Telling when the southbound migration starts can be problematic.
Telling when the southbound migration starts can be problematic. Are decreased numbers due to migration or to their becoming less conspicuous? Are increased numbers due to arrivals from further north or due to species flocking together? Migrants tend to concentrate birds near the Gay Head Cliffs, but are all large flocks there migrating?
Consider the house finch, a species generally thought to be a year-round resident. David Benvent counted a large flock of 44 house finches at the Gay Head Cliffs on July 21 and then observed 166 of them there the next day.
Brown Headed Cowbird.
Brown Headed Cowbird.
Being a year-round resident species does not mean that all the individuals are here year-round. After all, later this year we will find flocks of blue jays (an abundant species year-round across the Island) migrating westward over the ocean from the Gay Head Cliffs. Another possible movement is post-breeding dispersal, birds whose nest attempts failed, or maybe recently fledged birds seeking a territory for themselves. Post-breeding dispersal likely explains the large flocks of house finches.
But what about the blackbirds observed by David Benvent? He counted 252 red-winged blackbirds, 38 brown-headed cowbirds and 61 grackles flying northward at the Gay Head Cliffs on July 21 and the next morning there were 322 red-wings, 16 cowbirds, and only three grackles. All the birds were flying toward the north, with the Elizabeth Islands the closest land. It is unusual to see flocks that big except during migration, but their migrations do not start until mid to late August for cowbirds and grackles, October for red-wings. Just to make things a bit more confusing, all three species are year-round residents though they are much more common in the summer.
Cedar waxwings were also present in Aquinnah this week. David Benvent spotted four at the Cliffs on both July 21 and 22, while Andrew Fischer found four along Lighthouse Road on July 26.
The sightings of whip-poor-wills have become rather scarce. Only two have been heard calling recently, and both were heard in the western half of the State Forest. Rich Couse heard one northwest of the airport on July 24, and Jennifer Sepanara heard another at the western end of the state forest near Nat’s Farm on July 25. Please let me know if you have heard any chuck-will’s-widows this year.
Black Crowned Night Heron.
Black Crowned Night Heron.
All the shorebirds mentioned last week are still around, but two seen this week are of interest. On July 21 David Benvent spotted a solitary solitary sandpiper at the beach near the Gay Head Cliffs and Chris Scott found another at the opposite end of the Island, at John Butler’s Mudhole. And Cynthia Bloomquist and Thaw Malin and found two whimbrels at Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary on July 21.
A few ruby-throated hummingbirds have been reported this week. Seth Buddy found one at Mink Meadows and West Chop beaches, and he and Miles Buddy saw another at Felix Neck on July 26. That same day Carter Kremer observed a hummer in Longview and Andrew Fischer observed one in West Tisbury.
An anonymous birder reports finding 15 Wilson’s storm-petrels, four Cory’s shearwaters, one great shearwater and three sooty shearwaters about 10 miles south of the West Tisbury shoreline on July 12.
Downy Woodpecker.
Downy Woodpecker.
Joy Burns watched two Wilsons storm-petrels one mile south of Cuttyhunk on July 12, Matt Born spotted one Wilson’s storm-petrel south of Squibnocket Point on July 14.
Miles and Seth Buddy located a Manx shearwater from Cedar Tree Neck on July 20, and Bob Shriber saw one great shearwater, one northern gannet and the lingering immature great cormorant in Aquinnah on July 25.
Night herons are around. Evan Thomas found a first for the season immature yellow-crowned night heron at Harthaven harbor on July 22. Black-crowned night-herons are regularly seen around the Island. Philip Edmundson saw one at Watcha Pond on July 15, Chris Scott had one at the Mudhole on July 16, Nancy Weaver and Alyssa Emden found one adult and two chicks standing outside of their nest near Tashmoo Springs on July 16, Carolyn Anderson located one at Quansoo Farm on July 21, and Laura Hearn reports one from Tisbury Great Pond on July 22.
Solitary Sandpiper.
Solitary Sandpiper.
Belted kingfishers are a favorite of many a birder. Chris Scott reports one at Eel Pond on July 8. Clifton Stone found one at Squibnocket Pond Reservation North on July 11, Bernice McIntyre located one near Cronig Avenue on July 12. Nancy Weaver and Janet Woodcock spotted one at James Pond Preserve on July 14, I saw one at Town Cove on July 16, the Felix Neck Early Birders watched two at Felix Neck on July 16, and the MV Bird Club discovered one at Eel Pond on July 21.
Speaking of Eel Pond, the lingering horned grebe is still lingering. The MV Bird Club found it on July 21 and Laura Lennihan saw it on July 26.
Lynn Buckmaster-Irwin confirmed that downy woodpecker’s nest on her property as expected. She observed a juvenile downy that still had its rust-colored hat instead of the typical red patch of the adults.
Wilsons Storm Petrel.
Wilsons Storm Petrel.
Male scarlet tanagers are still bright red with jet black wings, so they have not yet started to molt out of their breeding plumage. Jennifer Slossberg found two at Waskosim’s Rock Reservation on July 16 and Seth. Buddy also found one at Waskosim’s on July 19. Where else are they?
Cuckoos are still here. I heard a black-billed cuckoo on the north side of State Road near Squibnocket Pond Reservation North on July 8, Rich Couse found a yellow-billed cuckoo in the middle of the western part of the State Forest on July 16, and Jennnifer Sepanara located a yellow-billed at the western end of the State Forest on July 26.
Please email your sightings to [email protected].
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant living in Vineyard Haven.
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