Saturday MARCH 2 - LIDCA Show - Hauppauge, LI, NY

Steve Sanford

Steve Sanford

Well-known member
All~


View attachment Sunrise Brant BANNER with TITLES.jpg





Here's the Press Release:




The Long Island Decoy Collectors Association's 48th Annual Show will feature:​



ATLANTIC BRANT ~ Our Graceful Arctic Goose​





Saturday, March 2, 2019 from 9 am ~ 4 pm



IBEW Union Hall # 25 at 370 Motor Parkway, Hauppauge, LI



Admission: $7.00



The 48th Annual Show of the Long Island Decoy Collectors Association will feature one of its most cherished waterfowl species. The Atlantic Brant is a small goose that winters along the Atlantic coast - from Massachusetts down to North Carolina. It breeds on islands in the Canadian Arctic and is abundant along Long Island's south shore from late October until early May each year. The flight of flocks from dozens to hundreds to thousands is exceptionally graceful as they move around our bays on the changing tides. Sometimes bunched up on high, often abreast and low to the water, their long wings cover distances quickly as the flocks wheel and swing around as one. Their rolling, guttural calls - never forgotten once heard - add another element of beauty.



Brant have always been hunted on our tidal bays and were a staple of market hunting on Jamaica Bay back in the nineteeth century. Their fortunes have ebbed and flowed over the centuries but they remain prized among waterfowlers to this day. So, Brant have inspired the making of tens of thousands of decoys. ATLANTIC BRANT - Our Graceful Arctic Goose will celebrate the variety of designs and artistry among Brant decoys



The main exhibit will focus on the variety of Brant decoys. It will also describe the unusual biology of this bird and recount NYSDEC's pioneering work in banding this bird on its wintering grounds.



As always, more than 50 vendor tables will feature antique decoys, sporting art, and other collectibles for viewing and purchase.





CONTACTS: Craig Kessler

ckesslerducks@gmail.com

516-639-8480



Steve Sanford

sjaysanford@gmail.com

518-677-5064



Vendors should contact Tim Sieger at 631-537-0153


For more - please visit the ANNUAL SHOW page at www.lidecoycollectors.org




There will be a batch of nice old Brant stool.....


View attachment Daniel DeMott Brant 5x7 caption sm.jpg



Some history....


View attachment AV7 Virginia Lee Wanderer near machine shop sm.jpg



...and some Biology. We at NYSDEC developed the rocket-netting methods for capturing Brant on their wintering grounds. 'tis I on the left in the early 80s.


View attachment SJS and Dave Riehlman with Brant.jpg



In addition, the Long Island Wildfowl Heritage Group - the brainchild of good friend and former DU rep Craig Kessler - will present their progress on various research activities. And, there will be a display featuring one of the donors. This year, it'll be my Dad. He (and his venerable Winchester Model 50) made this triple when he was 82 - and (both?) smiled for months afterward.



View attachment TMS - Brant Triple sm.JPG



In addition to lots of photos and gear, his Great South Bay Ice Scooter will be in the hall.


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There will be thousands of antique decoys and other collectibles - and plenty of seasoned gunners ready to swap tales.



Hope to see you there!


SJS















 
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Great post Steve, and what an honor for you and your Dad. You certainly have a rich tradition of waterfowling in your family.

RVZ
 
Steve,
Why do they always schedule this the same day as the Ward-Melville Saltwater Seminar/Fundraiser?
I'd be willing to bet they loose at least 25% attendance
 
All~


The date nears....a week from today. A bunch of us have been flat-out preparing the exhibits.


Although we did not make a documentary DVD this year, we will have two "videos" showing all day:




The first is a vintage film - which Susan and I watched and thoroughly enjoyed - last night. Lots of great footage and sounds (!) of Brant gunning in New Jersey - probably in the early 60s. It shows why we named our exhibit Our Graceful Arctic Goose.



No camouflage - or even chest waders. Boats and motors were small. No electric start. No GPS. No cell phones. Pretty sure they were using smokeless powder though.....


BRANT SHOOTING on the ATLANTIC SEABOARD


This 25-minute motion picture was produced by Dr. Richard Dominick for DU and NYSDEC (then called the Conservation Dept.) sometime in the last century - 1960s?




The second is a slide show that we in NYSDEC prepared in the mid-80s - having trapped Brant from 1976 through 1984.


TRAPPING and BANDING ATLANTIC BRANT in WINTER


There's about 60 images that show how we developed a method for rocket-netting Brant on their LI wintering grounds - a feat which had not yet been perfected.


Those of you who have put together such shows earlier in your careers will appreciate the low-tech graphics. I drew several of them - and used press-on letters for the text - then I photographed them (with slide film). Others we sent to Albany for the "professional look" that only their equipment could achieve - one step above mimeographs!


View attachment BT 034 R - 015 Inside blind with wire and button.JPG



Until I again saw this image - which I had not seen in over 30 years - I had forgotten about the label on the switch box. My partner and I refined our process and gear over several seasons (as gunners do). The earlier shots were fired via the battery in a DEC vehicle - using the vehicle as the blind. The switch was a common wall switch "fastened" to a little cardboard box. We got a small battery and mounted the Radio Shack switch box - now with an ON/OFF toggle, an ON light, and a FIRE button - on the plywood battery box. All were ensconced in a portable plywood blind. We used a Dymo label maker to identify the upgraded equipment: the S&R BG 1000 - aka the Sanford & Riehlman Brant Getter 1000. 1000 was our annual target for banded Brant.


In addition to the thousands of old decoys and gear, there will also be a couple of classic gunning boats in the hall - and LOTS of grizzled gunners.


See you soon,


SJS









 
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How does that saying go: Necessity is the Mother of invention! We modified aluminum snow scoops commonly used to clear snow by folks in Canada and the upper Midwest into a trawl that could be pulled by technicians, one on each side, through wetland complexes to sample larval fish. via reversal of the handle attachment, cutting the back off of the rectangular holding box, and attaching a 750 micron mesh plankton net with a collection bucket that screwed on the collar. We rigged a current meter with a low flow monster blade mounted in the interior. Diane Ashton eventually presented the design at a larval fish symposium for Great Lakes fishes at the American Fisheries Society's national meeting.

We also configured a sediment trap sampler, configured as a four legged stand of angle iron pieces welded vertically on square metal plates with a central rod and screw eye affixed for retrieval. Each angle iron section had an 18" run of 2" PVC pipe capped on the bottom band clamped to the angle iron supports to hold them arrayed vertically. We set fifty-some of these at sampling stations under the ice pack to assess sedimentation rates, absent commercial freighter traffic on the St. Marys River. We retrieved them at ice-out, capping the tubes with rubber stoppers to hold the contents which were washed and sieved to eventually be weighed.

I can't mention the array of cobbled-up gear associated with setting the ropes and anchors in place that enabled us to set 350' mixed panel size experimental gillnets to sample fish movement under ice, as well as to retrieve them, since it would provide violators with a technique to apply the "trade".
 
Steve -

I wish the LIDCA show much success, and appreciate everyone's effort.

Tis a long haul from here to there, but I wish we could attend.

I look forward to seeing some photo's, and reading a story or two.


Best regards
Vince
 
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