Birding on the Vineyard and elsewhere has changed immensely with the invention of the cell phone and iPad. A good example occurred Oct. 5 in the late morning when Lanny McDowell, Pete Gilmore and Ken Magnuson spotted three Caspian terns on South Beach from the west side of Chilmark Pond.

A warbler seen in the Phillips Preserve and a thrush spotted in the Gay Head Moraine are members of groups of birds I have always had trouble disti

We were packing to leave for a trip to Maine on Sept. 14 to visit old Vineyard friends and attend a wedding. Our backpacks were on the kitchen table and I had just filled the hummingbird feeder. One of the juvenile ruby-throated hummingbirds flew up to the kitchen window, hovered for a few seconds and then flew off. That was the last time we saw our hummingbirds.

On Sept. 7 Tim Spahr, an excellent birder from the mainland, was birding with Allan Keith in the Gay Head Moraine. They were on a small bridge over a trickling stream when Tim heard a chip note that Tim said was a hooded warbler. Allan Keith and I both have difficulty hearing and identifying chip notes so we are always willing to bird with someone with good ears. Allan was stunned that Tim not only heard the note, but identified it. With a little coaxing the bird came closer and Tim was able to photograph an immature female hooded warbler.

In 1974 my brother in law, Brian Harrington, while working at the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, developed International Shorebird Surveys to “gather basic migration information on shorebirds and the wetlands they use.” Later the Atlantic Canada Shorebird Survey joined in and the data collected by huge numbers of volunteers from both organizations showed that many species of shorebirds depend on flats and other wetland habitats to fuel up on food as they often move up to 11,000 miles per year.

The tide is changing for the bird population. The summer residents are slowly departing and other species are arriving to fill that niche. The most obvious difference for beachgoers is the terns. Where there were a good number of terns in early August, there are just a few lingering souls. The smallest of our nesting tern species, the least tern, is extensively gone, headed for Florida and points south. There are many fewer common and roseate terns loafing on the flats and beaches.