Chronicle of

A Nature Journal by DennisPuleston

Everybirder, naturalist, or scien- tist knowsthat watchingbirds involvesmuch more than simply countingspecies that pass by in migration,or recordingnesting successin a censusarea. We need to understandthe intriguing and complexworld in whichbirds live, feed, and nest. Author and naturalist Dennis Puleston has takentime to explorethat world nearhis home on LongIsland in NewYork. As a giftto hisgrand- children,he put together painted and written observations of a year in his beloved "neighborhood."The result was a beautiful and compellinglook at therichness -- andfragility -- oflife on .At the urgingof friends, Puleston had the collection made into a book. The following excerptfrom A NatureJournal comesfrom the chapter describ- ingthe month of March.Perhaps hiswork will spurothers to take stock of the environment in their

1096-American Birds, Winter 1992 ownbackyard. -- TheEditor SometimesMarch, theblustery month, series of abruptside slips and a finaldive that comesin likea lamb,only to remindus later of looksas if hewill crash. During the final stages itsunpleasant reputation, as if it werereluctant of flight,he produces a string of melodious to allowwinter to slidegradually into spring. twitteringsthat so fill theair theyappear to Yetthere are plenty of signsof thecoming comefrom everydirection. Once he has changein seasons:Buds are fattening, day descended,this strange routine begins all over liliesand daffodils are thrusting their green again,and if themoon is out, it maycontinue spikesabove ground, and even in the early onand off all night. daysof the months,one can hear the loud, Small, round holes in moist earth indicate cheerysong of theCarolina •O(/rcn: "tea-kettle, where woodcocks have been probing for earth- tea-kettle, tea-kettle." Cardinals, too, are worms,which are more than ninety percent of in song,and the males are pursuing females theirdiet. The birds probably locate the worm anddriving rival males out of theterritories throughtheir sense of hearing. The tip of the theyare establishing. woodcocksupper mandible isflexible, so it can Hazelcatkins are suddenly several times close on a worm even when the bill is closed at largerthan theywere during the winter; thebase. And because the woodcock spends so theyhang down like yellow lambs' tails, and muchof itslife probing,it is usefulfor it to aftera fewwarm days, a flickof the finger will havebinocular rear vision; thus its large eyes About half releasea small puffof pollen. Yellow and pur- are located toward the back of the head. plecrocus are in flowerby thesecond week The dolefulcalls that give the Mourning an hour after of themonth, and the silky gray catkins of Doveits nameare heard now as pairs begin pussywillow are fully developed and dusted breeding.The nestis a frailstructure of small sunseton a quiet withgolden policn. sticks in a bush or small tree, the two white night,the male In boggyareas the skunk cabbage pushes up eggsoften visiblethrough its underside. a pointedspike, which then develops into a The parentdoves may raise as many as four woodcockbegins shall-likespathe. This opens to revealthe curi- broodsduring the year, feeding the nestlings ous flower, one of the scason'sfirst to attract a predigestedliquid from their crops known hisspectacular theearly bees and other insects. After a snow- as"pigeon milk." springcourtship fall,the skunk cabbage, by oxidizing carbohy- TheMourning Dove ... prefersopen fields drates,generates a temperature many degrees and woodland borders; it is probably far more flight. higherthan ambient and literally melts its way abundantnow than in pioneerdays, when so throughthe frozen ground and snow. much land was covered in forest. Its close rela- Abouthalf an hour after sunset on a quiet tive,the Passenger Pigeon, occurred in flocks night,the male woodcock begins his spectacu- of morethan a billionover one hundred years larspring courtship flight. He emergesfrom ago,but was massively slaughtered byhunters themoist woods where he has spent the day anddeprived of itshabitat as forests gave way andalights in an open field or clearing. Strutting to settlementsand agriculture. Its eventual likea tinyturkey cock, he utters an explosive, extinction was due in partto itsrequire- nasal,buzzy sound at intervals of severalseconds. Then, like alittle helicopter, hesudden- ly takesto theair in a steep spiral to a considerable height,circles several descendstimes,and in then a

4

Volume46,Number 5'1097 mentsbeing much more specialized than those someof theearly bulbs, one of theflowers of of theMourning Dove, which can subsist on Marchis the ddicate little periwinkle, or myr- weed seeds,waste grain, and insects. tle, a creepingplant that forms a carpeton Unfortunatelythe Mourning Dove is catego- banks and roadsides. An introduction from rizedas a gamebird in theSouth and hunted Europe,it hasspread successfully through- mercilessl)• outtemperate America. On thebays and rivers the Bufflehead are The Great Horned Owl is the eadiest nester presentin largegroups, the males displaying to in thenortheastern , and by mid- severalof thedark-brown females by rearing Marchits young are usually hatched. It does up andthen skimming along the surface to not build a nest but takesover that of a crow, revealtheir pink feet. This hardy, dapper litde hawk,or other large bird. This splendid bird is duckderives its namefrom the male'spuffy anextremely efficient hunter and with its pow- head, reminiscentof the massivehead of the erfultalons can kill a skunk,opossum, and Anothersign of Americanbuffalo. Locally, it isknown as "but- sometimesa domestic cat, although rabbits terball,"because of itsplump body. Now that and voles are its chief food. the onsetof theyare beginning to pairoff, the Bufflehead Bymid-March the first Ospreys have arrived, spring,keyed to willsoon depart for their breeding grounds in andwithin the following few weeks they begin thewooded regions of northwesternCanada. to repairtheir huge stick nests. That we are theappearance Likethe wood duck, they nest in treecavities, nowseeing these magnificent birds along our oftenusing woodpecker holes. shorelines is remarkable; in the fifties and to earthworms Anothersign of theonset of spring,keyed sixtiestheir populations declined so rapidly at groundlevel, to theappearance of earthwormsat ground thatmany biologists predicted they would level, is the arrival of robinsin our fieldsand disappearfrom the northeastern United States is the arrivalof gardens.Some of thehardier individuals have withintwenty years. In theforties, there were beenhere all through the winter, but naturally about three hundred active nestson Gardincrs robinsin our fields thereis nothing to interestthem on a frozen Island,but by 1965,there were less than twen- lawn.They have been surviving in shrubberiesty and only threechicks could be found. andgardens. andthickets, feeding on fruits and berries. It The culpritwas DDT, a pesticidecommonly wasonce thought that the robin was listening usedon Long Island to control mosquitoes. for earthworms when it cocked its head to one The useof a broad-spectrum,persistent side.Not so.Careful studies proved that it is chemicallike DDT to kill mosquitoescan be insteadwatching for the slight stirring of the comparedto torpedoingan ocean liner to get groundthat indicates a worm moving below rid of the rats on board. DDT the surface. This American bird is not at all • andmost ofthe other chlo- likethe European robin, but because our rinatcdhydrocarbon pesticides bird alsohas a red breast,it was so persistin theenvironment and namedby the early settlers, who are thus transmitted from one wereprobably homesick for organismto anotherin a food the landsthey had left chain,concentrating in the organ- behind. ismat the top of thechain, in this In addition to the casethe .The chemical skunkcabbage and interfereswith the Osprcy's ability to producesufficient calcium carbon- atefor a healthyeggshell, and the eggs breakunder the weight of theincubating bird.Thus by thesixties, DDT hadreduced theOsprey's reproductive success to near zero. Testimonyby a groupof localscien- tistsin a 1966lawsuit put a stopto the use of DDT to control mos- quitoesin Long Island's SuffolkCounty. This suit resulted in the formation

1098- American Birds, Winter 1992 of the Environmental •,• it. Althoughmany intended hosts DefenseFund in 1967, r• •, recognizeand eject the cowbird and this organization's effortscontributed to a nation- .•,%•.•,.• eggsfrom the nest, others wide ban on DDT in 1972. As • • t? acceptthem and raise the DDT levelsin theenvironment drop, ••*"-•l' . . !•i'•youngintruders.the cowbird chick Becauseis larg- Falconsareshowing encouraging signsof • • • recovery.Thereare now well over two hun- • X •, birdsdredactivelike Ospreys,Osprey eagles,nests onand Long PeregrineIsland, ••!I • !:. • ., withan average of 1.5chicks per active nest. includingThehandsome aboutsixtymourningon Gardinerscloak is our Island, first •.••, • ...... springbutterfly andisgenerally encountered '•'•'-'•'-•;•;" ona warm, windless March day as it flitsalong a woodlandpath. This insect will spendthe winterhibernating in a treecavity or anold building. One of the first trees to indicate the changingseasons is the red, or swamp, maple.Its smallscarlet and yellow flowers openin lateMarch and give rich color to our er andmore aggressive than its nestmates in freshwaterwetlands. demandingfood, it becomesthe sole survivor. The Brown-headedCowbird, a small,dark Thefemale cowbird has a remarkablylong bird,often feeds in flocksaround grazing cat- reproductiveperiod, lasting about two months. tle.This bird has extended its range into the On theaverage, she lays eighty eggs over a two- Northeastsince the dearing of theforests and yearreproductive lifetime, and though it has theintroduction of cattle. Formerly, it associat- been estimated that only three percent of cow- edwith the great herds of Americanbison in birdeggs result in adults,this is enough to con- theprairies. The cowbird developed the habit tinuethe expansion of the breeding range and of depositingeggs in thenests of otherbirds, possiblyaffect the future of someof thebird takingno furtherpart in the reproductive speciesthat are victimized. The Song Sparrow, process.It is now parasitizing many species of manyflycatcher, warbler, and vireo species are birdsin thenew areas that have opened up for frequentunwitting hosts. 'Y'

Passion for the Treasures culminationofyears of observations at Puleston'swatercolors are part of a in His Backyard hisadopted home in Now York State. nearlylife-long avocation. He is cur- Paintingand writing about the minu- rentlypainting all the bird species that DennisPuleston began watching tiaeof life involving animals and plants occurrngularly onLong Island, with natureat anearly age, led by two is "a wayto expressyour love for some160 of over200 birds completed. uncleswho were avid naturalists in his nature,"says Puleston. "1had a great 11msnowy-haired naturalist hepas nativeCreat Britain. dealof fun doing it." hisbook will educate Long Isiand's new "1particularly remember when one Pulestonbegan to knowLong settlers.He has watched pell-mell , unclelifted me Island'sflora and fauna when be settled develepmentdestrey diverse habitat en upto lookat on the islandin 1945. He usedmuch of LengIsland. It's a sterythat resenates • Songlhrush hisspare time scouting out the differ- incammunifins around the cauntry, eggsin a nest," enthabitats near his home in the village saysPulesten. ' saysPuleston. of Brookhaven,and taking students on AndPuleston alse has seen first- '"lheywere weekendfield trips. handthe devastation ofwintering beautiful!I was Sincethe 1970s, when he retired as groundsof neetropicalmigrants in verylittle at beadof technicalinformation at Centraland South America. He netes thetime, but BrookhavenNational Laboratory, he theimpact ef thatless en Leng Island. • thatreally hasled ecology trips and expeditions "Weused te beable te geinte the turnedme on." aroundthe world, including inAlaska, woodsin the middle of Mayand see 1lintinterest has since spanned Patagonia,the Amazon, and the warblerwaves," be recalls. "11rare used eightdecades and seven cantinents. Antarctic.But be always returns to to bean ailment called 'warbler neck,' Hisbeek, A Nature JoumaL' A LongIsland to observethe ample show causedby watching the birds in the Naturalist'sYear on Long Island, is a inhis own backyard. tepsof the trees. Fie mere."

Volume 46, Number 5'