How many readers have heard the decreased volume of bird song? There are two major reasons why this happens in June. First, nest attempts fail and the birds may not renest, so maintaining a territory and singing is no longer necessary. The second reason is warmer temperatures; birds do not sing as much when the weather gets hot, especially during the hottest middle of the day. More birds still are singing during cooler early morning temperatures.
Even though singing has diminished, it still is peak nesting season, as the following sightings of 20 species with baby birds documents.
Nick Teague saw three cygnets at Long Point on June 17, and Caroline Heald counted six goslings at Chappaquonsett on June 15. Dahlia Rudavsky and Bob Jampol observed eight goslings in southern Sengekontacket Pond on June 15, and Janet Woodcock and Nancy Weaver spotted seven mallard chicks at Eel Pond on June 14. Patrick Ortiz located four mid-size mallard ducklings at Felix Neck on June 16, and Alec Regitsky watched four black duck ducklings at Felix Neck on June 17. Charles Morano watched nine wood duck ducklings at the Hoft Farm Ponds on June 1, while Luke Ulicny observed some wood duck chicks there on June 19. At Crackatuxet Cove Jeff Peters counted seven gadwall chicks on June 16, and David Benvent found nine there on June 17.
Other waterbird offspring include Dahlia Rudavsky and Bob Jampol locating one American oystercatcher chick at the southern end of Sengekontacket Pond on June 15. Janet Woodcock and Nancy Weaver located two oystercatcher chicks, three piping plover chicks and three willet chicks at Eel Pond on June 14, and Nick Teague studied two fledgling woodcocks at Long Point on June 16. Will Lauder saw a killdeer nest at the Gay Head Cliffs on June 16, and Bob Jampol and Dahlia Rudavsky observed three fluffy great black backed gull chicks at the southern end of Sengekontacket Pond on June 15. Nancy Weaver and Janet Woodcock counted 24 great black-backed gull chicks at Sarson’s Island on June 16.
Jerry Twomey got his first look at a screech owl chick in one of his nest boxes in his Edgartown yard on June 21.
Jeff Peters and Lanny McDowell saw three fledged ravens flying with their parents at Crackatuxet Cove on June 16.
Young turkeys are out and about. Rob and Pam Davey spotted four at Tower Ridge on June 14, Vivian Ives observed six at the Martha’s Vineyard Airport on June 19, and Angel Morris located two along Franklin Street on June 20.
Nancy Nordin watched an osprey chick at Lake Tashmoo on June 14.
Rob Davey spotted a chickadee feeding a youngster on Meadow Lane near Menemsha Pond on June 16, Nick Teague watched two fledgling brown creepers at Long Point on June 16, and Jane and John Culbert observed a fledgling gray catbird at Waterview Farm on June 19.
Red-tailed hawks are perhaps the second most abundant raptor (ospreys are the most common). There were nine sightings this week from across the Island: Dana Bangs, one, at Weaver Lane, June 14; Jeff Peters, one, at the Gay Head Cliffs, June 15 and one at Herring Creek Farm, June 16; Nick Teague, one, at Seven Gates, June 16; David Benvent, two, at Old Farm Road, one at Eel Pond and one at Katama Farm on June 16; Mary Makepeace, two, at Cummings Way, June 17; Felix Neck early birders, one, at Felix Neck, June 18; and Luke Ulicny, one, at Hoft Farm, June 19.
American goldfinches are even more common. They seem to be everywhere with 24 reports this week (too many to report). And their nesting season is just starting as they time their nesting to utilize the fibrous seeds of the abundant thistle and milkweed seeds.
We have four reports of chimney swifts this week. On June 14, Luanne Johnson spotted one above her West Tisbury yard and Austin McNulty found three at Eel Pond. David Benvent saw four at Katama Farm on June 17, and Patti Liming counted an amazing 16 in a flock above Dock Street on June 19.
How common are common ravens on the Island? I am aware of only two sites where they nest (in Edgartown and Vineyard Haven) although they most likely nest somewhere in Aquinnah. They can be seen just about anywhere, even though they only arrived here in 2014. This week Bernice McIntyre spotted one from her Vineyard Haven home on June 14, Jeff Peters and Lanny McDowell observed the family of ravens mentioned above at Crackatuxet Cove on June 16, Nick Teague found one at the Polly Hill Arboretum on June 17, and Bob Shriber found three ravens along Old South Road on June 19.
I was about to mention northbound migrants that had not yet been spotted this year, but then I looked at this week’s sightings. Charles Morano spotted 16 Cory’s shearwaters and two great shearwaters from the Gay Head Cliffs on June 20 — two species that have just arrived after their long migration from the south Atlantic’s Falkland Islands and Tristan del Cunha. The two royal terns (located by Pete Gilmore and Lanny McDowell) were on Norton Point on June 20, likely coming from someplace south of the New Jersey shore. I am still wondering why the migrant least and Acadian flycatchers have not been seen this spring.
Finally, we may have our first southbound migrants this week. Greater yellowlegs nest in boreal wetlands, and if their nesting attempt fails they will often head south early. Kayla Smith observed three at Katama Bay on June 14, and David Benvent saw one at Cove Meadow Preserve on June 17. Other Arctic nesting shorebirds do the same, which is why the southbound migration starts in late June.
Please email your sightings to birds@vineyardgazette.com.
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant living in Vineyard Haven.
This article appears in June 26, 2026.