Brightly colored birds have arrived in various shades of blue, green, yellow, rufous, gray, brown, orange, black, red and white. Not all colors are on the same bird. Northward migration is peaking now, with 19 new species for the year arriving this week. The peak will continue for another month.
Four of the arriving species do not usually nest here. Janet Woodcock and Nancy Weaver observed a palm warbler at Tashmoo Springs on April 25 and they spotted one spotted sandpiper along the shores of Edgartown Great Pond on April 27. John Nelson found two male indigo buntings in Harthaven on April 25, and Barry Burden observed a white-eyed vireo at the Pumping Station on April 26. Both Bob Shriber and Nancy Nordin found it again the next day.
The remaining species nest here, though that does not mean that the birds we are seeing now will not head further north while “our” nesting birds have yet to arrive.
Bob Shriber saw three willets on Norton Point on April 23, and Janet Woodcock observed four at John Butler’s Mudhole on April 27.
Green herons are one of my favorite birds, but you need some imagination to find any green on them. Nancy Weaver watched one at Tashmoo Springs on April 24, and Janet Woodcock and Nancy Weaver found it again the next day. Mariah Thornton spotted a glossy ibis at Sweetened Water Farm on April 27, and Bridget Dunnigan and Sea Williams also saw it later that day.
The terns that nest on our beaches started to return this week. Nancy Nordin spotted three least terns on Norton Point on April 21, Bernice McIntyre found a common tern on Ferry Boat Island on April 22, and Bob Shriber observed 15 common terns and at least 250 roseate terns off Aquinnah on April 27.
Black skimmers were first reported in last week’s column but they are worth reporting again; Jeff Bernier observed two of them on Norton Point on April 24 and a large flock of them there on April 27.
Jeff Bernier spotted an eastern kingbird in Katama on April 23, and Lisa Maxfield observed two kingbirds along Edgartown’s Brailey’s Way on April 25. The first great crested flycatchers are eagerly anticipated; Patsy Donovan is the first to see one, at Blackwater Pond on April 27.
Other swallows are now joining the much earlier arriving tree swallows. There are multiple reports of barn swallow this week. On April 23 Nancy Weaver found two at the pumping station and two others in downtown Vineyard Haven. On April 27, Jennifer Slossberg observed six barn swallows near Tea Lane Farm, Janet Woodcock watched three swooping around John Butler’s Mudhole, and Sea Williams and Bridget Dunnigan discovered six at Sweetened Water Farm. That same day both Bob Shriber and Nancy Nordin located one barn and three rough-winged swallows at the pumping station.
Gray catbirds arrived this week and will be common Island-wide all summer. Nancy Nordin observed one at Tashmoo Springs on April 21. On April 24 Cynthia Bloomquist and Thaw Malin spotted one at their West Tisbury home, and Lindsay Allison found one near Cove Meadow Preserve. Chris Schmandt watched two at Great Rock Bight on April 25, and Justin Kane and Becca Mitchel had one near Longview on April 27.
Nancy Nordin spotted a hermit thrush at Tashmoo Springs on April 21, contrasting with to the bright orange, black and white of a male Baltimore oriole. Holly Mercier spotted a male Baltimore oriole at her Edgartown home on April 23, as did Polly Bassett. Sea Williams and Bridget Dunnigan found one along Beth’s Way on April 26, and Cindy Jackson observed one along the Boulevard on April 27. Nancyn Nordin heard and saw the “other” oriole, an orchard oriole, singing at the pumping station on April 27.
Warbler sightings are becoming more frequent. Nancy Weaver found one yellow warbler at the pumping station on April 23, Bob Shriber located two yellows in Aquinnah on April 25 and Barry Burden had three yellows at the pumping station on April 26. Margaret Curtin spotted one yellow at the intersection of Meeting House and Middle Roads on April 27. That same day, both Bob Shriber and Nancy Nordin saw three yellow warblers at the pumping station.
Marie Larsen observed a northern parula at Great Rock Bight on April 23, and Nancy Weaver and Janet Woodcock report six parulas there on April 25.
Jennifer Slossberg spotted an American redstart, a northern parula and a pine warbler along the Tiasquam River on April 27,
There were two reports of black, rosey-red and white male rose-breasted grosbeaks this week. Ione Bissonnette found a male in Oak Bluffs on April 25 and Barry Burden had one at the pumping station on April 26.
Eastern towhees are returning. There were nine reports in the first three weeks of April (mostly up-Island) and 23 reports across the entire Island from April 21 to April 26: Polly Bassett on April 19; Betsi Luce, Matt Pelikan, Bill Jones, Tom Hodgson and Michael Ditchfield on April 20; Nancy Weaver, Cynthia Bloomquist, Jennifer Slossberg and Nancy Nordin on April 21; Sioux Eagle, Jeri Danzig, Danguole Budris spotted them on April 22; Pat Ingalls and Richard Price on April 23; Bob Shriber, Nancy Weaver, Janet Woodcock, Chris Schmandt and Margaret Curtin on April 25; and Bridget Dunnigan and Sea Williams on April 26.
Of course, some towhees spend the winter here; Joanne Carroll had three pairs visiting her yard all winter on Chappaquiddick.
Winter resident white-throated sparrows and dark-eyed juncos are still llingering. Cynthia Bloomquist reports four juncos and two white-throateds at her West Tisbury home on April 21, Nancy Nordin spotted a white-throated at Tashmoo Springs on April 21, Jennifer Slossberg observed two juncos on Abel’s Hill on April 22, and Richard Price saw four white-throateds at Felix Neck on April 23, the same day that Jennifer Slossberg spotted two white-throateds near Middle Line Road in Chilmark.
Finally, Sharon Simonin reports the first goslings of the year, with three small goslings with parents at Farm Pond on April 27.
Please email your sightings to birds@vineyardgazette.com.
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant living in Vineyard Haven
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