Another week, another western stray near Squibnocket Pond. Last week — well, Dec. 17 — it was an ash-throated sparrow that was discovered there. This week it is a western tanager.
Susan Whiting spotted the western tanager near Squibnocket on Dec. 20. It had a bright yellow body, black wings with white wing bars and a black tail, making it rather easy to identify. It is not supposed to be here; it nests in the northwest from British Columbia south to the border with Mexico and as far east as central New Mexico.
They stray east fairly regularly, with five sightings on the Cape and Islands in the past decade, but also all sightings have been since 2019: December 2019 in Sandwich, December 2020 in Nauset Heights, December 2021 in Orleans and in Brewster-South Orleans, and December 2021 to January 2022 in Edgartown. And now this one.
Nearby there have been multiple sightings of the ash-throated flycatcher.
Nancy Nordin saw it first on Dec. 17 and let others know, as was reported in last week’s column. Nancy Nordin, Thaw Malin and Cynthia Bloomquist found it on Dec. 19 although there was a long search to find it. On Dec. 20 Skip MacElhannon observed it and says that his “fingers were almost too cold to press the shutter button.” Others to spot it that day were Jeff Peters, Bob Shriber and, again, Susan Whiting.
Vineyard Birds II reports that the late Vern Laux was the first to see an ash-throated flycatcher on the Island. That was on Dec. 16, 1997. More recent sightings were by the late Paul Jackson on Dec. 20, 1998, another found by Vern Laux during the 2001 Christmas Bird Count and one on Nov. 18, 2023.
With all the birders flocking to Squibnocket to see the flycatcher, they of course also spotted other species. Nancy Nordin saw an eastern phoebe on Dec. 17. Susan Whiting, Nancy Nordin, Thaw Malin and Cynthia Bloomquist each found one yellow-bellied sapsucker and a Baltimore oriole on Dec. 19. Dec. 20 was a busy day: Susan Whiting also spotted catbird, mockingbird, white-throated sparrow and 20 yellow-rumped warblers; Jeff Peters saw hermit thrush and eastern towhee; and Bob Shriber and Susan Whiting found phoebe, two field sparrows, the Baltimore oriole, an orange-crowned warbler and four yellow-rumped warblers.
The southbound bird migration is a lengthy process, most of which is already completed for our region. Most, but not all. Both the western tanager and the ash-throated flycatcher are recent arrivals. And this week we added a yellow-breasted chat to the list of recent arrivals. Lanny McDowell found one of these largish songbirds — it was formerly thought to be one of the many species of warblers — on Dec. 23 in Chilmark. He also saw ruby-crowned kinglets, gray catbird, white-throated sparrow and a hermit thrush.
Migrants that are lingering on the Island include the above sightings of a Baltimore oriole and field sparrow at Squibnocket. The only other sighting of a Baltimore oriole was Nancy Nordin’s Dec. 4 sighting at the Gay Head Cliffs. Also lingering are tree swallows: Jeff Bernier found a flock of 50 of them at Lobsterville on Dec. 22. Last week I commented that we hadn’t seen a great egret since Chris Scott’s Nov. 14 sighting at James Pond, which of course guaranteed that one would show up, and it did. Lisa Maxfield spotted one at Brush Pond on Dec. 22.
In recent years, greater yellowlegs have been staying later into the winter. Recent reports of these medium-sized wading birds are two seen by Charles Morano on Dec. 14 on Moshup Trail, two found by Chris Scott on both Dec. 14 and Dec. 16 at upper Chilmark Pond and two spotted by Ron Zentner on Dec. 17 at Farm Pond. Shea Fee observed a bonanza of palm warblers on Dec. 23 at Wasque. John Nelson found an American kestrel and eight meadowlarks at Katama Farm on Dec. 23. How long any of these lingering species will hang around is yet to be determined!
Winter resident birds have most likely reached their wintertime abundances. There are a few more American tree sparrows around. Lanny McDowell found one at Black Point Pond on Dec. 10 and the trio of Nancy Nordin, Cynthia Bloomquist and Thaw Malin observed one — maybe the same one? — on Dec. 16, also at Black Point Pond.
A larger flock of 50 yellow-rumped warblers was seen by Nancy Nordin, Cynthia Bloomquist, Susan Whiting and Thaw Malin at Black Point Pond on Dec. 16. And the Harthaven flock of fish crows finally showed up. John Nelson observed lots of them there on Dec. 14.
We will learn more about these species and many others after the Christmas Bird Count, which will be held on Dec. 31. I predict that we will record 22,000 individuals of 125 species, which would be a good count. Let’s all hope for good weather!
Please email your sightings to birds@vineyardgazette.com.
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant with Nature Watch LLC living in Vineyard Haven.
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