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.

We had warm weather in October, which is great weather for searching for migrating birds.

Birders tend to go where they find interesting birds. Susan Whiting, Lanny McDowell, Bob Shriber, Nancy Nordin and myself teamed up to find 60 species on the morning of Oct. 27, most of which were songbirds. We generally do not find that many species in three hours. Some of us were looking in one direction when others were looking elsewhere and finding other species.

The beauty of fall migration is that some migrants unexpectedly persist. Of course daytime temperatures in the low 70s, help.

The Oak Bluffs pumping station used to be a go-to site for finding migrating songbirds.