Those gray, black and white tern-like birds that are flocking out in the Sound or in our coastal ponds are Bonaparte’s gulls. Yes, they look and act much like terns, but their behavior is slightly different as they pluck food from on or near the water’s surface rather. They do not perform the steeper plunge dives of our common terns. Also, terns are unlikely to be here at this time of the year.
John Nelson observed 32 Bonaparte’s gulls wheeling and diving on bait on the Oak Bluffs side of Vineyard Haven outer harbor on Nov. 7. Four days later Wendy Culbert and I observed a flock of these gulls–possibly the same flock–wheeling around and resting on the surface of the West Chop side of the outer harbor. There also were about 40 herring gulls and 80 common eiders nearby. This flock of eiders can be better observed from the ferries, as you will be closer to them.
Anne Carmichael Whiting observed the winter resident raft of surf scoters off East Chop on Nov. 7, while Kiki Taron Kinney observed white-winged scoters in Cape Poge Bay on Nov. 4.
Bird Sightings
Birds are still migrating southward. This had seemed to be a slow week with little on the move but then the weekend came and went. Dan Bradley had an immature Baltimore oriole visit his feeder on Nov. 12, the same day that Wendy Culbert and I observed four species arriving at our feeders for the first time this fall: red-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, purple finch (female) and dark-eyed junco. Gus BenDavid reports that he observed the first pine warblers to visit his feeders this fall on Nov. 10. Kathy and Jeff Verner visited
Lobsterville on Nov. 4 and spotted an American kestrel. At their Edgartown home the next day they spotted a small gaggle of pine siskins and a golden-crowned kinglet. Recently they spotted a yellow-billed cuckoo. Sharon Pearson also observed golden-crowned kinglets foraging in a red maple on Nov. 10.
John Nelson spotted a murder of fish crows at Harthaven on Nov. 11, a flock that seems to be on the beach across from Farm Pond every winter.
On the waterbird front, Luanne Johnson, Margaret Curtin, Nancy Weaver and Lanny McDowell observed three cormorants perched on the stern of a boat in Lagoon Pond on Nov. 11. Only one of them was a double-crested cormorant–the other two were the first of our winter resident great cormorants. They were both immatures due to their dusky breast and whitish belly; immature double-cresteds have the reverse pattern. Martha Moore has been observing buffleheads, black-crowned night-herons, great blue herons and white-winged scoters on Tisbury Great Pond all week.
On Nov. 11, Lynn Fraker observed a pair of common loons calling and fishing hard on the baitfish that remain in Lake Tashmoo. Meanwhile, Cliff Erich found a lone loon in Vineyard Haven harbor on Nov. 8, while Laura Hearn observed a few loons just outside of Menemsha Channel on Nov. 12.
Tom Hodgson watched as two northern harriers soared over the Chilmark plains and the south shore on Nov. 11. And David Padulo found a flock of harlequin ducks at Squibnocket Beach on Nov. 10.
Baby Spotted Turtles
Spotted turtles used to be widespread on the Island but now they are rare. They live in freshwater habitats: shrub-swamps, vernal pools, wet meadows and shallow marshes. To re-establish their population, Gus BenDavid started breeding a pair of spotted turtles earlier this year in an enclosed pen outside his basement; the eggs that were laid have now hatched so he has three small (quarter-size) youngsters in a small tank in his basement. These are the first spotted turtles to be bred in captivity!
To enhance the survival of these young turtles, they will be kept in his heated basement. They will be active and continue to grow through the winter rather than hibernating as they would in the wild. This allows the turtles to be larger when released into the wild next year. This “headstarting” of young turtles increases their chances of survival and has been used successfully for northern red-bellied cooters (a Federally endangered species, also known as Plymouth red-bellied turtles).
Fall and winter resident species are still showing up. Please report all your sightings to birds@mvgazette.com.
Robert Culbert will schedule a private Guided Birding Tour with you, and he is an ecological consultant with Nature Watch, LLC living in Vineyard Haven.
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