HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember 16, 2010 - A special day on Dune RoadSUFFOLKTIMES.COM I SEPTEMBER 16, 2010
sp ec ii a
day on
We've been waiting for all the
pieces to come together so we could
have a much - deserved "goof -off day."
We've always found these special
days rewarding. What usually seems
like just another day often ends up as
something very special. So come witl:
us as we explore the south side to see
what it has to offer us today.
Once we were across the bridge
that connects the mainland to the
beach and onto Dune Road, we
headed west past the many- roomed
condos and then out to the once
washed -over parts of the barrier
beach. Barbara and I can remember
some years ago visiting the area after
those high tides and wind and rain
wasnea away most of the homes and
sand of this now reclaimed beach.
Logical thinking would not have lead
to rebuilding on such a sensitive area
but dollars prevailed, and today we
see this area totally rebuilt, not with
the quaint little beach cottages of
years ago but mostly with two -story,
spanking -new homes on the same
small lots where the little cottages
once stood.
Dune
PAUL STOUTENBURGH
we Grove west past these canyons
of new homes as far as we could and
into Cupsogue County Park. This is a
park that allows people using four -
wheel -drive vehicles to go out along
the inlet to fish. Many take their
campers out and spend time there. It
was with great forethought that the
county kept special places like this fo .
the general public to use and eniov,
Road
Here in the parx area we were glad
to see a series of active osprey nests.
We've come a long way in helping
the osprey, which at one time was
almost done in by pesticides, particu
larly DDT. While searching the area
for some of the migrating Monarch
butterflies that should be coming
through soon and many of the hawks
that enjoy this as their migrating
route, we began to notice what was
around us. Seaside goldenrod was
ready to burst into bloom, along with
the last tall stalks of the mullein, with
its small yellow flowers.
The brightest color was from the
poison ivy now showing off its bright
shiny red among all the greens. The
bayberry bushes were filled with
their lovely white, waxy berries, and
rose hips were ripening for those
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VII: PHOTOS BY BARBARA
STOUTENBURGH lockwise from top left: Tree swallows flock to bayberry bushes as they pass through on migration; a group of swallows at rest; a
swallow, entified by its conspicuous white underbelly; the adult (left) has metallic blue -green plumage, while the young bird is a dull brown;
the Wberry bush's waxy berries, sought after by tree swallows: rioenine rose
hies_ wno snu maze lam using this
bright fruit. We used to add them to
our fruit jams for color and taste.
Grasses abounded, the tall pampas and
the marsh grasses adding to the lovely
fall
surroundings. After stretching our legs for a
while and enjoying the new fresh, clear
fall weather, we headed east,
backtrack- ing slowly through the miles of
wall- to -wall new homes-and then
eventu- ally onto Dune Road past the
condos and the bridge where we
crossed over, and then we began to see
the lovely, large,,landscaped estates
on the ocean and bay side, some
with winding driveways and great
gated
entrances. While riding along the long
open spaces now to the east, we
decided to do a bit of birding in an area
on the bay side. Using our
binoculars, Vve were able to make out 26
yellow - egs feeding and resting along
the Tandy beach. They were a mixture
of auEUES anu immature DIMS. we
were surprised to see such a large
group of these shore birds, since we
usually see only one or two at a time
along the water's edge in our creek. We
as- sumed these birds were resting
along their migrating route, as we've
never seen such a large
group. As we watched the yellowlegs,
we saw a continual flight of
swallows heading west low over the
water on their migration. These were
tree swallows, with their
conspicuous white undersides, and, as we were
to see later, their backs are a
beautiful metallic blue or blue -
green. Driving along we saw large
clouds of birds swinging back and forth
over the road. There were so many
tree swallows in the air swirling about
and continually moving to the west,
it appeared we were caught in a
snow- storm. We pulled into one of the
park- ing areas and just sat as they came
at us, veering to the side as they
ap- proached the car so they wouldn't
hit the windshield, but twittering
softly as they flew close by our
opened windows. We watched as some
settle( on the nearby bayberry bushes.
Tree swallows are among the few
birds that eat the waxy berries. This
food source allows them to winter
farther ' north than other swallows and
linger longer in the
fall. As we left the parking lot we
no- ticed something unusual at the
other end. Upon driving closer we
were amazed to see thousands of
resting tree swallows on the blacktop,
some in the metallic blue -green adult
stage and others in the more
subdued colors of the immature. We
continued on our way to the inlet, where we
en- joyed a delightful lunch on the
deck of a local restaurant and then
headed back to the North Fork and
home. It will be a long time before we
ever see another tree swallow
spectacular such as we did this