The Vineyard birding community would like to thank the town of Aquinnah/Gay Head, the Vineyard Conservation Society and all the others involved in protecting the fragile lands along Moshup Trail. This area is one of the premier birding spots during the fall and we are glad it will stay forever wild. Thanks!

I am ashamed to say that Flip Harrington and I drove right past what we thought was a snowy egret in the West Tisbury Mill Pond on August 29. Our excuse was there was traffic and we just slowed down enough to spot the bird, but didn’t put our bins (binoculars) on the heron. The bird was not a snowy egret but an immature little blue heron.

So, what is the difference? From afar it is easy to mistake. Both the snowy egret and immature little blue heron can be all white. The length of both birds is 24 inches. The differences are observed at close range or with binoculars. The snowy egret has black legs with yellow “slippers” or feet. The immature little blue heron has yellowy-green legs and feet. That isn’t enough to make a final identification because juvenile snowy egrets have yellowy legs and feet. It is the bill that is the key to differentiating these two species. The snowy egret has an all black bill. The immature little blue heron has a two-toned bill which is grey-blue at the base and black at the tip. Field marks are the key to identification and as one can see, it takes more than one to make the final call.

— Lanny McDowell

Bird Sightings

Our thanks go to Pete Gilmore, who properly identified the little blue heron at the Mill Pond on August 30.

On August 24, Warren Woessner and Lanny McDowell birded Norton Point and saw a black tern. The next day they were at the same area and spotted the black tern again as well as a lesser yellowlegs. At the Farm Institute at Katama on August 26 Warren and Lanny spotted two pectoral sandpipers, least sandpipers and two American golden plovers. At Norton Point they saw one black and one roseate tern and commented that they saw no least terns.

Judy Neeld was pleased to watch a blue-winged warbler in the lilac bush outside her Menemsha house on August 26.

Allan Keith asked Flip Harrington and me to join him on his Cape Pogue and Wasque census on August 27. We started at Norton Point and counted nine American oystercatchers to add to the eleven we counted at Cape Poge and Wasque. Our best birds on Chappaquiddick included four white-winged scoters, one Cooper’s hawk, one piping plover, two western willets, one whimbrel, two spotted sandpipers, one black-billed cuckoo, one olive-sided flycatcher (seen by Allan and Flip only), one immature horned lark, 500 tree swallows, one red-breasted and one white-breasted nuthatch, one white-eyed vireo, one warbling vireo, two red-eyed vireos, one yellow warbler, one magnolia warbler, seven pine warblers, one American redstart, five common yellowthroats, six bobolinks, and a Baltimore oriole to mention the most interesting.

I received an e-mail from Penny Uhlendorf which recounted the following trip on August 27: “Scott Stephens was lobstering six miles south of Noman’s Land when he spotted a little bird trying to catch up to his boat. So he slowed down and the little migrant was able to land on some gear and rest for a while, before taking off again in the direction of Noman’s. It was a red-breasted nuthatch!” Flip and I have had the same experience as have other fishermen and sailors. As Penny added, boats are welcome oases during migration.

Rob Culbert was joined by Sally Williams on his Saturday morning walk on August 28. They went to the Farm Institute where they spotted a merlin and five buff-breasted sandpipers. The word went out and most of the Vineyard birding community was able to see these lovely shorebirds.

Sarah Mayhew spotted two spotted sandpipers on Lambert’s Cove Beach on August 29. Flip Harrington, Allan Keith, Pete Gilmore, Lanny McDowell and I were at Aquinnah the same morning and our best birds were chimney swift, ruby-throated hummingbird, eastern wood pewee, eastern kingbird, eastern phoebe, red-breasted nuthatch, prairie warbler and bobolinks.

While we were at one end of the Island, Fred and Winnie Spar spotted and photographed a marbled godwit on the Katama mudflats. They also spotted an immature little blue heron, which probably is the one that moved to the Mill Pond.

Scott Stephens watched four fledgling Carolina wrens on August 29 occupying a nest to spend the night that had been formerly inhabited by a northern cardinal family. The wrens were only 12 days old!

And speaking of Carolina wrens, Dee David watched a Carolina wren spend the night during the storm in a light fixture under the porch roof, dry as a bone! The Davids had three cedar waxwings and a female hummingbird in their Edgartown School street house on August 28.

On August 30, Flip Harrington, Lanny McDowell, Pete Gilmore, Warren Woessner and I were at Black Point and Quansoo. The birding was slow and our best birds were a peregrine falcon, a northern harrier, two common terns, four least terns, pine warbler and eastern bluebirds.

Patricia Ludwig and Laurence, Kara and Alexander Popowich saw and photographed a surf scoter off Lambert’s Cove Beach on August 30.

On August 31, Warren Woessner, Lanny McDowell, Pete Gilmore, Allan Keith and I were at Katama and Norton Point trying to find the marbled godwit. We had no luck but did see one piping plover, six greater yellowlegs, two western willets, one white-rumped sandpiper, one spotted sandpiper, and two Foster’s terns. The buff-breasted sandpipers were still at the Farm Institute and were seen by Allan Keith and Bill Lee.

Bob Shriber was at Gay Head on August 31 and his best bird was a Philadelphia vireo. He also had Cooper’s hawk, red-breasted nuthatch, an eastern pewee and an eastern phoebe.

I joined Bob at Gay Head on Sept. 1 and it was hot and slow birding. We spotted red-breasted nuthatches, bobolinks, savannah sparrow and Carolina wrens.

Mike Bradley sent me a dozen great photos of ospreys and an American oystercatcher from Cape Pogue and red-tailed hawk from Katama that he took Sept. 1.

Please report your bird sightings to the Martha’s Vineyard Bird Hotline at 508-627-4922 or e-mail to birds@mvgazette.com.

Susan B. Whiting is the coauthor of Vineyard Birds and Vineyard Birds II. Her Web site is vineyardbirds2.com.