EASTERN LONG ISLAND AUDUBON SOCIETY – From the Barrens to the BaysFormerly Moriches Bay Audubon, established 1967

January/February 2014— Vol. XXXIX No. 1

We have been invaded!!!!!Eileen Schwinn

We have been invaded!!!!! DON’T PANIC!!! They are friendly visitorsfrom the North. No, not the Canadian Mounted Police — it’s NycteaScandiaca, better know as the Snowy Owl. This winter has been what

is termed an “invasive or irruptive year”. For some unknown reason, great num-bers of Snowy Owls have traveled to our barrier beaches, as well as other partsof the U.S. Most are young birds — not the snow-white of a full adult, but thedark-capped, heavily barred first year bird. The first reports came in just beforeThanksgiving then as many as four Snowy Owls were located between the Shin-necock Inlet and the Quogue Bridge. Orient Point, Jones Beach and Fire Island,have been the winter vacation spots for these magnificently beautiful animals aswell. Their appearance at JFK caused an overwhelming outcry from all sectors ofthe birding community, including Harry Potter fans. The Port Authority caved tothe pressure, and abandoned its decision to hunt the birds down, in favor of acapture and release option. Score a Big One for common sense!

I think back a few years, when I tried and tried and tried to find a Snowy Owl alongDune Road — frequently reported, but I missed it each time I tried. Finally, on a coldJanuary day, I saw one. I wrote a short essay for this Newsletter, on the Two yelloweyes I saw staring at me from across the Shinnecock Inlet, near sunset. Finally, I hadfound my bird! I was ecstatic!

You never forget your first Snowy — nor your most recently seen one either, for that matter.

Dear Readers,

I do apologize that this issue of The Osprey is so late. My hard drivecrashed and left me floundering fora few weeks right around Christ-mas time.

Good timing, I guess, since ournext event is not until Monday,February 2 when Seth Ausubel willbe speaking to us at Quogue.Wildlife Refuge about Reptiles andAmphibians. The January Bird Walkto the Lakes Around Patchoguewas cancelled due to the snowstorm, record low temperaturesand bad roads. But don’t forget wehave some great opportunities onLI to see a great many winteringwaterfowl. So pick a nice day andgo birding. Go to Birding on thenet if you want to see if there areany rarities around.

Back to my crash, I am now theproud owner of a new computer,updated programs and a storagesystem devoted solely to back up.So I hope this will not happenagain. Ok, lesson learned. Nowback to birding.

The recent irruption of SnowyOwls is a curious event, with noreal answers. Ebird has set up aspecial project to track the owlsand is asking for reports in an attempt to understand our visitors.

Please remember, to treat thesebirds with respect, and don’t ap-proach too closely.

May the new year be a good onefor all, and bring many wonderfulbirding surprises.

Sally Newbert, Editor

photo by ERIN KING

THE OSPREY January/February 2014 2

Byron Young

Ihave been enjoying the birds at my birdfeeders over the past several days. Itseems that a new group of birds has

found my feeders. I have a nice flock ofDark-eyed Juncos, and their companionflock of White-throated Sparrows thatstop by a couple of times a day. Thenthere is the pair of Northern Cardinals,and a large flock of Mourning Doves. Ihave had a single House Finch, severalChickadees and a very busy group ofTufted Titmouse. Around the suet I havehad several White-breasted Nuthatch andto my surprise and delight the other day Ihad three species of woodpecker(Downy, Hairy and Red-bellied). Least Iforget, I do have the requisite Grey Squir-rels. They need some food as well.

I will spend a good deal of time over thenext couple of months catching up onsome overdue reports, working at thecomputer and sipping a nice warm cup ofcoffee. One of my bird feeders is just out-side my computer room window so I cancatch a peak at the birds as they come into feed, while sipping coffee. I know it willprobably take me longer to complete myreports.

I remind everyone who feeds to fill outour monthly feederwatch report for JohnMcNeil. It does not take long and helps usunderstand the comings and goings of ourwinter friends. John is always looking forthese reports and a new find to report.

I hope everyone gets a chance to searchfor some of our rarer winter visitorssuch as the Snowy Owls that have beenreported around the Island, and to visitthe local ponds to see the overwinteringwaterfowl.

We look forward to seeing folks on oneof our winter birding walks and at ournext meeting on February 2, 2014(Ground Hog Day). May the winter beshort and mild, I spent some of today get-ting the snow blower out and started. Iam preparing for winter yet thinkingspring already.

I hope your New Year comes in brightand full of good cheer.

Enjoy your winter birding.

Cheers.

The Pres ident ’s Corner

Long Island is blessed with a plethoraof freshwater ponds. The South Forkhas its share. There are brackish

coastal ponds, fresh coastal ponds,morainal ponds, kettlehole ponds, vernalponds and quite a few man-made pondswith liners to retain water. The ponds areeither groundwater ponds reflecting thetop of the water table or “perched”ponds, those that reside well above thetrue water table and depend solely uponprecipitation and runoff to keep them wet.Montauk has more perched ponds thanany other community on Long Island.

In Southampton Town there are twonorth-south trending chains-of-ponds, andan eastern chain running from Sag Harboron the north to Sagaponack Pond on thesouth. The largest of the 10 exclusivelyfresh ponds in this chain are Long Pond,Crooked Pond, Little Long Pond and Pox-abogue Pond. The groundwater divide issituated at the north end of CrookedPond. South of the divide the freshwateraquifer moves at about a foot a day to-wards the ocean, north of it, it moves atabout the same rate towards the PeconicEstuary.

The lesser known chain-of-ponds is situ-ated a couple of miles to the west, begin-ning on just south of the moraine withShorts Pond on the north, then HainesPond, Goldfish Pond, Long Pond, LittleLong Pond and, finally, Kellis Pond, south ofMontauk Highway in Bridgehampton. The

groundwater that feeds these ponds runssouth to the ocean. All of the ponds inboth chains are owned by SouthamptonTown’s Trustees and an out-of-townerneeds a local guide in order to shoot wa-terfowl on them.

Shorts Pond is on the north side of Scut-tlehole Road. The road’s name might wellbe derived from the word “kettlehole” ahole formed by a big chunk of ice meltingand pressing down as the glacier retreatedto the north in the last Ice Age, or fromscuttle hole, a pit to dump your garbage.

Of all of the ponds in the two chains-of-ponds, Shorts Pond is the one that peren-nially has the largest waterfowl population,in particular Canada Geese. One can al-most never drive by in daylight from Sep-tember to April without seeing a largecongregation of geese gathered there.Even when the pond is iced over, geesewill gather there en masse.

Funny, as a boy growing up on the NorthFork, which too has its share of ponds,geese were scarce, there were hardly anyMallards. Now Canada Geese and Mallardsabound throughout the East End. ShortsPond is a wonderful case in point. Beforethe 1950’s the bountiful crop fields onboth Forks were not always planted withrye grass after the harvest, so that the soilwas held down by a green sward all winterlong. It’s the rye and now, oat grass, and

East End PondsLarry Penny & Vicki Bustamante

continued next page

Shorts Pond is a favorite spot for waterfowl in winter

THE OSPREY January/February 2014 3

MeetingsMeetings are held at Quogue WildlifeRefuge, 3 Old Country Road in Quogue,NY. All are welcome, there is no charge.

Mon., Feb. 3, beginning at 7:15 pm

Reptiles & Amphibians of the New York/New Jersey RegionBy Seth Ausubel

Reptiles and amphibians, collectively knownas “herps”, are a fascinating and misunder-stood group. A surprising diversity of herpscan be found in the New York and New Jer-sey region if one is willing to look closely.Seth will share some of his experiencesfield herping in the region. He will discussthe unusual life histories of various species,and conservation issues for these oftenhighly vulnerable animals.

Seth Ausubel is an environmental scientistand an avid birder and herper. He was the“main-man” responsible for the success ofthis year’s NYSOA Meeting on Long Island.

The program will begin at 7:30.

Mon., March 3, beginning at 7:15 pm

E C U A D O RLand of Toucans, Hummingbirds,Parrots, Mot-Mots, Tanagers andother exotic birds!Matt & Cathy McCluskey

Matt and Cathy will present a digital slideshow and tell of their journey to beautifulEcuador in November 2011.

They will show photos of all the amazingbirds, butterflies and other wildlife found inthis South American birding hot-spot asthey trekked from the highest peaks of theAndes Mountains to the lowlands of theAmazon Basin.

other cover crop grasses that keep thegeese and some of the other waterfowlgoing all winter long. Why fly south andrisk ending up on the dinner table whenyou can spend a peaceful winter on LongIsland while eating nutritionally withoutgetting shot at.

On Tuesday afternoon, December 3, Imet Vicki Bustamante on the AtlanticGolf Club land where Shorts Pond is sit-uated. True to form, the pond was alivewith waterfowl of all kinds includingabout 1,750 loudly cackling and millingCanada Geese. There were eight SnowGeese and two Mute Swans in the back-ground. Among the geese were twoNorthern Shovelers, 20 Ruddy Ducks, 8Coots, 13 Mallards and a Wood Duck ortwo. Usually at this time of year there are

Black Ducks, Scaup, Wigeons, Teal, Buffle-heads and Ringnecks, as well, but not aone was present. The Ruddy Ducks werebusy diving.

At 4:20 the Canada Geese began flyingout of the pond, presumably to visit thenearby farm field cover crops where theywould spend the night. At this time of theyear some geese use the day shift to feed,ponding up at night, while others, pondup during the day and feed at night. Witha more-than-ample amount of grassleaves and shoots present why not takeadvantage and utilize them “24-7” assome working men like to say.

Oh, yes, the surface of the pond was cov-ered with feathers. Presumably, the geesewere still molting and gaining new feath-ers to keep them dry and warm in thewinter months.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event (from Fri., Feb. 14through Mon., Feb. 17, 2014) that engages bird watchers of all ages in countingbirds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are. This will be the

17th annual count.

Everyone is welcome—from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds.

Participants tally the number of individual birds of each species they see during theircount period. They enter these numbers on the GBBC website. Just google GreatBack Yard Bird Count for more information.

New participants must set up a free GBBC account to submit their checklists or uselogin information from an existing account for any other Cornell Lab citizen-scienceproject. You’ll only need to do this once to participate in all future GBBC events. Click"Submit Your Bird Checklist" at the top of this page or see How to Participate formore details.

Join a Nature Walk for GBBCSaturday, February 15th @ 9:00 am

William Floyd Estate WalkTrip Leader: MaryLaura LamontIn cooperation with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Soci-ety’s Great Backyard Bird Count we will be walking and recording every bird we seeon the Estate. This citizen science project is important as it documents what birds arearound an area and if their numbers are increasing or declining. Plus, it is just goodplain fun to be outdoors in winter with people who enjoy nature. Call MaryLaura La-mont at (631) 399-2030 at the William Floyd Estate office for details and or moreinfo. Rain or snow date will be Sunday, February 16th.

The Great Back Yard Bird Count

East End Ponds continued from previous page

THE OSPREY January/February 2014 4

“Nobody can do everything but everyone can do something”

Beth Gustin

Many people have medications in theirhomes that go unused because ofexpiration dates or just not being

consumed. What should we do we thesemedications? The old advice by public healthand environmental officials was to flush themdown the toilet. It is now agreed that this isdefinitely NOT the way to go.

Low levels of all kinds of drugs including an-tibiotics, steroids, painkillers, and hormoneshave been found in our waterways. I havepersonally seen evidence of acetaminophen,ibuprofen, and phenobarbital in groundwaterat my job at an environmental testing lab. Anationwide study conducted by the US Geo-logical survey found traces of drugs in 80%of rivers and streams.

Although the levels of drugs found have beenlow we need to keep in mind that even verylow levels can have big impacts on small or-ganisms such as fish, crustaceans, and inverte-brates, all of which are food sources forbirds. Studies have discovered male fish thathave become “feminized”, meaning they haveproduced eggs. Other fish have grown bothmale and female anatomical features. Thismay be due to hormones from oral contra-ceptives that are found in the waters thatthe fish live in. Another concern is that an-tibiotics in our waters may increase the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

For those of us living on Long Island, medi-cines in our waters should be of utmost con-cern. Not only do we enjoy fish and shellfishfrom our beautiful bays, but the water wedrink comes from the ground. With many ofLong Island homes having septic systems, thedrugs that we flush down the toilet may endup in our drinking water. With as many as 3billion prescriptions written annually in theUS, the potential for more medications toend up in our waterways and groundwaterincreases.

So what should we do with our unused med-ications if not flush them? The best way is tobring them to official drop boxes. Group forthe East End (GEE), a local environmental or-

C O N S E R VAT I O N C O L U M N

Unused Medicine? Don’t Flush It!

“Home of the 99 cent Suet Cake”

www.talmagefarm.com

Wild Bird * Garden CenterPlants * Pet * Farm & Feed

Husqvarna Power Equipment Sales & Service

1122 Osborn Ave.Riverhead631-727-3100

Feathered Friend & Wild Delight Bird SeedBird Feeders, Houses and AccessoriesAsk about our Squirrel Resistant Feeders

ganization with which many of us arefamiliar, recently announced the EastEnd Medication Disposal Program. Thisprogram allows east end residents tobring their medications- both prescrip-tion AND over the counter to a dropbox located at several local police departments. It is free and you candrop off anonymously; you don't haveto speak to anyone at the drop box.There are several locations includingRiverhead, Westhampton Beach,Southampton, Southold, and Shelter Island. Check the Group's websiteGroupfortheEastEnd.org for specificlocations. There are also drop boxesnot affiliated with GEE's program atthe Fifth Precinct inPatchogue and theSeventh Precinct inShirley. If it is justnot possible to bringyour medications toone of these loca-tions, they should beremoved from thebottle, mixed withdirt or sand, kitty lit-ter, coffee grounds,or fireplace ashes,

hidden in a plastic bag or other container,and placed in your garbage.

And don't forget your pet's medications-these can also be brought to the East Enddrop boxes (but are not accepted at theShirley and Patchogue police precincts).Some veterinarians also accept unusedmedications so check with your vet.

Although this is one of those environmen-tal problems that we don't actually see, wemust remember that what we flush does-n't just go away. It may take a smallamount of effort to properly dispose ofmedications but our waterways, ground-water, and drinking water depend on usto do so.

19 Sea Breeze Avenue, Westhampton 288.6886

GreatWinter Rates & Special Promotions!Perfect for family visits, business trips or weekend get-aways—our newlyrenovated clean & cozy rooms feature free wireless & upgraded cable!

www.HamptonsMotel.com

THE OSPREY January/February 2014 5

Part 1

Bob Adamo

The 66th New York State OrnithologicalAssociation (NYSOA) Annual Meeting,hosted by the Queens County Bird Club(QCBC), was held from Nov.1 to Nov.3 atthe Marriott Hotel in Uniondale. It was avery well run convention, with outstand-ing poster presentations, workshops, fieldtrips, paper session and banquet dinnertopped off with a dynamic, keynotespeaker, James Currie!

A much deserved note of thanks has togo to the QCBC (from all of NYSOA andall in attendance) for volunteering to takeon the this sizable task, in spite of havingjust a core-group of only nine workers!For the last decade or so, host clubs havebeen hard to come by, culminating twicein a one day affair, when NYSOA’sB/O/D's had to organize these events tosatisfy it's “by-laws”, which requires atleast one “business-meeting” a year toelect officers, board members and com-mittee members. Hopefully, this highly suc-cessful undertaking will inspire confidencein more of our member clubs to put ontheir “hosting hats”!

The "Poster Presentations" were availablefrom the start of the meeting on Friday,along with presenters to answer any ques-tion you might have had regarding theirdisplays. They were:

1) Red-headed Woodpecker Nest-site Se-lection and Reproductive Success at theNorthern Limit of Its Range: Jacob L. Berl,West Virginia University, Jeffrey S.Bolsinger, Fort Drum Military Installation,John W. Edwards, West Virginia University.

2) Project Safe Flight: Making New YorkSafe for Migratory Birds: Kaitlyn Parkins,Fordham University, New York CityAudubon, Susan Elbin, Adriana Palmer,David Perry, Darren Klein, New York CityAudubon.

3) The Effect of Climate on the Spatio-temporal Distribution of Four IrruptiveSpecies: Max Pine, Pelham Memorial HighSchool and Andrew Farnsworth, CornellLab of Ornithology

5) Lepidopteran Phenolo and the Poten-tial for Climate change Induced Phenologi-

cal Mismatches in Migratory Birds: AshleyOzelski, College of Staten Island/CUNYGraduate Center

4) Geographic and Temporal Variation inBody Size in Red-bellied Woodpeckers(Melanerpes carolinus), a Species Undergo-ing Dramatic Range Expansion: Kathryn J.Schnieder, Hudson Valley Community Col-lege and Jeremy J. Kirchman, New YorkState Museum

6) Mercury Accumulation in a WetlandSongbird, the Red-winged Blackbird, in theNew York Metropolitan Area and it's Ef-fect on Nestling Development: AllisynGillett, Columbia University and ChadSeewagen, Pace University

In the afternoon, there were 6 workshopsoffered, but since 2 were being presentedat the same time, you could only attend 3.They were:

1) Environmental Advocacy 101: SeanMahar, Director of Gov't Relations,Audubon New York

2) Birding Optics 101: How to ChooseBinoculars: Carl Zeiss Sports Optics

3) Warbler Workshop: Using Often Over-looked ID Points to Identify ConfusingWarblers: Tom Stephenson and ScottWhittle, authors of The Warbler Guide

4) Digiscoping Workshop: SwarovskiOptik. This was be followed with a fieldsession on Saturday

5) Growth of the N Y State Bird List: Pre-dictions vs Outcomes and Thoughts forthe Future: Doug Gochfeld.

6) QCBC CBC: 80 Years of the QueensChristmas Bird Count: Bob Dieterich

I attended #'s 1, 3 & 5 and respectively:appreciated Sean's strategies for helpingto achieve environmental successes; ap-preciated Tom & Scott's approach to iden-tifying tough warblers so much, that Ibought their new book; appreciatedDoug's recounting of predictions madefor new species to NYS by the birdingcommunity of our state from years past,plus making predictions for the next addi-tion to our current state bird list.

In the evening after dinner, there weretwo workshops presented, but again youcould only choose 1. They were: 1) You,

Me, Our Birds, and Climate Change: Dr.Kimberly Bostwick, Curator, Birds andMammals, Cornell University Museum ofVertebrates & Research Associate, Dep't.of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cor-nell University.

2) How do Avian Hosts Recognize BroodParasites?: Dr. Mark Hauber, Animal Behav-ior and Conservation Program, Dep't ofPsychology, Hunter College: Editor, TheAuk.

I chose # 2, learning quite a bit about nestpredation, and being amazed by the fol-lowing fact of life. It seems that in Centraland South America, when land/trees arealtered/removed to grow shade-growncoffee beans, it makes it easier for thelocal cuckoo species to locate host nests,which without the middle story, are moreexposed to the parasitic birds, waiting andwatching in the upper story.

On Saturday, the non-delegates had 6Field Trips to choose from, while delegateswere only able to go on the early morningfield trip in order for them to return intime for the Business Meeting, held from10:30 am to 1 pm. The non-delegate tripswere all scheduled from 7:30 am to 12:30pm, and spread out in all directions:

A) Jones Beach SP, led by Doug Futuyma(Birding).

B) Sunken Meadow SP, led by Mary Nor-mandia.

C) Alley Pond Park, led by Ian Resnick.

D) Kissena Park, led by Eric Miller.

E) Robert Moses SP, led by John Gluth.

F) Jones Beach SP, led by Clay Taylor ofSwarovski Optik. Inc., & Corey Finger(Photography/Digiscoping).

The delegates’ field trip was literally “astone’s throw away.” The G. Francis PurcellPreserve is located right across the streetfrom the Marriott. We had great weather,and some nice birds at this combinationof woods and meadow, which is fenced inand normally locked, with entry only byappointment. Our leader, Steve Schel-lenger had arranged for our visit. Thosewho had never been there before werequite impressed with its size, wildness andhabitats. This land was once part of the

The 66th New York State Ornithological Association Annual Meeting

THE OSPREY January/February 2014 6

Hempstead Plains. I remember Gil Raynortelling me about bird trips to the Hemp-stead Plains to look for all of the breedinggrassland species, highlighted by UplandSandpipers, Bobolink, Henslow’s Sparrowand I seem to remember him includingShort-earred Owls. Although we didn’t getany of those species during this outing, wedid get an American Pipit, Eastern Mead-owlarks, and the best bird of the day, anAudubon’s Warbler, the western race ofYellow-rumped Warbler. This whole gen-eral area was once known as MitchellField.

The Business Meeting that followed, con-sisted of a roll call, approval of the min-utes from last year’s meeting, reports andelections. Old and new business, was dis-patched with efficiency, dedication, andgood humor! Some of the reports given,discussions carried on, and actions taken,were as follows:

Outgoing President Gail Kirch spoke onthe main issues our organization has ad-dressed during her term in office. She ac-knowledged the long, unpaid hours put inby the officers, board members, commit-tee members, publication personal and allthe people involved with ebird NY, theState, Regional and County Bird Lists, theNYS Waterfowl Census and our newlycompleted Organizational Handbook. Shethanked them all for their dedication andintrepidness (many wear more than onehat)!

The Treasurer’s Report was given by AndyMason.

A vote to accept The South ShoreAudubon Society as the newest memberclub of NYSOA was taken, and affirmed.

Election of Officers, Board Members, andCommittee were conducted, with the fol-lowing results: President: Kathryn Schnei-der, Vice-president: Carena Pooth,Recording Secretary: Janet Allison andTreasurer: Andy Mason

The only new Board Member is JeffBolsinger, elected to serve for 2 yearsuntil ’15. Serving Board Members are: SethAusubel ’15, Tim Baird ’15, Mary BethWarburton ’15, Joan Collins ’14, MikeDeSha ’14, Kevin Griffith ’14, Shai Mitra’14, and Bill Ostrander ’14

Nominating Committee: Mike Desha,Chair, Andy Mason and Bob Adamo

Auditing Committee: John Cairns Chair,Irving Cantor, Peter Capainolo

The New York State Dep't. of Environ-mental Conservation sent an employeewho spoke about some of the issues theyhave dealt with since our 2012 AnnualMeeting.

The following committee reports weregiven: Auditing; Archives; Awards; Conser-vation; State, Regional and County BirdLists; Field Trips; Finance; New York StateYoung Birders Club; Organizational Hand-book; Publications, Website, Nominating.

Old Business concerning The Elon Eaton-Memorial Award and NYSOA wasbrought up to date with the disolution of this partnership.

Under New Business, the best possiblenews was given and warmly received -both the 2014 & 2015 Annual Meetingshave been spoken for...yessss! In ’14, theCayuga Bird Club and the Cornell Lab ofOrnithology will co-host the meeting onSeptember 19-21, in Ithaca, at the RamadaInn. In ’15, the Mohawk Bird Club will beour host, with full information to follow.What a way to end our business meeting— do I hear an amen!

The second half of this report was delayeddue to another computer problem, this timewith Bob’s computer.

Oystercatcher Farm D/B/A THE FARMERS MARKET FARM STAND

Proprietors: John and Patricia Carson76 Montauk Highway, Westhampton, NY 11978 (631.375.0612)

(just west of Buoy One Restaurant)

Featuring Blue Duck Bakery Breads & PiesAnd the finest - fresh seasonal local produce -

including our own hand-pressed lemonade, fruit jams, raw honey, maple syrup, chowder, fruit and savory tarts.

Get InvolvedWould you like to submit

an article or a photo?

We would like

to hear from you.

Contact:

eliasosprey@optonline.net.

THE OSPREY January/February 2014 7

Across1. _____-______ Cowbird4. Winter birds found in small flocks on the ground5. The one with the nasal caw7. It can do short imitations of other birds and a cat!8. Go to southern Jersey to see the Carolina one9. ____ Eider, you can see one if you're lucky at MontaukPoint

13. ____ _______ Sparrow15. _____ ____ Heron19. Mountain________, maybe she'll return to 25A inWading River this year

21. Common _____, duck with a long sloping bill/forehead22. A Tufted Duck made an appearance here last year27. Eaglefest is held here in February28. Tricolored_____, go to Florida this winter to get one29. ____-billed Grebe31. _______ Bluebird33. Bonaparte’s ____34. ______-crested Cormorant36. The one with the thinner bill40. Runs on water to take off41. _____-______Owl, hopefully will make an appearanceat the grassland at EPCAL

42 ______Bunting

Down1. Spirals up a tree looking for insects then begins again atthe base of another tree

2. Red-breasted ___Hatch3. Black, Mallard, Gadwall...the list goes on4. _______Bunting6. Trumpeter ____, take a look at Upper Yaphank Lake tose one

7. _______Goose10. Plurel of 7 down

11. ______-_______ Kinglet12. __________ Flycatcher, a bird of southern arid coun-try, reddish, hence the name

14. Lays eggs in the nests of other species16. _______ Swan, seen this fall at Hook Pond17. ______Grebe, has golden ear tufts in breedingplumage

18. Eared, Horned, Pied-billed, for example20. Red-Shafted is a west coast bird23. ____ Bunting, appropriately named for a weatherevent of the season

24. Good place to get winter waterfowl in East Hampton25. Late winter, early spring bird at Captree last year, ___-______ Grebe

26. Admire the Hoodoos here while winter birding thesebluffs

27. Great_________, white chin and flank patch (plural)28. ______ Merganser30. _______ Ducks, not divers, the ones with their buttsin the air!

32. Seen at North Fork Preserve late last fall, Northern___-Whet Owl

35. Maybe you saw the Snowy one along Dune Rd in No-vember and December

36. ____ Hooded Gull, seen at Coney Island in the sum-mer of 2011

37. ____ Sparrow was seen at Floyd Bennett Field in No-vember

38. Common, Red-throated and maybe even a Pacific onecan be found around here in the winter

39. Barrow's Golden-___, seen on Montauk Lake last win-ter

EastportFeeds Inc.

Bird Seed

Black Oil Sunflower Seed

Suet

Nutrena Products

Triumph® Horse Feed

Vitality® Horse Feed

Hay • Feed • Bedding

140 East Moriches Blvd.Eastport, NY 11941

631-325-0077

Stay Warm Looking for These in the WinterTom Moran

Answers to last issue’s Nov/Dec 2013 puzzleWinter Birds by Tom Moran

Be sure to like us on facebook

for program reminders,

unexpected changes

to programs and

other notices.

THE OSPREY January/February 2014 8

By Vito Gentile

Charlie looked up from the corner of hiseye and slowly, cautiously, he crossed side-ways towards me. We’d known each othersince early June, but this was the first timehe came to me without any protest or pre-tention of fear.

The day we met I was out in the back gar-den with a cup of coffee and the morningnewspaper, and Charlie was chasing a woodpigeon away from the bird feeder. Since itwas my bird feeder and not his I didn’t caremuch for what he was doing, and in no un-certain terms, I chased him from my gardentoo!

Did I mention Charlie was a wood pigeontoo? Well he is, even if he doesn’t considerhimself to be one. Perhaps he should take alook at his reflection the next time he goesfor a drink in the large terracotta saucer,filled daily with fresh water, which otherbirds use and he rarely seems to notice. Ifhe did, he’d notice that he has feathers and Idon’t – three shades of grey feathers withcreamy-brown tips down his back and at thetips of his wings, to be exact.

Perhaps he’ll notice that he has light greybreast feathers, but then again, I must admit Ihave unfortunately acquired some of thatgrey these past few years. Then there’s thatslight touch of pale lavender that comes andgoes when the noonday sun catches it. Andthen there are those two clumps of smallwhite feathers on both sides of his neck,which again I must admit I also get when Idon’t shave. No wonder Charlie is confused– now I’m confused. Could we be brothers?I know we’re kindred spirits – perhaps Ishould lay off eggs!

Charlie’s greatest feature, and the easiestone to recognize him by, is a short white

feather just above his right eye. Tomy knowledge I have not seen an-other pigeon with this marking.

The reason I bring this up is thatsince Charlie’s markings are so rec-ognizable I could always tell whenhe was in the garden, and I’d rushout of the house and shoo himaway so other pigeons could comeinto the garden and enjoy the treatsbelow the bird feeder while thetwenty-eight or so small birdspecies that inhabit the garden arefeeding.

Over those next few days I startedto consider my options; big wood

pigeons – I’d say the size of a small Butter-ball Turkey – make big droppings and requirea lot of garden. If I leave the persistent Char-lie alone, not only will he reduce that prob-lem, but also allow for enough food for allthe little birds to feed. And the best part isI’ll be spared the morning ritual of cleaningup after his turkey-sized friends.

So, from being adversaries, Charlie and I em-barked on a friendship, which I suspectedwasn’t too much of a challenge since wewere both sort of wild in our own way. Andthe best part was that my rushing aroundthe garden, doing this and that whilewhistling half-baked tunes seemed to agreewith him.

In a matter of a few days I found Charlie al-ways underfoot and the garden soon be-came “our” garden – well, that was onlywhen Peter, my partner, wasn’t out theredigging a big hole for some new floweringplant he’d discovered at the garden centre,changing the direction a branch had to take,rotating a dozen pots for optimum sunshine,and best of all, banging his ladder down likea jackhammer here and there while he grap-pled with the Jack-and-the-Beanstalk-lengthgrape and rose vines that surrounded theentire garden. In this case Charlie and I weretotally in agreement; Peter was a pest!

One day when I was out there having, as theBritish call it, a spot of lunch, for some un-known reason I tossed Charlie a crust ofbread from my lettuce and tomato sandwich.He took his time about it but eventuallycrossed to the bread, kicked it over a fewtimes, then ate it. Our relationship took anew turn.

The next day when I arrived in the gardenwith another sandwich, he was there waiting.

But this time I was prepared and broughtalong an extra piece of bread which I tossedpiece after piece to him and he slowly ateduring our hour-long visit. I admit I neverhad such fun. Oh, I’ve been to parks and Ihave thrown bread at pigeons, ducks, eventurtles, but in my own garden this had theelement of tossing a ball to a friend, and wasas much fun.

Each time he picked up a piece I tossed thenext one nearer until by the end of the slicethe pieces were dropping right next to me.He never seemed afraid of walking aroundunderfoot while I was doing this or that inthe garden, but the fact that I was sitting at atable was for him too risky an adventure totake for a small crust of bread.

Once I realized this I picked up all the piecesof bread and tossed them out of harm’s wayand he went off and ate them.

Over the next week I varied Charlie’s dietby offering various types of crackers, bis-cuits, and breads until we finally settled onslices of whole grain – five-seeded bread.Once that was settled we were the Darbyand Joan of the garden set and we’d be outthere – with the shining sun’s permission –from morning to night, sometimes eating,and more often than not, just enjoying theday together.

Sure, twice daily I would toss him smallpieces of bread, and when up to it, a fist-fullof bird seed. I truly believed Charlie liked mefor me and not because of the generousslices of whole grain five-seeded bread I wassupplying. If it was the bread surely he’d flyoff once he’d have his fill. Why, we’d spendhours enjoying each other’s company in si-lence. Oh, let the experts decide why hestayed!

Years ago back in New York City I had acockatiel. His name was Ascenzione and heloved to sing, he loved to do tricks, he’d loveto give me a kiss on my cheek and say “Ilove you!” Yes, I miss him and Charlie is farfrom a substitute. I’d say Charlie is more ofwhat one would call a distraction – a dis-traction from my writing, which I had beenpounding away at since the entire bleak rain-drenched spring and first part of a cold andnasty London summer. In his way, Charlieperhaps made up for those missing monthsof sunshine and all those eccentric momentsthat only come to one when in a quiet out-door place during an enchanted summer af-ternoon.

A Summer Fling

continued

THE OSPREY January/February 2014 9

Perhaps Charlie represented hope – he gaveme hope that I still had the ability to com-municate with the uncommunicatable. Foran artist, let alone a writer, to have thatknack is very important. To sustain it isnearly impossible. It’s what critics commonlyrefer to as “universal appeal!” Whatever itwas it made me feel good, and more impor-tantly, kept me off Peter’s back while he wastrying to work on his show reel.

Did I mention Peter was a film editor? He’salso a painter, loves to grow flowers, lovesto dig into all sorts of cook books, and hisgreatest love this summer has been to re-store and repaint all of the windowsills inthe house, which are many. Somehow I be-lieve Charlie was an answer to Peter’s sum-mer’s prayers, if not always Charlie’s.

Life with Charlie has had its up and downs.Take for instance the day little Joseph, thethree year old from across the street cameto visit. I took Joseph out into the gardenand called Charlie who came flying in andlanded right down in front of us as if on cue.Joseph got so excited he started waving hishands at Charlie, but Charlie, knowing I wasthere, didn’t run way. Joseph even threwbread to him and Charlie ran and fetched itand ate. It was only when Joseph felt thatchasing Charlie was more fun than feedinghim that things got tricky and it took a fewdays for Charlie to calm down.

Then there was that awful weather at thebeginning of August – a storm that raged forfour days straight. There was no way I couldgo out in the garden and read a newspaper,and as for putting down a piece of bread...And then, even if I could, where was Char-lie? I looked out of the windows everychance I got, but no Charlie. Don’t think thethought of taking Charlie into the housedidn’t cross my mind. I bet it crossed Peter’stoo. I sometimes suspect Peter was outthere in the garden in the rain and was usinglittle Joseph as a decoy to help scoot Charlieaway. Sure, once Charlie was in the housePeter’s freshly painted windowsills wouldmake pigeon-pecking history.

I must admit I was worried where Charliewas and if he was OK. Sometimes I find ithard to distinguish between human beings

and other forms of life and when I say “life”I’m talking in the full St. Francis use of theword which includes not only humans, butalso animals, trees, fish, and I suppose evenrock, which St. Francis was fond of talking toand I find no problem with.

During that storm my concern for Charliewas real, but after a few days of not seeingany of the regulars in the garden I figuredthey’re all holed up in some bird sportsarena and waiting out the storm. I wonderedif that included the large light grey squirrelwho hangs from the enormous sycamoretree at the back of the garden, and the smallfield mouse with the broken tail that livesunder some shrubs near the large pottedhydrangea.

That little mouse is smart living near thathydrangea. Why, it’s like having a room with abath when one considers the amount ofwater held in the hydrangea’s saucer. Andbecause the shrubs lean onto the base ofthe saucer she can have a drink or take abath without a cat or a dog, or even thatlight grey squirrel even noticing that she’saround.

That little mouse was Charlie’s friend. Oneday I was tossing Charlie a piece of breadand this brazen little field mouse came run-ning out and grabbed a piece of bread al-most the size of herself and rushed offbehind that big hydrangea. Charlie justlooked at her as she rushed off and so did I.And you know what, I tossed another pieceof bread towards the hydrangea and out shecame and off she went again.

When all was said and done that littlemouse, brazen as can be, came out andstayed out and ate alongside Charlie – no, Inever fed a mouse and it took some time toget used to. But since she was Charlie’sfriend, who was I to make a situation out ofit. Finally when she’d had enough to eat sheturned her back on us and slowly ambledback to the hydrangea, got up on her hindlegs and took a healthy drink from thesaucer. I watched Charlie watching her, andbefore I knew it, Charlie walked over to thesaucer and stood next to the little mouseand had a healthy drink himself.

As to the little mouse, she comes out everyso often and although she likes a piece ofcrusted bread she prefers greens, whichdoesn’t bode well with Peter who is the onewho cares for every stick of green in thegarden. You know, all summer I had won-dered where Charlie found his water. It’s notthat we don’t have water in the garden forthe birds.

We fill large saucers every day with fresh

water and leave them next to the birdfeeder so all the little birds can have a drink– some even wash, but not Charlie. Henever goes near them. I suppose Charliewould rather follow the advice of a fieldmouse than a small bird. Since that dayCharlie continues to drink from the hy-drangea saucer, and I suppose along side thefield mouse that lives underneath it.

Speaking of water; I was relating the story ofthe big August storm and I cut myself off –sorry about that! After four days the sun fi-nally came out. I went out into the gardenand called to Charlie as I always do the firstthing in the morning, but he didn’t come.

Later I went back out again and again I calledand even tried whistling the little melody Iusually whistle while feeding him, and he stilldidn’t fly in. Finally, after a frantic day worry-ing what could have happened to him, I wentback out just before twilight and he showedup as if nothing had happened. Perhaps pi-geons have a different temperament when itcomes to storms than we mortals? Anyway, Iwas relieved and ran back into the house,retrieved a big chunk of bread and broke itup and tossed it to him, and that nasty Char-lie just flew away without even taken onecrumb.

Like a dejected child I stormed back into thehouse heartbroken, and poor Peter – whowas busy scraping away at one of his win-dowsills and had not time for me and anticswith Charlie – had to stop his work anddeal with my sense of rejection. This wenton for two or three days and finally I gaveup. “I’ll show him what rejection is allabout!”

Sure enough, the next afternoon there I amout in the garden enjoying my lunch and apuzzle under the blazing sun and who doyou suppose comes along and is underfoottapping on my sneaker? Charlie! No, I didn’trush into the house to get him a piece ofbread. It wasn’t going to be that easy to for-give and forget. I waited ten minutes andcouldn’t stand it any longer and ran and re-trieved the bread. Before long we were backto our normal routine.

It’s strange; every day he waits near my backdoor but the minute I come out he crossesto the far end of the garden near the birdfeeder and patiently waits for my introduc-tion, which as always is my tossing a crustedpiece of bread his way. Sometimes I comeout and he’s up in a tree or on our nextdoor neighbor’s terrace looking down.Where ever he is, once I whistle he glidesdown next to me. Once I toss the first pieceof bread and it is eaten all bets are off and

continued

Sometimes I come out

and he’s up in a tree

or on our

next door neighbor’s

terrace looking down.

THE OSPREY January/February 2014 10

he’s at my side or following me around at asafe distance – which I respect – for the restof the day. I suppose we have finally gottenused to each other’s company, which I’mgrateful for.

But relationships change, some grow andsome die. In the case of Charlie and me, itwas still growing. It all started on the lastSaturday in August to be exact. I was out inthe garden holding a small handful of birdseed ready to toss to him but instead, for noapparent reason, I bent down next to himand slowly opened my fist. Usually I justdrop it and step back, but for some reasonthis time I didn’t and instead put my openhand down on the flagstone and waited.

Charlie approached, stepped back, then ap-proached, and then stepped back again. I feltmy action was cruel – how can anyone enjoya meal when the stakes are so high? So Idropped the seeds on the flag stone andwent about my business and he quickly hadhis meal.

Later I came back out into the garden. Thesun was still shining brightly and it was hotand truly the most enjoyable and the bestLondon summer’s day I’ve ever known. I satwith a newspaper doing the puzzle andwhile doing so planned to enjoy every mo-ment of this blissful day. I suppose Charliefelt the same because there he was at myside enjoying it too.

Then an idea sprang to mind, and I went andgot another small handful of seed, sat backdown, leant over the side of my chair andopened my fist. This time Charlie didn’t hesi-tate and quickly ate the few seeds that hadfallen from my hand onto the flagstone. Iheld my ground, and before I knew it, therewas Charlie eating from my hand.

After three months of tossing food to him,feeling his tiny little gentle pecks on my fin-gers and palm felt so enriching that I won-dered who was feeding who. Seven times Iran back into the house to replenish mysupply of breads, crackers, seeds, and seventimes Charles ate. Our relationship hadreached a new dimension! This feedingfrenzy continued until almost eight in thatevening under candle light and a setting sun.

The next few weeks flew by. The weatherwas great as it always is during a LondonSeptember and all my time was spent out inthe garden with Charlie at my side while Iworked. Even Peter was amazed how tameCharlie was and how well-behaved. Butsomething started to worry me. Do woodpigeons fly off somewhere for the winter? Iwonder? I wish they did. I wish Charliewould. For I must fly off – fly to New York

to see family, see friends, see about getting anew agent. The glass and steel of the Man-hattan skyline that tugs at my soul, tugs atmy pocket, beckons me near.

Who was going to watch over Charlie whilePeter and I were gone? I thought back tothe day when the large light grey squirrelfirst appeared in the garden. At first glance Ithought it was a cat. Well, it was the biggestsquirrel I ever saw and I jumped up to pro-tect Charlie and chased it off. Only until thesquirrel was half way up the tree did I real-ize my mistake. The thing was, during thatentire altercation Charlie had stayed put.

Did Charlie understand that I was protect-ing him? Or did Charlie think he was sotough that he could even take on a big squir-rel? Perhaps he did, because since then thatlight grey squirrel and Charlie have becomeconstant companions along with his drinkingpartner, the broken-tailed mouse.

I’m glad the three of them get along. Sure,my feeding them together offers a certainamount of commonality, but I think with orwithout me they’ll stay friends. Since themouse and the squirrel both have homes inmy back garden, I’m positive they’ll remainfriends. As for Charlie, he was more myfriend. I mean we practically play fetch.

How do I explain “New York” to Charlie?How do you tell a little creature like Charliethat you’ll be gone and will come back?While I’m away will he pine away outside myback door? I mean I can’t send him a post-card. And if I tried a carrier pigeon he’dchase it away before it had a chance to land.What am I worried about? He’ll most likelygo off and find another garden to poach in.Is that too honest and sad a conclusion?

Peter’s left instructions to have the birdfeeders filled while we’re away so if Charlieshows up there’ll be enough for him to eatfrom what falls out of the feeders. He’stough – tough enough to kick all thoseother wood pigeons out of the garden so hemust be tough enough to forge a new lifefor himself somewhere else. Time will tell.

What am I thinking? It just can’t be all aboutfood! Back in August after that storm his

sense of rejection was terrible. And when heturned around and rejected me I felt evenworse and that all happened because of afour-day storm. I’m going to be away sixweeks and I’m already feeling miserable. Sohow do I explain “New York” to Charlie?How does anyone ever explain going away?Better yet, how does anyone explain afterthey’ve spent a wonderful summer together– that their summer fling is over?

Our last meeting was sort of strange. I wasall packed and ready to go. I came out intothe garden with a fresh loaf of bread andbroke off a few pieces and left them on theflagstones in front of the fountain. I whistledand a few moments later Charlie flew in, andfor the first time hovered in front of methen landed at my feet.

As he went for the bread I went back intothe house and returned with a handful ofbird seed, placed a few kernels down infront of him and before I knew it he waseating out of my hand. But there were dis-tractions; the men working on the housenext door were drilling, and worse than that,Charlie’s former wood pigeon friendsseemed to be all out and hovering overhead.

I dropped the seeds and let him finish on hisown. Once done he followed me. I thoughthe wanted more seed, but it wasn’t that. So Iwent and retrieved the loaf of bread again,and here’s the kicker, although the groundwas covered with bread I already throwndown, Charlie waited for the small piece Itossed to him.

Here we were back where we started, backto when the sun was so bright and all theflowering plants were busting to bloom. Soas I tossed he fetched and this went on andon until another pigeon flew in and Charliefew after it and chased it off. And there wewere; Charlie up on the next door terracelooking aloof and me standing forlorn in thegarden – ah, summer flings! © Vito Gentile

Vito Gentile is a frequent visitor to EasternLong Island and a friend of Eastern Long Island Island Audubon Society.

THE OSPREY January/February 2014 11

John McNeil

The Survey will be conducted the first fullweek of the month starting on Sundayand ending the following Sunday. This sur-vey takes place from October to June.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FEEDER SURVEY

n Define an area containing feeders thatyou can see all at once from a window.The area should be one you glance atfrequently during your daily routine.

n Don’t include birds seen off premises.

n Predators perching in or swoopingthrough the count area (not just flyingover) may be counted if you feel thatthey were attracted by the birds at the feeder.

n Record the largest number of eachspecies that you see in your count areaduring the eight-day count period.

n Do not add counts from previous daystogether. Be specific with the speciesname, e.g. we can’t use just the nameSparrow, Blackbird or Gull.

n At the end of the count period, recordyour final tallies and send in the formimmediately.

Personal observations and comments arewelcome as are suggestions to improvethe surveys and reports.

Please send your report to:John McNeil168 Lexington RdShirley NY 11967-3212

Survey Dates:

Sun., Feb. 2 to Sun., Feb. 8

Name ________________________

Address ______________________

______________________________

Town ________________________

Phone ________________________

_______Mourning Dove

_______Northern Cardinal

_______Blue Jay

_______House Finch

_______Black-capped Chickadee

_______Tufted Titmouse

_______Downy Woodpecker

_______White-throated Sparrow

_______Dark-eyed Junco

_______House Sparrow

_______White-breasted Nuthatch

_______Song Sparrow

_______Red-bellied Woodpecker

_______American Crow

_______European Starling

_______Common Grackle

_______Carolina Wren

_______Northern Mockingbird

_______American Goldfinch

_______Red-winged Blackbird

_______Hairy Woodpecker

_______Common Flicker

_______Rufous-sided Towhee

_______American Robin

_______Brown-headed Cowbird

_______Sharp-shinned Hawk

_______Rock Dove (pigeon)

_______Gray Catbird

_______Yellow-rumped Warbler

_______Red-breasted Nuthatch

_______Other ______________________

Survey Dates:

Sun., March 2 to Sun., March 8

Name ________________________

Address ______________________

______________________________

Town ________________________

Phone ________________________

_______Mourning Dove

_______Northern Cardinal

_______Blue Jay

_______House Finch

_______Black-capped Chickadee

_______Tufted Titmouse

_______Downy Woodpecker

_______White-throated Sparrow

_______Dark-eyed Junco

_______House Sparrow

_______White-breasted Nuthatch

_______Song Sparrow

_______Red-bellied Woodpecker

_______American Crow

_______European Starling

_______Common Grackle

_______Carolina Wren

_______Northern Mockingbird

_______American Goldfinch

_______Red-winged Blackbird

_______Hairy Woodpecker

_______Common Flicker

_______Rufous-sided Towhee

_______American Robin

_______Brown-headed Cowbird

_______Sharp-shinned Hawk

_______Rock Dove (pigeon)

_______Gray Catbird

_______Yellow-rumped Warbler

_______Red-breasted Nuthatch

_______Other ______________________

Feeder Survey for February and March

Sall

y NE

wbE

Rt

A Brown Thrasher after a snow storm.

Published by: Eastern Long Island Audubon SocietyP.O. Box 206East Quogue, NY 11942-0206

Address Service Requested

EASTERN LONG ISLAND AUDUBON SOCIETYFrom the Barrens to the Bays

Serving Eastern Brookhaven, Western Riverhead & The Hamptonswww.easternlongislandaudubonsociety.org

ELIAS Officers & DirectorsPresident: Byron Young 631-821-9623

Past President & Current Vice President: Eileen Schwinn 631-728-8342

Recording Secretary: Chris Schmitt 631-727-2860

Corresponding Secretary: Gigi Spates 631-765-1436

Treasurer: Tom Moran 631-849-4434

Board of Directors:

Bob Adamo 631-369-1958

Ridgie Barnett 631-288-3628

MaryLaura Lamont

John McNeil 631-281-2623

Sally Newbert 631-281-6008

Suzi Stewart

Evelyn Voulgarelis 631-727-0417

Dan Wilson

Committees/ProjectsMembership, Mailing, Field Trips & Feeder Stats: John McNeil 631-281-2623

Program Chair and Nature Chat Open

Liaison - Kaler's Pond Audubon Center: Alfred Scherzer 631-728-2898

Hospitality: Ridgie Barnett 631-288-3628

Conservation & Bluebird Restoration:Gigi Spates 631-765-1436

Education: Evelyn Voulgarelis 631-727-0417

Webmaster: Annette Oliveira 631-833-4451

Newsletter Editor & Publicity: Sally Newbert 631-281-6008

eliasosprey@optonline.net

Please check the date on your label.If your membership is has expired or is aboutto expire please use the membership/renewalform below to keep your membership current.

NON PROFIT ORGU.S. POSTAGE P A I DPermit No. 4

Westhampton, NY 11977

Chapter Renewal & MembershipFor $20 a year, you will receive 6 issues of The Osprey and you will be

supporting our local education and conservation activities.

This is a m Renewal m New Membership

m I would like to make a donation of ________ in addition to my

membership.i

Name ____________________________________________

Address____________________________________________

City/State ______________________________ Zip ________

Email ____________________________________________

Please be sure to include your email. You will receive an email confirma-tion, a pdf of the first newsletter and occasional updates and notices ofany program changes. This list is not shared.

Make check payable to: Eastern Long Island Audubon Societyand mail to: ELIAS Membership,

PO Box 206, . East Quogue, NY 11942-0206