by Lanny McDowell on August 8, 2010
The TTOR shorebird techs had been waiting to see what would hatch from under the Black Skimmer pair out at Norton Point at Katama Bay inside the southeast corner of Martha’s Vineyard. The birds had laid one egg, annexed two Least Tern eggs into their nest and laid a second of their own. According to observers, one or two of the tern eggs hatched but did not make it for long. One of the skimmer eggs hatched into a healthy chick, which we saw today. We were told a second pair had arrived and laid eggs – it turned out to be three of them. Four of us, including Martin, the Swedish Phd candidate taking a three week intensive on molecular biology over in Woods Hole at the Marine Biology Lab, then discovered a third pair of skimmers in residence. All very exciting. The skimmers are incredible on the wing!
The beginning:
Three adults are a little tight, but not so bad:
The casual ease of flight:
Albatross wannabe:
This is for the guys who went out with me today:
Best shot – a trio of grace on the wing:
Birds are cool! Lanny
These images and Avian Art fine art prints are available for purchase. Contact me or View my gallery.
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by Lanny McDowell on January 4, 2010
They were also the first in quite a while on Martha’s Vineyard. They sort of had to be the first of the year, since it was the first of the year, about ten thirty in the morning.
The checklist for the Martha’s Vineyard Christmas Bird Count, which takes place tomorrow, on January fifth, due to a weather delay, says the CBC has recorded one Tundra Swan since 1999. Soo Whiting’s book, Vineyard Birds II, says tundras were seen more frequently and more regularly on CBCs up until ‘92 and then, for the most part, not seen after that. She writes, “Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are the two best places in Massachusetts where an observer might expect to see this rare visitor.” It’s only a guess, but I would be quite surprised if [click to continue...]
by Lanny McDowell on July 3, 2009
Every once in a while I do a piece for the Vineyard Gazette, some text and a selection of photos to match. This time the subjects are two shorebird species that nest on the Vineyard, which many people recognize and know something about: Piping Plovers and American Oystercatchers, the wistful and the goofy.
The working title was Avian Beach Dwellers, Iconic Shorebirds Nesting on the Vineyard. Here is the text for the feature in this Friday’s Vineyard Gazette (July 3rd) interspersed with relevant bird photos.
The Secret Life of Island Shorebirds
by Lanny McDowell
The group of birds referred to as shorebirds includes a wide array of species. There are all the sandpipers and all the plovers. There are turnstones, godwits, curlews, avocets, woodcock and phalaropes as well. On Martha’s Vineyard we are fortunate to still have the right sorts of habitat to attract a few shorebird nesters. We have Willets in the tidal marshes at a number of locations; and it is possible there are still Killdeer and Spotted Sandpipers, although four-legged predators have made them exceptionally scarce. The real standout shorebird nesters on the Vineyard are iconic at this point: the Piping Plover, because it is truly endangered and represents a tug of war between recreationalists and conservationists over beach use use at a certain time of the year, and the American Oystercatcher, because, simply put, it is the most outrageous looking and acting feathered beast to be found in these parts. [click to continue...]
by Lanny McDowell on July 2, 2009
It’s not very hard to obtain decent bird photos of duck, goose and swan families this time of year. Whatever attitude you may hold about introduced species and the roles they play, Mute Swans are easy on the eyes, truly avian art in the most basic sense.
You know I have a schtick about getting close to my avian art subjects, so here is another set:
There is nothing wrong with this little guy’s leg. It’s just one of their postures, young and adult alike. They often seem to be doing exactly the same behavior or pose at the same time:
These images and Avian Art fine art prints are available for purchase. Contact me or View my gallery.
Birds are cool! Lanny
I have a list of folks who get an emailed notice from me with a URL to click on when I have posted a new blog. There are also times when I just send out photos to the list without bothering to blog about them or post them to a listserve. Not on the list? Want to be? Just contact me saying you want to be on the list or, better yet, subscribe to Feedburner above, in the right side column for automatic blog feeds to your email. Getting off the list is just as simple.
