It must be September! The peak of migration is here and birds are widespread across the Island. Nine new species were found this week and none of them can be attributed to Hurricane Lee, which fortunately behaved and stayed well out to sea.
Two new warblers were seen this week. Charles Morano spotted a Tennessee warbler at his Edgartown house on Sept. 13. Two blackpoll warblers were seen, one by Charles Morano at his Edgartown home on Sept. 14 and another by Matt Pelikan on Sept. 17 at Dogfish Bar.
Twelve other species of warblers were spotted this week. Palm warblers generally prefer open grasslands and agricultural fields, and they arrived en mass with nine different sightings. Lanny McDowell saw one near along Lobstervile Road on Sept. 14, the same day that Charles Morano found one at Long Point.
The other sightings were all on Sept. 17. Luanne Johnson and Margaret Curtin both spotted one at Katama Farm, Cynthia Bloomquist and Thaw Malin observed one along Pasture Shore Road in Aquinnah, Charles Morano located one along Quansoo Road, Matt Pelikan watched one at the Gay Head Cliffs and Chris Scott saw three at Long Point.
Other warblers seen include a sighting of a yellowthroat and a prairie warbler at the Gay Head Cliffs on Sept 12 by Dana Bangs. The next day Bob Shriber found one black-throated green warbler in Aquinnah and Chris Scott spotted one yellowthroat at the Gay Head Cliffs. On Sept. 14 Charles Morano found a northern parula at home, then at Long Point he saw one yellowthroat, two pine warblers and two prairie warblers. Then on Sept. 16 he observed one American redstart, one magnolia warbler and one pine warbler at Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary.
A lot of warblers were spotted on Sept. 17. Thaw Malin and three others found one yellowthroat along Lighthouse Road and at Pilots Landing they added one magnolia warbler and one prairie warbler. Charles Morano birded Quansoo Farm and spotted two yellowthroats, three pine warblers and three prairie warblers; then along Quansoo Road he added seven common yellowthroats, one American redstart, one Cape May warbler and five prairie warblers.
The list for Sept. 17 continues. Matt Pelikan visited the Gay Head Cliffs and spotted four yellowthroats and one yellow warbler while at Dogfish Bar he added four yellowthroats, one Cape May warbler, one magnolia warbler and one yellow warbler. At Long Point Chris Scott found one black and white warbler, two Nashville warblers, three yellowthroats, two yellow warblers and one pine warblers. Nancy Nordin spotted a magnolia warbler and four yellowthroats at Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary.
The birding world does not revolve around sightings of migratory warblers. We are excited to find migrants that have not been seen for a while.
A first sighting of the year happened on Sept. 13: Shea Fee spotted one American pipit on Leland Beach.
Another first — a fall specialty — is the large and distinctive Caspian tern that Warren Woessner found on Sept. 17 on the bayside of Norton Point, about a quarter-mile from the eastern end of the beach.
Chris Scott spotted two purple finches and two white-throated sparrows on Sept. 13 at the Gay Head Cliffs. These two species seem to be a bit early.
You may have already noticed that a lot of birds were spotted on Sept. 17; here are the more notable sightings. Charles Morano spotted one Lincoln’s sparrow — they are always skulking around under or behind shrubs — at Quansoo Farm. Matt Pelikan visited Oxcart Road and saw and heard the distinctive call of one willow flycatcher and saw one Philadelphia vireo and one rose-breasted grosbeak. And Luanne
Johnson and Margaret Curtin observed one blue-winged teal and four green-winged teal at Crackatuxet Pond.
Some species that nest here are still hanging around after most have headed further south. Most conspicuous of these is the osprey. On Sept. 11 Tim Johnson saw one in Vineyard Haven. Two days later Richard Audette spotted one at his Chilmark house, Jean Hight found two perched on a nest in a boat at Lagoon Pond. Chris Scott observed one at the Gay Head Cliffs. On Sept. 14 Charles Morano watched two of them at Long Point and Steve Allen watched three at Felix Neck. On Sept. 16 Matt Pelikan saw two along the down-Island shoreline and on Sept. 17 he saw another two at the Gay Head Cliffs. Thaw Malin and three others found one along Lighthouse Road and Chris Scott observed three at Long Point.
Some of the flycatchers that nest here are also lingering. Nancy Nordin hit the trifecta this week: in her West Tisbury yard she saw an eastern phoebe on Sept. 13, a great-crested flycatcher on Sept. 14 and an eastern wood-pewee on Sept. 15. Bob Shriber also spotted one great-crested flycatcher on Sept. 13 in Aquinnah.
Multiple eastern kingbirds were found this week: one by Chris Scott on Sept 13 at the Gay Head Cliffs and two others on Sept 17 — by Chris Scott at Long Point and Charles Morano along Quansoo Road.
Other phoebe sightings include one by Charles Morano on Sept. 14 at Long Point and another at Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary on Sept. 16. On Sept. 17 Charles Morano found two at Quansoo Farm while Thaw Malin and three others found one along Lighthouse Road.
Last but not least, Jeff Komarinetz spotted a barn owl perched in the dunes at Leland Beach on the night of Sept. 16.
Please email your sightings to birds@vineyardgazette.com.
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant with Nature Watch LLC, living in Vineyard Haven.
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