This striking black and white falcon-shaped bird is slightly smaller than a crow and is an uncommon spring vagrant well north of its usual range of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico coast. It has a deeply forked tail similar to a barn swallow, hence its name is swallow-tailed kite. One was last seen here by Ted Gilliland on May 21, 2019, at the Gay Head Cliffs.
More recently, three people saw this bird for maybe two minutes. Liz Olson and Luanne Johnson spotted it for about a minute at Oyster Pond on April 29 and Diane Lucey saw it shortly thereafter as it flew over a meadow in West Tisbury. The sightings were so quick that neither party had the time to get a photo. This sighting confirms the importance of the late Vern Laux’s oft-used phrase “Keep your eyes to the sky!”
Other striking black-and-white birds have been reported this week. On April 28, Chris Schmandt found four skimmers on Norton Point and Charles Morano counted 16 on Sarson’s Island. David Hutto saw three at John Butler’s Mudhole on April 30.
Terns are closely related. Chris Schmandt saw the first-of-season least tern on Norton Point on April 28. The next day Shea Fee observed three least terns and 44 common terns from Wasque avenue on Chappaquiddick, and Chris Schmandt located 20 leasts at Long Point on April 29. From the ferry in Vineyard Sound, Charles Morano observed a flock of 19 commons and 13 first-of-season roseate terns on April 30, John Nelson watched six commons in Menemsha on April 30, Rob Bierregaard found 15 leasts at South Beach State Park on May 1, and on May 2, Derrob Hagy-Weatherbee spotted five leasts and six commons over Sengekontacket Pond, while Chris Schmandt counted 12 commons at James Pond Preserve.
Gray catbirds are one of our most anticipated returnees after a long winter. Lindsay Allison reports the first catbird at Snow’s Point on Chappaquiddick on April 29, and Jennifer Slossberg saw one along Middle Line Road the next day. On May 1, Gabrielle Whitcombe found one at Long Point and Ruth Richards spotted one at the Presbury-Norton Preserve. On May 2, Shea Fee and Derrob Hagy-Weatherbee each located two at Squibnocket Pond Reservation North, Kathryn Loeffler watched three catbirds at Felix Neck on May 2, and Holly Mercier observed one at her Edgartown home on May 3, as I did at my Vineyard Haven home. Wendy Culbert and I also saw three at Blackwater Pond Preserve and Wompesket.
Also eagerly anticipated is the northward migration of colorful spring warblers, which is now in full swing. Some winter resident yellow-rumped warblers are still lingering, and our summer resident pine warblers showed up earlier in April. Northern yellow warblers (that is their formal name now) arrived this week in large numbers. They were seen at the pumping station (Janet Woodcock and Nancy Weaver April 27), Tashmoo Springs (Ruth Richards and Nancy Weaver April 28), Seth’s Pond (me April 29), Edgartown Golf Club (Ken Magnuson April 30), Blackwater Farm (Matt Pelikan April 30), Hoft Farm (MV Bird Club May 2), Squibnocket Pond Reservation North (Shea Fee and Derrob Hagy-Weatherbee May 2) Peaked Hill (Debra Morgan May 2), and Cedar Tree Neck (Jennifer Slossberg May 2).
Other warblers have also appeared. Prairie warbler, yellow-throated warbler, ovenbird, northern parula and common yellowthroat have arrived.
Luanne Johnson spotted two ovenbirds at Presbury-Norton Preserve on April 27, as did Ruth Richards on May 1. The MV Bird Club found one ovenbird at the Hoft Farm on May 2.
I saw a prairie warbler at the state forest on April 28, Luanne Johnson and Liz Olson heard and observed a yellow-throated warbler at the Wakeman Center and again on nearby John Hoft Road on April 28. It has been there every April and May since 2019.
On May 2, the MV Bird Club watched one northern parula at the Hoft Farm, Shea Fee located two black-and-white warblers and one common yellowthroat at Squibnocket Pond Reservation North, and Derrob Hagy-Weatherbee discovered a black and white warbler at Squibnocket Pond Reservation North.
Other colorful songbirds are now here. Scotty Goldin saw an indigo bunting in Katama on April 20, and the next day Tim Rush observed one along Pease’s Point Way near the fire station. Sioux Eagle spotted a male rose-breasted grosbeak along Panhandle Road on April 20.
More rough-winged swallows have arrived. On April 27, Gloria Buettner saw one in Oak Bluffs, and Janet Woodcock and Nancy Weaver spotted three at the pumping station. Two other insect-eaters also arrived. On May 2, the MV Bird Club found an eastern kingbird and two great-crested flycatchers at the Hoft Farm, Luanne Johnson observed the latter species in her West Tisbury yard, while Sea Williams and Bridget Dunnigan located another at Ripley’s Field.
Jennifer Slossberg located three chimney swifts at Mink Meadows on April 27. Be thankful for how many insects these birds consume every day!
Jennifer Slossberg found the first-of-the-year yellow-billed cuckoo near Middle Line Road on April 30.
Shorebirds are migrating too. John Nelson found four willets in the Sengekontacket Pond salt marshes on April 23, Jeff Bernier observed one on Norton Point on April 28, and Charles Morano caught the migrants in action as he counted 20 willets flying northward while he was on the ferry on April 30.
Let’s close this week’s column with two reminders. First, if you see a pair of ospreys trying to nest on power poles, please call Eversource immediately so they can relocate the nest to a safe location. You are their eyes and ears — they probably will not know about the nest. And secondly, where are the screech owls? There have only been four ebird reports of these diminutive owls in April, and the only record of them in the second half of April is my hearing one calling as I was watching woodcocks conducting their courtship flights at the frisbee golf course in the State Forest on April 28.
Please email your sightings to birds@vineyardgazette.com.
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant living in Vineyard Haven.