To say that we had some cold temperatures overnight on Feb. 3 and 4 would be a huge understatement! My outside thermometer, located in one of the warmest parts of Vineyard Haven, registered minus two degrees Farenheit on Saturday morning at 8 a.m.
So how does this affect birds? Certainly they have to eat more food to keep their fires burning. But there are behavioral changes as well.
Daryl Kaeka Sr. posted a photo of the Vineyard Haven fish crows hiding out of the wind on a windowsill, porch and roof. Rick Karney posted a photo of a nest-like structure in a bluebird box where multiple bluebirds likely roost for the night. And that coldest morning I observed that the birds visiting my feeder sat on the deck with their legs tucked into their feathers and reaching for nearby seeds; they did not run around picking up occasional seeds. They must have read the weather forecasts that asked us to keep as much skin covered as possible to avoid frostbite.
For me, it is always exciting to add a new species to our year list. This happens regularly as we see about 270 species every year. So far this year we have recorded close to 130 species; the Christmas Bird Count accounts for 123 of them since it was held on Jan. 1. There are three new species in this week’s column.
Nancy Nordin spotted a white-crowned sparrow in the thickets near the amphitheater at the head of Lake Tashmoo on Jan. 27. This sparrow is larger than most sparrows and is quite distinctive with its black and white striped crown and overall plain grayish coloration from throat to belly. It is one of my favorite sparrows to find since we do not see more than a couple of them per year. She also spotted one hermit thrush, one fox sparrow, one white-throated sparrow and one eastern towhee in those thickets.
Nickilas Paulson added the second new species for the year: on Jan. 28 he found a pied-billed grebe at Felix Neck. I am sure there are several of them around the Island but their small size and secretive habits make them hard to find.
Now back to Nancy Nordin, who found the third new species for the year: laughing gulls. On Feb. 4, she saw two of them at Eastville Beach. This species is abundant in the fall but they generally do not linger into the winter.
There were two reports of snow buntings this week. Nickilas Paulson observed a flock of seven at Eastville Point Beach on Jan. 28 and on Jan. 30 Charles Morano saw two of them at the same location.
American woodcocks are at it again this winter along Moshup Trail. On Jan. 30 Bob Shriber heard two woodcocks peenting — a call they make between springtime courtship flights — at dusk at Philbin Beach. They were there last winter too. On Feb. 4 Patrick Phillips found two roadside woodcocks along Moshup Trail that cooperated enough that he got to photograph them.
In other Aquinnah news, Dan Cohan spotted a brown thrasher at his feeders on Jan. 28.
The seabird show continues and not just in Aquinnah! On Jan. 28, Nickilas Paulson — an active birder this week — found four dovekies and 10 razorbills at the Gay Head Cliffs, while at South Beach he added one red-necked grebe and one thick-billed murre. Cynthia Bloomquist, Thaw Malin and Nancy Nordin counted 42 razorbills and six red-throated loons off the Gay Head Cliffs on Jan. 29. Luanne Johnson saw a razorbill from Beach Road in Vineyard Haven on Jan. 30.
Charles Morano found a thick-billed murre as it was resting on the beach at the right-fork end of South Beach State Park on Feb. 2. And at Squibnocket Beach on Feb. 5, Bob Shriber and Lanny McDowell saw 56 razorbills, seven black-legged kittiwakes, one glaucous gull, three Bonaparte’s gulls, two lesser black-backed gulls and one northern gannet.
Greater yellowlegs continue to linger into the winter. On Jan. 28, Nickilas Paulson observed two at Felix Neck. On Jan. 29 the quartet of Margaret Curtin, Nancy Weaver, Shea Fee and Luanne Johnson spotted four at Felix Neck. Also that day Bob Shriber saw one at the West Basin. Sharon Simonin spotted one on Jan. 31 at Farm Pond. Bob Shriber found two in Aquinnah on Feb. 3.
Elsewhere on the shorebird front, Debbie Dean observed three purple sandpipers at Spring Point on Jan. 30. Charles Morano spotted one black-bellied plover, nine ruddy turnstones, 90 sanderlings and 75 dunlin on Jan. 29 at Little Beach. On Feb. 4 during an unusually low tide at Sarson’s Island, I saw two black-bellied plovers, five sanderlings and 35 dunlin.
Secretive marsh dwellers Virginia rails were seen by Nickilas Paulson on Jan. 28 at Felix Neck. Tony Lima spotted one the next day at Farm Pond, along with an eastern phoebe and an American tree sparrow. On Feb. 2, Matt Pelikan also spotted an eastern phoebe along with two hermit thrushes at the Hoft Farm. Molly Jacobson spotted a phoebe at Elizabeth’s Pond at Felix Neck on Jan. 27.
Finally, eagles and hawks. Sharon Simonin watched an immature bald eagle as it flew over the west arm of the Lagoon on Jan. 29. I spotted two falcons: a peregrine as it flew rapidly over icy Sengekontacket Pond from Oak Bluffs toward Edgartown on Feb. 3, and a lingering immature merlin the next day at Katama Farm. Tony Lima found another merlin on Jan. 29 at Quansoo Farm. And Molly Jacobson spotted a sharp-shinned hawk over Vineyard Haven outer harbor on Jan. 27.
Please email your sightings to birds@vineyardgazette.com.
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant with Nature Watch LLC, living in Vineyard Haven.
Comments
Comment policy »