What a thrill to see and hear grasshopper sparrows on the Vineyard for the first time in about 10 years! Twenty years ago I could see and hear grasshopper sparrows in the fields around our Chilmark farm house at Quenames no longer. Maybe I will be lucky enough to have them back again, as the birds we recently saw were in a neighboring field at Quansoo Farm. We saw three birds. Hopefully they were three males whose mates were sitting on their round, throne-like nests. Built at the base of clumps of grass, the grasshopper sparrow nest cup is upright with a canopy of grasses domed over the top. The results are a nest that is well camouflaged. However, one worries that as ground nesters they could easily be preyed upon by skunks, raccoons and feral cats.

It is the female that builds the nest after she arrives in late May. The nest is almost impossible to find, good for her! The female is the only one who incubates the three to five eggs, creamy white with a dash of reddish brown speckles overall and large splotches at the thicker end. The female does not fly when the nest is approached, but instead slides off the nest and scuttles off through the grass for a distance before taking wing. The male and female when bringing food to the hatchlings in the nest do not fly directly to the nest, but land nearby and walk to the nest. Pretty sneaky and clever, if you ask me!

Grasshopper sparrows prefer fields that have a patchy cover of grasses and only about 35 per cent shrubs. They need this openness to hunt the grasshoppers that they relish, although in a pinch they will eat spiders, earthworms and even seeds of weeds and grasses.

The grasshopper sparrows of Massachusetts are considered a threatened species. This sparrow was a common summer resident on the Vineyard in the late 1800s and early 1900s, with counts of up to 20 found, most at Katama. Now they are considered uncommon summer residents. The Martha’s Vineyard Airport has a staff that is very conscientious and monitors for rare species annually. Matt Pelikan helped with this year’s airport survey on June 23 and found a single grasshopper sparrow near the West Tisbury end of the runway. Grasshopper sparrows had not been heard or seen at the airport since 2005. Matt added that the last record of grasshopper sparrow at the smaller Katama airport was in 2006. He added that he found an unmated male grasshopper sparrow at Scrubby Neck in 2008. Rob Culbert heard and saw two individuals at Quansoo Farm in July 2009. Perhaps the sparrows we saw and heard this year were the same or offspring of the birds Rob and Kristen Fauteux heard last summer. Matt Pelikan of the Nature Conservancy and Tim Simmons of the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program both suggest that the spotty occurrence of the grasshopper sparrows on the Vineyard may be the results of a spillover from Nashawena Island, where they are doing well.

The loss of habitat is certainly one of the reasons the Vineyard population of grasshopper sparrows has declined. We have built houses in many fields and others have grown up into shrub and woods. Even in areas in New England where there is a concerted effort to preserve and create habitat, the population of this sparrow has plummeted by 45 per cent. The grasshopper sparrow spends the winter months in Mexico, Cuba and Bahamas and down to El Salvador and Costa Rica. That is a long round-trip flight, and who knows what habitat losses and other threats have occurred in their wintering grounds. Let’s hope the grasshopper sparrows that are here this summer are successful breeders and will return after a winter sojourn.

Bird Sightings

Tom Rivers watched a woodcock at the corner of Tea Lane and Middle Road on June 15 and is still hearing whippoorwills at his Tea Lane home.

On June 17 Pete Cruikshank was pleased to see bobwhite at Mink Meadows in Tisbury. On June 22 Eleanor Waldron, Barbara Pesch and I spotted a pair of bobwhite at Pricilla Hancock Preserve in Chilmark. In Oak Bluffs Sylvia Rogers called to say she spotted a bobwhite next to Tony de Bettencourt’s garden. This was the first bobwhite she had seen since the 1970s!

Carol Miller of Middleburg walked down to Norton Point to observe the incredible least tern colony. She was concerned for the livelihood of the eggs and chicks for there was a parasailor who “flew” over the colony and drove all the birds into the air. Hopefully the parasailers will refrain from overflying the tern colony.

Laurie Walker spotted a black-crowned night heron in Menemsha on June 15. Tim Leland called to say he and his wife were kayaking on Poucha Pond on June 18 and watched two black-crowned night herons stalking their prey. Tim also commented for the second year in a row that he has no tree or barn swallows around his Chappaquiddick home.

Karen Mead called to say her friend Randy Donne spotted a Virginia rail along Moshup Trail on June 14, and on the 18th Karen spotted two Baltimore orioles.

On June 18 Pete Gilmore heard a blue-winged warbler song while he walked along Scotchman’s Lane. On June 19 Pete had not one but two yellow-billed cuckoos flying around his West Tisbury house and then on June 21 at Waskosim’s Rock he heard a brown creeper singing.

On June 20 Lanny McDowell joined Pete Gilmore and heard a black-billed cuckoo, a house wren and prairie warbler at Quansoo.

Joe Wheelwright reported a banded oystercatcher. I am tracking that down. Stay tuned.

Wendy Weldon had a common yellowthroat come visit her back porch on June 22. A favorite warbler of mine!

Allan Keith joined me June 22 and we went to Quansoo Farm and saw one grasshopper sparrow. Allan commented that he had been very busy mowing and the only news he had was that he had a family of eastern bluebirds around and fewer Baltimore orioles than normal.

And finally that crazy osprey Penelope refused to come home. Last coordinates put her just north of Boston, heading north!

Susan B. Whiting is the coauthor of Vineyard Birds and Vineyard Birds II. Her Web site is vineyardbirds2.com.

Please report your bird sightings to the Martha’s Vineyard Bird Hotline at 508-627-4922 or e-mail to birds@mvgazette.com.