The-Leader_2007-03-22

              Violence at
Baldwin High School
pages 7,9
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The bird'is the word
by Joan Delaney
A male western tanager, who should be wintering in Mexico and whose usual habitat is California and the West Coast, has been sighted in Baldwin since December 31.
Birders theorize that he might have been blown off course by a jet stream. but the plucky bird found himself an extremely bird-friendly Eastern habi­tat at the home of Muriel and John Stahl at 2049 Windsor Road.
Mrs. Stahl said that she and her hus­band are serious gardeners but are also interested bird watchers and have numerous feeders around their mag­nificently landscaped yard, which backs onto Brookside Creek. They feed both birds and mallard ducks each day. and the off-course tanager somehow found this very habitable backyard for his new winter home.
•'We first noticed him around December 31. but we were busy with the holidays. 1 don't know how long he was there before. Normally the Stahls have at least 20 varieties of birds in their yard, but those birds are normal for the area. 1 noticed this bird
— yellow with dark wings, tail and back, a yellow beak and a reddish head. The red becomes more promi­nent as it nears spring," said Mrs. Stahl.
Eventually, they began to do a little research:
"My husband looked up Eastern birds in the Sibley bird book since we had never seen this bird before. At first he thought it was an orchard ori­ole, which is native to this area, but the oriole has a black beak."
Her husband put the book down and wfhile going about her chores, Mrs. Stahl suddenly noticed a picture on the co%'er. It was a w-estem tanager, and she said, "That's our bird!"
The week before Super Bowl Sunday, Mr. Stahl called the Wild Bird Alert Hotline, which is run by the Audubon Society, to see if there were any unusual bird sightings in the area. . At Mrs. Stahl's suggestion, Mr. Stahl called back to mention their bird. They then sent a picture of the bird to Tony Lauro, who coordinates news of the sightings, and he called back immediately to ask. "How man\' people can we bring?"
Since then at least 150 birders have visited the Windsor Road address. There were 30 the first weekend the sighting was publicized. The Stahls have a picture on their front door of the bird with a note welcoming birders to walk around the back and sit on their deck to watch for the bird.
At first the bird stayed longer at the feeder and came back in shorter inter­vals. Lately, the time at the feeder has been less and the intervals longer. The longest he's been away is 2 1/2 hours. One warm day he even ate sunflower seeds that they had put on a table on their backyard deck.
Mrs. Stahl has nothing but praise for the birders she has met. "They are so polite. They are so thankful. The}- just stand on the deck and I have to encourage them to sit down. They have come from as far away as Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Some come from upstate, Connecticut, New .Tersey, Massachusetts and. of course. Long Island and some have come back several times.
One man, she said, was celebrating
his 80th birthday when he saw the
' (continued on page 5)
The Freeport Memorial Library's Board of Trustees has proposed a budget for the 2007-2008 fiscal year that includes an increase in tax revenues of $114,011. This year $4,957,022 was raised through taxes. In 2007-2008, the board proposes to raise $5,071,033 through taxes, an increase of 2.3 percent from this year.
The proposed expenditure budget for 2007-2008 -is for $5,267,457; this year's expenditure budget was $5,141,622. This represents.a difference of $ 125,835.
Residents may vote oh the proposed budget on Tuesday, May 15, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Archer Street, Atkinson, jBayview Avenue, Columbus Avenue and Giblyn Schools and the Freeport Family Comniunity Center. On Saturday, May 2, the library is sponsoring a budget hear­ing at Atkinson School at 7:30 p.m.
The largest proposed increase to the budget is for salaries. Salary expendi­tures for 2007-2008 are proposed for $3,010,583, an increase of $106,981, over this year's budget of $2,903,602. However, health insurance costs will decrease by $54,626. This year's health insurance costs are for $749,932. The proposed 2007-2008 expenditure for health insurance is for $695,306.
Another decrease in the budget is the library's obligation towards payment into the state retirement fund from $280571 to $262,236, a savings of $18,335.
Proposed expenditures for capital improvements are budgeted for $143,822 for the 2007-2008 year, an increase of $43,822 from the 2006-2007 budget of $100,000. However, capital improvement expenditures for 2006-2007 included a $100,000 transfer from the Special Purpose Funds for the replacement of the roof and air-condi­tioning units in the West Building. Capital improvement projects are also planned for the current year to maintain the building, according to information provided by the library.
The Freeport Memorial library is open 71 hours a week and offers a number of programs for children, parents, young adults, as well as a community services department; a career counselor; comput­er training; a plethora of concerts, art exhibits, lectures and bus trips, book clubs, electronic resources and a home-bound service.