South Shore Skimmer

Editor’s note. SSAS has been involved in the effort to save Underhill from development for many years; some members may recall seeing a video at a general meeting not long ago. Here’s the latest news from the Society to Preserve Underhill.

The decade-long crusade to Preserve the 81-acre Underhill properly in Jericho hangs in the balance. Whether this historic property is developed with as many as 270 residential units, or is saved to protect drinking water and preserve open space, may well be decided before Election Day.

Environmental and civic leaders have rejected a recent scheme advanced by landowner Roger Tilles and Oyster Bay Town Councilwoman Bonnie Eisler. It advances a 50/50 development/preservation scenario that would result in the development of more than 100 residential units on the property. That is not our goal.

Your immediate intervention is essential! We most persuade Governor Pataki, and state and environmental leaders, to do their part in matching county and town contributions for the preservation of Underhill. For the cost of three postage stamps, you can join Long Islanders everywhere in entreating our elected officials to successfully complete our decade-long campaign to preserve the state-listed #1 parcel for acquisition on Long Island.

Preservation of Underhill will help control taxes, protect underground drinking water supplies in the state-designated Special Groundwater Protection Area, and preserve a singular natural treasure in Nassau County. But you must act immediately! Your postcard or letter must reach state officials by early October if they are to act while the political iron is hot.

The Town of Oyster Bay is doing its part. Cash-strapped Nassau County is doing its part. It is essential that the State of New York provide $10 million to match local efforts so that our long-sought preservation objectives may finally be achieved.

It’s only fair! Nassau did not receive a single penny in open space preservation money under the state’s $1.75 billion Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act. Neighboring Suffolk County has received more than $50 million from the state’s Environmental Protection Fund in recent years. Let’s face it; it’s Nassau County’s turn!

We must show Governor Pataki and our state legislative officials that the preservation of Underhill is a priority to every Long Island resident, taxpayer, and voter. You’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you’ve been a part of one of Long Island’s greatest preservation efforts ever.

Sample Postcard Text to Governor Pataki, Senator Marcellino, and Assemblyman DiNapoli (click here for our elected officials’ addresses)

Please ensure the preservation of Underhill by providing $10 million to match county and town contributions for the permanent protection of Long Island’s top priority acquisition.

Massive overdevelopment threatens this historic site and natural treasure. Please help Long Islanders successfully complete this decade-long crusade to finally save Underhill.

TIME TO VOICE YOUR OPPOSITION TO LITP2000!

Lisa Tyson

Editor’s note. As many of you know, in the May-August issue of the Skimmer I wrote about SSAS’s membership in the coalition of organizations, led by the Long Island Progressive Coalition, that is opposed to the proposed Long Island Transportation Plan 2000. Lisa Tyson is the director of LIPC.

The New York State Department of Transportation’s 20-year plan for Long Island will:

* cost $5 billion, an estimated $250 million annually which we taxpayers simply don’t have,

* widen most of the major highways, parkways, and local arterials in Long Island, subjecting motorists to multiyear construction-related traffic delays;

* destroy unique aspects of Long Island’s beautiful parkway system by turning the parkways into expressways and removing trees and historic bridges;

* drain financial resources away from needed rail, bus, and jitney transit improvements, like the LIRR third track, needed for better transit service to and within Long Island; and

* increase noise pollution and water pollution runoff to drinking and other waters.

This plan will be voted on this fall. We must stop this plan and create a citizens’ plan that is environmentally friendly and increases public transportation on Long Island. Call or write Governor Pataki, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, and Suffolk County Executive Robert Gaffney, and tell them to rethink LITP2000 (the County Executives and the NYS Department of Transportation Commissioner are three of the nine voting members of the NY Metropolitan Transportation Council; a single “no” vote would result in rethinking).

To learn more about the Rethink LITP2000 campaign and to endorse the Rethink LITP2000 sign-on letter, visit www.rethinklitp2000.com or call 516-541-1006 x16.

Sample Letter. In order to stop the LITP2000 plan, we must let our voices be heard. Handwritten letters from individuals in their own words are very effective, so please feel free to change the sample letter and make it your own.

I am writing to oppose the current Long Island Transportation Plan 2000. This plan will cost billions of dollars and will not solve our future congestion problems.

The increase in air pollution, noise pollution, destruction of trees, straightening of Long Island’s beautiful parkways, replacing the natural wooded sound barrier with artificial walls, the replacement of bridges and overpasses, along with traffic that will be diverted to local roadways, is wrong for Long Island and will negatively affect our quality of life for years to come.

We need to invest in our public transportation system. Let’s go back into the planning process and design a system that really reduces congestion without devastating our quality of life.

SSAS BACKYARD BIRD SURVEY

Joe Grupp

The Research Committee is conducting a study to document the bird species found in the SSAS geographical area and to make some estimates as to their numbers. We request input from anyone that feeds and/or observes birds in their yard or neighborhood. If you would like to participate in this program, we would greatly appreciate it.

To participate, simply record the birds that you see in your yard, neighborhood, or at your feeder; the date, time, and the number or approximate number of each species; and fill in the table provided. If you have more recordings than lines in the table, please attach an additional piece of paper to the table and submit the additional recordings in the same manner. At the end of each month, please mail or e-mail your record to me at the appropriate address listed below, or hand it to me at our monthly meeting. Double-sided survey sheets are available at SSAS events.

Please do not hesitate to submit your observations, even if you have been able to make only very few. WE NEED YOUR INPUT! Please send to Mr. J. Grupp, Research Chairperson, 660 Edgemere Ave., Uniondale, NY 11553 or Birdstudyjoeg02@aol.com. Click here for a sample survey sheet.

MAGIC!

Elliott Kutner

You decide to try a bird walk. What can you expect from a 2-1/2 hour walk by a lake, pond, bay, or the ocean?

Your very first experience is the art of looking through a pair of binoculars and picking up the sight of your first bird. It is your first victory. With the variety and volume of birds, you begin to feel an excitement quite new and different. The more you see, the more you want to know:
(1) About the bird
(2) Where did he/she come from?
(3) Where is he/she going?
(4) How will he/she get there?
(5) How does he/she know how to get there?

In the spring the birds come north and literally go “home” to have their young. In the fall they gather in huge flocks and each bird knows, genetically, where he/she is going and how to get there.

You will learn new words and terms, such as altrical, precocial, length of days, preening, magnetic fields, refraction, ground speed, constellation, speculum, canopy, equinox, solstice, wing flush, and stooping, among many others.

You are not alone. You are in a group of bright, decent people of all ages and backgrounds. They are easy to approach, because the theme of the walk is “inclusive.” We are all in this adventure together and prepared to share a common experience, using the birds to better understand our environment.

Jim Remsen came to us 25 years ago at the age of 12. His sister Doreen brought him on the walks week after week. Tom Torma brought Tom Jr. and Colleen to our walks 15 years ago. Rick Kopitsch brought Stacey to us when she was 13-14. Arthur Scheiman brought Daniel in his teens.

Chris Cooper came to us with his parents and his sister Melody when he was a sophomore in high school; check for him in Central Park during migration. John Staropoli came to sell T-shirts at our meetings to save the Bald Eagle; he was 10! Michele DeCaprio sits on our board as the Youth Representative; she is 12.

On August 11, 2002, Emilie Petersen celebrated her 90th birthday on that day’s walk. Natalie, the grandchild of Perry and Beryl Sporn, joined our walk for the first time; she is nine. On that same walk, Therese Lucas brought her grandson, Rick Huhn, to his first walk. On that same wonderful day, we were joined by Henry and Adam, their mom and dad, and their grandparents, Joan and Rod Kincaid.

The point is, dear friends in South Shore, all of these children have a shared experience. Many are adults now with successful, distinguished careers, and are dedicated to solving the environmental problems we face. When we have Natalie, Henry, Adam, and Jim on the same bird walk, it is magic!

KIRTLAND’S WARBLER: AN ENDANGERED SPECIES

Joe Grupp

The morning is overcast, hot, and humid, and blackflies hover about as we stand on a two track, a seldom used dirt road that derives its name from the two sandy paths separated by grass resulting from periodic use by vehicles. We are far from home in Grayling, Michigan, surrounded on both sides by young jack pine trees. The young jack pine forest appears somewhat scrawny, about head high, the branches of one tree reaching the branches of another, forming a slightly open but almost impenetrable barrier. Some deciduous trees are scattered through the forest, rising slightly above the pines, and a fair scattering of taller, old, gray, weathered snags rise above the forest. Standing there with my wife and a group of eight or ten others, and an interpreter from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, we all have the common goal of observing the somewhat secretive, endangered Kirtland’s Warbler.

The Kirtland’s Warbler is a Michigan bird nesting only in the young jack pine forests of the state. The 1,085 singing males that were recorded last year is a record high since the initial census in 1961 that was not repeated until 1971, when it became an annual census. The 1971 census reported only 201 singing males and the census dropped below that number in 1974, ’75, and ’87. The 1085 number represents progress for this bird’s population, whose habitat requirements are severely restricted.

Kirtland’s Warbler nests on the ground under young jack pines, abandoning the nesting area when the lower jack pine branches no longer serve to hide the nest. The prevention of forest fires over the years has diminished the habitat available, as many of the young forests matured. A cooperative effort by the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and Michigan Audubon Society has adopted a policy of controlled fires and clear-cutting on a cyclical basis in order to insure the existence of appropriate habitat, a habitat that by its very nature is limited.

The Kirtland’s Warbler is confronted with a second obstacle in its fight for survival. During the past years, the Brown-headed Cowbird’s range has expanded into the warbler’s territory. The cowbird predates the nest of the warbler by laying its egg in the warbler’s nest, resulting in the survival of a cowbird nestling at the expense of the warbler’s. An aggressive trapping program during the warbler’s nesting season has been successful in reducing that obstacle and is significantly responsible for the increase in the warbler’s population.

We stand on the two track for some time. Finally a bird sings, but it is hidden in the jack pines and our interpreter advises us to be patient. We wait. Then, in a moment, a bird flies to a stub on an old gray snag. There, throat feathers spread majestically as the bird sings, challenging the call of the first bird. Observations don’t get much better, as a blue-gray striped back contrasts with black-striped yellow underparts and an ill-defined black mask offsets a split white eye ring, filling the optics of our binoculars. We luck out on two other days when we get excellent views of the much more secretive female, who is of a more uniform gray and yellow color. Knowing the small population of Kirtland’s Warblers that exists in the world, we know that in spite of humidity, heat, and blackflies, we are privileged to have observed it and are thankful for the efforts of those who aid in the effort to increase its population and protect its existence.

FOR THE BIRDS

In 1997, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service published a 52-page booklet, For the Birds, about food, housing, and plantings that appeal to wild birds. The fifty-cents booklet’s still available from the Federal Consumer Information Center (1-888-8-PUEBLO) or can be accessed for free at www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/misc/forbirds/forbird.htm. Here are excerpts that may look familiar if you’ve been a Skimmer reader for three years or more.

How Many Birds. If too many birds at your feeder becomes a problem, you can control their numbers by putting out smaller amounts of seed, or by using specialty seeds or restrictive feeders that will attract only certain species. If you fill your feeder only when it’s empty, the birds will look for food elsewhere.

You can encourage small birds and discourage large birds with feeders that restrict access. Wood feeders with vertical bars and feeders covered with wire mesh frustrate larger birds.

The most non-selective feeders are the tray, platform, or house feeders, because they allow easy access by all birds.

Tube feeders without trays also restrict access to only small birds. Remove the perches, and you’ve further restricted the feeder to only those birds that can easily cling -- finches, chickadees, titmice, and woodpeckers.

If starlings are a problem at your suet feeder, discourage them by using a suet feeder with access only from the bottom. Starlings are reluctant to perch upside down. Chickadees and woodpeckers don’t find that a problem.

You can virtually eliminate visits by birds you would rather not see by offering seeds they won’t eat. If you use more than one type of seed, put them in separate feeders. This will reduce wasted seeds, as birds will toss unwanted seeds out of a feeder to get to their favorites.

Watch a feeder filled with a seed mix and you’ll see the birds methodically drop or kick out most of the seeds to get to their favorite -- sunflower.

Many birds prefer sunflower. Some prefer millet. A few prefer peanuts. Sparrows, blackbirds, doves, and juncos will eat the other grains used in premade mixes: corn, milo, red millet, oats, wheat, and canary seed. Birds will also kick out artificial “berry” pellets, processed seed flavored and colored to look like real fruit.

Black oil sunflower is the hands-down favorite of all the birds that visit tube and house feeders. Birds who visit platform feeders (doves and sparrows) favor white proso millet. Ducks, geese, and quail will eat corn. Many cereal grains (corn, milo, oats, canary, wheat, rape, flax, and buckwheat) in mixed bird seeds are NOT favorites of birds that visit tube feeders.

Birds Attracted by Various Feeders and Foods

Tube Feeder With Black Oil Sunflower: goldfinches, chickadees, woodpeckers, nuthatches, titmice, redpolls, pine siskins

Adding a Tray to the Tube Feeder Will Also Attract: cardinals, jays, crossbills, purple finches, house finches, white-throated sparrows, white-crowned sparrows

Tray or Platform Feeder -- With Millet: doves, house sparrows, blackbirds, juncos, cowbirds, towhees, white-throated sparrows, tree sparrows, white-crowned sparrows, chipping sparrows

Tray or Platform Feeder -- With Corn: starlings, house sparrows, grackles, jays, juncos, bobwhite quail, doves, ring-necked pheasants, white-throated sparrows

Platform Feeder or Tube Feeder and Tray -- With Peanuts: cardinals, grackles, titmice, starlings, jays

Niger Thistle Feeder With Tray: goldfinches, house finches, purple finches, redpolls, pine siskins, doves, chickadees, song sparrows, dark-eyed juncos, white-throated sparrows

Nectar Feeder: hummingbirds, orioles, cardinals, tanagers, woodpeckers, finches, thrushes

Fruit: orioles, tanagers, mockingbirds, bluebirds, thrashers, cardinals, woodpeckers, jays, starlings, thrushes, cedar waxwings, yellow-breasted chats

Hanging Suet Feeder: woodpeckers, wrens, chickadees, nuthatches, kinglets, thrashers, creepers, cardinals, starlings

Peanut Butter Suet: woodpeckers, goldfinches, juncos, cardinals, thrushes, jays, kinglets, bluebirds, wrens, starlings

Hanging Peanut Feeder: woodpeckers, chickadees, titmice

Questions About Feeding Wild Birds

When Is the Best Time to Start? Usually, whenever the weather is severe, birds will appreciate a reliable supplemental food source. In northern areas, start before the onset of cold weather so birds have time to find the feeder.

When’s the Best Time to Stop? Although you can feed birds year-round, especially with fruit and nectar, you can stop feeding seeds once a reliable supply of insects is available in the spring.

WILD BIRD FEED SAVINGS DAY

Sunday, November 3, 2002

Tackapausha Museum

9:30 A.M. to 2:30 P.M.

The museum is located on Washington Avenue in Seaford and lies about 1/2 mile south of Sunrise Highway, just north of Merrick Road. Since there will be only a little extra for sale that day, preordering is greatly appreciated; an order form appears below for your use. Please keep this upper portion as a reminder of the sale date. All preorders should be received by OCTOBER 16. Please make checks payable to the South Shore Audubon Society. Mail check and order form to Paul T. Butkereit, 268 Wallace St., Freeport, NY 11520.

The 20 and 25 lb bags come with handles. Proceeds will be used for SSAS’s college and Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary day camp scholarships.

Help will be needed on the sale date to process orders and to aid in unloading seed. If you wish to volunteer, please call Paul. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE WILL NOT HAVE A JANUARY SALE!

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