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The Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly publication.
March 10 - March 16, 2005 Edition
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BIRDS: Early Spring fever March 10, 2005 By E. Vernon Laux We'll build a little home just for two or three. Photo by Julian K. Robinson This winter has seemed to be the winter that will not end. It just keeps on coming despite the rapidly increasing power of the sun (when it is visible). One thing that I know is true is that it can't continue to be as cold and snowy and that the annual cycle of life is proceeding - right on schedule. The calendar indicates that it is March 10 and with a little fact- checking one can see that the first osprey - the “real”, the “official” Vineyard harbinger of spring (forget the robin or pinkletink) - is due to return in a little over a week. The earliest and most fired-up male birds will be returning to favored traditional nest sites anywhere from March 17 to 21. By April Fool's Day, the ospreys are back in considerable numbers. There is something unexplainable, joyful and mysterious, powerful and life-affirming about that first look at a Vineyard osprey in a new year, in March, when the trees are bare. While nice to see osprey in Florida and along the Gulf Coast in winter, these birds don't have the same “home field” impact of newly arrived Vineyard birds in the spring. The Red Sox are playing in Fort Myers and most of the many resident ospreys in South Florida are already feeding their chicks in the nest. They have adapted to the climate there and nest much earlier than their northern brethren for a slew of reasons. The birds heading for and eventually arriving on the Vineyard are fascinating. Call them intrepid, spectacular, or raptorial, these winged fish-eaters have done a lot since leaving here early last fall. They have navigated large chunks of the Americas, spent the winter on some Central or South American river or coast, perhaps developing a fondness for delicious flying fish. Then they rapidly moved back north, usually by a different route than in the fall. Many have been island-hopping across the Caribbean or flying across the Gulf of Mexico, heading north into a still wintry breeding ground to arrive and lay claim to a nest site. These birds make humans look like “slackers.” Osprey tracking There is a good deal of research being conducted on Vineyard osprey. Some birds get fitted with satellite tracking receivers, which show exactly when, how, and where these birds go. The truth is even more remarkable than what was suspected. There is also a second year of research about to begin on osprey nest success and what kind of fish they are catching and bringing to the nest. I'll have much more to write on this at a later time. The first osprey sighting of the year is a prestigious achievement. Not quite like winning the Nobel Prize, but you do get some recognition. A mention in one or both local papers is almost assured (the joy of it!). The only caveat is that the bird must be seen by more than one observer, or photographed. The sighting should be verified by outside impartial and hopefully sighted other parties and it should be reported to the bird line pronto. The reason for all this is we have had overzealous parties in the past attempt to lay claim to the first sighting without due diligence. Some rather creative observing has gone on and this we would like to avoid. Good luck and I hope you find the Vineyard's first osprey of 2005. Sounds of spring Change is certainly in the air, especially for those with good hearing. Bird song is noticeable, increasing and getting louder and more persistent with each passing day. This is a most welcome development and lets us hear the change going on around us as well as see it. Mornings and, to a lesser extent, the period near dusk, are starting to get noisy after the silence of the winter. Spring really is coming. Lastly, the waters around the Vineyard are peaking with activity. Hundreds of thousands of sea ducks as well as a slew of other birds are on the move. Rafts of eiders and scoters, mind-boggling in number, are in several favored locales around the Island. Especially surprising is a huge raft in Vineyard Sound, about a mile or so north of the Island, which involves approximately 25 thousand eiders. These birds are not generally here in numbers anything like this. After the big winds last week on March 3 and 4, an impressive aggregation of razorbills - football-sized, black-and-white seabirds that are sort of the northern hemisphere counterpart of penguins (convergent evolution), and very cute - were found in both Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds. Flocks of hundreds of razorbills were in outer Vineyard Haven Harbor and off of East Chop in Oak Bluffs during the day on March 4. There were flocks of razorbills so dense that when they flew off the water when flushed by a boat they resembled low, smoky clouds. Many hundreds of razorbills were present, a very impressive sight indeed from shore. Until next week - keep your eyes to the sky! To contribute news about your birding activities or sightings, call The Times Birdline, 508-693-6100, extension 33; or e-mail birds@mvtimes.com.

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