Migrating shorebirds, seabirds, insect-eaters and sparrows arrive as June also arrives.
One of the most impressive shorebirds to me is the whimbrel, a large sandpiper with a long down-curved beak. Nancy Nordin spotted two of them, along with eight ruddy turnstones and four dunlins, at Eel Pond on May 26.
Chris Scott added a semipalmated plover at Eel Pond on May 26, Margaret Curtin saw one there back on May 16, Matt Born found one at Clay Pit Road in Aquinnah on May 17, Haley Johnson observed three at State Beach on May 27, and Lisa Maxfield discovered one at Tashmoo Beach on May 28.
Matt Born observed a least sandpiper at Clay Pit Road on May 27, the day after he watched two great shearwaters (seabirds) flying by off Squibnocket Point.
Sightings of birds that catch insects on the wing include a purple martin and two species of flycatchers. The trio of Nancy Weaver, Luanne Johnson and David Padulo found a purple martin off Meetinghouse Way on May 26. That day Chris Scott found a least flycatcher at Bold Meadow, and the next day I heard and then saw one at Squibnocket North on May 27. Then Bob Shriber heard and saw a willow flycatcher calling along Moshup Trail on May 29. As far as I can tell, hearing their distinctive calls (che-bek versus fitz-bew, respectively) is far and away the best way to distinguish between these two similar-looking flycatchers.
Another arriving migrant is the saltmarsh sparrow, a species that will nest in many of our salt marshes. I spotted one in the marsh along Edgartown Bay Road on May 26, Dana Bangs found two at the Caroline Tuthill Preserve on May 27, Jo Robertson found three along State Beach on May 28, Chris Scott located two on Norton Point on May 28, and Bridget Dunnigan and Sea Williams discovered one on Norton Point on May 30.
Jeff Bernier photographed what looks like a female ring-necked pheasant at Herring Creek Farm on May 23, but Matt Pelikan points out that it is most likely an immature male since there is some red on its face. This suggests that the bird hatched last year and survived the winter and is now molting into its adult plumage. Matt Born also observed a pheasant at Clay Pit Road on May 31. A close relative, a northern bobwhite, has also been seen this month. Sam Wainright spotted two at Squibnocket North on May 19 and Heidi Macy observed one at Felix Neck on May 21.
Mourning doves are so common that they are seldom mentioned in this column. Their soft coo-ing is easily recognized, and they are likely heard more frequently than they are seen, although they are easy to see. There were 14 reports of them across the Island this week. They are early nesters, and their first brood is likely fully grown, so look for the ones with white feather tips and whitish markings on its head. Those birds were hatched this spring.
Virginia rails can be rather noisy at this time of the year as they are territorial in their freshwater marshes. Nancy Weaver located six of them in a marsh near Old South Road in Aquinnah, where she saw three and heard three others calling.
The yellow-crowned night-heron is still lingering at Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary. The following observers found it: Nancy Nordin on May 14, Nancy Weaver on May 15, Chris Scott on May 18, Walt Looney and Bob Shriber on May 27, and Ruth Richards on May 28.
Snowy egrets are still hanging around down-Island. There are enough of them around to make me wonder where they are nesting. Sharon Simonin saw one at Farm Pond on May 25, Lisa Maxfield found one at Brush Pond on May 26 and three at Tashmoo Beach on May 28, Hanon McShea observed one near the Big Bridge on May 28, and Nancy Weaver discovered one at the pumping station on May 29.
Whip-poor-wills have been heard chanting recently. Francesca Zeta heard one on South Vine street in West Tisbury on May 10, the same day that Luanne Johnson heard one at her Werst Tisbury home. Nancy Nordin heard one at her West Tisbury home on May 13, Rand Burnett heard one at Bayview avenue on Chappaquiddick on the nights of May 18 to May 20, and Pam Goff heard one at her Chilmark home on May 27. I have not had any reports from the state forest headquarters, but they are there every year.
Robins are just about everywhere, way more common than any other thrush. Eastern bluebirds are next most common. Rob and Pam Davey found one at Menemsha Hills on May 24, and the Martha’s Vineyard Bird Club observed four at the state forest on May 31, as did Walt Looney.
Bob Shriber watched a wood thrush along Old South Road on May 28, and Matt Born located a Swainson’s thrush along Clay Pit Road in Aquinnah on May 31.
Interesting sparrows are few and far between. Chris Scott found a field sparrow in Bold Meadow on May 26, and the bird club spotted two (thanks to Barry Burden) in the field east of the state forest headquarters on May 31. And Nancy Weaver observed one lingering white-throated sparrow at the pumping station on May 29.
Finally, some lingering warblers. Evan Hammond observed the yellow-throated warbler in its usual location along John Hoft Road near Flat Bottom Pond, Penny Uhlendorf found the worm-eating warbler along Northern Pines Road (a new location) on May 25, and Dana Bangs found it there on May 26.
I spotted and heard a chestnut-sided warbler near John Butler’s Mudhole on May 26. The next day I found two blackpoll warblers at Squibnocket North, and Bob Shriber saw a female blackpoll warbler (an unusual sighting in the spring) in Aquinnah on May 30.
Please note that the bird club’s bird walks will be every other Monday, with the next walk at the state forest headquarters from 7 to 9 a.m. on June 16. All the walks are free and everybody is welcome!
Please email your sightings to [email protected].
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant living in Vineyard Haven.
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