The weather on the proposed date (Jan. 3) for the Christmas Bird Count wasn’t fit for man nor beast. Rob Culbert made an excellent decision and moved the count to Tuesday, Jan. 5. The only problem with this change was that some participants were unable to join us as they were working. We were very shorthanded. However, the Vineyarders who participated should be proud, because even with a much reduced crew at the end of the day the unofficial total number of species seen was 115. Now that is a lower tally than CBCs of milder winters but was the same as Cape Cod. Cape Cod usually has the highest number of bird species seen on CBCs statewide. Rumor has it that Nantucket had the highest count in the state this year with a total of 118. So we were only three down from the “top dog.” The Vineyard had the best weather of any of the state CBCs, and with a few more participants we probably would have bested Nantucket!

There are very few people in the world who would take a vacation to the Southern Ocean. Flip and I and 60 others are part of these few. The flights alone might discourage the weak at heart. They started on the Vineyard, thence to Boston, Newark, N.J., San Francisco, over the international dateline to land, 20-plus hours and a day later, in Auckland, New Zealand.

There is a Sphyrapicus varius on a holly tree in Luanne Johnson’s North Tisbury yard. No this is not a disease, but a yellow-bellied sapsucker. Sphyrapicus, for translation purposes, is Sphyra (mallet or hammer) and picus (woodpecker), varius (variegated or multicolored). So the sapsucker is a woodpecker with a mallet of a bill sporting various colors. This is indeed a great description of this woodpecker which is a spring and fall migrant and becoming a common winter resident of the Vineyard.

Announcing that there are no wild turkeys on Martha’s Vineyard is akin to breaking the news that there is no Santa Claus. But that is the truth whether you like it or not. Barbara Pesch and I noted in Vineyard Birds 2 that wild turkeys were introduced by Gus Ben David from Arkansas in the 1970s. These wild turkeys were extirpated in the 1990s. What the heck are all the turkeys that are wandering around the Vineyard from Aquinnah to Edgartown?

The sighting of short-eared owls at both Wasque and Katama in the last two weeks is exciting. This owl used to breed on the Vineyard in the 1980s but verification of its breeding on Island has not been possible since 1986. One wonders why. Is it lack of food, climate change, habitat loss, predation or disease? I don’t have the answer but would wager it is not due to lack of food. Short-eared owls love voles, mice, small birds and rabbits. If mice can find their way into our barns, sheds and houses, there probably is a sufficient supply to feed an owl or two. If the owls can’t find the mice we have plenty of rabbits too!

There is an idiom we are all familiar with: eating crow. I was curious as to the derivation of such an unusual phrase. Wikipedia suggests the exact origin is unknown. The Wikipedia entry goes on, however, to suggest a couple of possible explanations. First, the phrase was originally “to eat boiled crow.” The bit that followed was my favorite, however: Wikipedia figured it might be similar to “eating humble pie,” an English phrase that was something of a pun — “umbles” were intestines or less valued meats of the deer. People of lower classes than the kings, lords or governors were served pies made of these “umbles” (humble pie). These lower class folks were also served rook (a crow’s cousin) pie.