Bird Observer

Front Cover: April 2022

One of the most beautiful spots on the long, straight shoreline of Mid Cape Cod, Sandy Neck Beach Park is an area of superlatives. Along with its associated salt marsh, the park protects 4700 acres of open space, the largest such parcel in the busy Mid Cape. Sandy Neck hosts the highest dunes outside of Provincetown, one of the largest salt marshes in the state, and a dazzling diversity of upland habitats, including wild cranberry bogs that shelter rare orchids or carnivorous plants. The views north into Cape Cod Bay extend all the way to Provincetown; you can see the Pilgrim Monument on a clear day. Sandy Neck is also one of the best overall birding habitats on Cape Cod, with 275 species recorded in eBird—currently in fifth place in the county overall—and the highest-ranked spot on the Upper or Mid Cape. If you include the Great Marsh as well, the total jumps even higher. On a good fall migration day, there are few better birding spots anywhere on Cape Cod.

“This list, for it is but little more than a list,” wrote Everett W. Ricker in the introduction of his 36-page Notes on the Birds of Hull, Massachusetts in 1896, “I have made up of birds that have either been seen by myself or by my friend Mr. B. and his son, both of whom are well aquainted [sic] with our birds, while a very few have been reported to me by gunners. I have however, only given those in this list that I feel quite sure occur, as I know that it is very easy to make mistakes and the temptations are strong to make as large a list as possible.”

There will be one grand prize winner in each of three categories: photo, video, and writing. Each grand prize winner will receive a $100 gift card to Bird Watcher’s General Store, Orleans, MA; a $100 gift card to Bird Watcher’s Supply and Gift, Newburyport, MA; a $100 gift card to Birds and Beans Coffee; and a two-year extension of his or her subscription to Bird Observer, in addition to being featured in the December 2022 issue of Bird Observer in print and on our website, www.birdobserver.org.