It is not often that yellow-rumped warblers are the most common and reliable visitors to suet feeders. John Nelson does not remember another winter where that was the case; he reports that up to five of them are visiting his Harthaven suet most of the time.
Other recent reports of this winter resident warbler are: Bob Shriber found 10 along Squibnocket Pond Road on Feb. 8, Jamie Lovette spotted 12 at Squibnocket Beach on Feb. 15, Chris Scott saw two at Menemsha Harbor on Feb. 14, Janet Woodcock and Nancy Weaver observed one at Moshup Beach on Feb. 15, I observed two along Old South Road on Feb. 16, Luanne Johnson located one at the Pumping Station on Feb. 16, and the MV Bird Club counted eight at the West Basin on Feb. 21. Pine warblers are the other warbler we see in the winter; Cynthia Bloomquist and Thaw Malin have two at their feeders, as does John Nelson.
John Nelson reports up to seven eastern bluebirds visiting his yard. Nancy Weaver and Janet Woodcock found four bluebirds at Tashmoo Springs on Feb. 9, Rich Couse found three at the Hoft Farm on Feb. 10, Cynthia Bloomquist and Thaw Malin observed five at Tiasquam Valley Reservation on Feb. 11, I spotted three at Town Cove on Feb. 15, and Nancy Weaver had one at the Pumping Station on Feb. 22.
Have you noticed that tufted titmice and white-breasted nuthatches are unusually scarce this winter? John Nelson mentioned their scarcity at his feeders, and I have noted that as well. He also notes that his pair of pair of Carolina wrens disappeared after the arrival of sub-zero temperatures and the deep snow. There are two of them singing in my yard – reminding me that spring is coming eventually.
I have also noticed that immature male house finches are molting into their characteristic reddish head and chest coloration; until recently they lacked any red and resembled female house finches. Similarly, immature white-throated sparrows are developing their adult plumage with a crisply black and white striped crown and their namesake white throat.
Broad-winged hawks are supposed to be in southern Florida or Central and South America at this time of the year, but winter sightings in the northeast are not unheard of with four northerly sightings in January, three in Nova Scotia – one adult and two sightings of an immature – and one immature in New Haven, Connecticut. Now we have a sighting of this unexpected hawk, as Jim Benoit photographed an immature perched in a tree in his Aquinnah backyard on Feb 11. It probably wishes it were much further south!
Two other sightings are remarkable given the cold and snowy winter we are having. Nancy Weaver and Bob Shriber heard and saw a killdeer as it flew past Squibnocket Beach to the sand spit jutting into Squibnocket Pond on Feb. 21. I recall that the previous sighting was of two that John Nelson and I saw at Ocean Park on Jan. 9. Killdeer are one of the earlier migrants; if this one just arrived, I am sure it is regretting its decision to come this far north! The other unexpected report is the eastern phoebe that Stephanie Tilton heard near one of the Edgartown golf courses on Feb. 15. It is most likely an over-wintering bird as the first phoebes usually shows up in mid-to-late March.
The remaining sightings are not unexpected, as we see small numbers of them through the winter. Jennifer Slossberg found the smallest alcid, a dovekie, at Lucy Vincent Beach on Feb. 18, while Bob Shriber counted 14 razorbills – the most frequently seen alcid – off Aquinnah on Feb. 19. Another black and white seabird is the horned grebe; Nancy Weaver spotted two at Philbin Beach on Feb. 13, Chris Scott observed two in Menemsha Harbor on Feb. 14, Janet Woodcock saw one at Moshup Beach on Feb. 15, the same day that John Nelson located one in Oak Bluffs Harbor, and the MV Bird Club identified one from Lobsterville on Feb. 21.
Waterfowl are around in abundance, with diving ducks present just about anywhere ponds are not frozen solid. Other species are scarcer. Bob Shriber observed five brant at Philbin Beach on Feb. 16, and he saw five at Pilot’s Landing on Feb. 20. I counted 145 on Feb. 22 at their traditional Ocean Park location. Ruddy ducks are less common now than they were in the early winter, when a flock of 200 was near the Aquinnah herring run. On Feb. 16, I spotted two ruddy ducks in the channel between Nashaquitsa and Stonewall ponds and Michael Correa-Volkman found three from Menemsha Beach, while the next day Bob Shriber counted 32 at the Aquinnah Herring Creek. Gadwalls are another duck that is never abundant. Chris Scott had two in Menemsha Harbor on Feb. 14, Bob Shriber saw two from the West Basin on Feb. 20, and the team of Janet Woodcock and Nancy Weaver observed one gadwall at Norton Point on Feb. 16.
Fox sparrows are one of my favorite sparrows, perhaps because this winter resident is not common. Jim and Chris Suozzo found one at Squibnocket Pond Reservation North on Feb. 11, Nancy Weaver and Janet Woodcock found one at Town Cove on Feb. 18 – the day after I was there and did not find it, and Nancy Weaver found two at the Pumping Station on Feb. 22.
A few hermit thrushes are around. Luanne Johnson spotted one at the BiodiversityWorks office on Feb. 4, Bob Shriber located one along Old South Road on Feb. 7, Rick Karney discovered one rustling around in the leaf litter along Oak Lane on Feb. 10, and Luanne Johnson, Nancy Weaver, and Janet Woodcock had one at the Pumping Station on Feb. 16.
Please email your sightings to birds@vineyardgazette.com
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant living in Vineyard Haven.