Migration will peak in these next couple of weeks, so this is a good time to be out and about looking for birds.
One species out of its normal range is an immature brown pelican, which according to ebird records the most recent sightings were in June 2018 and again in June 2020. This pelican has been hanging around in Lagoon Pond. Lisa Maxfield saw it first near the drawbridge on Sept. 5.
Many observers saw it on Sept. 7, including Nancy Weaver, Nancy Nordin, Chris Scott, Bob Shriber and Margaret Curtin who saw it near the Shellfish Hatchery. Thaw Malin, Cynthia Bloomquist and Barry Burden found it later in the day at the Oak Bluffs Pumping Station. The next day, Sea Williams, Bridget Dunnigan and Charles Morano saw it near the pumping station and Scott Dresser and Dave Oster found it on and around the oyster farm raft near the end of Cronig avenue on the Vineyard Haven side of the Lagoon.
I am told that a bunch of people saw it that evening as it was roosting with a dozen double-crested cormorants in a tree at the pumping station. Laura Lennihan saw it at the shellfish hatchery on Sept. 9.
Two other unusual species that do not show up every winter are a western kingbird and a broad-winged hawk. Allan Keith spotted the western kingbird on Sept. 4 at the Gay Head Cliffs. This vagrant from the west was last spotted in 2016 and 2022. John Nelson observed a broad-winged hawk as it flew over Harthaven on Sept. 5, the first sighting since 2019 and 2021. This latter species’ absence here is somewhat puzzling since they are seen regularly on Cape Cod from April through September.
Three species started their return to their winter homes: blue-winged teal, black-legged kittiwake and great cormorant. Dave Oster found four blue-winged teal at Blackwater Pond on Sept. 6. Chris Scott saw three black-legged kittiwakes—a pelagic species — from a boat in Muskeget Channel just off-shore from Wasque Point and he saw 12 Bonaparte’s gulls and eight laughing gulls as he returned to Edgartown Harbor on Sept. 4. The latter species seems to be present just about everywhere along the waterfront in recent weeks. The final returning species is a great cormorant. I spotted one at Cedar Tree Neck as it flew in to perch on an offshore boulder on Sept. 7.
Here are some late dates for young birds. On August 25, Randy Rynd reports two barn owls fledged from their nest in her Oak Bluffs barn “and every night they would hang out in the trees next to the barn yelling loudly to be fed. They would start about 8:30 at night and go until about 4 in the morning, pretty much nonstop yelling. These two youngsters finally stopped their crying for food on Sept. 5 and now it is pretty silent out there. We miss hearing them.”
Other reports include Steve Allen’s juvenile northern cardinal at Felix Neck on August 28 And Laura Lennihan’s four cygnets in Squibnocket Pond on Sept. 6.
Cooper’s hawks are busy! The MV Bird Club spotted one at Eel Pond on August 26, the same day that Nancy Nordin saw one at her West Tisbury home and Philip Edmundson found one at the southwest corner of Watcha Pond. Michelle Katz observed one along State Road in Vineyard Haven, Steve Allen found one at Felix Neck on Sept. 3, the same day that Bridget Dunnigan and Sea Williams had one at Quansoo Farm, Christine Audette and Tim Donovan identified one at Red Beach on Sept. 4 and I watched one at Katama Farm on Sept. 6.
Ruby-throated hummingbirds are still around but in smaller numbers. Dave Oster spotted one at Great Plains Road on Sept. 1, Dave Oster saw one at Priester’s Pond on Sept. 2, and Charlie Neiss observed two at Central avenue in Vineyard Haven on Sept. 4. On Sept. 7 Lisa Maxfield found three at the Gay Head Cliffs, Brian Packish watched multiple hummers around a house in Menemsha and John Nelson reports a female at Harthaven.
All the terns are departing for points south, with least terns generally the first to leave. Lisa Maxfield observed 30 leasties on Sarson’s Island on Aug. 26, Susan Whiting, Bob Shriber, Lanny McDowell and Pete Gilmore spotted nine at the cut at Tisbury Great Pond on August 30, Philip Edmundson saw four along West Tisbury’s south shore on Sept. 1, Bruce Polikoff notes a few were near Dyke Bridge on Sept. 2, Mary Makepeace watched three at Wasque Point on Sept. 3, while Charles Morano found two there on Sept. 5 and Charlie Neiss located a few at State Beach on Sept. 6. Black skimmers are also departing: Lisa Maxfield spotted a flock of them on Sarson’s Island on August 26 and Cynthis Bloomquist and Thaw Malin located one at Eel Pond on Sept. 6.
Northern flickers are widely distributed year-round residents. On Sept. 1, Al Gatti viewed one on Zoll Road in Edgartown and Richard Audette spotted one at Stonewall Road in Chilmark. Steve Allen reports two flickers at Felix Neck on Sept. 4 and on Sept. 6 I spotted one at Slough Cove and Richard and Christine Audette had one at Felix Neck. The next day I located one at Cedar Tree Neck.
The following summer-resident warblers have been reported this week: common ellowthroat, prairie, pine, black-and-white, ovenbird and American redstart. The following migrant warblers were seen: on Sept. 3 Matt Pelikan spotted one magnolia warbler at the Gay Head Cliffs and Bob Shriber found one Cape May warbler along Lighthouse Road in Aquinnah; Dave Oster observed one magnolia warbler at Fulling Mill Brook on Sept. 4; Richard and Christine Audette saw one chestnut-sided warbler at Felix Neck on Sept. 6; and Shea Fee watched two Nashville warblers at Sepiessa Point on Sept. 7. Definitely few and far between!
Please email your sightings to birds@vineyardgazette.com
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant with Nature Watch living in Vineyard Haven.
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