I am so happy to have seen a spotted sandpiper pair south of the airport runway on Sanctuary of Sands. A lone sandpiper has arrived every spring since 2015, and now there are a pair of these exquisite shorebirds!

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

The spotted sandpiper occurs across North America. It has richly spotted breeding plumage, a teetering gait, stuttering wingbeats and showy courtship dances.

Female spotted sandpipers arrive at breeding grounds early to establish and defend territory. Females also may mate with four different males at a time, but it is the male that incubates the eggs and cares for the young.

From the Field, Field Note Justine Kibbe June 3, 2019

Protecting Killdeer Eggs

FIConservancy Naturalist Justine Kibbe reported:

“As Fishers Island prepares for a very busy July and August, it’s wonderful to witness the rallying of community to protect our precious wildlife.

“Town of Southold Highway Dept. informed me of a tiny killdeer nest with a clutch of 4 delicate eggs hidden within the upland habitat of the Parade Grounds.

“Thank you to Islander Steffen Kucsera, who in the ‘busyness’ of his day, took the time to create a bit of a sanctuary and help direct truck traffic, keeping this dear Killdeer family out of harm’s way.”

Birth Announcement

May 29, 2019: Congratulations Fishers Island! The community is pleased to announce the arrival of four Piping Plover chicks in Sanctuary of Sands on the south side of the airport runway. Please continue to leash all dogs walking in the area.

A piping plover pair returned to Fishers Island in early April. By early May, the female was nesting on her “scrape” in the Sanctuary of Sands area of South Beach. Camouflage-colored feathers help piping plovers disappear into the background. (Click on pictures to enlarge for an easier view of the chicks.)

There are fewer than 2000 pairs of “threatened” piping plovers on the Atlantic Coast.

Support our precious wildlife!

UPDATE, June 4, 2019: It now appears that there were two separate hatchings of piping plover chicks. One in the eastern tip of Sanctuary of Sands (described above) and a second hatching near the Race Point parking area with FIConservancy signage.

From the Field, Field Note, Justine Kibbe May 29, 2019

I’ve never seen anything like it! An actual blue jay migration!*

It all started Saturday May 11 at 10:45 a.m. Just a trickle at first, bright and bold Blue jays coursing over Silver Eel Cove. Then a steady stream of at least 40 noisy migrants flooded into the woods. Feathered crests bobbing on branches, their vocal cacophony swelled.

Community observations arrived shortly thereafter: Jackie Williamson up east had a dozen at her feeder by noon, and I saw another 2 dozen at 3 p.m., while bicycling to the Village Market.

Always grateful for remarks From the Field: Pierce Rafferty reported 16 Blue jays at his feeder May 14 at 6 a.m., and Marlin Bloethe captured and generously shared pictures of the initial landing.

* “A small proportion (Cornell estimates 20%) of the US blue jay population migrates south for the winter, whereas the majority of blue jays are year-round residents,” said entomologist Adam Mitchell, Ph.D.

“My guess is that storms moving northeast in early May, followed by a cold front, may have caused the jays migrating along the coastline to stopover on Fishers Island. This may be a boon for the Island in the future, as many species of bird will recall high-quality stopover sites when they migrate again. So we may want to be on the lookout for the jays next time for the fall migration.”

From the Field, Field Note, Justine Kibbe, May 15, 2019

It took half an hour of scurrying around her South Beach “scrape” for this piping plover to finally settle down, because five killdeer were being pesty. There was a bit of territorial “drama”, before she returned to her—hopefully—clutch of eggs.

A piping plover pair returned to Fishers Island in early April. By early May the female was nesting on her “scrape” in the Sanctuary of Sands area of South Beach. Sandy-colored feathers help her to disappear into the background, particularly important since piping plovers are a “threatened” species.

There are fewer than 2000 pairs of piping plovers on the Atlantic Coast. Support our precious wildlife. Kindly continue to leash all dogs.

Sanctuary of Sands, West End, Fishers Island.

From the Field, Field Note, Justine Kibbe, May 7, 2019