All quotations are from original STWA brochures and articles
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Southampton Township was renowned for its abundant waterfowl. The concentrations of ducks were so great that “the bay waters disappeared under acres of ducks,” and “for three and four days at a time a continuous procession of flocks would pass high over, while hosts swirled down to darken wide expanses of bay and inlet.” Waterfowl were “woven into the pattern of Long Island life, into the pageant of the seasons” and many locals relied on this natural resource for sustenance, for income by shooting for the market, or by guiding sportsmen visitors.
Unfortunately, at the turn of the century, duck populations were noticeably decreasing. By 1930, a “duck depression had set in,” alarming sportsmen. This was due to a variety of local factors, including eelgrass disease, severe winters that froze habitat cutting off natural food supplies, drainage of marshes for mosquito control, overhunting and illegal trapping, and rapid settlement of LI causing water pollution. Similar declines were happening across the United States, exacerbated by the dust bowl, which decimated habitat and flocks in the central flyway region.
To address this distressing decline, a group of pioneer conservationists, all duck hunters who lived in Southampton Town, met to discuss the plight at the Hampton Bays Fire Department in 1934. They formed the Southampton Town Wildfowl Association (STWA) to propagate and rear waterfowl. Russell Carman, STWA secretary, wrote “we decided ducks could not eat law books and that we needed a mother duck in good condition to produce fertile eggs.” The goal was to “to put two ducks in the air for every one we take” as founding member Charles Banks Belt stated.
The STWA, consisting of 45 charter members, established a sanctuary for waterfowl at the Quogue Ice Company’s pond. Volunteers cut the ice from the pond during the winter to allow the waterfowl to feed, and provisioned the flocks with 300lbs of grain and potato mixture daily. The grain came from bilge sweepings from grain cargo ships, and potatoes from local farms. To protect the flocks from predators, volunteers erected a mile of fencing that extended five feet above the ground and one foot below with hand dug trenches and tree posts from a nearby woodlot.
With approximately 5,000 birds to care for, feeding took two men at least two hours per day. Protected and fed, the waterfowl began breeding in the spring. The STWA raised around 1,000 ducks a year until 1952, and banded 10,000 birds after receiving a banding permit from the US Bureau of Biological Survey, the precursor of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
In 1935, the STWA entered the National Waterfowl Refuge Contest. Out of 237 sanctuaries, the Quogue Sanctuary was awarded first prize in 1936 by Jay N. “Ding” Darling, famous cartoonist and founder of the National Wildlife Federation. This accolade brought immense pride to the members, who began calling their sanctuary “Quogue Sanctuary #1.” Darling initiated the Federal Duck Stamp program, which raises funds for wetland conservation to this day. After this nationwide honor, the STWA became distributors of the National Wildlife Federation’s wildlife poster stamps and was a part of a national radio program broadcasting the calls of the sanctuary’s ducks and geese across the country.
Roland Clark, a famed waterfowl artist, painted the STWA logo of American black ducks in flight, which continues to be the logo of the Quogue Wildlife Refuge. Clark also donated etchings and original paintings to the STWA to auction and raise funds for feeding. In 1938, Clark designed the Federal Duck Stamp, and also designed the STWA Air Mail Week stamp, an honor bestowed on them as winners of the National Waterfowl Refuge Contest.
In 2024, we celebrate 90 years of conservation, honoring the effort of the STWA to protect this special place and the animals who call it home. Their legacy continues through the ongoing preservation and education at the Refuge.
By Cara Fernandes