Even in late May northbound migrants are still passing through. Sometimes the birds pass through quickly (blink and you might miss them) or they remail hidden in thickets and are hard to find. Thankfully, most are more cooperative.
On May 21, Nick Teague had to identify a Mississippi kite quickly as it flew overhead and then was gone at Squibnocket Pond Reservation North. He had just enough time to get a photo.
On May 20, I heard the song of a well-concealed golden-winged warbler emanating from a leafed-out thicket also at Squibnocket Pond Reservation North. Fortunately, this unusual species for the Vineyard kept singin, as it took about five minutes before it finally popped into view and I could confirm the sighting. The next day Charles Morano heard a song matching the golden-winged’s but could not find it.
On May 22, Ruth Richards went there and saw a blue-winged warbler singing the golden-winged’s song. The two species are closely related, with two hybrid warblers (Lawrence’s and Brewster’s) that can sing either the blue-winged or golden-winged songs.
Nancy Nordin spotted one white-crowned sparrow at the Gay Head Cliffs on May 18, the same day that Diane Lucey saw a dickcissel at her Chilmark home. Derrob Hagy-Weatherbee found five saltmarsh sparrows in the saltmarshes of Sengekontacket Pond on May 20, and Lanny McDowell and Pete Gilmore visited Katama Farm on May 22 and found a very cooperative grasshopper sparrow singing as it perched on a fencepost.
Other warblers seen this week include the now numerous summer-resident warblers: ovenbird common yellowthroat, yellow, pine, American redstart, northern parula, blue-winged, prairie and black-and-white.
Transient warblers were also seen. On May 19, Derrob Hagy-Weatherbee observed one magnolia warbler at Squibnocket Pond Reservation South, and Ken Magnuson watched a bay-breasted warbler at the Edgartown Golf Club.
Charles Morano discovered one magnolia warbler at Squibnocket Pond Reservation North on May 21, and Isabelle Amlicke and Jacob Llodra found a blackburnian warbler along Pease’s Point Way on May 23.
There were multiple blackpoll warbler sightings this week. Bob Shriber spotted two on Old South Road on May 19. On May 23, Jacob Llodra saw one at Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary and Nick Teague identified two at Long Point. I found both a yellow-rumped and blackpoll warblers at two locations: at Squibnocket Pond Reservation on May 20 and at Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary on May 22. This combination is noteworthy as the former is an early migrant while the latter is a late migrant.
Derrob Hagy-Weatherbee spotted the first bank swallow at the Gay Head Cliffs back on May 12. This week they became abundant with 13 sightings ranging from Vineyard Haven harbor to Cedar Tree Neck to Long Point and points west. Most notable of these sightings is a flock of at least 100 that Robert Johnson discovered near Lucy Vincent Beach on May 18. Also notable are the two cliff swallows that Nancy Nordin found flying around the Gay Head Cliffs on May 18.
Northern rough-winged swallows were also seen. Sam Wainright found two at Squibnocket Pond Reservation South on May 22 and I spotted two at Cedar Tree Neck on May 23.
May 23 was a good day for migrating shorebirds on Norton Point. Chris Scott observed two least sandpipers among the 38 black-bellied plovers, 150 ruddy turnstones, 20 red knot, 28 sanderling and 16 dunlin. David Padulo found 20 semipalmated sandpipers along with 200 ruddy turnstones, 10 red knots, 36 sanderling, 27 dunlin and two least sandpipers. Chris Scott also spotted one little blue heron there.
Some migrants are lingering here rather than heading further north. The immature glaucous gull that has been frequenting the Eel Pond vicinity is still hanging around, after first being sighted on May 12. Lanny McDowell, Pete Gilmore, Steve Carey and others saw it as it roosted on Little Beach on May 22. Both Jacob Llodra and Chris Scott found it there the next day.
The immature lark bunting (a species of western grasslands) was first spotted at the Gay Head Cliffs on May 17, and it hung around for a few days. Nick Teague, Nancy Nordin and Bob Shriber found it on May 18, while Thaw Malin and Cynthia Bloomquist spotted it the next day.
Winter resident oceanic waterfowl are also lingering. Nick Teague and Jake Fitzpatrick observed two common eiders, four white-winged scoters and two red-breasted mergansers from the Gay Head Cliffs on May 18. David Padulo saw a red-breasted merganser at Eel Pond on May 23, Derrob Hagy-Weatherbee spotted eight black scoters at Lucy Vincent on May 19. On May 22, he found one common eider at Wasque and both he and Ashley Casciotti watched the lingering long-tailed duck near Dike Bridge.
Speaking of waterfowl, if you were wondering where the mute swans are, Jennifer Sepanara counted 50 of them as she kayaked around Chilmark Pond on May 18. Surely, they are not all nesting there.
The following observations confirm some early nesting species. Diane Lucey and Chris Jones each found three killdeer chicks at Squibnocket Beach on May 17. Lisa Maxfield observed seven goslings at Brush Pond on May 18, Hugh Carey saw a nesting green heron at Felix Neck on May 21. On May 22, Matt Kelly and Maureen Brodoff spotted nine mallard ducklings at Felix Neck while Steve Carey, Jacob Llodra, and I discovered a pair of mallards with ducklings at John Butler’s Mudhole.
On the songbird front, Cynthia Bloomquist and Thaw Mallin observed a white-breasted nuthatch feeding young and a chickadee nesting at their West Tisbury home on May 20. Jeff Bernier watched a pair of Baltimore orioles building their pendulous nest at Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary on May 22, and Nick Teague saw a catbird carrying nesting material at Seven Gates on May 23.
Finally, Wendy Culbert and I visited eastern Long Island May 16 and 17. We noticed an abundance of blue-gray gnatcatchers and eastern warbling vireos in Riverhead and Flanders. This contrasts to us, as no gnatcatchers were reported to ebird in May, and there were only three sightings of the vireo.
Please email your sightings to birds@vineyardgazette.com.
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant living in Vineyard Haven.
This article appears in May 29, 2026.