We all eagerly anticipate when the first osprey will return home to the Island. It is an event that usually occurs in March, although everyone now starts examining every osprey pole to see if it is occupied. To that end, Rick Dwyer said: “I am very sure I saw an osprey sitting on top of an osprey pole at Poucha Pond trail on Feb. 14.”
There have also been several recent sightings of osprey as far north as coastal Virginia.
While I cannot say that Mr. Dwyer did not see an osprey, his sighting cannot be verified without a photograph. Such verification is required because it is so much earlier than when they are expected to return. A photo will not be needed in two months, once we have our approximately 100 breeding pairs return.
In my experience, we get at least one February report every year, but if we check out these reports, the bird in question morphs into a great black-backed gull, a red-tailed hawk or less frequently a bald eagle. Last year I spotted an immature double-crested cormorant perched on an osprey pole in Lagoon Pond. Its neck was retracted and I initially thought osprey (nope). Keep in mind you are also likely to hear their distinctive call once they arrive.
Do not expect your sighting to be accepted without the photo. Use your cell phone to take that picture. It is ironic for me to say this so often, as I almost never take pictures of the birds I find.
Bird Sightings
Atlantic puffins are seldom seen from the Vineyard, as they are pelagic and more frequently found in waters further out to sea in the winter. Unfortunately, the puffin that Bri Buchanan found at Moshup Beach on Feb.12 was dead. It had not been dead for too long, however, as it had not yet been scavenged. They are more likely to come close to land when they are less than perfectly healthy.
Where have all the northern harriers been? It seems like they have been hiding so far this year. But this week there were three sightings. Noah and Gus Ben David spotted a northern harrier on Feb. 15 near the Bend in the Road Beach in Edgartown, on Feb. 17 Jane Culbert, Henry Olds and I were at Waterview Farm when we spotted one that quickly disappeared as it flew over the pines and onto Farm Neck Golf Club, with an American crow in hot pursuit. And Penny Uhlendorf spotted one at South beach on Feb. 18.
At the opposite end of the Island, Allan Keith visited Aquinnah on Feb. 11, when the ocean was about as flat calm as it ever gets. Because of the calm seas, he was able to see distant birds that normally would be concealed by waves. He counted a flock of 5,000 common eiders, huge numbers for recent years but reminiscent of 10 to 20 years ago when such flocks were commonplace. He also found Bonaparte’s gulls, razorbills, and herring gulls harassing the baitfish.
Red-winged blackbirds continue to be in the news. Recent sightings include a dozen of them at Allan Keith’s feeder on Feb. 17, while Matt Pelikan had one visit his feeder on Feb. 17. Margaret Curtin and Luanne Johnson’s sighting of a male at the Head of the Lagoon on Feb. 17 is most likely one of “our” birds as it was singing in appropriate breeding habitat. They also spotted a swamp sparrow there.
On Feb. 16, John Nelson found a male long-tailed duck in winter plumage in Nantucket Sound near the East Chop Beach Club, and a flock of 42 greater scaup at the south end of Sengekontacket Pond. Also spotted was a raven at the northeast corner of the Martha’s Vineyard airport.
Penny Uhlendorf observed two fish crows at the entrance to Lake Tashmoo on Feb. 17. Gus Ben David points out how scarce fish crows are this winter compared to the hundreds we have hosted in recent winters. There still are lots of commuter crows — both fish and American — at their roosting site near the Lambert’s Cove Inn, but otherwise there are only a few fish crows along the Vineyard Haven waterfront and a few in downtown Oak Bluffs.
A dozen savannah sparrows were found by Penny Uhlendorf near a garden in Pilot Hill Farm on Feb. 16.
I found two yellow-rumped warblers at Waterview Farm in Feb. 17, and near the Big Bridge I found the male Barrow’s goldeneye that has been there for a month now, as well as a horned lark singing in the dunes by the big bridge. At my house that day I watched a flock of robins come through my yard, and I was surprised when a hermit thrush was following after them and landed on a split rail fence for a split second. Then a sharp-shinned hawk chased after them, it was only slightly larger then the thrushes.
The first red-wings have returned and birds are singing. Yes, spring is coming! Please report your sightings to birds@mvgazette.com.
Robert Culbert will schedule a private Guided Birding Tour with you, and is an ecological consultant with Nature Watch, LLC living in Vineyard Haven.
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