DAN’S PAPERS
danshamptons.com
December 14, 2012 Page 31
A Birdwatcher’s View of life in the Hamptons By tERRy SulliVAn
O
n a damp Sunday drive back to Sag Harbor from Southampton I stopped on a “birding whim” at the Morton Refuge. Having no birdseed, I stopped anyway to watch other people feed the resident birds, but as I arrived in the parking lot a nice Gramma with two tot-sized granddaughters in tow offered me a few handfuls of seed in a bag. Thanking her for her generosity, I’d walked only 5 feet into the entrance when a small flock of titmice and chickadees cheep–cheeped a serenade from the bushes that border the path. Extending my hand, full of seeds and palm up, they perched politely, one at a time, then two; with one waiting on my sleeve for the first to peck his choice and flee.
asked to go on the Count, but who better to identify birds than someone who hunts for them?
“Al is new at this and he wants to know if he can count the birds he shot yesterday.” The look of sheer horror that came over that man’s face did not change an iota, as I said, “It’s a joke, a little local humor.” His face was still frozen as we walked out chuckling in search of more birds, ending up at my house for a stop to count birds on the feeders. As we pulled up Al pointed to my Bradford pear tree, bare of any foliage, and there stood a very patient hawk, who had been in my yard a few times that week. It was a female merlin in the top outside branches, slowly bouncing on the branches, trying to spook the songbirds below, who were safe if they didn’t move. One titmouse did not see it (Continued on page 38)
“Al is new to this and he wants to know if he can count the birds he shot yesterday?” A look of sheer horror came over the man’s face. The first Count we were on together was run by a man who was a little stiff and very formal about taking down your Count information. So, when Al and I reported in I asked,
AL
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Have you seen this guy?
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What is surprising this year is the variety of birds landing on your hand: first a downy woodpecker, with his crimson top knot, then with a graceful swoop, a red-breasted nut hatch appeared on my palm, followed by a white breasted one, who picked through the seeds like a customer at Falkowski’s farm stand looking for the perfect potatoes to bake. All this paled compared to the wonder in the eyes of the little girls as the magical birds lit on their tiny hands. Their Gramma told me the week before a red bellied woodpecker landed on the four-year-old’s hand and took his time picking through the offering, then off he flew, never to return. That’s why this Sunday, the girls came back for more with Gramma, sowing the seeds for two more fledgling birdwatchers. The reason for my perusing Morton was a warm-up to the Audubon Orient Bird Count, on Saturday, Dec. 29. Al Daniels and I have been doing this bird count for about a dozen years, and the two of us have a number of “saves,” meaning we were the only ones who saw a particular species on that count. Last year we stopped in the wilds of North Haven, and as we walked along a road following two flocks of birds, a black- and white-warbler flew between us. “What was that” Al exclaimed? My impression was a black and white warbler until he flew back, not five feet in front of us, then there was no doubt as he landed on a branch 10 feet away, as if to say, “Okay, I’m ready for my close-up, you can count on me.” This bird was not only a save, but so rare on this Count, we had to submit documents, “I do so declare, etc...” to swear we saw this tiny bird. Only a birder could get excited about this. Al is well known in the area as a duck hunter, so it was no small surprise the first time he
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