A rare visitor has flocked to the Vineyard. 

A brown pelican has been spotted multiple times in the last week around Lagoon Pond. Most recently, Vineyard resident David Forbes spotted one early Monday morning, perched on a shellfish aquaculture float in front of his home. 

Brown pelicans are rare around these parts. — Lanny McDowell

“We always sit on the front porch every morning because we’re right on the water here on the pond, and on top of one of the floats, there was a bird that didn’t seem normal,” Mr. Forbes said. “My wife asked Mrs. Google, the way one always does [when we saw the pelican] and it said there have been 10 or so reports of sightings in Massachusetts. So it’s obviously not home.” 

According to Gazette bird columnist Robert Culbert, brown pelican sightings are unusual on the Vineyard and seeing one is a feather in a birder’s cap.  

“We get one every couple of years, so they’re not unheard of, but it’s a good bird and a lot of bird watchers are trying to find it,” Mr. Culbert said. 

While pelicans typically live along the coast, they’re usually found in southern regions of the world. The species lives yearround in the Caribean and, on the east coast, they rarely make it further north than Long Island Sound.

“The old time expression [is that] birds have wings and they use them,” Mr. Culbert said. “That said,  [pelicans] can often be carried up by storms.” 

Casual birdwatching doesn’t get old for Mr. Forbes, but the pelican is something he likely won't forget.  

“We have a wonderful birding experience here in general, because water birds are all over the place here, and we get all the duck species that migrate through,” he said. “But we’ve never seen a brown pelican before. It was pretty exciting.”