Surely birding at known hotspots – places frequently mentioned in this column - the Gay Head Cliffs, Norton Point, Katama Farm, and Little Beach – will help us find birds.
Surely birding at known hotspots – places frequently mentioned in this column - the Gay Head Cliffs, Norton Point, Katama Farm, and Little Beach – will help us find birds. But they are not the only places, as birds are everywhere; we need to be ready to see birds wherever we are! It is exciting to find a bird when you are not really looking for them!
For example, I spotted two broad-winged hawks that were flying 50 feet above State Road as I was driving past the Menemsha Overlook on Oct. 18. The timing was exceptional; I would not have seen them had I been there 10 seconds earlier or later! Fortunately, their field marks are quite distinctive.
Eastern Bluebirds
Eastern Bluebirds
Bird Sightings
Seasonal arrivals are becoming less frequent. But there were notable ones: Charles Morano saw one Lapland longspur - a sparrow-like bird that is a fall transient – at Katama Farm on Oct. 14. Tim and Sheila Baird spotted the first brant of the season at Ocean Park on Oct. 15, and Anne Whiting observed a dozen of them in Ocean Park on Oct. 17; these smaller geese will frequent the park through the winter. And Chris Scott watched one vesper sparrow at Katama Farm on Oct. 17.
Lapland Longspur Sparrow
Lapland Longspur Sparrow
While most, if not all, ruby-throated hummers have left for the season, Penny Uhlendorf reports an unidentified hummer feeding on pineapple sage at Pilot Hill Farm on Oct. 15. It could be a western species that has strayed eastward, so keep your feeders out, and photograph any that you see, and send the pictures to the email at the end of this column; they are incredibly difficult to identify!
In other news of waterfowl, I had four gadwall, two mallard, and 16 ruddy ducks at Lily Pond on Squibnocket Pond Reservation South on Oct. 15, the next day Ruth Richards and Jay Adams observed one gadwall, two mallard, 12 green-winged teal, four ring-necked ducks, and 23 ruddy ducks at the same locale. From the late Vern Laux, “Birds have wings and they use them,” so birds are not necessarily present on consecutive days!
Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
Flocks of shorebirds are a great example of patience helping to find birds. My quick perusal of a flock of shorebirds at Katama Farm on Oct. 17 produced 45 black-bellied plovers and one golden plover (the species I was looking for), right after that count I caught up with Bridget Dunnigan and Sea Williams as they were watching the same flock but from a different angle: they found 70 black-bellied plovers, three golden plovers, 12 killdeer, three semipalmated plovers, one pectoral sandpiper, and three semipalmated sandpipers! I could have stayed and watched with them, but then I might have missed an up-close view of a Cooper’s hawk staring at the flock of European starlings near the Katama Farm silos.
In addition to the shorebirds mentioned above, Charles Morano spotted four killdeer, three red knots, and five pectoral sandpipers at Katama Farm on Oct. 13. At the other end of the Island, on Oct. 15 Tracy Winn observed six semipalmated plovers, one late spotted sandpiper, 21 sanderling, and one dunlin at Dogfish Bar, Bob Shriber located a late lingering solitary sandpiper and a greater yellowlegs in Aquinnah, and I found one greater yellowlegs and a red knot at Lily Pond. John Nelson watched a greater yellowlegs in a southern Sengekontacket Pond salt marsh on Oct. 16, Heidi Cox observed two American oystercatchers on South Beach on Oct. 18, and Susan Whiting spotted four oystercatchers, 46 black-bellied plovers, two golden plovers, six semipalmated plovers, three greater yellowlegs, three ruddy turnstones, 20 sanderling, and 12 dunlin on Norton Point on Oct. 19.
Snowy Egret
Snowy Egret
The usual laughing, ring-billed, herring, and great black-backed gulls are widespread across the Island. More notable sightings include the 11 lesser black-backed gulls that Bob Shriber saw at Chilmark Pond, while Charles Morano spotted five lessers at Katama Farm, both sightings during the nor’easter on Oct. 13. Jacob Yoder observed a Bonaparte’s gull at Cedar Tree Neck on Oct. 19, and Lanny McDowell found nine lingering Forster’s terns and five black skimmers on Sarson’s Island on Oct. 15, and Susan Whiting observed one Forster’s tern on Norton Point on Oct. 19.
Great egrets are still prevalent across the Island as they were spotted at 15 locations so far in October. Jacob Yoder found a lingering snowy egret at Felix Neck on Oct. 18. How late will these two waders stay this fall?
Spotted Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
This is the first week this season that all three species of falcons were seen on the Island. Ruth Richards observed the only peregrine falcon at Lucy Vincent on Oct. 15, Ruth Richards and Jay Adams found a merlin at Squibnocket Pond Reservation on Oct. 16, Charles Morano located another merlin at Long Point on Oct. 17, Sea Williams saw a merlin at Katama Farm on Oct. 17, and Susan Whiting found one merlin on Norton Point on Oct. 19. Bob Shriber located one kestrel in Aquinnah on Oct. 15, another was observed at Katama Farm by John Nelson on Oct. 16, and then by Sea Williams and Bridget Dunnigan on Oct. 17. The MV Bird Club had a good hawk day at the Gay Head Cliffs on Oct. 18, spotting four sharp-shinned hawks, one Cooper’s hawk, one northern harrier, two red-tailed hawks, and two merlins.
Eastern bluebirds are the thrush of the week. A flock of three were spotted by Luanne Johnson and Shea Fee at Long Point Oct. 11, and Luanne Johnson found two at Tashmoo Springs on Oct. 19. Single bluebirds were observed by Susan Whiting at Old Field’s Path on Oct. 11, and on the MV Bird Club’s birdwalk at the Gay Head Cliffs on Oct. 18.
Katama Farm is hosting a flock of American pipits this week: Charles Morano counted 14 on Oct. 13, Nancy Nordin observed 12 on Oct. 15, Nancy Weaver and Janet Woodcock watched 10 on Oct. 17, the same day that Bridget Dunnigan and Sea Williams saw 15.
Vesper Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
The MV Bird Club had a great field trip to the Gay Head Cliffs, spotting 45 species, including a black-legged kittiwake, one northern gannet, a blue-headed vireo, a flock of 142 lingering tree swallows, two purple finches, and the following sparrows: four chipping, one clay-colored, two field, two white-crowned, four white-throated, one savannah, three song, and two swamp. The club also spotted a northern parula, one blackpoll warbler, one palm warbler, five yellow-rumped warblers, and a lingering summer tanager.
Please email your sightings to [email protected]
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant living in Vineyard Haven.
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