Susan B. Whiting
It is always exciting to find a new bird species for the Vineyard and perhaps even more so during the annual Christmas Bird Count! The bird in question is a fish crow. Here is the rub. In the last few years many Island birders have “heard” what they felt were fish crows and a couple have seen crows which were smaller than our native American crows. How does one verify the existence of these crows on the Vineyard?
Rain or shine, the Vineyard’s Christmas Bird Count will take place on Jan. 2, 2011. We hope you will participate either in the field or by counting the birds at your feeders. Contact Rob Culbert if you are interested in joining a field team at 508-693-4908 or call in your feeder sightings between 2 to 5 p.m. at 508-627-4850.
Tis the season for Christmas Bird Counts. Flip Harrington and I have just returned from Georgia where we participated in the St.
A good mystery, whether bird or bush, is rewarding if it is solved. Ginny Jones frequently entertains her grandsons, Everett and Kent, by walking along the shores of Tisbury Great Pond by Tississa. On Dec. 3 the threesome observed a raft of scaup off Sepiessa and a few buffleheads. Then they found a corpse of what they thought was a duck. Although no photos were taken, Ginny and I sent e-mails back and forth with descriptions and thoughts. After much ado I suggested the bird in question was probably a dovekie which had been blown ashore. Everett and Kent were e-mailed photos of a dovekie and there was agreement that the mystery bird was indeed a dovekie.
Turkey and black vultures have been reported recently in Vineyard Haven. Rob and Wendy Culbert suggest that there is a winter roost of vultures somewhere in Vineyard Haven. I suggest it might be in the area between the Tisbury town hall and the Old Stone (Sovereign) Bank.
The recent obituary for Norm Asher reminded me of what bird-watching was like in the 1970s. Norm Asher was one of many Vineyard summer residents that were “turned on” to bird watching by the Chilmark Community Center bird walks. Norm signed on to participate in the CCC bird walks in the early sixties when Eddie Chalif was the charismatic leader. I didn’t join in until the very late sixties, early seventies. By that time there was a devoted group of friends and fellow bird-watchers that had met at the community center who would go out almost daily.