Vinalhaven Sightings

Welcome to the Vinalhaven Sightings Report

March 21, 2023

molted loon - let the dance begin

Kind support provided by VLT, MCHT, USA, YYZ, DFA, SOAM, and U

‘Stop being so pristine!’ ‘Anonymous’ Al Jones

Happy Birthday Palmer!

Highlights – this one is for the birds

PS – there will be another for non-birds

'non-birds

Business – Contact us – We love to hear from you – and it can be about anything. We love the messages that say ‘I miss Pine Siskins’ and the ones that say ‘The ‘L’ was from a mink’- we’ll take the observations, contemplations, and emotions. Heck, we’ll even accept pictures of food! Never thought I would say that before! Picnics in the ‘wild’ or venison meals at home, you know, outside eating or eating the outside inside. Inside out, outside in, outside out. Inside In – now there is a perfect album.

Anyway – anything goes with the VSR – vinalhavensightings@gmail.com – that is the address to send photos, reports, stories and random commentary. In some cases the more random the more appreciated. Some cases.

Tiit trick – click the photos to enlarge. Click again for shrinkage.

Sightings - Birdies – where to begin…

What’s happening now! – Woodcocks! Hey – stake yourself (not literally) by a field or open space on island during the Crepuscular times, maybe bring a warm(ing) beverage or two (coffee is always the #1 option), kick back and relax. Listen for that ‘Peent!’ and then watch for the fantastic aerial display of the male American Woodcock that has him circling and rising hundreds of feet in the air (admittedly bad as judging distances and heights) only to freefall/zig zag back down to earth making some crazy buzzing sounds with his wings. I’ve scared up a few woodcocks around but have not seen the display yet – but people are reporting. Good through April!

lavendar at best sandpiper

This just in – John Drury reports woodcock displays on Greens Island (3/17) . Lane’s Island is great to watch the display. My plan is to be at the picnic tables tomorrow evening – (3/22) – after sunset until its dark. All are welcome to join me. Impromtu woodcock walk, except I’m not leading spraint! I’m there to watch and enjoy with you.

Raptors – John also reports a Sharp-shinned Hawk on Greens and a Red-tail hawk that may be hanging around on Greens as well. Or it may be multiple red-tails over several days, just passing through. Things on the move though!

Also, Killdeer on Greens – 3/17.

the 'purple' i learned in new jersey was
different than this purple

Other shorebirds – Purple Sandpipers were recently and officially voted ‘not purple at all’ by the entire VSR team - and so it is with great pleasure that we announce, that from here on out the species formerly known as ‘Purple Sandpiper’ will be referred to in the VSR as ‘Lavender-at-best Sandpiper’, or ‘LABS’ or ‘LAB Sandpipers’. They are being seen from the ferry in acrobatically flying flocks and sometimes just chilling or searching for prey on exposed rocks and ledges.

dunlin

A winter into spring specialty that warms the heart as well as the soul (not sure if either one of those statements are true), LAB Sandpipers can also be seen ‘closer than far away’ on the Rockland breakwater, which technically isn’t Vinalhaven – but can be seen from the ferry and is made from Vinalhaven granite so you get what you get. Or something like that.

Here’s a few photos of LAB Sandpipers on the Rockland Breakwater from February – you could see them from the ferry!

dunlin

Dunlin – With a ‘keen eye from the ferry matched with a typical birder’s questionable level of truthiness, honesty and morals’ you may have been able to spot the couple of Dunlin sandpipers that spent the winter on and around the Rockland Breakwater. 3 shore bird species in a winter wrap up VSR! Now that is exciting!

Here’s what one looks like 'not tucked in'.

coot

Another one from the ferry – (3/3) American Coot – that’s right, an American Coot in salt water. This little rascal was hanging out by the Ferry Terminal in Rockland first thing that legendary Friday morning. Never seen one in Salt Water before, never seen one from the Ferry before – but neither of those statements mean much. I mean, there are a gagillion+ ferry trips each year I don’t go on and lots of salt water out there that I have never looked at. Anyway, it was a surprise and was the first bird of the day – nice to get the Coot out of the way early. One less coot to worry about seeing! More from the ferry in a minute…

butter butt

Songbirds – (2/9) – Lane’s Island – Yellow-rumped Warblers have made Lane’s Island – in all of its Bayberry glory - a home base for another winter. I spotted a small handful (doesn’t mean 5 tiny Butter-butts) of these rascals on this particular day, even got a crappy photo or two of one of them.

eye of the butter butt

This guy laid low and gave me the eye just long enough. Happy winter warbler!

vulture

(Non-songbird mentioned) and also that day at lane’s – 2 Turkey Vultures were cruising (?) around. More like floatin’ around. Vultures in winter!

red crossbill

Back to songbirds – While there were several species of songbirds overwintering in the woods of Vinalhaven, in my winter ’23 experience on island it all comes down to two species - Red Crossbills and Red-breasted Nuthatches. Are you getting tired of hearing about them? Well, we’re not getting tired of seeing them….so deal!

Red Crossbills have maintained their ‘dominance in numbers and loudness’ in the highly competitive field of ‘maritime spruce forest songbird presence in winter’. It’s hard to call them a ‘winter finch’ at this point– even though they are a finch and its winter – since they have been here since June ’22.

Anyway, every walk I’ve taken this winter on island preserves – with the exception of Lane’s Island which has been more like ½ the visits– has been interrupted by Red Crossbills flying over and chirping, or sitting at the tops of trees feasting on conifer seeds and chirping. Lots of chirping!

And recently the chirping has morphed into more of the Red Crossbill song which, in theory, should lead to pairings up, mating and an overflow of fledglings in May. We’ll see what happens, but for now here is a video or two of Red Crossbills vocalizations.

They are from the mainland but are the same – if you know what I mean.

not the best siskin photo

Pine Siskins – a second ‘winter finch’ (or is it the first winter finch?) from the winter ’23, Siskins have been around in lower numbers than Red Crossbills this winter but have been reported from feeders around town.

and neither is this one

Who’s singing – Brown Creeper, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-capped Chickadee, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Northern Cardinal

razorbill - non-non-breeding plummage

Back to ‘From the ferry’ – Razorbills are a winter favorite from the ferry, and a major part (a 1/3^rd) of any decent, respectable ‘winter tri-fecta’ of highlighted species observed from the ferry. Anyway – last Thursday (3/16) was two days after the most recent ‘nor’easter’ and with such a storm pelagic birds (birdies on the ocean) get tossed around and blown around while ‘ridin’ the storm out’ (shout out to REO Speedwagon!)

Well, this particular boat ride started out as innocent as any other – with a handful of Razorbills flying by the ferry when we were closest to Monroe Island. Before we were even into the Bay the razorbills had tallied 28, which by all standards is a fine day for Razorbills from the ferry.

razorbills and monroe

Well, things went dry for much of the Bay (March is sometimes internally referred to as the ‘doldrums’ by sleepy nature observers on the ferry) but then picked up maybe ½ way or so across as small groups of Razorbills were first seen ‘on the aqua’ (as the punk kids say) and then ‘on the wing’ (also as the punk kids say). Groups ranging from 5-15 could be observed in flight from a fair distance.

It doesn’t take too many groups of 10 for the Razorbills to start adding up, and sure enough the count passed 100 easily, with much bay still to pass through. Having mentioned this, it should be noted that there are no ‘records’ for seeing the most of something from the ferry. Instead, we talk about the ‘most’ of something we have seen from the ferry. May sound like semantics, but ‘records are meant to be broken’, where the ‘most I’ve seen of something’ is what it is. 116 Razorbills is ‘the most’ I had ever seen on a single ferry ride and that was back in ’06 or ’07. Hadn’t seen over a 100 on a single boat ride since. And last Thursday there were still groups to be counted.

Who knows what the count would have been if I had just sat in a kayak or on a raft or in a barrel and stayed watching, but the ferry keeps moving (hopefully) and when all was said and done the tally of Razorbills I saw that morning was 175. Not a record, but the most I’d ever seen from the ferry for sure. Come to think of it – possibly the most I’ve ever seen in a day anywhere, definitely the most Razorbills I had ever seen in 40 minutes or so. Thank you Nor’ easter!

funky loon

Moltin’ – Common Loons and Black Guillemots and their molts are easy to observe from the ferry in the second half of Winter, and this year season was no different.

Lots of views of changing looks over the last two months, and lots of preening/working by individuals observed.

black guillemot

See what you think of the changes.

black guillemot

Here’s a few other species regularly on the scene – and still will be for the next month or so -

red breasted merganser

Red-breasted Mergansers – good year from the ferry, now starting to see males doing the classic ‘head pointed straight up, lean chest into water’ display. Cloacal kisses can’t be too far behind.

ye olde tailed ducks
not the best light

Ye olde-tailed ducks – lots of em and in big groups in Hurricane Sound and Rockland Harbor. On the lookout for these guys molting – they look sharp all winter and then look even sharper come ‘cloaca season’. Looks aren’t everything though. Or anything really.