Some brightly colored birds (orioles, tanagers and grosbeaks) are now migrating north through Central America. And storms cross from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico before making their way northward to us. The storms may cross over the southeastern states en route to New England or they may cross Florida into the Atlantic Ocean before heading north. Birds that are caught up within the strong storm winds may be carried with the storm all the way to our yards, providing us with an unexpected splash of red, orange, blue, black or white, brightening a perhaps otherwise drab spring day. Keep alert for this over the next few weeks, before the rest of the migrants wing their way northward.
Only four checklists were submitted on ebird on April 13 because the weather was, shall we say, not very conducive to going outside looking for birds as there was steady rain throughout the day. However, Norma Holmes did not have to leave her house to spot a ruby-throated hummingbird in her Katama yard on April 13. This was about two weeks early, as they usually arrive in the last few days of April.
David Benvent heard a Virginia rail calling from Pond Road in West Tisbury just after midnight on April 5. And Bob Shriber and Nancy Weaver located a Virginia rail in a marshy area near Philbin Beach on April 10. Are these individuals lingering winter residents or migrants?
Two other firsts of season species were reported on April 10. That day Lisa Maxfield spotted a snowy egret stalking through a marsh at Brush Pond and it appeared again on April 13. And the first laughing gulls have returned. Clemens Anklin found one on Norton Point on April 10 and David Padulo saw three at Ocean Park on April 13.
There were many larger flocks of shorebirds reported in April. Claire Walter and David Benvent saw 30 black-bellied plovers, 15 sanderlings and 50 dunlin at State Beach on April 1. David Benvent, Claire Walter and Shawn Wallace found 25 sanderling at Quansoo on April 2. Shawn Wallace and David Benvent observed 30 black-bellied plovers and 80 dunlin on Norton Point on April 3. Janet Woodcock and Nancy Weaver watched 22 sanderling at Dogfish Bar on April 8, and David Padulo watched 37 sanderling and 24 dunlin on Norton Point on April 11. Nancy Weaver saw 12 purple sandpipers in Aquinnah on April 7.
Flocks of northern gannets can put on quite a show. David Padulo counted 27 from South Beach on April 6, and Nancy Weaver and Janet Woodcock spotted 18 off Dogfish Bar on April 8. Anne Culbert and I were a quarter of a mile north of the right fork when at least 10 of them were in the bright sunlight flashing their shiny white plumage as they flew over the ocean on April 8. Lindsay Allison spotted 50 gannets plunge diving into the ocean from Wasque on April 9, and Olsen Houghton observed seven near the West Chop pier on April 13.
Black-crowned night-herons and great egrets nest here. David Padulo saw a night heron at Sheriff’s Meadow sanctuary on April 10. Nancy Weaver had one at the pumping station on April 12, where she also spotted the only great blue heron seen this week (they do not nest here). Solitary great egrets were observed by Betsi Luce at Katama Bay on April 7, David Wilson at Mud Creek on April 8, Jeff Bernier at Eel Pond on April 9 and David Padulo at Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary on April 10. The next day Janet Woodcock and Nancy Weaver saw one at Brush Pond, and David Padulo spotted another at Long Point on April 11.
Horned grebes are still lingering offshore from Aquinnah. On April 2, David Benvent and Shawn Wallace spotted 12 from Lobsterville Beach and two more off Moshup Trail, Tracy Winn located two off Lighthouse Road on April 4, and Clemens Anklin watched two from the Gay Head Cliffs on April 10.
In news of thrushes, Bob Shriber, Nancy Weaver, Luanne Johnson and Janet Woodcock spotted two hermit thrushes in Aquinnah April 7, Shea Fee found two bluebirds at Long Point on April 10, Sea Williams and Bridget Dunnigan observed two bluebirds at the Frisbee golf course on April 11, and David Padulo spotted a bluebird at Long Point on April 11.
The barred owl has returned to downtown Edgartown; Margaret Curtin heard one calling on School street on April 9. For several years it has been calling anywhere between Sheriff’s Meadow and Morning Glory Farm, but we have yet to find evidence of a pair nesting here.
Lanny McDowell found a lingering merlin hunting the fields at Katama on April 10, and American kestrels are still lingering; David Benvent and Claire Walter found one at Cove Meadow on April 4 and I spotted one on April 14 as it was hunting near Mattakesett Way.
Ray Ewing watched a bald eagle trying to steal a fish from a much smaller osprey — a trademark behavior called kleptoparasitism — in West Tisbury on April 11. In other eagle news, Nancy Weaver saw one adult at the pumping station on March 28 and then saw another adult over Lagoon Pond on April 6. Joanie Ames watched an adult over the fields at the entrance to Seven Gates Farm on April 4, and Garret Burt found one at The Preserve off County Road in Oak Bluffs on April 5.
Finally, Shea Fee had the good fortune of seeing 20 ospreys fishing around Thumb Cove of Tisbury Great Pond on April 2. And here is some good news for the friends of osprey cams — Felix Neck just announced that their new osprey camera is live on the internet. Check it out.
Please email your sightings to birds@vineyardgazette.com.
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant living in Vineyard Haven.
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