This week Crystal Lake has attracted a variety of ducks! It is a relatively-small fresh water pond, which is not a common biome on the Island. The abundance of the species varies by the hour for two reasons. First — and I learned this phrase from the late Vern Laux — birds have wings and they use them. Second is the fact that Crystal Lake has a well-vegetated shoreline in which ducks can easily hide.
The action at Crystal Lake picked up on Dec. 6 when Bob Shriber spotted an Eurasian wigeon and a Barrow’s goldeneye there. Both were on my wish list of species to be seen in December and are new sightings for the season. Other species he reported included two American wigeon, three mallards, one black duck, seven ring-necked ducks, 11 bufflehead, 10 common goldeneye and eight hooded mergansers.
Also on Dec. 6, Nancy Nordin found one northern shoveler, one Eurasian wigeon five American wigeon, four mallards, seven ring-necked ducks, seven bufflehead and six hooded mergansers.
Dec. 7 was a busy day with birders coming to find the ducks. Chris Scott spotted two northern shovelers — another new species for the season — as well as the Eurasian wigeon, three American wigeon, 12 mallards, 12 ring-necked ducks, four bufflehead and eight hooded mergansers.
Other birders that day included Susan Whiting, who saw one brant, the Eurasian wigeon, two mallards, 10 ring-necked ducks, nine bufflehead and 10 hooded mergansers; Lisa Maxfield who found two shovelers, the Eurasian wigeon, 13 bufflehead and six hooded mergansers; Jeff Bernier who spotted two shovelers but no wigeon; and Matt Pelikan, Ken Magnuson and Lanny McDowell found the Eurasian wigeon but no shovelers.
Lanny McDowell returned on Dec. 8 and found the shoveler. Also that day, the trio of Thaw Malin, Nancy Weaver and Cynthia Bloomquist spotted 13 brant, three shovelers, four American wigeon, four mallards, nine ring-necked ducks, five bufflehead, four common goldeneye and 10 hooded mergansers.
On Dec. 9 Bridget Dunnigan and Sea Williams spotted the Eurasian wigeon, one American wigeon, seven mallard, four ring-necked ducks, two common goldeneye, eight bufflehead, 12 hooded mergansers and one red-breasted merganser.
Other species were spotted this week. Shea Fee found 1,000 common eiders, four long-tailed ducks, two horned grebes and 17 gannets at Wasque on Dec. 4, the same day that Matthew Born observed two long-tailed ducks, 25 bufflehead, 40 red-breasted mergansers, six razorbills, two gannets, 35 red-throated loons and 20 common loons at the Gay Head Cliffs and an amazingly large gathering of 15 horned grebes off Lobsterville.
Chris Scott observed two American wigeon, six mallards, four hooded mergansers and one juvenile bald eagle at Chilmark Pond on Dec. 5, the same day that Thaw Malin and Cynthia Bloomquist watched six mallard, six greater scaup, eight lesser scaup, four harlequin, 18 bufflehead, 11 hoodies and three red-breasted mergansers at Squibnocket Beach.
On Dec. 6 Matthew Born visited Squibnocket Beach and found 18 mallards, 16 greater scaup, four lesser scaup, four bufflehead, eight hooded mergansers, two common mergansers and 25 red-breasted mergansers. The next day Jeff Bernier saw several long-tailed ducks in Edgartown harbor; its eponymous long tail was conspicuous. Thaw Malin and Cynthia Bloomquist found a razorbill in the harbor across from Crystal Lake while Nancy Weaver spotted 12 American wigeon, six mallard, one ring-necked duck and 12 bufflehead at the Oak Bluffs pumping station.
Bob Shriber found four mallards, three green-winged teal, 34 greater scaup, six lesser scaup, 22 bufflehead, two common goldeneyes, eight hooded mergansers, 12 red-breasted mergansers and four razorbills at Moshup Beach on Dec. 7. Bridget Dunnigan and Sea Williams spotted seven American wigeon, six mallard, 71 lesser scaup, nine bufflehead, and one red-breasted merganser on Dec. 9 from the Sailing Camp Park.
On Dec. 10 Bob Shriber and Nancy Nordin found 19 long-tailed ducks, eight bufflehead, and 44 red-breasted mergansers, an unusually large flock of 120 razorbills and three black-legged kittiwakes at Moshup Beach. The next day Susan Whiting spotted 40 red-breasted mergansers at Tisbury Great Pond and 36 American wigeon, 12 mallard, one bufflehead and 16 hooded mergansers at Black Point Pond.
I mentioned above that two species of ducks were seen that were on my wish list for December that I wrote about two weeks ago. Well, an Iceland gull is the third species from that list and a fox sparrow is the fourth species. Cynthia Bloomquist found an Iceland gull from West Basin Road in Aquinnah on Dec. 2 and Matthew Born, Bob Shriber, Nancy Nordin and Charles Morano observed one on Dec. 4 from the Gay Head Cliffs. Cynthia Bloomquist and Thaw Malin spotted a fox sparrow Dec. 4 at Lobsterville. Chris Scott and Nancy Nordin found eight at at the Gay Head Cliffs on Dec. 5 and the next day Bob Shriber and Nancy Nordin found one at the same location.
Lingering birds are also in the news. Four tree swallows were seen by Matthew Born on the Gay Head Cliffs. Nancy Nordin also spotted one Baltimore oriole at the cliffs. Nancy Nordin spotted three eastern meadowlarks near Waskosim’s Rock on Dec. 9 and Susan Whiting saw eight at Black Point Pond on Dec. 10.
Carolina wrens are frequently seen, heard and enjoyed by almost everybody. Two comments reflect this sentiment: Polly Bassett said, “We are so lucky to have a plethora of them flitting and twitting about!” and Nancy Steinbock remarked, “They just brighten up the moment!” Matt Pelikan found a shy winter wren at the BiodiversityWorks headquarters on Dec. 4 and Nancy Nordin found one near Waskosim’s Rock on Dec. 9.
Sharon Simonin found a flock of black-crowned night herons at the Oak Bluffs pumping station on Nov. 26. Marnie Gauley also saw a flock at Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary and Noah Froh observed at least six of them on Dec. 2 at Cedar Tree Neck.
Last but not least, Rodrigo Ogirdor spotted three ring-necked pheasants on Dec. 6 in West Tisbury.
Please email your sightings to birds@vineyardgazette.com.
Robert Culbert is an ecological consultant with Nature Watch LLC living in Vineyard Haven.
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