Thoreau Walked

nature article by Earl Plato
Every year in January and February for the past several years I dig up old records of my nature trips. Why? You’ve got it. I don’t brave the cold as well as I once did. Why not reminisce in the comfort of my little home? Thus, these next few articles are memory ones plus some accompanying research via the NET. At the same time think ahead - Spring 1999 is coming!
Nature lovers know the legacy of Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862). Thoreau was a dedicated walker with an unsurpassed passion for the outdoors. He was a gifted observer of the natural world and an accomplished surveyor who kept detailed records of where he went and what he saw. His nature classic, Cape Cod, is widely considered even to this day as the best book ever written about this “Sandy Hook.” .
You know where Cape Cod, Massachusetts is. I want to revisit it (at least in my 1997 memories) on this cold evening in late January. Thoreau walked along Cape Cod’s shorelines as recorded in his journals. Thoreau could walk as far as you would want to go. Thirty-five miles on the east shore? Sure. We spent most of our time at Wellfleet on the west side. We walked the Wellfleet trails three consecutive days.
Thoreau writes in his journal dated April 8, 1859. That’s 140 years ago yet his question of the protection of birds could have been written today. He correctly assumes that man will not protect the birds if left alone to his own devices. He advocated legislation and enforcement to protect endangered species. His voice in the wilderness was not heard for within fifty years the Passenger pigeon had become extinct.
Thoreau walked through the southwest corner of Wellfleet right past the present location of today’s Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary on his first visit there in 1857 We now walked those same pathways.
On that first visit to Wellfleet (Nature Center is found here) on Cape Cod Thoreau tells us about the unique way the native Indians caught gulls. This man observed and reported what he saw. He writes, “ The “Gull House,” it is said is built with crochets fixed in the ground on the beach with poles being stretched across the top and the sides made close with stakes and seaweed. The poles on the top are covered with lean whale meat. The man hides inside while the gulls contend for the feast on the old whale flesh. He draws them in, one by one, between the poles, until he has collected forty or fifty.”
This is the way they hunted gulls. Who would want to eat gulls?
The Cape Cod expression “To be gulled” means to be taken in. Don’t be gulled!
***
Wilf Edwards of Willoughby reported seeing twenty or so Snow Buntings in mid-January. He viewed some up close. The synchronized flight of these snow birds is what enthralled Wilf. l
Bluebirds! Yes, bluebirds here in the cold winter. Sightings of ten or so together in Willougby, Stevensville and Ridgeway this January. How do these mainly insect eating birds survive? Some don’t. We are told that berries such as High bush cranberry supply food. Even insects can be found under loose bark.
Robins? Yes, Brigitte and others in the Ridgeway area are seeing small flocks of our “Spring” bird. Did our unusually warm fall fool these birds? Hopefully they too will survive.