All year long we talk about September as a great time for birds. This is because of migration and the probability of unusual birds showing up.

Last week’s column reported the Say’s phoebe that was briefly — Sept. 8 only — at Allan Keith’s Turtle Brook Farm. According to Vineyard Birds 2, this is the ninth time this species was observed on the Vineyard. The website ebird.org reports this species was only observed 19 times in all of New England in the past 10 years, and three of those sightings are from the Vineyard.

This week’s rare bird is an American avocet, a large (oystercatcher-sized), mostly black and white shorebird that has a very thin but long up-turned bill. The foursome of Pete and Cathi Gilmore and Chris and Laurie Leuchtenburg were the first to see this rare vagrant at Little Beach on the afternoon of Sept. 16. Other birders were notified and Ken Magnuson was able to see it later that day, while Soo Whiting and Flip Harrington observed it the next morning when it was in the flock of greater yellowlegs that is always present there at this time of the year. This is only the fifth time this western species has been observed on Martha’s Vineyard. And according to ebird, this is the fifth sighting of an avocet in New England this year.

Next on the list of good birds this week is Ken Magnuson’s sighting of two Caspian terns on Norton Point Beach on Sept. 17. They are slightly smaller than a herring gull, but they have a blood red bill and a black cap. There are usually a couple of sightings of this tern every autumn, usually in late September and October. So these birds are right on time.

Also on the shorebird front, Mr. Magnuson spotted both a stilt sandpiper and a pectoral sandpiper on Sept. 16. These two birds were swimming side by side. all sandpipers and plovers can swim, although it is not their usual mode of locomotion.

Jeff Bernier was at Little Beach and found both the eastern and western subspecies of willets on Sept. 20. The eastern subspecies, which nests here, is noticeably smaller than its western cousin, and has a smaller bill and shorter legs. These differences are easy to see when they are side by side, as Mr. Bernier observed them, but these field marks are difficult to distinguish when the birds are by themselves. Western willets breed on the Great Plains and some of them migrate to the Atlantic coast every fall.

The final shorebird news for this column is Steve Allen’s report of two whimbrels at Felix Neck on Sept. 21.

These large sandpipers are remarkable for their long down-curved beak. There have been two whimbrels there for a while now, living in the salt marshes.

Bird Sightings

The best time and place to see migrating songbirds is in the early morning near the Gay Head Cliffs area. They can be seen just about anywhere — near the parking lot, along the traffic loop, from any of the hiking trails, along Moshup Trail or along Lobsterville Road. Sarah Mayhew went to the cliffs on Sept. 15 and observed a peregrine falcon flying over the ocean. This bird-eating hawk would not be there if there were not lots of food to snack on. Some of the songbirds present that morning include three thrushes (veery, wood and Swainson’s), scarlet tanager, and 11 species of warblers (black-throated green, redstart, prairie, blue-winged, pine, common yellowthroat, black-throated blue, Cape May, chestnut-sided, Wilson’s and blackpoll). The other observers that day included Mr. Magnuson, Bob Shriber, Mr. Gilmore, Lanny McDowell and Mr. Keith.

Wilson's warbler. — Lanny McDowell

Mr. Keith was the lone birder at the cliffs on Sept. 17. His highlights were American pipit, a juvenile clay-colored sparrow, rose-breasted grosbeak and a willow or alder flycatcher (it is almost impossible to distinguish between these two species unless you hear them singing).

On Sept. 17, Bob Shriber experienced a quiet morning at the cliffs, with the highlights of a clay-colored sparrow (maybe the same one observed the day before) and a Cooper’s hawk.

Mr. Gilmore was there on Sept. 18 and found a dickcissel, which was calling frequently as it circled three times over his head and then flew down to near Moshup Trail. This species can easily be confused with the house sparrow except that it has yellow on its chest and has different calls. Other species he observed that morning include brown thrasher, merlin, eastern kingbird, red-eyed vireo, common yellowthroat and a western version of our palm warbler, which has less yellow on its undersides. At the Gay Head morraine he added parula warbler and black-and-white warbler.

Always remember that songbirds can be found anywhere on the Island. Robert Cassidy observed large flocks of tree swallows at the Martha’s Vineyard Airport on Sept. 16. Mr. McDowell still has pine warblers at his house near Lake Tashmoo. The birds have been singing enthusiastically, as if it were April or May. And I have been hearing an eastern wood pewee singing near my house for the past week.

Mr. Keith went to Squibnocket on Sept. 15 and found merlin, three species of vireos (warbling, white-eyed, and red-eyed), ruby-crowned kinglet, four species of warblers (yellow, prairie, redstart and black-and-white), phoebe and yellow-bellied flycatcher.

There is a small woodland in Katama, just east of Crackatuxet Cove, that can be phenomenal if you are there at the right time. Mr. Keith visited there on Sept. 18 and found a veery, Swainson’s thrush, northern waterthrush, American redstart, parula warbler, black-throated green warbler and black-and-white warbler. Finally, he found a flock of 60 blue-winged teal at Chilmark Pond and found a bay-breasted warbler at his home later that day.

And finally, Jacqui Sulek found a male hooded warbler at Soo Whiting’s Quenames backyard on Sept. 20. They found the warbler again on Sept. 21, then ventured to Aquinnah where they joined up with Sarah Mayhew, Bob Shriber and his friend Jack, and found kestrel, merlins, sharp-shinned and Cooper’s hawks, Cape may warbler, northern parula, ruby crowned kinglet and a common loon. Chilmark Pond produced 75 blue-winged teal and some green-winged teal. Shortly after they left, Mr. Shriber and his friend Jack spotted two Caspian terns.

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.

View more birds spotted this month on the Vineyard.

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