The northward migration that started in January and February is almost over. We will get a few more migrants, but now most birds have settled into the nesting season. So, the attention of many birders shifts to watching for behaviors documenting that the species is nesting. These behaviors include carrying vegetation used to build a nest, carrying food to feed youngsters and, of course, seeing fledglings that may or may not still be fed by their parents. And in the process of looking for these behaviors you might see other interesting behavior; I saw a common yellowthroat foraging much like a chickadee does, hanging upside-down to access morsels hiding on the undersides of the leaves.
Mute swan cygnets were observed this week. At Tisbury Great Pond Laura Hearn watched six small cygnets on June 2. Polly Basset found four small cygnets at Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary on June 4, but a few days later Jeff Bernier reports only two cygnets remain. Wild turkeys (wild in name only) also have chicks. Chris Scott found a hen with one chick at Katama Farm on June 2. Of course, many more mute swans and turkeys have chicks.
Suzanne Goldsmith-Hirsch watched a pair of killdeer utilizing their broken-wing display at Long Point on June 5 to lure the threat (which was us) away from their three chicks. Ian Boardman observed the same displays by four killdeers at Squibnocket Pond on June 5.
Jerry and Sandra Twomey report that the screech owls in one of their Edgartown nest boxes are about to fledge on June 3. The next day Gretchen Lally videoed a young screech owl making its first flight from a Katama nest box. In other nest box news, Wayne Smith reports that his eastern bluebirds fledged on June 5.
Sea Williams and Bridget Dunnigan saw hairy woodpeckers feeding their young in the woods at Tisbury Meadow on June 6. Ron Zentner photographed a fledgling common grackle on East Chop on June 3. And the trio of Chris and Ben Schmandt and Mason Bunker observed a blue-winged warbler at Great Rock Bight that was carrying nesting material on June 7.
Snowy egrets have been regularly seen and must be nesting somewhere, but where? We might be able to find the colony by watching their early morning and late afternoon flights to and from their nesting colony to relieve their mates with nest duty. Chris Scott watched a snowy at Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary on June 2, while Bridget Dunnigan and Sea Williams may have observed the same bird at nearby Eel Pond the next day. Carolyn Anderson found one at James Pond on June 3 and Nancy Weaver and Janet Woodcock found two at Edy’s Island in Menemsha on June 6.
Chimney swifts are widely reported this week. Penny Uhlendorf and Scott Stephens report at least a dozen of them flying over Pilot Hill Farm on May 28, Dana Bangs found one at Tashmoo Springs on June 1, Ruth Richards saw one at Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary on June 2, Jennifer Sepanara observed one along Oak Lane in West Tisbury on June 3, Brearley Ward saw three over Ocean Park on June 5, and Jacob Llodra spotted four over downtown Vineyard Haven on June 6. Are any of these swifts nesting in tree cavities, as they must have done before we started building chimneys?
As mentioned above, migration continues but at a much lower rate. Of the waterbirds, Carolyn Anderson found one black tern amongst 20 common terns and 20 roseate terns at Dogfish Bar on June 2, while Aaron Kowalski photographed a common murre offshore from Squibnocket Beach on June 6. And I was pleasantly surprised to find a storm-petrel (I could not distinguish between a Leach’s or a Wilson’s) swimming close to shore at Squibnocket Beach on June 9.
Nancy Weaver reported a lingering horned grebe in full breeding regalia at Eel Pond on June 1, and later that day it was found by Shea Fee, Nancy Nordin and Margaret Curtin. Those who found it the next day were Susan and Stuart Santos, Ruth Richards, Susan Whiting. Sea Williams and Bridget Dunnigan located it on June 3 and Chris Scott saw it on June 8.
How long will it linger? It’s breeding range is from northwest Minnesota to Alaska.
Charles Morano heard and finally saw an Acadian flycatcher along Donaldbin Close on June 5, while Jacob Llodra heard and spotted a willow flycatcher at the Gay Head Cliffs on June 8.
Bob Shriber heard a yellow-billed cuckoo near Beetlebung Corner and Kristen Geagen heard one at Squibnocket Pond Reservation South, both on June 6.
Black-bellied plovers and ruddy turnstones predominate the shorebird migration, but they are not alone. Nancy Weaver spotted four sanderlings, a least sandpiper, and a semipalmated sandpiper at Katama Bay on June 3, Dana Bangs found a semipalmated sandpiper at James Pond Preserve on June 3, Jacob Llodra observed four short-billed dowitchers and one red knot on Norton Point on June 7 and a spotted sandpiper on the beach at Menemsha Hills on June 8.
Laughing gulls are around too. Nancy Nordin saw six at Mattakesett Bay Boat Ramp on June 2, Nancy Weaver observed three on Katama Bay on June 3, Jacob Llodra found three on Norton Point on June 7 (are they all the same individuals?), and Hannah Martin located one at Lighthouse Beach on June 8.
I heard but did not see a northern mockingbird singing at Ocean Park on June 6. I expected to find either tree or barn swallows there but no such luck. While both of those species are widespread across the Island, bank swallows are much less common. This week Jennifer Slossberg counted 12 banks at James Pond Preserve on June 1 and three banks at the Hoft farm on June 3, while Nancy Nordin observed two banks at Eel Pond on June 1. Joshua Cohen spotted four banks at James Pond Preserve on June 5, Ben Schmandt and Mason Bunker found four banks at Lambert’s Cove Beach on June 7, and Jacob Llodra had seven banks at Menemsha Hills on June 8.
Please email your sightings to [email protected].
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant living in Vineyard Haven.
Comments
Comment policy »