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Home My WebLink AboutJanuary 15, 1981 - The Scoters Of MontaukJanuary 15, 1981 1* Ouffolk Ximto The Scoters Of Montauk Of all the places on Long Island that shivered under our recent cold, none can get to you more than Montauk Point. Here the wind and cold seem to take pleasure in numbing your fingers and freezing your toes -- to say nothing of making your eyes water so you can hardly see. Last Saturday morning a group of us found this true, when we gathered at the Point to participate in the annual Region 10 Marine Waterfowl Count. As the name implies, this has only to do with waterfowl, while our previous counts included all birds. This particular count is part of the overall tabulation of waterfowl which, among other things, helps determine hunting seasons and number of ducks to be taken. For most of us it provides another excuse for meeting old friends and getting out into the natural world. Slowly as cars arrived, the empty parking lot became alive with bundled up people with various assorted telescopes, binoculars and cam- eras. The sun was just starting to look around some of the low -lying clouds that had shadowed the Point, giving it that air of early morning loneliness. Our compiler was Gil Raynor, probably one of the most knowledgeable and per- qOCsM) @Gil T JQT]Tq sistent birders on the East Coast. His plan was for all of us to visit the Point and then break up into various groups to cover the rest of the coast in assigned territories. We were pretty well protected from the winds as we headed out, but as soon as we got out in the open I noticed parka hoods coming up and gloved hands finding additional warmth in pockets. Cameras and binoculars took care of themselves as they hung around our necks, but the bulky telescopes with their awkward tripods had to be held by hand out in the cold. Strong North Wind As we approached the rocky beach at the Point we could see the water churning under the strong north wind. As we got closer we knew our trip would be produc- tive, there were thousands of scoters diving and milling about in the wild, wind -swept waves. They almost seemed to be enjoying the game of survival. Like little kids, every once in a while there'd be a squabble among them and a rush of wings as one drove the other out of his territory. In the meantime, gulls continually would be robbing the ducks that would pop up from below with a mouthful of food. These bandits continually harassed the scoters because the gulls are incapable of diving to the depths where the food was. We were quite sure the scoters were feeding on the vast mussel beds off the Point; there were windrows of mussel shells along the shore. Soon Bob Gloria, normally a quiet person, belted out, "Holy Cow! There's a Harlequin!" Here was the ultimate in sighting. Birders would come from as far away as New Jersey in hopes of getting a view of this gaudy fellow. So ridiculous is its coloration that many people call him the clown. Its Latin name, Histrionicus relating to Histrio, meaning a stage player the bird being decked out in various colors as if to act on the stage. Eider Sighted Now sharper eyes picked up an imma- ture king eider. This is the duck most people know only for its down that fills the most expensive jackets. Birders know the bird as an occasional visitor to our area and are always on the lookout for the adult, which is quite handsome. For the next hour and a half we watched a continual parade of scoters flying by. Most were the white - winged, but a strong second were the surf scoters. These two species made up the majority of birds we saw. The male of the surf scoter has a big white patch on the back of his head which accounts for its local name -- skunk head. WHITE - WINGED SCOTERS- - This scoter was found high on the beach fighting for its life from an oil spill. Thousands of these ducks feed off the mussel beds at Mon- tauk. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh It was late in the day when we headed back to civilization. The bustle of River- head held little appeal to our group as we passed through. We had spent a day in the raw outdoors. We were tired but content. We had witnessed one of nature's great congregations -- the scoters off Montauk. We wondered how much longer they could hold out with the oil spills, pesticides and nesting grounds being altered. To some they were just another bird you see once in a while in our bays, but to us they were a sign of wonder, a sign of the natural world fighting for its life -- never knowing or caring what is ahead. PAULSTOUTENBURGH Page 15 96 Species Eyed on Bird Count More eyes make better bird counts and this year ten extra participants gave us a higher species count than last year plus more of almost all individuals. Our 96 species included some interesting birds; the peregrine falcon, an endangered species was seen in Orient, a green heron first time seen on our count was found in Shelter Island. Seeing everything was frozen our duck list was very low. Even the common scoter, seen by the thousands at Montauk were hard to find on our north shore. We again found a great horned owl on Shelter Island but we missed seeing the golden eagle that has been hanging around Mashomack. In all it was a good Christmas Bird Count and one I believe the organizer of this Orient Count, Roy Latham, would have been proud of. Actual species and numbers seen were: Com. Loon 9 Red - tailed Hawk 12 Blue Jay 594 Cardinal 208 Horned Grebe 9 Marsh Hawk 10 Com. Crow 476 Evening Grosbeak 2 Great Cormorant 1 Merlin 2 BI.-cap. Chickadee 485 Purple Finch 7 Db. -cr. Cormorant 45 Am. Kestrel 30 Tufted Titmouse 36 House Finch 984 Great Blue Heron 23 Bobwhite 53 White -br. Nuthatch 65 Pine Siskin 8 Green Heron 1 Ring -ne. Pheasant 9 Red -br. Nuthatch 9 Am. Goldfinch 28 BI.-cr. Night Heron 1 Turkey 2 Brown Creeper 2 Red Crossbill 4 Am. Bittern 2 Clapper Rail 2 Winter Wren 3 Rufous -sided Towhee 13 Mute Swan 82 American Coot I Carolina Wren 45 Savannah Sparrow I Canada Goose 655 Com. Snipe 3 Mockingbird 125 Vesper Sparrow 3 Mallard 558 Grt. BI.-backed Gull 167 Gray Catbird 7 Dk -ey. slate -col Junco 121 Black Duck 1018 Herring Gull 2589 Brown Thrasher 3 Tree Sparrow 100 Gadwall 30 Ring- billed Gull 88 Am. Robin 240 Chipping Sparrow 2 Green - winged Teal 2 Rock Dove 181 Hermit Thrush 5 Field Sparrow 78 Canvasback 110 Mourning Dove 640 Golden -cr. Kinglet 5 White -cr. Sparrow 2 Greater Scaup 976 Great Horned Owl 3 Ruby -cr. Kinglet 1 Wh- throated Sparrow 498 Com. Goldeneye 1351 Short -eared Owl 1 Cedar Waxwing 33 Fox Sparrow 1 Bufflehead 615 Belted Kingfisher 27 Starling 4085 Swamp Sparrow 21 Oldsquaw 755 Com. (Y. -sh.) Flicker 96 Yl -ru Myrtle Warbler 229 Song Sparrow 460 White - winged Scoter 264 Red -bel. Woodpecker 7 Com. Yellowthroat 1 Snow Bunting 18 Surf Scoter 58 Red -hd. Woodpecker 1 House Sparrow 403 20,736 individuals Black Scoter 53 Yel -bel. Sapsucker 3 E. Meadowlark 69 Hooded Merganser 9 Hairy Woodpecker 14 Red -wing Blackbird 89 Individuals 20736 Red -br. Merganser 206 Downy Woodpecker 89 Com. Grackle 260 . Sharp- shinned Hawk 3 Horned Lark 29 Br.- headed Cowbird 11 Where Have All The Babies Gone.? On Thursday, January 22,1981, we, your neighbors and friends, will be travelling by bus to our Nation's Capitol for the 7th MARCH FOR LIFE. Pleasejoin us.* STI LL WAITING - fl1 i t', / 00000000 t. 1 C RESERVATIONS or (IF PHYSICALLY YOU CANNOT GO) SPONSORING A SEAT ON THE BUS FOR ANOTHER Please call Peg at 734 -7574 or Eileen 765 -3586. PAID FOR BY FRIENDS OF THE UNBORN)