THURSDAY, APRIL 8,1979

(Bh> Beralh

PAGE 17

Everybody knows about the Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary; the 21 acres of natural barrier island forest that attracts 2,000 breeding wading birds each summer. A few people might even know some of the particulars. That it was established in 1947. That it is maintained by the municipality of Stone Harbor itself. That it is the second largest such “intown" rookery in the world (exceeded in size only by a sister sanctuary in Tokyo, Japan). That it is recognized by the National Park Service as a Natural Landmark.

An identification key located at the parking area will tell you that there are nine stfecies of wading birds thAt make up the sanctuary's resident population. They are the Great (formerly, American; formerly Common), Snowy and Cattle Egrets; the Louisiana and Little Blue Herons; the Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night Herons; the bronze colored Glossy Ibis and occassionally, the Green Heron. The birds arrive in late March, set up territories, bicker about boundries, display, court,

breed, raise the younguns' and then cut and run before winter closes in. So much for the herons in the heronry. Now lets consider a point that is often overlooked. For instance, the importance of this small patch of greenery to other species of birds. Just because it’s called a “heronry" doesn't mean that the Ardeidaes have clear title to this eden of the off-shore island. Summer birds of the Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary include Robins, Brown Thrashers, Catbirds, Cardinals, and Song Sparrows to name but a few. Fish Crows are numerous and why not? There are always going to be careless parents that will leave a nest unguarded. The list of things that crows will not eat is a small one and heron eggs aren't on it. House Sparrows (known

wryly to the high powered birding element as “ChurchiH's Warbler") next among the tangle of vegetation and what passes for a nest to an egret. The House Finch, a recent transplant to the east coast from the west, provides song, a splash of burgundy, and competition to Churchill's Warbler. For untold centuries, birds have migrated down the coastal islands. Places to put in for a night’s R&R were aplenty. The entire strip of barriers island looked much like the heronrv appears today. Needless to say, the remnants of this dune forest are few (or as American author John Gardner puts it: "things die, alternative kill!"). The paucity of habitat follows the law of supply and demand. This, in turn, makes the few remaining

natural areas dear beyond

price.

Thousands of migrating songbirds crowd into the^ heronry during both spring and fall migration. I have recorded 16 species of warblers by doing no more than walking the perimeter of the sanctuary on a morning in early May. The sanctuary offers some of the best birding to be found anywhere; a veritable Central Park in miniature.

Even in winter/ the heronry plays host to resident birds, though the herons and.'egrets have long gone. Robins, Cedar Waxwings and Hermit Thrushes feed on Holly berries and Yellow-rumped Warblers harvest the crop of bay berries. Cardinals give color to a winter landscape and serve as a reminder that to apply the term "heronry" to this patch of wooded tangle is a

^ ^ ri h-j ^ ^^mwnomer indeed.

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