Three species of mergansers visit the Vineyard at this time of the year. Two of them — the red-breasted and the hooded mergansers — are quite common, but the third is not. So Jeff Bernier’s sighting of the first common merganser of the season at Squibnocket on Dec. 7 is exciting. The adult male commons are easy to identify, but the female common closely resembles the female red-breasted; the former has a sharp boundary between the brown head and the white chest and lower neck, while the latter has an indistinct boundary. As with many birds, the identification is easy once you know what to look for. Also observed at Squibnocket were a few scaup (not identified to species, which is another tricky ID), and a horned grebe.
Another sometimes difficult identification confuses grackles and the rather unusual Brewer’s blackbird. Albert Fischer spotted two grackles in his yard on Dec. 4 — birds that were initially identified as Brewer’s blackbirds — but discussions about differences in bill shape, head shape and uniformity of color and iridescence all pointed to grackles. Both species have the bright yellow eyes, which were very prominent on this bird.
Several razorbills have been spotted in the past week. Anne Carmichael Whiting spotted one off lower East Chop, along with surf scoters, red-breasted mergansers, common eiders, and common goldeneyes on Dec 5. Early the next morning Nancy Weaver and Sharon Simonin were on the ferry when they spotted what may be the same razorbill, this time it was near the breakwater in Vineyard Haven Harbor. Matt Pelikan reports seeing a number of them recently, although they were further out in Vineyard Sound. And Becca LaMarche spotted one in Edgartown harbor on Dec. 7. Everybody needs to be careful with this identification, as distinguishing between razorbills and the two species of murres (common and thick-billed) can be tricky at long distances when the distinctive flat bill shape is not obvious.
Bird Sightings
Another northern winter finch showed up on Dec. 10, when Ken Magnuson found a common redpoll at the Farm Institute. This latest winter finch — from the boreal forests of Canada — joins others that have already arrived: red-breasted nuthatches, pine siskins, and evening grosbeaks.
Lanny McDowell found red-throated loons all around the Island on Dec. 4. Cliff Erich and I have seen them in Vineyard Haven Harbor in the last week.
Sharon Simonin was out and about on Dec. 9 and spotted hooded mergansers at Cow Bay, as well as an adult Cooper’s hawk along the shores of Sengekontacket Pond. On Dec. 5, she spotted a hairy woodpecker that was oblivious to her even though she was directly underneath it. The day before she spotted a belted kingfisher at the Head of Lake Tashmoo. Baltimore orioles continue to be around, as Ruth Kirchmeier spotted one in her yard on Dec. 8. She also reports a flock of five evening grosbeaks at her feeders, though so far they were only present that day. Laurissa and Tim Rich have also had a female Baltimore oriole visiting their feeders every day since Dec. 2.
Brian Packish visited the beaches of Chappaquiddick on Dec. 8, and his highlights included turkey vultures, a northern harrier, lots of snow buntings and three peregrines at different locales. One was an immature, but two were adults. Though this species is fleet of wing (an understatement), each bird did not move as he went past them, so they probably are different birds.
Jeff Bernier spotted Bonaparte’s gulls in Edgartown Harbor on Dec. 6; the pilings in his photos are distinctive to Edgartown Harbor near the Reading Room, which is a good place to get close-up views of this diminutive gull at this time of the year. The previous day, Sharon Simonin spotted one off Hine’s Point in Lagoon Pond.
On Dec. 1, I counted some of our winter resident fish crows. There were 85 of them in one flock along the beach near the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club, and a second flock of 120 spread out between the northern beaches of Harthaven and the trees on the small island in Farm Pond. There were a few American crows mixed into the flocks, making the smaller fish crows easier to distinguish.
Happy and Steve Spongberg had a brown creeper visit their yard on Dec. 3. and Kath May Waite found her first yellow-rumped warblers on Dec. 6.
Southward migration is winding down but winter residents are still showing up. Please report all your sightings to birds@mvgazette.com.
Robert Culbert will schedule private Guided Birding Tours and is an ecological consultant with Nature Watch, LLC living in Vineyard Haven.
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