What do clay-colored, vesper, fox, tree, white-crowned and white-throated have in common? They are all types of sparrows that visit the Vineyard in the fall and winter.

In the middle of October, Luanne Johnson and I watched a single snow goose fly into Sengekontacket Pond from offshore. It is odd to spot a single snow goose. They usually migrate in large flocks and when the flocks descend from the V in the sky the scene is likened to a “snow storm of white birds.” Remember when you shook the round paper weight and the snow swirled around? That is what snow geese look like coming in for a landing. I have seen huge flocks of snow geese in Chesapeake Bay and in New Mexico, but never on the Vineyard.

The news that many a Vineyard and off-Island birder has been waiting for: the Martha’s Vineyard Christmas Bird Count will be held on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014. If you are interested in joining a field team or submitting a bird feeder report, please contact Robert Culbert at [email protected]. Rob will assign you to a team or inform you of the time to report your feeder list and the number to call to do so.

The thought of alerting bird watchers to make sure their bird baths are full on Oct. 31 never crossed my mind. However, I find that with this drought, the birds in my yard and the woods and fields that surround my home are looking hard for sources of water.

Flip Harrington and I had our first yellow-rumped warbler and white-crowned sparrow in our Quenames bird bath on Oct. 19. The holly trees behind the bath provided shelter and probably insects for our first ruby-crowned kinglet.

The change of light in the fall is my cue to put up my feeders. I can remember the first of many feeders I have had over the years. It was a big pine cone stuffed with a mix of bacon fat, peanut butter and oatmeal.