The second royal tern of the season was found by Matt Pelikan on July 12 on Norton Point Beach. This larger tern is about twice the size of the common and roseate terns and its red bill and black on top of its head make it fairly conspicuous in mixed species flocks. The closest nesting area is along the shorelines of southern Chesapeake Bay and North Carolina, so what are they doing here, so far north of their breeding grounds? The phenomenon where birds move northward after their breeding season is called post-breeding dispersal. The royal tern is a good example of this phenomenon, as it is fairly widely reported in coastal Massachusetts in the summer.
The more traditional southward migration of shorebirds is now well underway. A whimbrel – one of the larger sandpipers standing about a foot tall, with a long down-curved beak – was spotted on Cape Poge near Shear Pen Pond on July 12, also by Matt Pelikan. Also on Cape Poge, Wendy Culbert spotted a black-bellied plover flying by on July 10.
Multiple shorebird reports come from Tisbury Great Pond. The most notable sighting from there is Brendan Burke’s July 10 sighting of a white-rumped sandpiper, which he photographed because their identification can be tricky. He also spotted seven black-bellied plovers, a killdeer, two least sandpipers, two semipalmated sandpipers, 12 short-billed dowitchers and both a greater and lesser yellowlegs. On July 12, Pete Gilmore added one semipalmated plover, 11 least sandpipers, two semipalmated sandpipers, and 16 short-billed dowitchers to this list. The day before, Mr. Gilmore spotted three greater yellowlegs near Sepiessa Point, which Mickey Karpa also saw. Will Turner spotted one of the short-billed dowitchers on July 11.
Norton Point Beach and Katama Bay were not as productive. On July 9, Brendan Burke spotted five black-bellied plovers, one lesser yellowlegs and six laughing gulls. Jeff Bernier spotted three short-billed dowitchers on July 8 and, on a nearby Katama Bay shoreline, Luanne Johnson and Margaret Curtin saw four spotted sandpipers and one Cooper’s hawk.
At Eel Pond on July 11, Walt Looney spotted three semipalmated plovers, one killdeer, one greater yellowlegs and one bobwhite in the willow thickets at nearby Ox Pond Meadow. Jeff Bernier added green heron to the list on July 10, while on July 7 he added a mallard family with five ducklings, a great egret and a spotted sandpiper.
Bird Sightings
The lone osprey chick from the Oak Bluffs Pumping Station flew for the first time on July 12. The story behind this chick is interesting – the mother died after she collided with nearby power lines but the dad persevered; another female moved in and eventually contributed to the care of the young chick, which has now fledged and left the nest.
On to the songbirds! A salt marsh sparrow was spotted by Warren Woessner at the western end of Mattakesett Bay on July 11. That same day, Bob Shriber observed an orchard oriole and a scarlet tanager in Aquinnah. Pat Moynahan and Nancy Houlihan spotted a field sparrow at Wasque Reservation on July 10. Brendan Burke saw chimney swifts in downtown Edgartown on July 10, while Ian Buzby had cedar waxwings at South Beach State Park.
Of course there is also a healthy dose of baby bird sightings this week. Young Baltimore orioles were spotted by both Holly Mercier and Clint Merrill, while a family of tufted titmice were observed by Allouise Morgan. A pair of house finches nested in Julie McNary’s planter. Both Pat Moynahan and Nancy Houlihan report families of eastern kingbirds. A fledgling eastern towhee – which looks nothing like either parent – was spotted by Brendan Burke. Susan Whiting reports families of bluebirds, tree swallows and house sparrows, while Austin Simonin has a family of great crested flycatchers with three nestlings in one of the nest boxes he made. And Holly Mercier spotted a family of killdeer with two downy chicks.
It is exciting that Rita Brown spotted a covey of 11 young quail along Meetinghouse Way in Edgartown. And all of a sudden “wild” turkey broods are being seen – they are anything but wild! Three different families of 14 chicks were observed by Sandra Talanian in Vineyard Haven, by Mary Volpe in Katama and by Jean McCarthy in Oak Bluffs. Candy Lincoln only saw 10 in her brood while Patricia Covino saw a family of eight chicks.
Lastly, lingering waterfowl are in the news. At Long Point on July 10, Brendan Burke spotted 10 red-breasted mergansers, while on July 7 off the Gay Head Cliffs he spotted seven common eiders and four surf scoters. And Susan Whiting spotted a white-winged scoter Tisbury Great Pond and another one continues to hang out near Little Beach.
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant with Nature Watch LLC living in Vineyard Haven.
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