Rusty blackbirds are now a rare species, their population having declined from 85 to 99 per cent in the last 40 years. You read that correctly. Their population may be only one per cent of what it was 40 years ago. And scientists do not know why it is declining so quickly.
So it was with some excitement that I spotted a rusty blackbird on the recent Christmas Bird Count on Jan. 2. Because such a sighting is unusual and unexpected, compiler Luanne Johnson asked me to document what I observed, and why I felt it was a rusty blackbird rather than some other blackbird. My 350 word description compared the rusty to the five starlings it was with, and to other much more likely species of blackbirds. Unfortunately, dusk was rapidly approaching and it flew off before it could be photographed. Others more familiar with these blackbirds are now reviewing my documentation and the sighting may not stand because I did not observe the characteristic pale eye color.
Such scientific scrutiny of sightings of rare birds is an important part of birding. Ornithologists use the data we compile to study the distribution of birds, especially data from a Christmas Bird Count. I will be disappointed, but not offended, if my sighting is not upheld. It has happened before, and will undoubtedly happen again.
Nor should any reader be offended if we call you to discuss a species you report to this column. Such respectful questioning of your sighting is an important part of bird watching.
Bird Sightings
The sighting of the week is one of my favorite species, the killdeer. Samantha Chaves sighted at least two of them at the Farm Institute as they foraged on the ground in the strong gusty winds of Jan. 10. This species is a new sighting for 2016, as the species was not observed on our Jan. 2 Christmas Bird Count.
Strickland Wheelock and Scott Santino led a group of birders from Massachusetts Audubon’s Drumlin Farms and Ipswich River Sanctuaries around the Vineyard over the weekend of Jan. 8 to 10. Their group had several highlights, including Barrow’s goldeneye at Eel Pond, Pacific loon off Menemsha, which was with four common loons for comparison, two barn owls in Chilmark, and three great egrets in Menemsha and Lobsterville. They also stopped at Chilmark Pond to see the plethora of waterfowl there, including mute swan, blue-winged teal, pintail, American coot and lesser scaup. And somewhat unexpectedly, they only found one mockingbird and they were unable to find any Carolina wrens.
Their total of 82 species would have been higher if it had not been quite so windy and rainy on their last day, Jan. 10.
The yellow-breasted chat continues to be seen at Ox Pond Meadow, the Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary at the end of Peases’ Point Way in Edgartown. Arlene Oley spotted this large showy warbler on Jan. 7.
In other Barrow’s goldeneye news, Matt Pelikan reports that two other male Barrow’s goldeneyes continue to hang out in the Lagoon, off Hines Point. He found them on January 6 while he was at the boat-launching ramp by the drawbridge. Please note that they are quite a ways away from there and can be difficult to see.
Coots are a species that were missed on the recent CBC, although Colin Floyd observed them at Chilmark Pond in late December. Lanny McDowell and Charlie Kernick found them again on Jan. 6. My question is, where were they on count day?
Also on Jan. 6, Warren Woessner observed a razorbill swimming and diving just off the Black Dog dock in Vineyard Haven Harbor. This is an unusual location for this species, although they are sometimes found offshore from both West and East Chop.
The snowy owl on Norton Point continues to capture our fancy. It was last seen on Jan. 9, spotted by Kate Putnam about 1.5 miles toward Chappaquiddidk on the bay-side of the beach. Others who have reported this owl — a male that is almost all white — include Connie Alexander, Lanny McDowell and Christy Edwards.
On the afternoon of Jan. 9, Ken Magnuson reported that Chilmark Pond is still loaded with waterfowl. He notes over 100 green-winged teal, 12 gadwall, six pintail, American wigeon and American coots. The best public access site is the land bank’s property at Abel’s Hill, at the western end of the pond. Mr. Magnuson also reports that four pintail were mixed in with some black ducks in from the boat launching ramp overlooking Katama Bay and Norton Point on Jan. 7.
Finally, more fish crow news. At 4 p.m. on Jan. 8 I stepped outside my house to go on an errand and heard fish crows calling in the distance. I looked up, and there they were, flying over the house at such an elevation that I first thought they were grackles or blackbirds because they seemed to be too small for crows. They were heading up-Island from Oak Bluffs in a steady stream of groups of 25 to 50 individuals. I counted at least 400 of them flying past in less than five minutes. They were all fish crows as they were all flying with their typical very rapid wingbeats, and I heard no American crow calls. Until this sighting, all the fish crows I have seen have been at most near the treetops, not high up in the sky. What were they doing? Where were they going?
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.
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