August is the time for shorebirds. The intensity of the beach nesting bird breeding season is winding down and the last fledglings are taking flight from our beaches. Simultaneously, this month marks peak southbound migration for many species of Arctic nesting shorebirds. These high-latitude birds flood our shores looking for a safe place to rest their weary wings and find food to fuel their expeditions. Some, like the sanderling and black-bellied plover may have completed their migration and are here to stay for the winter, while others will continue on their southerly journey, stopping here only temporarily.
As the breeding season wraps up, the preliminary results for the Island’s beach nesting birds have been tallied. A total of 104 pairs piping plovers nested on our shores producing at least 83 fledglings. Additionally, the Island supported a record 73 breeding pairs of American oystercatchers this year and they had a great season, fledging a whopping 63 chicks. Black skimmer also had a banner year with 45 nesting pairs, more than doubling last season’s pair total. Unfortunately, our terns faced predation challenges but still had a strong showing in pair numbers with 54 roseate, 2,355 common, and 1,034 least tern pairs. Now that the hard work of protecting and monitoring the Vineyard’s beach nesting birds is almost complete, the Island’s many shorebird stewards can breathe a long-awaited sigh of relief.
The third annual Martha’s Vineyard ISS Shorebird Blitz took place this past Sunday, August 16. Seven sites across the Island were surveyed including Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge, Little Neck, Leland Beach, Wasque Reservation, Norton Point, Dogfish Bar, Menemsha Pond, and Little Beach. Many thanks to the participants Bob Shriber, Nancy Nordin, Kyleigh Miklos, Ashley Casciotti, Luanne Johnson, Silas Beers, Matt Pelikan, Izzy O’Donnell, Parker Ben David, Maria Sachez Roa, David Benvent, Samantha Bryn, David Padulo, and Courtney Yancy. The goal of blitz is to conduct a comprehensive survey of shorebirds across Martha’s Vineyard to better understand how migratory shorebirds use the Island. This information also contributes to broader statewide and global datasets, helping place Martha’s Vineyard within a wider context as an important migratory stopover site.
Overall, 821 individual shorebirds were observed from 19 different species. The semipalmated plover represented the most abundant species with 152 individuals accounted for. Several species were represented by only a single individual during the survey. The only pectoral sandpiper observed during the blitz was recorded at Norton Point, and Menemsha Pond hosted the survey’s lone red knot. Little Neck on Chappaquiddick had the only Hudsonian whimbrel. The totals for each species observed are listed with high counts and corresponding location in parenthesis- 46 American oystercatchers (9 at Norton Point & Little Beach), 87 black-bellied plovers (29 at Norton Point), 21 piping plovers (6 at Little Beach), 17 spotted sandpipers (4 at Menemsha Pond, Dogfish Bar, and Cape Pogue), 104 ruddy turnstones (25 at Norton Point), 152 semipalmated plovers (68 at Menemsha Pond), 33 lesser yellowlegs (12 at Little Neck on Cape Pogue), 39 willets (20 at Little Neck), 37 greater yellowlegs (19 at Little Neck), 117 sanderlings (65 at Norton Point), 3 dunlins (3 at Norton Point), 66 least sandpipers (41 at Little Neck), 1 pectoral sandpiper (Norton Point), 65 semipalmated sandpipers (18 at Little Neck and Menemsha Pond), 4 killdeer (4 at Menemsha Pond), 7 short-billed dowitchers (6 at Little Neck), 1 red knot (Menemsha Pond), 1 Hudsonian whimbrel (Little Neck), 2 white-rumped sandpipers (2 at Little Beach).
Other notable shorebird sightings this week include Wilson’s phalaropes seen by Nick Teague at Long Point on August 18 and David Benvent on August 22 on Little Neck. Both of these birds appeared to be juveniles, given their gray plumage and yellow legs. Despite being included in the shorebird family, phalaropes are buoyant and excellent swimmers, often foraging for invertebrates on the water’s surface. Given their proclivity for swimming, it’s always exciting to find these birds on dry land. Additionally, a solitary sandpiper was seen by Charles Morano on Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge on August 20.
Birds of prey are also beginning to migrate, producing some unexpected sightings. Ashley Casciotti spied a sharp-shinned hawk on Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge on August 19, David Benvent had a red-shouldered hawk on August 22 Pocha Pond Preserve, and Charles Morano documented a broad-winged hawk off Jeffers Way on August 18.
Reports of purple martin and bobolink continue to trickle in this week. David Benvent counted a group of six near Aquinnah on August 18 and a single bird at Pocha Pond Preserve on August 22. He also spotted a bobolink on August 20 at Felix Neck.
David also came across an unusual sparrow in the saltmarsh at West Basin, a seaside sparrow. Despite recent breeding records from as close as Cape Cod, this species has eluded Vineyard birders since 2016. This is an exciting record for the Island.
Screech owls have been particularly vocal lately. I’ve been hearing their distinctive whinnying call at my Oak Bluffs home with regularity. Jeff O’Sullivan also noted one calling near Mink Meadows and Dahlia Rudavsky and Bob Jampol have been hearing one for at least the past 10 days in the trees off the Boulevard.
Lastly, Kyleigh Miklos had a yellow-billed cuckoo at Hoft Farm Preserve.
This article appears in August 28, 2026.