Sta rving ducks dined on handouts
Moriches Bay Area residents are coming
to the aid of 12,000 ducks and geese who may
face starvation because col d weather has closed
their feeding grounds.
In Mastic Beach , members of the Narrows Bay Sportmen 's Club and the Mastic Beach Fire Department have
been feeding ducks off the Whittier Drive dock for the past
two weeks. Members of the sportsmen 's club have been
collecting stale bread from storeowners and neighbors for
the feeding effort.
In Center Moriches , Frank Cusmano of Shoreline Fishing
Station , Union Avenue , has joined forces with another
local resident , James Willis , to provide the ducks with
surplus fallout shelter crackers . The waterfowl are being
offered a daily supply of the stale human food from a spot
near the Union Avenue dock.
The feeding efforts are in response to a prolonged freeze
that has closed off many traditional shoreline sources of
eel grass for the birds. Last Friday Air National Guard
officers stationed in Southampton also got into the act as
they "bombed " the ducks from helicopter s with several
hundred pounds of corn provided by the Good Ground Rod
and Gun Club.
More aerial food drops , up to 2,000 pounds worth , are
expected.
Leroy Wilcox of Quogue , a bird expert for the Moriches
Bay Audubon Society , said this week that accounts of
deaths among the bird population so far may have been
exaggerated. Continued cold during the next few weeks
could substantially increase the mortality rate , he added ,
especially among geese , who do not adapt readily to
substitute human food.
Wilcox estimated that more than 1,000 geese are now
staying in the remaining open water areas near Shinnecock Inlet. If those areas freeze , the geese , who are
vegetarian bottom feeders , could face starvation.
Also affected by the freeze are mallards and black
ducks. "They (the birds ) are just barely getting along; if
this continues , they 're going to be in trouble , " Wilcox
said.
Numbers of wild ducks and Canadian geese have been
driven by the food shortage to enter the pens where
FRANK CUSMANO OF CENTER MORICHES GIVES FALLOUT SHELTER CRACKERS TO STARVING DUCKS.
- p hoto by Tony Jerome
thousands of white , domestic Pekin ducks are raised in as soon as ice began to close local waterways. The diet has
the Moriches Bay Area . The birds are attracted by the since been supplemented with crackers from a large
pellet food spread out in feeders for the bound-for-market barrel of fallout shelter food provided by the Brookhaven
Pekin ducks. Normally, they spurn the commercial food. Town Office of Emergency Preparedness.
Moriches Bay Audubon Society members are scheduled
"We 've been giving them crackers every day ; right
to discuss the wildfowl food shortage at their next meeting now , there are about 20 ducks out there feeding, "
on Monday at 8 p.m. at the East Moriches school. In the Cusmano said on Tuesday.
interim , other local duck fanciers are doing the best they
Wilcox , who recently conducted a bird census of
can to prevent the birds from starving.
Moriches and Shinnecock Bays for the New York State
"We 've been making the rounds to local stores asking Department of Conservation , said the local waterfowl
for day-old bread or post-dated bread ," said Matthew population numbers about 12,000. That figure , he said ,
Gioia of Mastic Beach , secretary for the Narrows Bay includes mallards and black ducks as well as brant and
Sportsmen 's Club. He said local residents who wanted to Canadian geese. Some of the duck species and the geese
contribute any kind of food should contact him at 281-6614 . are not well equipped to eat corn , Wilcox said. "But I
Cash contributions should be sent to the Great South guess if they 're starving and see other birds doing it they
Bay Waterfowiers , Inc., P.O. Box 36, Brightwaters , NY , might try, " he said.
11718. That organization is handling purchases of corn for
The only local bird species apparently unaffected by
the wildfowl.
freezing conditions are seagulls. Scavengers by nature ,
Frank Cusmano of Center Moriches said he had begun to the gulls have departed to get their dinner at the garbage
feed ducks near the Union Avenue dock with food scraps dumps.
More fliers seen at B'haven airport
A Hauppauge-based
tal firm has proposed
its 100-customer flight
tion to town-owned
Brookhaven
Shirley.
Airport
aircraft rentransferring
club operafacilities at
in
North
Northfield Aviation Corporation submitted a bid propos al to the Brookhaven
Town Board on Tuesday for a 25-year lease
on four acres of land and a disused hangar.
The company proposes to use the property
for aircraft sales and maintenance , plane
rentals and an air taxi operation .
Northfield offered to pay Brookhaven
$3,000 a year immediatel y for the old
hangar with the rental fee rising to $5, 100
annually by the year-2000. The company
will also give the town a percentage of its
annual income.
Northfield said it would work to
establish "good community relations " by
shielding plane tiedown areas from the
view of local residents and by arranging
"not to direct engine noise directly at
nearby homes . " The company promised to
establish an aircraft-related scout troop
and cooperate with local schools in
vocational training programs.
Northfield' s bid was the higher of two
offers for use of airport space. The second
bid , submitted by Long Island Soaring
Center , offered an initial rental of $1,900 -
rising to $4 ,000 , plus five percent of gross
receipts.
Long Island Soaring Center , a recently
formed offshoot of the Pennsylvania-based
Ridge Sailflight , wants to use the hangar
facility in cooperation with the Long Island
Soaring Association. Their proposal calls
for use of engineless sail planes that would
be lifted into the air by powered aircraft.
Returns by the sailplanes to the field would
be silent.
The Brookhaven Town Board is not
legall y bound to accept the higher bid for
rental of airport land. A decision on which
bid to accept will be made at a public
board meeting on February 15.
"I don 't know which one they 're going to
accept , " said Bruce Brodsk y, manager of
the airport . Dr. Brodsky, a Coram optometrist , said he felt the sailflight fans
might have "priced themselves out of the
game " by offering a lower bid than
previously expected .
The a i r p o r t m a n a g e r said b oard
members might still decide in favor of the
sailflight operation because it would be
quieter.
Northfield Aviation , if it wins the 25-year
lease , will become the second powered
airplane sales and rental company to
operate from the North Shirley field. Mid
Island Air Service currently operates tiedown , maintenance and chartered {"light
programs at the airport.
Schools are s till in doubt on state aid funding
( c o n t i n u e d from page I B )
Confusion about the state aid package ascends all the
way to the offices of State Senator Kenneth LaValle-(RPort Jefferson.) LaValle , who has worked on educational
policy for almost a decade , said the governor 's office has
provided no information on how the new state aid figures
contained in the Carey proposal were derived.
"Generally, the only figures you can believe are the
negative ones , " said LaValle , a member of the senate
education committee. Gains by districts receiving more
operating aid could well be offset by potential losses of
transportation aid or funds spent on vocational students.
LaValle said most Brookhaven school districts will
probably end up with more state money in their pockets
than last year under the governor 's formula . The increase , however , will come at the expense of school
systems in western Long Island and on the East End. The
East Hampton system alone is slated to lose as much as
47 percent of its current operating aid , under the Carey
plan .
LaValle described the governor 's proposal as a return
to a system under which local school systems were funded
on the basis of the real property wealth behind each pupil.
Over the years , that system has been amended through
the introduction of "save harmless " clauses designed to
protect the amounts of aid received by wealthy districts.
The only problem connected with return to the original
formula method , the state senator said , is that it is taking
place too quickly .
"Over a period of time we should start absorbing the
extra aid and transferring it , " the state senator said. He
advocated applying $60-million in reven u es from the state
lottery toward those districts that will suffer an aid loss.
Gradually, the "cushion money " could be transferred into
regular education funding programs as districts now
receiving more than their formul a share learn to adapt to
the change.
Real dickering over the budget in the state legislature is
expected to begin when representatives from the "have "
and "have-not " districts receive a detailed break down of
how the new formula would be applied. Those discussions
should begin in a few weeks. A final state aid package , no
doubt containing revisions of the Carey plan , will
probably be adopted by late spring .
Pof , j ewelry and break-in s lead the crim e lis t
Suffolk County Police
have arrested two MasticShirley area residents, charging one wi th possession of
pot and the other with possession of a stolen diamond
rin? .
Police , in separate incidents ,
arrested a 15-year-old at William
Floyd High School for allegedly
possessing drugs and charged
Vincent Campo , 324 Orchid Ave.,
Mastic Beach , with possession of
stolen property.
The 15-year-old , whose name is
being withheld because of his age,
was charged with criminal
possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree .
Police said the drug involved was
marijuana .
Campo was charged with
allegedly having a stolen
diamond ring , valued at $300 , in
his possession.
The arrests took place during a
one-week period that saw six
thefts and burglaries take place
in the Moriches Bay Are a.
Heading the list was a day light
incident in which two men en-
tered Goldstein 's D e p a r t m e n t
Store , East Moriches , during
business hours.
According to police , the two
men grabbed a 19" TV set , valued
at $300, and fled with it in a car.
Other local incidents involved
burglaries from cars and homes .
Jane Delaney , 43 Carnation
Dr., Shirley, reported t h a t
someone broke into her home
through a window and stole a
color TV , a tape player , assorted
jewelry , a calculator , an electric
t y p e w r i t e r , a c a m e r a, three
men 's suits and some cash . The
loss was placed at $7 , 500.
Susan Casserly , 179 Broadway
St.. Shirley , lost a TV set , a
stereo , a tape deck , a typewriter
and an assortment of jewelry to
burglars who broke into her home
by forcing the front door. The
b u r g l a r s also r a n s a c k e d the
bedroom . The loss was placed at
$1 , 500 .
The Shirley Laundromat , 945
Montauk Highway. Shirley , lost
about $200 in change to a burglar
who broke into the building and
used a hacksaw to open a change
machine.
William Blyer . 466 Helene Ave..
S h i r l e y , told police someone
broke into his pick-up truck and
stole a Citizens Band radio , a
power mike and hand tools
valued at $333.
Patricia DeVoe , 7 Sawyer St.,
Mastic , reported that someone
broke into her car and stole a
Citizens Band radio, a radar
detector and a skill saw. The
items were valued at $350.
H A V I N G A PA RTY
The Singles Over-20 Club of St.
John ' s R.C . C h u r c h . C e n t e r
Moriche s , will hold a wine and
cheese p arty at 8 p.m. . Fridav .
February ll . at the bar n adjacent
to St. John ' s school.