April goes out with a bang. The northward migration is in full swing. Nineteen species arrived on the Vineyard this past week, as observed by 45 people. These are probably record numbers for one column, reflecting that we finally experienced a few days of spring southwest winds, with the effects felt across the Island.
Joyce and Hugh McCormick visited Norton Point on April 23 and their highlight was a whimbrel. They are one of the most distinctive shorebirds with their large size and their long down-curved bill.
On April 27, willets, a species that nests near our marshes, showed up. John Nelson and Jeff Bernier each observed a flock of six of them, one at Sengekontacket Pond and the latter at Little Beach. The next day Antone Lima observed four on Norton Point and Luanne Johnson observed two of them near Cedar Tree Neck.
Jeff Bernier also had the first sighting of two of the ever-popular black skimmers at Little Beach on April 27.
Terns are returning too. David Stanwood had two least terns fly by as he was crossing Vineyard Sound in his boat on April 28, while Ken Magnuson found two leasties the next day on Norton Point Beach. Suzan Bellincampi had several common terns at the entrance to Lake Tashmoo and at Haystack Island on April 28. Ken also observed a green heron at Slough Cove on April 29. The next day he found a short-billed dowitcher at the Farm Institute.
But the very colorful arriving songbirds are even more impressive. Susie Bowman spotted a male evening grosbeak (yellow, black, and white) at her feeder on April 27. These once-common winter residents are now quite rare on the Island. There were no sightings last year.
And speaking of birds with super-large beaks, rose-breasted grosbeaks (rose, black, and white) are one of the recent arrivals. Niki Patton had a male in her yard on April 28, and Sioux Eagle observed a male in her West Tisbury yard on April 29. Maura Fitzgerald and Allen Carney had three visiting their Aquinnah feeder on April 30, That day, Jo-Ann Eccher observed one in her yard, while Penny Uhlendorf spotted two of them at the Head of the Lagoon.
A nice contrast to the bright colors of the previous two species is the bright blue of the indigo buntings, which recently appeared in many locales. There were multiple reports of them on April 27: Alan Muckerheide, Brigitte Cornand, Tom Hodgson and Ann Richards all observed them. Dan Bradley, Sue Hruby and Jo-Ann Eccher had them show up in their yards on April 28. Jim Harrison checked in with his sighting of male indigo buntings at his Edgartown feeder and Ken Magnuson had a female at the head of the Lagoon, both on April 29. The next day Ken had them at the Edgartown Golf Club. This is a lot of indigo buntings for the Vineyard.
And if that is not enough, the bright orange and black Baltimore orioles appear to be almost everywhere except in my yard.
Hans Goeckel reports that he got a close-up view of a bay-breasted warbler that was in a tree just outside of his Katama home on April 30. Also on April 30, Ken Magnuson and Allan Keith found a northern parula and a redstart at Waskosim’s Rock. They found more redstarts at Great Rock Bight. They continued on to find yellow warblers and rough-winged swallows at the head of the Lagoon.
Catbirds have also retuned en mass. Jim Harrison checked in with his sighting of two catbirds at his Edgartown feeder on April 29, as did both Holly Mercier in Edgartown and Jo-Ann Eccher in Aquinnah. Laurie Meyst had one in her backyard on April 30, as did Maria Thibodeau, Brian Packish, Sheilah Hughes and Diane Crane, and the first catbird showed up in my yard that afternoon.
Hatsy Potter heard a chuck-wills-widow calling near her Chappaquiddick house on April 24. And the closely related but much more common whippoorwill was heard in the state forest by Ira Certner on April 28.
Matt Pelikan visited the West Tisbury side of the state forest and found four field sparrows, a handful of prairie warblers and one purple finch.
A male scarlet tanager made a quick visit to Hatsy’s feeder on April 26.
A great crested flycatcher appeared in the woodlands near Nancy Rogers yard on April 30, as did one in the woods near my house. Their call is a welcome sound, though it is anything but musical.
Jo-Ann Eccher observed a male and a female orchard oriole together in a peach tree in Aquinnah on April 30. Matt Pelikan also heard one singing near his Oak Bluffs home.
Connie Alexander reports a lot is happening at Squibnocket. Her highlights include northern gannets offshore, harlequin and red-breasted mergansers in close to shore, and both barn and tree swallows over the marsh and pond on April 30.
Least in size but not in popularity is the ruby-throated hummingbird. Tara Larsen, Catherine Deese, Connie Alexander and Tom Hodgson all observed this species at their feeders on April 28. Cynthia Bloomquist, Polly Bassett, Sharon Pearson, Laurie Meyst, Janet Sigler and Penny Uhlendorf each had one show up in their yards on April 29, and Tweed Roosevelt reports his first of the year on April 30. Allouise Morgan’s first hummer showed up on May 1.
Quite the week. The spring northward migration is in full swing. Please keep us up to date by reporting your sightings to birds@mvgazette.com.
Robert Culbert leads guided birding tours and is an ecological consultant living in Vineyard Haven.
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