We do not need to go into the field to find birds—bird feeders and shallow water will attract them to our yards. Common year-round residents like cardinals, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches and woodpeckers readily come and may bring recently arrived migrants with them.
Wendy Culbert and I spotted three first-of-season migrants arriving at our feeders: two red-breasted nuthatches, three dark-eyed juncos and one purple finch on Nov. 7 and 8. And Sioux Eagle had the first red-breasted nuthatches visit her feeders on Nov. 8.
Of course feeders are fun but we see a lot more when we go out across the Island looking for birds. The rest of this column highlights our findings from the field, including seven species that are new seasonal arrivals.
Rich Couse found two long-tailed ducks in Katama Bay on Nov. 5 and Susan Whiting observed three of them off Moshup Trail on Nov. 9. The quartet of Susan Whiting, Bob Shriber, Liam Waters and Lucy Cousins spotted two ring-necked ducks (usually a fresh-water species) at Black Point Pond Nov. 10.
Two American coots showed up at Crystal Lake this week. Nancy Nordin was the first to report them on Nov. 4, Chris Scott saw them the next day and Lisa Maxfield, Wendy Culbert and I found them again on Nov. 9. Susan Whiting located a red-necked grebe in the ocean off Moshup Trail on Nov. 9.
Bob Shriber, Susan Whiting, Nancy Nordin and Nancy Weaver carefully observed two difficult to identify western sandpipers at Chilmark Pond on Nov. 9, Nancy Weaver and Bob Shriber found four razorbills off the Gay Head cliffs on Nov. 6 and Bob Shriber heard and then saw a Lapland longspur fly past the Gay Head cliffs on Nov. 10.
There are two species of unusual interest. The Eurasian wigeon first spotted last week at Crystal Lake is still there. Nancy Nordin saw it on Nov. 4, Charles Morano found it the next day and on Nov. 9 Lisa Maxfield, Wendy Culbert and I observed it.
More intriguing is the brown pelican, which last week headed from Edgartown Harbor to Aquinnah. Rich Couse and William Hamson saw it in Menemsha Pond on Nov. 5, Danguole Budris watched it offshore of Lobsterville Beach on Nov. 6, Liz Witham observed it at Pilot’s Landing on Nov. 8 and Bob Shriber located it at the Gay Head cliffs on Nov. 10.
Maybe there are two? On the morning of Nov. 11, Shea Fee saw one at Long Point and shortly after that Bob Shriber had one at Lobsterville Beach!
The southward migration is winding down and a number of species are approaching their winter population levels. On Nov. 4, Chris Scott found eight red-breasted mergansers in Aquinnah and Charles Morano observed 24 at Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary. Bob Shriber spotted 22 in Aquinnah on Nov. 6 and I hit the jackpot—counting 230 of them flocked together at Norton Point on Nov. 10. Interestingly, the same day Margaret Curtin, Luanne Johnson and Nancy Weaver observed 200 bufflehead at Norton Point. I did not see that many bufflehead and they did not see that many mergansers.
Susan Whiting, Bob Shriber, Liam Waters and Lucy Cousins counted 64 ruddy ducks in Tisbury Great Pond on Nov. 10. High counts of the two species of loons include Bob Shriber with seven red-throateds and 10 commons off Aquinnah on Nov. 6. On Nov. 10 Margaret Curtin discovered 16 red-throateds and six commons at Crackatuxet Cove, while Ben Schmandt saw 20 red-throateds and 10 commons off Moshup Trail. Charles Morano counted 42 Bonaparte’s gulls at Crystal Lake on Nov. 5 and Nancy Weaver had 20 of them off the Gay Head cliffs on Nov. 6.
Hermit thrushes are suddenly more common as there have been 10 sightings in wooodlands in all the towns except Vineyard Haven. Most of the sightings are of individual birds but on Nov. 2 Susan Whiting and Nancy Nordin spotted two at Old Fields Path. Charles Morano also had three at Wasque on Nov. 3 and Jennifer Slossberg found two near Old Farm Road in Chilmark on Nov. 8.
There have been seven sightings of the hard-to-find brown creepers this week. Charles Morano saw one at Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary on Nov. 4, the next day Thaw Malin and Cynthia Bloomquist located one at their West Tisbury home and William Hamson and Rich Couse found one in woodlands near Katama Farm. On Nov. 8, Charles Morano spotted one near the right fork in Katama and Sea Williams and Bridget Dunnigan observed one in the state forest. Joshua Fishman saw one near Vineyard Haven harbor on Nov. 9. Wendy Culbert and I discovered one at Cedar Tree Neck on Nov. 11. There already have been five sightings of sharp-shinned hawks this month. Shea Fee spotted one at Cove Meadow on Nov. 3, Bob Shriber found one in Aquinnah on Nov. 7, Wendy Culbert and I observed two on Nov. 9 (one at Tisbury Marketplace and one at the East Chop lighthouse) and Ben Schmandt spotted one off Moshup Trail on Nov. 10.
Lingering species that many may have thought had already departed our shores were also seen this week. Most notably, on Nov. 10 Ben Schmandt saw a killdeer off Moshup Trail on Nov. 10, Margaret Curtin spotted a spotted sandpiper at Crackatuxet Cove, I observed two semipalmated sandpipers on Norton Point and Susan Whiting watched a dickcissel at Quenames Nov.10. Bob Shriber saw one red-eyed vireo and one Nashville warbler in Aquinnah on Nov. 7 and Allan Keith observed an orange-crowned warbler and a yellow-breasted chat on Nov. 9 at Squibnocket Point.
Finally, here is an interesting ecology story about red-tailed hawks hunting in newly mowed fields. Susan Whiting saw one hunting a newly mowed field at Quenames on Nov. 7 and Holly Mercier watched a seemingly tame adult red-tail on a nearby osprey pole and then on the ground near the tractor she was using to mow a field in Edgartown on Nov. 8. Both hawks were taking advantage of our tendency to mow meadws, making it easier to hunt small mammals who were exposed within the much shorter vegetation.
Please email your sightings to birds@vineyardgazette.com.
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant with Nature Watch living in Vineyard Haven.
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