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The
Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly publication.
March 24 - March 30, 2005 Edition
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BIRDS
Some 15 phone calls and six e-mails specifically about osprey sightings were received this past week. This Vineyard harbinger of spring shows the great interest and perhaps good fortune associated with one's first spring look at these impressive birds. There is something awe-inspiring, some primitive satisfying feeling akin to deep meditation or the feeling of well-being after intense physical exercise, that lodges somewhere in the recesses of the ancestral human mind. It feels good to see that first osprey of the spring. An unusually early osprey was first seen at Lambert's Cove Beach at 3 pm on March 14. The lone bird, seen by Pam and Lang Clarke of West Tisbury, just squeaked into the record book. It established a new early arrival date for the Island. Almost every year ospreys return just a little earlier across Vineyard Sound and Buzzard's Bay in southeastern Massachusetts in Westport, Acoaxet, and South Dartmouth than they do to the Vineyard. The next day there were no reports, but on March 16, Ned Casey of West Tisbury saw one over Duarte's Pond in West Tisbury; Tom Scott of Edgartown saw one near Oyster Pond in Edgartown; and Dick Smith, captain of the MV Quickwater, noted one on the osprey pole at the mouth of the harbor in Oak Bluffs. On March 17 there were six reports and by March 19, when David Dandridge of Vineyard Haven reported one over the Lagoon, it appears quite a few more individuals had returned to the Island. When the time came to write this column, ospreys were back in many locations. Still, those that are here are just a fraction of the ospreys that are headed this way. The birds will continue to arrive steadily. Between now and April Fool's Day, at least another 150 individual ospreys will be gracing the Vineyard. Keep an eye on a nest site near you and watch the action as last year's returning birds vie with newcomers for breeding rights. Sound of spring music While out looking for or at ospreys it will be hard not to notice the increased level of land bird activity as well as the noise from all the bird calls and song. Roving flocks of blackbirds, some numbering well over a hundred birds, can be heard and seen as they visit the Vineyard briefly on their way farther north. While listening to the creaky, rusty hinge sound emanating from the grackles, red-winged blackbirds, and brown-headed cowbirds that comprise the mixed blackbird flocks, it is almost impossible not to hear singing northern cardinals and song sparrows. The season progresses rapidly now, the pace accelerating in the annual “land grab” that birds instinctively follow to ensure their ability to reproduce their respective species. The males secure a territory, the females inspect the territory/male and decide which best suits their needs in order to build a nest, incubate eggs, brood and feed chicks, and fledge young. All this must be achieved in the limited time available. A pine warbler was singing persistently on Barnes Road near the Head of the Lagoon in Oak Bluffs at lunchtime on March 17. This species nests in the mature pitch pine in this area and I suspect this male bird spent the winter nearby and is not an early migrant. The migrant pine warblers are still a couple of weeks out. A greater yellowlegs did a fly-by, calling overhead as it flew north nearby, also on March 17. On the beaches, the prettiest bird on the beach, the toucan of the Island, the American oystercatchers, are returning daily. Shirley Craig of Edgartown was tickled to see her first oystercatcher of the year along the shores of Pocha Pond on Chappaquiddick in Edgartown. The beach still has a winter feel to it. It is cold, the vegetation is brown, and all is dull, all of which makes the impact of that first flaming orange-beaked oystercatcher all the more striking. Piping plovers, a few individuals of which are probably here as well but have yet to be detected or reported, will be making a push to the Island shortly. The majority of Island nesters will be appearing within the next two weeks. 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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