Thanks to Susan Whiting for writing this column for the past two weeks. And for writing them for the past 35 years! That is a lot of columns and a lot of interesting bird news. Soo has left big shoes for me to fill. Rest assured that you will see more of her columns in the future, as she remains the record-keeper of Vineyard Birds.
Most unusual is Dave Damroth’s report of two young turkey vultures in their boulder nest. We know that these large scavengers nest here, but seldom are their nests found and photographed.
There has been a lot of family activity around recently. Go just about anywhere, and the birds that you see are likely taking care of their young. Goldfinches are especially obvious now, flying around uttering their characteristic “chit-chit-chu” in and around almost every meadow. They are late nesters and feed on wild thistle seeds.
Stephanie Mashek reports families of Baltimore orioles, robins, blue jays, titmice, chickadees and cardinals, as well as great crested flycatchers — all plainly visible around her yard. And Happy Spongberg observed catbirds and towhees on August 2. She watched a family of towhees — mom and three youngsters — fluttering around in the wet scrub oak leaves apparently taking a bath as this was followed by a serious bit of preening, at least when they were not being harassed by the catbirds. Why were the catbirds harassing the towhee family? And why were the towhees bathing in the leaf litter rather than utilizing the nearby bird bath?
I have been watching a family of catbirds as they consume the blueberries growing in our yard. They are in the blueberry bush early every morning. Unfortunately, they believe the blueberries are ripe a few days before I do.
Bird Sightings
Bob Birrer was birding Norton Point by kayak on the afternoon of July 27, and sent a photograph of an immature black tern. These small terns are mostly dark, even in their immature plumage, and so they are conspicuous in a flock of terns.
Susan Whiting’s Chilmark Community Center bird tour went to Red Beach and Lobsterville on July 28. They found about 30 species including common loon, green heron, great egret, turkey vulture, semipalmated plover, least sandpiper and American oystercatcher.
Jeff Bernier counted 14 greater yellowlegs flocked together at Little Beach on July 30.
Pete Gilmore photographed a leucistic ruby-throated hummingbird at his feeder on July 30. This particular bird has extra white on its back and wings, and may be either the same individual or a descendent of one that was observed on Skiff’s Lane a while back. Also noteworthy is an observation of a hummer walking along a dead branch near the top of an oak tree at Wilfred’s Pond Preserve on August 1. It appeared to be gleaning some caterpillars from the branch. So they do not always buzz from flower to flower. This behavior was briefly observed by my guided birding tour, then a second hummer appeared and they both flew off.
Luanne Johnson and Liz Baldwin report that on July 31 they (BiodiversityWorks) finally recovered one of the geo-tags that they had put on a willet. To say that they have had difficulty recovering these geo-tags — they have to recapture the bird — would be an understatement as they could not recapture the birds in 2014. The data contained in the geo-tags will tell them where the willet has been spending its winters. The geo-tags on seven other willets will hopefully be recovered soon.
Nora Papian observed a solitary sandpiper perched on a rock at Felix Neck’s turtle pond on July 28.
Whimbrels, large sandpipers with long down-curved beaks, are here. Ken Magnuson observed three whimbrels flying west along Norton Point on August 1. The next day I observed two of them on the short-grass taxiways of the Katama Airpark early in the morning. And then, on August 3, Lanny McDowell found four of them flying west down the barrier beach near Black Point Pond. This species is one of my favorites to find, unfortunately they are much less common than they used to be.
Speaking of unusual shorebirds, Ken Magnuson, Kelly Spencer and Lanny McDowell birded Little Black Point Pond, which is just west of Black Point Pond, on August 2, and found five stilt sandpipers and one winter plumage Wilson’s phalarope. The latter has an entirely different profile from other shorebirds and has a long and very thin bill. Both species were still there the next day. They also found short-billed dowitchers, lesser yellowlegs, a spotted sandpiper and a saltmarsh sparrow.
Also on August 3, I walked along the western half of Norton Point Beach, expecting to find great things on the extensive tidal flats exposed due to the recent full moon. Most notable were a flock of 15 black-bellied plover, a first for this southward migration, and possibly two western sandpipers. Also present were 150 semipalmated plovers, 50 semipalmated sandpipers, 50 sanderling, 10 short-billed dowitchers, five greater yellowlegs, three ruddy turnstone, 20 piping plovers (mostly fledglings), 10 willets, four American oystercatchers, maybe 2 western sandpipers (see post in Vineyard Rare Bird Alert), two laughing gulls, 25 ring-billed gulls, 15 herring gulls, 20 great black-backed gulls, 20 common terns, 100 least terns, a merlin buzzing the semi plovers and two saltmarsh sparrows. While the tidal flats appeared mostly empty, as these past few reports show, they are the best places to go to see migrants in early August.
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 Saturday morning guided birding tours and is an ecological consultant living in Vineyard Haven.
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