Four migrant warblers were spotted this week. Jacob Llodra found one blackburnian warbler along Pease’s Point Way on May 25, and Nick Teague spotted a bay-breasted warbler at Seven Gates on May 25 and a worm-eating warbler at the Hoft Farm on May 30.
Blackpoll warblers were seen along Moshup Trail. Bob Shriber observed one on May 25 and Nick Teague located two on May 27. Elsewhere, David Padulo saw one at Sheriff’s Meadow sanctuary on May 25 and another at Menemsha Hills on May 26. Nick Teague observed one at Menemsha Hills on May 27, and Ruth Richards found one at Lucy Vincent on May 28.
Norton Point is the place to go for shorebirds. I walked from the left fork to the breach on May 26, finding 14 species, including nesting piping plovers, American oystercatchers (with chicks), willets and killdeer in addition to the following transients: 90 black-bellied plovers, four semipalmated plovers, one short-billed dowitcher, one greater yellowlegs, 380 ruddy turnstones (!), seven red knots, 125 sanderlings, 45 dunlins, three least sandpipers and two semipalmated sandpipers. Nick Teague spotted a spotted sandpiper at Seven Gates on May 26, and Jeff Bernier located another spottie at John Butler’s Mudhole on May 28.
On May 18, Diane Lucey found a male dickcissel in Chilmark, and Beth Biros discovered an adult red-headed woodpecker on Chappaquiddick.
On May 29, Kayla Smith found one purple finch at North Neck on May 18, and Cynthia Bloomquist and Thaw Malin observed one at their West Tisbury home on May 25.
A yellow-crowned night-heron is surprising; Brendan Lynch spotted one at Felix Neck on May 27.
The rest of the birds mentioned in this column may be summer residents rather than transients.
Bob Shriber, Nancy Weaver and Janet Woodcock found a willow flycatcher along Moshup Trail on May 25, as did Nick Teague on May 27. Ruth Richards spotted one at Lucy Vincent on May 28.
Orchard orioles abound. Nick Teague and Nancy Nordin both found one at the Gay Head Cliffs on May 18, Nick Teague observed one in the state forest on May 23. Four observers (Rich Couse, Shea Fee, Luanne Johnson and Nancy Weaver) located one at the Hoft Farm on May 25. Luke Ulicny discovered one at the Mill Pond on May 26, Derrob Hagy-Weatherbee spotted one at Dike Bridge on May 29, and Matt Pelikan had one at his Oak Bluffs’ home on May 31.
Yellow-billed cuckoos have been heard frequently. Lanny McDowell had one at his Vineyard Haven home on May 20, Polly Bassett heard one at her house on May 20, Charles Morano located two at Austin Pasture Road in Chilmark and one Squibnocket Pond Preservation North on May 21. On May 25, Rich Couse discovered one at the Hoft Farm and Bob Shriber located one along Moshup Trail. David Padulo had one at Menemsha Hills on May 26, and Janet Woodcock, Nancy Weaver, David Padulo and Ruth Richards each located one at Great Rock Bight on May 28.
Most ruby-throated hummingbirds reports come near feeders but not all of them. Rob and Pam Davey spotted one at Waskosim’s Rock Reservation on May 10, Kayla Smith found one at North Neck on May 18 and another at Caroline Tuthill Preserve on May 20. Charles Morano saw one at Squibnocket Pond Reservation north on May 21. Steve Carey located one at Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary on May 22, and Monica Carroll had one at Farm Pond on May 25. At Great Rock Bight, Nick Teague, Janet Woodcock, David Padulo, Nancy Weaver and Charles Morano each observed one at Great Rock Bight on May 28.
Cedar waxwings have been seen in every town: Moshup Trail (Nick Teague, May 27); Great Rock Bight (Ruth Richartds, David Padulo, Nancy Weaver, Janet Woodcock May 28 and Nick Teague, May 30); Seven Gates (Nick Teague, May 26); Menemsha Hills (Shea Fee, May 30); Abel’s Hill Cemetery (me, May 27); Mill Pond (Luke Ulicny, May 26); state forest, near the youth hostel (Bridget Dunnigan and Sea Williams, May 30); Kanomika Neck (Helena Firlings, May 27); Pocha Pond Preserve (Derrob Hagy-Weatherbee, May 26); Wasque (Luke Ulicny, May 30); Tisbury Meadow (Helena Firlings, May 25); Hoft Farm (Nancy Weaver, Luanne Johnson and Shea Fee, May 25 and Nick Teague, May 30); James Pond Preserve (Ruth Richards, Nancy Weaver and Janet Woodcock, May 26).
Shea Fee saw a field sparrow at Long Point on May 29, and Luke Ulicny observed another at Wasque on May 30.
Nick Teague spotted a rose-breasted grosbeak at Hoft Farm on May 30.
Nick Teague also found a merlin at Great Rock Bight on May 18. I observed one speeding past at the Gay Head Cliffs on May 20, and at Wasque, Derrob Hagy-Weatherbee watched one on May 29. Luke Ulicny located a pair on May 30.
Eastern bluebird chicks have already fledged. Laura Murphy had chicks hatch in her yard in early May, Sophie Lindheimer saw chicks being fed near Oyster Pond on May 25. Nick Teague watched three wood ducks with seven ducklings at a pond at the Hoft Farm on May 30.
The MV Bird Club Birding 101 walk in the State Forest on May 30 found 32 species, with the following highlights: four chimney swifts, one eastern phoebe, six bluebirds (including three fledglings), seven cedar waxwings, two field sparrows, three Baltimore orioles, five ovenbirds, two common yellowthroats, two pine warblers and one prairie warbler.
A flock of six great blue herons flying southwest over Seven Gates on May 23 (observed by Nick Teague) is unusual as single individuals are more likely. Maureen Brodoff found one at Felix Neck on May 23, Janet Woodcock, Nancy Weaver and Ruth Richards observed one at James Pond Preserve on May 26, Charles Wortz had one in Menemsha Harbor on May 26, and Luke Ulicny saw one as it flew over the Chappaquiddick Ferry on May 30.
Are these birds dispersing after a failed nesting attempt elsewhere?
Please email your sightings to [email protected].
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant living in Vineyard Haven.
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