Thirteen groups fanned across the Island Sunday for the annual Christmas Bird Count to see how many species they could identify.
Over 21,000 birds were spotted at the 66th annual Christmas Bird Count on Sunday.
Thirteen groups fanned across the Island for the annual tradition to see how many species they could identify. Over 100 species were tallied, two of which had never been recorded before at the count: the cackling goose and the rufous hummingbird.
The full counting period starts three days before the count day and ends three days after. As of Monday, a total of 21,022 individual birds and 124 different species were spotted.
John Clark and Rob Culbert at Long Point.
John Clark and Rob Culbert at Long Point.
The bird count has been an international tradition since the 1900s, begun as a humane alternative to historic Christmas bird hunts. Data is collected and used by researchers all over the world. The National Audubon Society, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service have all used information collected by Vineyard birders every year.
Beautiful weather was the highlight of the day, according to Vineyard Gazette bird columnist Robert Culbert.
“We had a great, amazing day, because it was cold, but there wasn’t wind and it was sunny,” he said. “By eight o’clock, it didn’t really feel cold, because we had the sun. We really lucked out with the weather.”
Mr. Culbert’s group always begins at first light at Long Point Wildlife Refuge. On Sunday, the pond was iced over, causing the group to search for birds in pockets of open water.
“The frost was all over the grasses and the shrubs and it was really an amazing scene because it was so crystal and so frozen,” he said. “It was just really, really beautiful to see.”
For bird count data compiler and BiodiversityWorks founder Luanne Johnson, who led the Oak Bluffs group, a highlight was seeing a Lapland longspur along State Beach.
An eastern bluebird.
An eastern bluebird.
“We were looking at sparrows that were along the busy road, right along the bike path there on State Beach, and lo and behold, amidst these sparrows, Chris Neill shouts out, ‘Oh my God, a Lapland long spur,’” she recalled.
Another highlight was spotted at the Cove Meadow Preserve on Chappaquiddick, where a sora bird was seen, according to Ms. Johnson. The last time a sora was seen at the Christmas Bird Count was around a decade ago.
Ms. Johnson and her group were near Sengekontacket Pond when they saw a familiar flock of birds that Island naturalist Gus Ben David had raised.
“We got to see Gus’s flock of geese out there, and that was fun to have Gus with us in spirit,” she said.
Mr. Ben David died in 2024.
Rufous hummingbird has been a popular sighting for weeks.
Rufous hummingbird has been a popular sighting for weeks.
Participating birders arrived with various levels of experience, with 60 spending the day in the field and 20 reporting data from their feeders.
“I almost always have some beginners with me, and the reason for that is that they’re looking around, and they’re looking behind me and they’re saying, hey, what’s this over here?” Mr. Culbert said. “More often than not, there have been times when that comment has gotten [birds for the bird count].”
At the end of the day, the group gathered at the Wakeman Center to swap stories and tally up the birds seen throughout the day.
Mr. Culbert said he enjoys the camaraderie of the tradition and how it connects people.
“The neat thing about the tally [is that] it gets us all together,” he said. “It’s not just the ecologists. There are everyday people who have an interest in birds and are willing to spend a day out in the field, so it’s really neat to see those people.”
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