Louisa Hufstader
State wildlife officials and the Mass Audubon bird conservation group are advising residents to bring in their bird feeders and birdbaths until more is known about a mysterious avian ailment.
Bird news
Birds
Mass Audubon

2001

Purple Gallinule Lands on Island From the South

By E. Vernon Laux

At noon on New Year's Day, Stephen Carlson of Oak Bluffs made
a remarkable discovery.

Mr. Carlson had just left his home on a dirt road when, upon
reaching the pavement, he noticed an object in the road. Dazed and
confused, walking and standing in the middle of the road, was a very odd
bird. As if recovering from a celebratory New Year's Eve, this
bird was bobbing and weaving.

1986

Is it too early to be thinking about the breeding season? Yes, in general, but no for the piping plover, a species that usually returns to Martha’s Vineyard in late March and begins nesting by mid-April. For this year, on Jan. 10, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added this species to its list of endangered and threatened wildlife.
 

1933

Somewhere on the great plain of Martha’s Vineyard death and the heath hen have met. One day, just as usual, there was a bird called the heath hen, and the next day there was none. How he came to his end no human being can know. But the death of wild birds is a violent death. The eye becomes dimmed, the beat of the wings lags ever so little, the star of fortune blinds for a fraction of a second it is enough. An enemy strikes and death has come.

One of the most engaging aspects of observing nature is that every once in a while there is behavior that appears to be mostly, if not entirely, about play, about having fun for fun’s sake.

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