secrets to survival. Ninety-nine
percent-of these seeds never make it, but the
odds are always on their side_and therefore_s_o_
me do_. Nature very seldom relies on only
one
for survival. Lessons in tree identification
through the buds, bark and leaves
were demonstrated. We found that many of the trees
were white oaks, much more of a concentration
than in our North Shore woods. After
crossing the railroad tracks, we started to
descend and eventually came to Fresh Pond.
We would call it a lake on the North Shore, for
it was equally twice the size of Great Pond.
To find a glittering pond amidst what seemed
to be a never-ending forest was to
some like finding an oasis in the desert.
Few could believe such a clear, blue lake
existed here. As.the .area was swept with
binoculars, a small flock of bufflehead were
seen diving for food along the shore. That
small black- and-white duck is the one we so
often see now in our bays and creeks here
on the North Shore. Farther in the back a
flock of 45 black ducks climbed high against
the blue sky. Their flight gave them away,
for few ducks have the majestic climb of
the
black duck.
Page 7 Many
Seafowl Spotted We worked our way around the
pond and into the swale area that opens up
onto the bay. Off to the northwest
Gardiner's Island lay with all its mystery
and charm. The string of sand islands to the
south called Cartwright Island could barely he
seen on the horizon. Shining through the cool
haze to the north v.-.e cculd see a
tower standing from out of the water. It was all we
could see of the Gull Island light. Even the
novice with his glasses spotted loons,
scoters, oicl- squaws, mergansers and grebes
that were feeding offshore. Returning from
the bay side, the grouri:reassembled at
the poin1 where after a sit-down
lunch at COMMON HERRING GULL-A basic scavenger, when pressed for food during
the Sinter the hei i rug gull will rob the diving ducks in our area of food they bring to thesurfacefrom
great
depths - • PhdtobPbii1Steutenburgh the benches, we all headed for the
point with scopes on tripods and
binoculars dangling from our necks. The great
Montauk Light loomed over us, and as we made
our way along the edge of the ocean under it we
felt a bit humble. Storm and hurricane
had tried its best to undo it, but it remains,
a symbol of hope for thoseat sea as well as
those
on land. Offshore the water was literally
alive with ducks. Thousands upon thousands
of scoters milled around, some flying to
new feeding areas-while-other dived for -
mussels-and
other tidbits. Even in January spring was in the
air and some anxious individuals were
testing out their mating calls
and rituals. Gulls are
Sea Pirates Scattered throughout this milling
flock of scoters were the scavengers of the
sea, the common gull. They would wait for a
duck to surface with a mouthiill of food
and. then pounce upon it, taking the food away.
That's a never-ending struggle in
the natural world. Eat, eat, eat. No matter how
you get it or what it is, but make sure you
eat. It seems a pity that these ducks,
diving down 40 to 10 foot deep. must give up part
of their meat to these pirates of
the sea. Highlights were the spotting
of._ the common and king eiders. These
are the birds that give up their down for
the most expensive of all jackets that
man wears. Montauk Point and Orient PoMt
are about the best places to see these
colorful ducks from the far north and we had goed
views of them that day. Then there
were the Bonaparte gulls, those tiny
little termlilie gulls that ha e f
th • I Queen of
the Show'
at Show
FRETE ADMISSION the common gull but were
more interested in looking for schools of small fish
that are mostly
present offshore. Very few times does one have
such an opportunity to see nature in
such abundance and splendor. There- -was
a continual. kaleidoscope of ducks passing
through all day long. The sun was out warm
and full. The array of wildlife was
breathtaking and the sea captured the whole scene in
its ever- moving blue wonder. We had over
50 people participating in this
midwinter Nature Conservancy-outingGood-
fellowship. good weather, and a good area made
it a memorable occasion. Our
lives were renewed again. Thanks to the wonders
of
the
outdoors.
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