The derby has begun and many people will be spending their waking hours on boat or shore, fishing rod in hand, with dreams of landing the big one. There are fishing widows around, so take advantage of this time to go out looking for birds. The weather is great, my favorite time of the year, and birds are plentiful everywhere. Call it a Birding Derby.
This past week two new species were added for the fall. Okay, maybe they are not as exciting as the lark sparrow and marbled godwits reported in last week’s column, but they are seasonal arrivals rather than departures for points south.
Fish crows are winter residents on the Island, but the flocks usually show up in mid-to-late-October rather than mid-September. So the two fish crows spotted by John Nelson near the end of the seawall by Farm Pond early on the morning of Sept. 14 are intriguing. Are they early migrants or does their presence indicate that we might finally have this species as a year-round resident? I saw one of them later that morning as it flew noisily across the road toward Farm Pond.
A much more charismatic species is the peregrine falcon. Pete Gilmore spotted a juvenile peregrine on Sept. 15 at Sepiessa Point and Lanny McDowell spotted one of them harassing a flock of migratory tree swallows on Sept. 8 at Katama. Tree swallows are acrobatic fliers as they pursue aerial insects, but peregrines are even more dynamic as they can fly in excess of 200 miles per hour as they dive in pursuit of their avian prey!
Another new species for the season is the marsh wren, the secretive visitor to the edges of our wetlands. Susan McCoy carefully observed one on Sept. 8 at Wompesket.
Bird Sightings
At least one of the two marbled godwits first spotted by Walt Looney on Sept. 10 is still around. I spotted a marbled godwit there on Sept. 14. My first indication of its presence was its distinctive “god-wit” call. Fortunately, it landed about 100 feet in front of me before heading off toward the Edgartown lighthouse. I also spotted the golden plover that has been with the black-bellied plovers there. It was first seen by Walt Looney on Sept. 10. Pete Gilmore, Susan Whiting and Lanny McDowell saw it the next day, while Jeff Bernier found it on Sept. 13.
Great egrets are found in flocks as they prepare to migrate south. Morgan Hodgson spotted 14 of them in the marsh adjacent to the West Basin on Sept. 15, a flock of up to nine egrets has been found regularly in the marshes of Felix Neck these past few weeks, and Kristina Kinsman Maynard spotted four great egrets at Pocha Pond on Sept. 14. Other hotspots for them are the large marshes of Cape Pogue, the Edgartown end of Sengekontacket Pond and Menemsha. Single egrets can also still be found, and Virginia Jones found one at Pond View Farm in late August.
As their name suggests, solitary sandpipers are often solitary. But Lanny McDowell spotted six of them at State Forest Headquarters Pond on Sept. 12. Kath MayWaite saw them the next day and one was still there when Luanne Johnson visited on Sept. 14.
Most of the osprey have left already. The ones remaining are likely this year’s fledglings from here and/or further north. John Banks saw two of them at Waterview Farm on Sept. 2.
On Sept. 12, Cliff Erich spotted two ravens in a cemetery, so that species is still around although sightings have been scarce.
Both Jim Suozzo and Virginia Jones have been hearing screech owls calling at their homes in West Tisbury and Oak Bluffs. Another year-round resident is the black-crowned night-heron, and on Sept. 11 Lisa Maxfield found an adult and juvenile at Brush Pond. Their less common cousin, a yellow-crowned night-heron, was spotted by Scott McCullough at Felix Neck on Aug. 26.
The most recent report of the always popular and showy black skimmers is John Banks’ report of 18 black skimmers at north end of Sengekontacket Pond on Sept. 10.
Lots of songbirds are around as well. Kath MayWaite found an ovenbird in woods near Wilson’s Landing Boat Ramp to Edgartown Great Pond on Sept. 13. Also that day, the Felix Neck early birders found 31 species including an American redstart and five eastern bluebirds, and Lanny McDowell spotted a red-eyed vireo along Moshup’s Trail. Pete Gilmore visited the Gay Head Cliffs on Sept. 10 and found blue-winged and prairie warblers and a common yellowthroat.
One final sighting from John Nelson, who reports a flock of very pale robins were migrating through Harthaven on Sept. 14.
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant with Nature Watch LLC living in Vineyard Haven.
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