There are three species of birds that have stirred bird-watchers’ interest this week: black skimmers, merlins and a barred owl. Two of these species have tried nesting on the Island although the Vineyard is out of the normal breeding range for both. One was successful, the other not. One has been reported on the Island only three times before, in 1918, 1929 and 1948.

Two years ago the merlins successfully nested on Chappaquiddick. This event was quite an eye-opener. Merlins had not been known to nest anywhere in Massachusetts, so the Chappaquiddick nest created quite a sensation. The merlins didn’t return last year, or if they did no nesting was observed. Presently there are three young fluffy heads peering out of the Chappaquiddick nest belonging to a pair of merlins! We understand these falcons tried raising a family earlier this summer, but the nest was predated. The guess is that the culprits were American crows. We hope the young merlin trio fledges, survives the winter in the location to which they migrate and then returns to nest in other Vineyard locations.

The summer of 1992 a pair of black skimmers tried to raise a family on the Katama Bay side of Norton Point. Unfortunately their nest was overwashed by a summer storm. A couple of black skimmers were observed in the large tern colony at Norton Point last summer. No nesting activities were noted. This year the black skimmers are back, and this time they are making a scrape on the beach and defending the area. Black skimmers do not build a nest but instead lay their eggs in a shallow scrape. Eggs by the skimmers have not been observed — the public is not allowed into the area. The tern wardens make infrequent observations to avoid excessive disturbance. We will have to wait and see if young skimmers appear or we receive a report from the tern wardens.

Joan Walsh from MassAudubon arrived on the Island on July 13 to collect data for the Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas. She asked for assistance from local birders on short notice. She called to say that she had heard a barred owl at the Hoft Farm on Lambert’s Cove. She did not see the bird and heard it at 8:15 a.m. No Vineyard birders have worked with Joan and we are a bit cautious about “sightings” that are heard only. The Massachusetts Avian Records Committee requires that more than one person hear the bird in question and usually does not accept the record unless the bird is seen and described by more than one knowledgeable birder. Joan has given Vineyard birders a challenge to try to find the owl in question and, we hope, photograph it for the record.

There are barred owls as close as Fall River. They are nesting in the Freetown-Fall River State Forest which is five minutes from Fall River and Taunton and 15 from New Bedford, which is approximately 50 miles “as the owl flies” to the Hoft Farm on the Vineyard. Who knows, this bird might be a wandering youngster from the Fall River Forest. Barred owls choose moist woodlands near ponds as their habitat of choice, and so, as Matt Pelikan noted, the Hoft Farm fits the bill for these handsome owls. Anything is possible — we now have great horned owls, which we didn’t in the past.

Bird Sightings

The annual Vineyard butterfly count will be conducted on July 17.

Joan Walsh thinks she heard a barred owl on Lambert’s Cove Road on July 13 at 8:15 a.m. We are trying to track down this owl and hopefully see the bird behind the voice.

Mary Adelstein found the merlins nesting on Chappaquiddick. She also found a decomposed American puffin on Chappy.

Page, Dick and Annette Hall saw a single black skimmer cruising along the flats of Sengekontacket Pond on July 9. Page also spotted four immature American oystercatchers and four young piping plovers on Brush and Sarson’s Islands also in Sengekontacket Pond on July 11.

Kathryn Riley spotted a single black skimmer at Wasque on July 9. Seems the pair that is on Norton point split up and one fishes Wasque and the other Sengekontacket Pond. Wonder which one catches the most.

Lanny McDowell, Warren Woessner and I went to Norton Point also on July 9 and saw two black skimmers. I am presuming all the skimmer sightings are the same pair. We should keep track of the times we saw these skimmers to be sure there are only two. We saw ours around 9:30 a.m., Page saw hers in the afternoon and Kathryn spotted hers in the evening. So far this points to only one pair. The same morning that Lanny, Warren and I spotted the skimmers, we also spotted three least sandpipers and two greater yellowlegs. This is a small beginning of the shorebird migration south.

Warren Woessner birded Aquinnah on July 11 and the only two notable birds were a first year Baltimore oriole at Gay Head and a laughing gull at Red Beach. The following day Warren went to Eel Pond, where he had a single greater yellowlegs and a single laughing gull.

John Hughes, while in the midst of an important putt at Farm Neck Golf Course, spotted an unusual oriole. John felt the bird was larger and more colorful than our Baltimore orioles. He was reminded of the orioles he sees in Puerto Rico in the winter. Golfers with cameras: try to get a shot of this oriole, please.

Dick Jennings sent me a snapshot of the osprey nesting information for this summer. He notes that there are 20 nest failures but these have been compensated for; it seems the remaining pairs of ospreys have been rearing triplets, so the numbers of young are in the high 90s! He and Rob Bierregaard will be presenting the final numbers at the end of the month.

Eleanor Waldron was thrilled to see the female northern harrier she has been observing all spring and summer at the Priscilla Hancock Preserve in Chilmark giving three young harriers flying lessons on July 13. The same day Barbara Pesch, Becky Johnson, Warren Woessner and I spotted a female and one young at Quansoo. Is this a second pair? We will have to investigate further. We also spotted a ring-billed gull and a pair of eastern kingbirds.

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

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