HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 08, 2003 - Bravo to the birds of spring The Suffolk Times • May 8, 2003
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Times/Review photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
Spring is always a good time to see unusual birds such as the one pictured
above. Small groups of these glossy ibis pass through our area each year with
other wading birds such as egrets and herons. The chief characteristic of the
glossy ibis is the long curved bill it uses to probe for worms an�l other goodies.
Do You x�MEr�taEx last Saturday step outside an �
Focus
(Apri127),that miserable day with listen.There I
torrential rains and high winds?It was ON heard a robin
a day Barbara and I decided to have a singing his heart
fire iri the fireplace to cheer us up.Yet NATURE out despite the
I found when I went outside to get the by Paul gloom of the
firewood that all I had to do to"get Stoutenburgh day.Evidently
cheered up"was the storm
`A robin
was singing
his heart
out despite
t�1e �O�m cloudy weather,ra�n an drizzle.There
weather diddt bother him a bit.The 0�th� d1,j�.� was no warm weather so necessary for
important thing to him was to keep flies and insects to hatch out,so with-
singing until he attracted a mate.What out their food of flying insects my
a o his son was,no matter what the cheerful,always busy martins died of
J Y g way and that.Finally,there it was in all starvation.The worst part
weather. its wonder.What a sight! Imagine this
IYs the start of nesting time.Already bird holding onto the limb of a tree �'�'as that martins have never
I see a pair of doves chasing each and trying to keep an egg under it at come back to my yard since
other around.Mourning doves are the same time during one of those that disastrous freeze-out.I
early nesters.They don't build much of tropical storms that occasionall swee ave three martin boxes in
a nest.As a matter of fact,a few sticks Y p the back pasture and,try as
this area.What fun it was for us to I might,I cannot get them
put together with hardly any lining is have found"our"fairy tern,and in
good enough for them.I've actually those last few minutes at that. to come back.A friend of
looked up through some of their nests I see the swallows are back.The 're mine tells me his martins
and seen their big white eggs right working over the back pasture.I'm are back and I'm most envi-
through the flimsy sticks.There is a hoping the same pair will return to the ous of him.
pair nesting now in the rose arbor.The barn and nest over the old defunct Jeff,a friend of mi�e in Orient,
female sits tight even when we pass light bulb that hangs among the cob- called to say he had some unusual
close by.If you think their nests are birds in a lot near his house.He
flimsy,would you believe there's a bird webs in the rafters.Each year we've described them as having long legs and
that doesn't make a nest at all? had a pair.It's good they don't nest a dark-brownish color,medium size
We had read about this unusual bird directly over the cows because they're about like a bantam chicken.Then he
some time ago and so when we were a bit messy.They have become part of hit the key words:"They had long,
camping in Hawaii,�vhere it was the old stable.I'll miss them if they curved bills."That could only be the
���,uriea to nave nested,we decided don't return. glossy ibis.A few pass through each
to see if we could add it to our life list. Most birds are now dressed in their spring and fall.They like wet areas
It's called the fairy tern,and it's the most handsome attire.Our thistle where they can probe with their long
most exquisite little white tern you feeder,who's been busy all winter bills into the ooze and get all kind of
can imagine,with beady black eyes. long with the drab-colored goldfinch- goodies.Jeff said when he saw them
And here's the astonishing part:It lays es,is now draped in brilliant yellow. they were enjoying earthworms that
its single egg on a bare tree limb.Now My,those male goldfinches are gor- had come up in a field after all that
there's a balancing act for you. geous.All this color is part of the mat- heavy rain we had.It's a neat bird to
Of course,we just had to try to see ing game. see,particularly when it flies.They usu-
it as long as we were so close to where The female swan down in the creek ally stay in small groups and when
it was known to nest.So,just an hour has built her nest high to keep up with they are on migration they fly in
before we had to turn our car in at the the high spring tides that always come straight lines or the familiar"V"for-
airport and head for Australia on at this time of the year.She continual- mation.
another leg of our trip,we decided to ly adds to her reed nest to keep her They nest along the coast in
make the effort to see if we could find precious eggs from being flooded out. Connecticut and Rhode Island.I
the fairy tern. Hopefully,in that way,she'll not have found them nesting out on Gardiners
We headed for the city park in her nest a washout like the one last Island.They usually don't nest by
Honolulu,where we were told it had year. themselves,but among other wading
been seen.Once there we My martin apartment boxes have birds like snowy egrets,night herons
searched and searched. gone to the birds,so to speak,as they and such.So Jeff got a look at one of
Time was running out.We only attract sparrows and starlings and the nice birds that we see passing
just didn't want to give up not martins.The martin,our largest through each spring.It just goes to
and leave without seeing it. flycatcher,is a joy to have around. show that if you're observant and
It became a real challenge Years ago we had a colony of them have just a bit of curiosity,there's
but a fun one.Then I spot- that livened up our whole back yard. always something to see in this
ted something white,high in Then we had one of those cold spells remarkable world of ours.
a tree over the sidewalk. like we had a few weeks ago,with P.S.Taddy in Greenport tells me he
Pedestrians were every- saw a wood duck nesting in a hollow, .
where,traffic was oin this tiee`i1�`tfi�'h�art of fite'en nrt Villa e: