We still do not have the final results of the recent Christmas Bird Count. We know that there were 121 species sighted, and an additional eight species were observed either three days before or three days after count day. A good total!

This past week has produced five other species that were not seen on the count: American kestrel, redpoll, bald eagle, redhead and piping plover. While some of these species may have been here during the count, they are more likely to be recent arrivals. Hence, we are experiencing a continued fall migration, a southward movement of birds that started six months ago in early July. A much more appropriate term is southward migration.

Albert Fischer observed an American kestrel as it flew over the cove near Squibnocket parking lot on Jan. 13. This species used to be common but now is rare.

Common redpolls are on the move. — Lanny McDowell

Common redpolls are on the move. Charlie Kernick reports redpolls coming to his bird feeder in West Tisbury on Jan. 14, as does Penney Townes. More sightings are inevitable when a couple of them show up and, sure enough, Ken Magnuson reports six of them at the Edgartown Golf Club on Jan. 18, and 24 of them on Jan. 19. Keep your eyes out for them and for other irruptive winter finches like crossbills and siskins.

Wendy Culbert and I observed three redheads (ducks) near the western end of Lower Chilmark Pond on the afternoon of Jan. 15. Ken Magnuson and Lanny McDowell photographed them the next day, along with a lone lesser scaup and three greater scaup. The reduced amount of white on the wings of the lesser scaup helps to confirm the identification of this difficult to identify species.

Moira Fitzgerald and Yann Meersseman, better known as Vineyard Colors (vineyardcolors.com), posted a photo of an adult bald eagle they observed at Long Point Wildlife Refuge in West Tisbury on the morning of Jan. 16. They first observed a snowy owl, but it flew away before they could get a picture. They got their camera ready and waited patiently; 10 minutes later two bald eagles show up! This sighting is really nice because we get juvenile eagles more frequently than adults.

Most unexpected is the sighting I made on the afternoon of Jan. 17 at Little Beach in Edgartown. It was a very low new moon tide, and much more beach was exposed than usual. I was watching the 90 sanderlings and 25 dunlins when I heard a familiar call, “peep-lo.” I found the piping plover, which was either a juvenile or in adult winter plumage, about 30 feet away. It flew off with the all the other shorebirds, but while they circled around and landed, I could not find the piping plover again. Piping plovers are unusual but not unheard of in January, the website ebird shows multiple sightings of at least one piping plover on Long Island and southern New Jersey in the past few Januarys. To date, nobody else has seen this bird.

Bird Sightings

Ken Magnuson went for a drive late in the day on Jan. 15, and photographed an action scene involving three crows mobbing an unfortunate barn owl. Now, barn owls are not usually out during the daylight because crows will seek them out and harass them mercilessly, sometimes even killing them. One of Mr. Magnuson’s photos shows a crow pecking the flying barn owl; the barn owl was lucky as fate intervened and the crows flew away.

Many observers have reported seeing the flock of five snow geese at the Keith Farm; they are somewhat easy to see as they are frequently fairly close to Middle Road.

Nancy Dole is still seeing the Baltimore oriole at her feeder, which of course flew away as soon as she got her camera ready. Her most recent sighting is on Jan. 16.

Also on the 16th, Jeff Donaroma observed a snowy owl on South Beach at Katama. The same day, Allan Keith found a smallish (for a snowy owl) pristine white one, presumably an adult male, on Norton Point. The next day, Jeff Bernier found two snowies on Norton Point, one half way down the beach and the second closer to the eastern end of the beach.

On Mr. Keith’s trip out Norton Point, he also found dunlin, sanderling, black-bellied plover, and one female Barrow’s goldeneye in the ocean. He also found a killdeer at Herring Creek Farm, and estimated that there were 1,750 Canada geese at Katama, a flock larger than he remembers seeing.

On Jan. 17, Sue Hruby observed a juvenile Cooper’s hawk and a grackle; the former flew off with the latter in its clutches, being pursued by a red-tailed hawk.

Samantha Chaves observed a dovekie in the fields at the Farm Institute on Jan. 18. A crow harassed the dovekie, which was able to fly for a few feet to get away from the crow before the crow flew away. Whenever you see a dovekie on land, please catch it and transport it to a large pond or the ocean as soon as possible, if not sooner. They need a long stretch of water to get airborne and fly away; they do not survive long when on land.

Lanny McDowell reported a flock of cedar waxwings hanging out in the tulip and crabapple trees near the staff parking lot at Polly Hill Arboretum on Jan. 18.

Also on the 18th, Sharon Simonin photographed red-breasted mergansers, mute swans, Canada geese and two male scaup on Oak Bluffs harbor.

And black-legged kittiwakes were observed off both East and West Chops on Jan. 19 by Matt Pelikan and Lanny McDowell. Their distinctive black wing markings were visible from far away in the strong light.

Finally, Tom Hodgson heard black-capped chickadees singing the other day, the first song of the year, even though the temperature was only 13 degrees. Though I have heard them singing in every month of the year, the frequency of their singing increases in January. Their song is still more expected on a warmer day like Jan. 18, when the temperature reached 51 degrees.

There are lots of birds around, so please get out looking for them, and be sure to report your bird sightings to birds@mvgazette.com.

Robert Culbert leads guided birding tours and is an ecological consultant living in Vineyard Haven.