Given the recent dead turkeys found in Edgartown (some of them are being tested for the avian flu) it is prudent to be careful even though the flu has not yet been detected on the Vineyard.

During the last year, this column documented a remarkable 284 species seen on the Vineyard.

Temperatures have repeatedly been below freezing this past week, which changes a bird’s behavior.

It did not take long for the 65th annual Martha’s Vineyard Christmas Bird Count to become history. Planning started long ago.

Ken Magnuson spotted a tern-like bird in Edgartown Harbor near the lighthouse on Dec. 11.

Sandra Talanian reports: “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a hummingbird in downtown Vineyard Haven on Dec. 2!

On Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, I awoke to find ice covering the bird bath. Ice forms much earlier than this further north, and it triggers late southbound migrants out of their northern habitats.

It is late November. The southward migration that started in late June is still continuing but at a much lower rate.

Scientists in the northern boreal forests have noted widespread crops of evergreen cones this year.

We do not need to go into the field to find birds — bird feeders and shallow water will attract them to our yards.