It was like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s movie The Birds — family and friends were hanging out in the kitchen Christmas afternoon and suddenly the sky darkened for a moment, then over 100 common grackles landed on the lawn between the house and the barn. They proceeded to feed on some goodies that the bird Santa left; grass and weed seeds, grubs, and hopefully a few winter moths. The following day as I was sipping my tea and watching our resident chickadees, nuthatches and titmice, the flock of grackles descended into the yard scaring all the resident birds from our feeders. The grackles climbed on all the feeders and covered the front lawn and festooned the branches of all of the trees ringing the lawn. I grabbed my camera and took photos and then tried to count the total number of grackles in the yard. My guess was 250 common grackles. On Dec. 27, the flock of 250 common grackles arrived again and bounced back and forth from the feeders to the back yard. On Dec. 28 they were gone!
Common grackles are present on the Vineyard year round. They nest here in small numbers. In the spring and fall we frequently see large migrant flocks arriving to join our local breeding birds. These flocks occasionally stay around all year and are found in great numbers roosting in one spot. We almost always have a few common grackles seen on the Christmas Bird Count. A huge number (1,002) of common grackles were counted on the 1988 CBC, but we broke that record by finding several flocks containing over 5,000 common grackles during the 1989 Christmas Bird Count. Climate definitely determines the number of common grackles that remain on-Island during the winter months, and as our climate warms I am sure we will see more large flocks staying the winter.
The strong onshore winds around Christmas raised havoc with one of my favorite pelagic species, the dovekie. This little squirt, only eight inches long, is cousin to puffins and razorbills. Dovekies are a study in black and white and look somewhat like a football as their posture makes them appear neckless. They spend most of their lives on the water going ashore only to nest, and then on high Arctic islands from which they can take off without running. The dovekie’s feet are set way aft to serve as paddles, not for walking. To watch them underwater is a treat as they use both their feet and wings to come close to flying underwater. However, due to the result of the rear placement of feet on the dovekie, if they are blown onshore they cannot take off. Several dovekies that had died were found right around Christmas. Two were found in the woods off Blue Barque Road in Chilmark, one at Cedar Tree Neck and one in Menemsha harbor. On a brighter note, several dovekies have been seen and photographed around Menemsha harbor. In checking back on old records, I found that 115 dovekies were spotted off Menemsha in December of 1944.
Bird Sightings:
Ginny Jones of West Tisbury and Dale Carter of Chappaquiddick both reported that a Cooper’s hawk was stalking birds around their feeders. Dale watched in shock as the Cooper’s hawk snatched a blue jay from her yard and disappeared.
Marianne Thomas reported spotting a brown creeper near her Ocean Heights home on Dec. 21. Tom Rivers called to say he had seen a hairy woodpecker at his Tea Lane home on Dec. 23 and an eastern phoebe on Dec. 24.
Paul Osterman of Quansoo sent me a fine photograph of a snowy owl perched on the Crab Creek Bridge at Quansoo that he took on Christmas Eve.
Sarah Mayhew reported the first dovekies on Christmas Day. She figured there were around six swimming and fishing in Menemsha harbor. On Dec. 26 Jeff Bernier and Sarah were both at Menemsha photographing the dovekies. Sarah also sent photos of a black scoter and a common loon that was in a rush to catch a fish and was half swimming, half flying just off the surface of the waters in Menemsha Creek.
Nancy Dole was saddened to find a dead dovekie at Cedar Tree Neck on Dec. 26. Ebba Rene Hierta was also as she found a dead dovekie on Lambert’s Cove Beach on Dec. 27. Gerry and Terry Haas of Blue Barque Road found one dead dovekie on Dec. 27 and another on Dec. 29. Then Scott Stephens found a dead dovekie floating in Menemsha harbor on Dec. 29.
Sarah Mayhew found and photographed a yellow-bellied sapsucker at Duarte’s Pond on Dec. 28 and Bert Fischer sent a super photo of a ring-billed gull showing the spotted wing tips. Nelson Smith cleverly used peanut pieces to finally lure tufted titmice away from the Edgartown Golf Course to his nearby feeder. Nelson also has a red-bellied woodpecker at his feeder as of Dec. 28. Nat Woodruff sent a lovely photograph of a snow goose flying into the sunset. The bird took on a rosy hue.
Linda Ziegler was watching a small flock of surf scoters off East Chop Drive on Dec. 29 when a small white bird in the nearby bushes caught her eye. I am sure from her description that it is the leucistic song sparrow that has been haunting that neck of the woods for two years.
On Dec. 29 Joyce Collins emailed a photo of an oriole and asked if it was a Baltimore or Bullocks. It was a Baltimore as it was very orange. The Bullocks are very yellow and pale in comparison to the Baltimore. I am not sure where Joyce lives; most of the Collinses in the phone book are from Edgartown.
Dale Carter of Chappaquiddick called to say she had seen a very pale great blue heron at the North Marsh near the Dyke Bridge on Dec. 29 and 30.
Ronnee and Heidi Schultz emailed to say they had an immature male Baltimore oriole at their West Tisbury feeder on Dec. 30. A red-bellied woodpecker scared it away, hopefully it will return to the Schultz’s or to Charlie Kernick’s to be front and center for the Christmas Bird Count on Saturday, Jan. 3.
Meanwhile in Aquinnah, on Dec. 30 Tim Rich emailed to say he also has a Baltimore oriole at his feeder. Hopefully, at least one of these late-stayers will be seen on Saturday!
Please report your bird sightings to birds@mvgazette.com.
Susan B. Whiting is the co-author of Vineyard Birds and Vineyard Birds II. Her website is vineyardbirds2.com.
Comments
Comment policy »